Roadtripping in an RV

[Tamara Cross]

Hey guys & gals,

My fiance and I and another couple are going on our honeymoon in September. We're flying into LA, then had an idea of driving to San Fran, staying there for 3 days, then making our way to Vegas via Napa. Stay in vegas for 3 days then make our way back to LA (including Grand Canyon) where we fly out.

I am opting for the RV option as it will save us a bit of money, however the friend we are travelling with wants to look into the option of hiring a car and staying at hotels/motels along the way.

So She is going to come up with a plan for her suggestion and I'm going to come up with the RV option (with all of your help).

A bit about the 4 of us. We are all in our early 30s, no kids. We're all quite active, not really into museums, enjoy a vino or two. We know we want to bike across the golden gate, go on a night tour to Alcatraz, visit Napa valley and the grand canyon. Other than that open to suggestions of fun places to visit and things to do for fun, active, lively 30 yr olds.

So I would like to reach out and ask for all of your help for suggestions for
- best route from LA to San Fran then San Fran to Vegas, Vegas to LA
- Places to stay (park the RV)
- Sites to visit along the way

I look forward to all you're help.

Tam

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

With 4 of you travelling and sharing the costs it does make an RV a more affordable choice but it would not save you much money [if any] compared to a car and Motel rooms, not by the time you consider the high fuel costs, campground fees and extra rental costs like kitchen and bedding kits and possible preparartion fees etc. An RV can however offer a great 'Lifestyle' choice, if it's what you all decide it's what you want to do.

That will also depend on how your trip will balance out, as an RV is great when exploring the great outdoors such as National parks where lodging can be expensive and camping is cheap. However in the City an RV can be hard work and RV resorts can be as expensive per night as a Motel room and in a lot of cases, not much more than a 'parking lot for RV's'.

As for your route, well the first thing you could consider is reversing it and then you will be heading south down the coast and will have the Ocean on your side of the road which is convenient for the Oceanside viewpoints. The journey between Monterey and the Cambria area is spectacular around Big Sur so you should take the coast road [CA1] which would take at least one overnight stop. Between San Fran and Vegas you have Yosemite NP, a true wonder of the National Parks. You don't say how long you have in total for your trip but you could also look to visit National parks in Southern Utah, like Bryce and Zion as well as Monument valley tribal park in AZ.

I would recommend you look at the links in this thread [including our RV trip from SF] and sit down with your friends with a good map and see what you all want from the trip. Once you have figured that out we can help piece it together, and help you get the best from your trip. We personally love the RV lifestyle, but if you are planning a majority of your time to be spent in the City, it's not really the best choice, or the budget friendly one. Away from the urban areas, now that's a whole new ball game !!