Roadtrip - Vegas - Yosemite - Coast/Big Sur - San Francisco

[Jonnibgood]

Hi there

Anyone got any tips for someone taking a week (after leaving las vegas where spending 4 days inc a visit to Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam) to do the above trip - plan is to drive from Las Vegas to Yosemite then across to the coast to take in places like Hearst Castle, Big Sur, Monterey etc and spend 3 days in San Francisco before flying home... trip planned for the start of September. Recommendations for places to stay especially in Yosemite very much welcomed!

Thank you all in advance!


J

[PNW Judy]

How much time are you allowing for the "drive from Las Vegas to Yosemite then across to the coast to take in places like Hearst Castle, Big Sur, Monterey etc" leg of the trip?

Are you doing hotels only or are you considering doing some camping?

[Jonnibgood]

still very much in the planning stages of the trip but at the moment thinking of leaving las vegas on a Friday morning, spending the weekend at yosemite and then spending about 3 days driving to San Francisco stopping off at the various places!

it will all be in hotels - my girlfriend isn't the camping type!

thanks for your help Judy!

[PNW Judy]

There's a lot of different routes to take to get to Yosemite from Vegas. I hope you take some time to poke around here and read about them.

I'm a bit confused as you don't drive the coast to get from Yosemite to San Francisco. Are you planning on going south first and then driving back up to San Francisco along the coast?

I'm not a real expert on this area having only driven the San Francisco to LA route twice in the last 25 years.

I can tell you that Hearst's Castle is about 120 miles from San Francisco and that you will want to be there first thing in the AM and plan to spend the whole day there to see everything. There are several package tours available at their website. It's recommended that you make reservations in advance for the tour you want to take.

It's a shame that they changed the tours years ago. The first time I went to Hearst's Castle, you could simply roam the grounds at will, for as long as you wanted, with docents being stationed in different areas to answer questions. It's much more regimented now.

I hope someone with more specific suggestions on hotels will pop in here to give you a bit more help.

[Mark Sedenquist]

still very much in the planning stages of the trip but at the moment thinking of leaving las vegas on a Friday morning, spending the weekend at yosemite and then spending about 3 days driving to San Francisco stopping off at the various places!

Judy does have a point -- Driving to Big Sur from Yosemite with a final destination of San Francisco is a little unusual -- but, hey! this is a road trip and you get decide what route you want to follow. What I would suggest is that you drop south on California route 41 past Route-99, past Interstate 5, past the US-101 and all the way to the coast highway at Morro Bay. From there you can turn north and follow the Coast Highway to San Francisco. Cayacos is a cool little town with a couple of fun motels right on the beach. One of the best guides to the coast highway was written by Paige Penland and I suggest you pick on up for the best in insider tips about loding and dining choices along the route.

Mark