Road Trip Starting and Ending in LA

[Shelley40]

Hi Everyone

Can you look over my first attempt at an itinerary and tell me what you think. Am I spending too long in some places? Not enough times in others? Have been reading over so much information on this forum that I am getting confused.

Monday 7th - Arrive LA 1320hrs, stay overnight.
Tuesday 8th - Drive to Carmel, stay overnight.
Wednesday 9th - Drive to San Francisco, stay overnight.
Thursday 10th - Stay in San Francisco.
Friday 11th - Stay in San Francisco.
Saturday 12th - Drive to Yosemite, stay overnight.
Sunday 13th - Stay in Yosemite.
Monday 14th - Drive to Death Valley, stay overnight.
Tuesday 15th - Drive to Las Vegas, stay overnight.
Wednesday 16th - Stay in Las Vegas.
Thursday 17th - Stay in Las Vegas.
Friday 18th - Drive to Grand Canyon, stay overnight.
Saturday 19th - Stay in Grand Canyon.
Sunday 20th - Drive to Lake Havasu, stay overnight.
Monday 21st - Drive to San Diego, stay overnight.
Tuesday 22nd - Stay in San Diego.
Wednesday 23rd - Drive to LA, stay overnight.
Thursday 24th - Stay in LA.
Friday 25th - Flight home.

Thanks.

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

I'd say your basic itinerary looks ok, but I might give a little more time for your trip up the coast. Trying to make it to Carmel from LA in one day could force you to push things a little. You could make the trip, but you might not have as much time to stop as you'd like. You might be better off stopping a south of Big Sur instead, or even giving an extra day to this part of your trip.

[Shelley40]

Hi

Thanks for you advice, much appreciated. Would you suggest I stop overnight in Monterey or Cambria on the way to San Francisco instead of Carmel or should I stay in both to break up the journey?

Trying to finalise my plans, book some hotels etc so if anyone else has good tips for my trip, that would be fantastic.

[W. Larrison]

For a rough rule of thumb, Cambria to Monterey is a couple of hours... Depending upon your stops and how you drive of course.

Coming in from the south, the biggest nearby collection of hotels is starting in San Luis Obispo, which is a reasonably sized town and has a California State University. From SLO to the Cambria area is about 45 minutes, so its not too far, if you're driving. Besides Cambria there's also Moro Bay and San Simeon. Both have hotels. San Simeon is the smallest burg, but since its right next to Hearst Castle (now a California State Park) it has several hotels.

If you're not super pressed for time, you might consider taking one of the tours, which is a couple of hours long start to finish. There's also an elephant seal colonly along Coast 1 about 10 miles or so north of San Simeon at Pedros Blancas which is also interesting to see..