Lodging in Monterey

[Marcol]

A friend of mine and me will spend 19 days in California. We´ll arrive at LA in june 6th and we´ll leave from San francisco in June 26th. We´ll rent a car and would intend to visit LA, Las vegas, Death Valley, Sequoia NP, Yosemite NP , Big Sur, Monterrey and San Francisto. What´s the best way to do that ? Any route suggestions ?Thanks in advance!!

Thanks in advance!!

Marco

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

19 Days would give you lots of time to explore the places you want to visit.

As far as a route, I'd take I-15 to Vegas, then head through Death Valley, up US-395, and over tioga pass to Yosemite. From there head over to Sequoia, and then over to Paso Robles/Morro Bay via CA-41 and CA-46, then take CA-1 up the coast to the rest of your stops.

[noeluap]

hi!

My 3 friends and I are also thinking about the same places but intend to go the other way around: LA-Sequioa-SF-Yosemite-Mammoth Lakes (maybe?)-Las Vegas-Grand Canyon-LA

Duration of stay for the places are:
LA - 4 nights
Sequioa - maybe 1 night or just a day trip up from LA?
SF - 3 nights
Yosemite - 2 to 3 nights
Mammoth - stopover, 1 night
going through deathvalley to see the sights, then
Grand Canyon - 3 nights
Las Vegas - 2 nights
LA - 1 more night

A few questions:
1) how's the division of time spent at each place? sufficient? too much?
2) is it good to stop over sequioa and head up to SF? or is the route nearer to the pacific coast a better one?
3) any other advice/suggestions? e.g. places not to go or places we should stop by also?
4) what would the approx fuel cost be like for the entire trip? a range would b fine thanks!

am from way out of town (South East Asia) so wanted to find out and budget everything nicely before venturing forth!

Thanks a million!! =]

-Pauleon

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America forum.

Your division of time between different places looks generally OK. It is really up to you in large measure, so if that's how long you want to spend in the various locations, then so be it. One thing I would suggest is that you not plan on seeing Sequoia as a day trip from LA. The park is probably a half day's drive away from LA when include the time it will take you to get out of city traffic, and once there, you're halfway to San Francisco anyway. Much better to make it an overnight stop and spend an evening and morning in the park. The route up the coast (CA-1) is spectacular and presents a tough choice. Whether you take the coast road or see Sequoia is a choice that only you can make. There is no wrong decision. I assume by 'Mammoth' that you mean Mammoth Lakes. That is a good place to overnight upon leaving Yosemite. While there, don't neglect to go just that wee bit farther to see Devil's Postpile National Monument. Finally, fuel costs can be calculated here.

AZBuck

[noeluap]

so in other words, it's really up to me!! haha ok.

regarding sequioa: well, is it still possible to stay over YET still travel up to SF via the coastal route?

yup, by mammoth i meant mammoth lakes!

any other forumer has suggestions to places where we can add to the trip?

thanks AZBuck. have been searching the forums and trying to get a whole idea too. the last time i was in the states i was 10 or 11 and my parents drove us up and around. want to do the same thing but go further this time! =]

[noeluap]

Hi, as posted earlier elsewhere in this forum, would b doing a road trip, coming up from LA on route to SF and decided Monterey is quite a nice place to stop for a night.

Have been looking around and would like to ask you guys for some advice regarding lodging in Monterey.

We're a grp of 4 friends, 2 guys 2 girls. We would like to keep our budget to about $100 (for all) but if the place is worth paying more, we might consider.

Is distance to the beach something important? There are many downtown Monterey which are within budget but we're not sure whether it'll b nicer to stay in the hotels near the beach instead.

One such inn is Quality Inn Monterey Beach Dunes, quoted $100 for the night.

Thanks in advance!

[Mark Sedenquist]

Have been looking around and would like to ask you guys for some advice regarding lodging in Monterey.

I am sure that the one you found in Monterey would be fine. However, if you really want a great experience and can afford about $150 per night -- my best recommendation would be the Seacliff Inn in Aptos. Here is some information about this place in an earlier post.

We're a grp of 4 friends, 2 guys 2 girls. We would like to keep our budget to about $100 (for all) but if the place is worth paying more, we might consider.

Transportation in town is pretty good and so if staying on budget is more important, I would suggest finding one farther inland and use public transport to the aquarium and places at the coast.

Mark

[Quebec Gen]

Here's an article on the Monterey Hostel and their website. They have rooms starting at 20$/person. It seems like most inexpensive motels are located on or around Fremont St. and Munras Ave. There are two Motel 6 in the Monterey area that are fairly close to the coast. The only cheap place I've been able to find right next to the beach is the Del Monte Beach Inn (55-99$), the reviews are great except some people thought the place is a little noisy (because of traffic).

Good luck!
Gen

[noeluap]

I am sure that the one you found in Monterey would be fine. However, if you really want a great experience and can afford about $150 per night -- my best recommendation would be the Seacliff Inn in Aptos. Here is some information about this place in an earlier post. Transportation in town is pretty good and so if staying on budget is more important, I would suggest finding one farther inland and use public transport to the aquarium and places at the coast.

Mark

Thanks! and also to Gen.

We're renting a car from LA and using it all the way for our road trip (beyond SF, we'll b going on to Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Deathvalley, LV, GC, SD and back to LA, phew). So transport is not a problem. I was only wondering whether it's worth it paying more just so the hotel has a view of the ocean.

Another question for you guys:

I was quite interested to visit sequioa on the way up to SF but decided to take highway 1 instead. do you think it's ok if i headed up to sequioa first, stayed the night, then made a beeline for the coast, and continue back up, stopping by monterey and then SF?

[Mark Sedenquist]

I was only wondering whether it's worth it paying more just so the hotel has a view of the ocean.

For me, I would pay extra for ease of beach access -- walking along the shore at sunset is great -- but not (just) for a view.

I was quite interested to visit sequioa on the way up to SF but decided to take highway 1 instead. do you think it's ok if i headed up to sequioa first, stayed the night, then made a beeline for the coast, and continue back up, stopping by monterey and then SF?

Wait a moment -- aren't you also going to Yosemite? Yosemite and Sequoia are relatively close to each other, it doesn't make much sense to go to Sequoia over to the coast up to San Francisco and then back south to Yosemite and then back to Tahoe. Unless, of course, you really want to travel on a zig-zag.

But if you want to see Sequoia and then go to the coast...I would take SR-41 at Lemore and follow it all the way to Morro Bay and then north on PCH -- but this will be a brutally long day!

Mark