Results 1 to 6 of 6
  1. Default San Francisco Area In Late November

    Hi Folks, my wife and I are coming to San Francisco from New Zealand in November for 3 weeks. We have plans for the first fortnight, but would like to spend a little over a week seeing something of the rest of the region via rental car. What sort of trip would you recommend in that timeframe? We need to return to SF again to fly out.
    Thanks for your help.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Tucson, AZ
    Posts
    10,376

    Default Poke Around

    Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

    Since Yosemite and the rest of the Sierra Nevada will likely already be seeing some serious snow by November, I'd suggest that you stay along the coast. You can go either north or south (or both) depending on the weather. You'd need 2-3 days to explore Monterey, Carmel and the Big Sur coast along CA-1 south of the Bay area, and 3-4 days to head north along the coast to the Redwood parks up around Orick, and visit the wineries of the Napa Valley. A third alternative, taking a couple of days would be to head east to Carson City, Virginia City and Lake Tahoe. Any of those general routes or some combination thereof would let you drive some very scenic roads to some very relaxing and/or historic locations at a relatively relaxed pace.

    AZBuck

  3. Default

    Thanks for that. Probably a silly question, but how realistic would it be to do SF to Las Vegas return in approx 8 days at that time of year? We live in New Zealand, so natural scenery is every day for us (although we're still keen to see some of the US great outdoors). Cities like SF and Vegas just don't exist here though.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    South of England.
    Posts
    12,173

    Default Easy.

    It would be possible to get from SF to LV in a long day of travel using a lot of Interstate, so it would be easy to add some of the "great outdoors if you wanted too. A couple of days down the coast around Big Sur to the Cambria area before heading inland would be a possibility, as would a detour through the "other worldly" landscape of Death valley on the way back, or a detour for an overnight stop at the South rim of the Grand canyon amongst others. If Yosemite isn't snowed in, I would certainly consider it as an option, as it is an amazing natural wonder.

  5. Default How's this for a plan?

    Hi again,
    I've been looking through these forums and following some threads and a plan is taking shape. How does this sound:

    San Francisco to Yosemeti and then overnight in Fresno.
    Day 2 - Death Valley via Bakersfield - where would folks reco
    mend for an overnight?
    Day 3 - to Vegas for 2 nights.
    Day 5 - to LA for 2 nights
    Day 7 - up the Pacific Coast to SF

    Thoughts?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    South of England.
    Posts
    12,173

    Default Needs tweaking.

    Hi Brian,

    Your Day 1 would be pushing it under normal conditions when hoping to enjoy Yosemite, but with short days and possible winter driving conditions, I wouldn't try and get further than Oakhurst for the night. You have to keep in mind that there could be snow chain restrictions in place and it will be best to check conditions before travelling.

    On Day 2 you could still make it to Death valley for the night, Panamint Springs and Stovepipe Wells both have lodging options on 190. Furnace creek also has lodgings but they come in the order listed and as you will be arriving later in the day, the earlier you stop the more you can see next day without having to double back. It would also be possible to stop in the Lake Isabella area and have a full day driving through Death valley to Vegas.

    Days 3 to 6 are fine but there is no way on day 7 that you will be able to drive the coast road from LA to SF, it would require an overnight stop or travel inland.

Similar Threads

  1. Portland, OR to Atlanta GA in late November
    By cvicurnpdx in forum Fall & Winter RoadTrips
    Replies: 7
    Last Post: 06-05-2009, 02:03 PM
  2. Grand Canyon Area November 2008
    By glasswestbrook in forum Fall & Winter RoadTrips
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 03-17-2008, 04:29 PM
  3. SF-Sequoia NP - Vegas Late November with toddlers
    By klappera in forum Fall & Winter RoadTrips
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 09-12-2007, 02:26 PM
  4. Crossing the northern US or Canada in late November
    By Ali in forum Fall & Winter RoadTrips
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 06-05-2007, 10:25 PM
  5. NYC to San Fran in late November - best route?
    By bbg in forum Fall & Winter RoadTrips
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 11-14-2005, 11:35 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •