2 road trip - suggestions required

[ravikiran]

Hello ,

We ( me and my wife) are from singpaore and will be in USA for threes week ( 18june to 8july)
Have planned my trip which includes 2 road trip . Kindly advise suggestions, stopovers, what to see etc. Thanks in advance for all the help and hope this trip is wonderful.

1. We will be in vegas and intend to leave vegas 7:00 am in the morning on 29th June and reach San Fransico by 30th June evening say around 7:00 pm. Intend to drive from Vegas to LA ( KINDLY SUGGEST fastest ROUTE ) drive past HOLLYWOOD Sign , walk for fame .( OTHER Suggestions welcome) and then continue on ROUTE 1 up to SFO. Need to take a place overnight ( SUGGESTIONS welcome) then in the morning conitnue to SFO , again suggestion suggestion what to see where to stop???

2. We will reach niagra on the 5th of july , staying overnight and ready to leave on 6th July afternoon . Need to reach new york on the 7th evening. so please again SUGGESTION what to do where to stop and what to see on the way.


thanks again for all the help

ravi

[Lifemagician]

You may be pushing to do all that, on the west coast. First, there is a landslide blocking CA 1, near Big Sur, so you will need to check at the time to see that it is cleared. Second, driving from LV to LA and wanting to see the Hollywood sign and the walk of fame, will see you well and truly into the afternoon rush hour. And rush hour in LA goes for hours and hours. You would not make it far enough up the coast road, to get to SF the following day.

Assuming the coastal road is open, and you really want to see these attractions in LA, you could stay around Santa Clarita (or further north) and make an early start on day two taking I-5 north to Lost Hills, and then cut across to the coast on 46. It would be a very big day's driving to SF, with not much time to enjoy this magnificent coast.

For me, I would skip LA and all its traffic, and head straight for the coast - which at the best of times, is a two day drive.

[ravikiran]

thanks for the tips. Kindly advise where can I check the status of the highway? Also if I leave vegas at 7:am reaching LA around noon stay there till about 5pm and then do a 4 hour drive on the CA 1, where can I reach for a stopover for the night and then leave say 5 am in the morning for SFO.>?

[Southwest Dave]

I think you my be underestimating the size of LA and it's urban sprawl and to be honest if you want to do LV to LA to SF in 2 days you won't be able to visit the coast and have fun, it would be Interstate for the most part.

Personally speaking, if I had such a limited amount of time I would avoid the hustle and bustle of LA and take one of 2 approaches. That would be to go from LV to the Morro bay area and enjoy the coastal route to SF [subject to status] or, from Las Vegas drive across Death valley on 190 to 395 and head North towards Mono lake and head West on CA120 over the Sierra Nevada into Yosemite on Tioga pass. This journey is as diverse, scenic and exciting as you can get over a 2 day period and will give you a break from City life and offer an insight to the incredible scenic beauty the US has to offer.

[Midwest Michael]

Your goal of leaving Vegas, seeing any of LA, and still making it up the coast at all simply won't work.

LA is a huge place, and the 4 hours you've got planned will just barely give you enough time to make a quick stop in Hollywood. Then trying to leave LA at 5pm? I really don't think you have an appreciation for the kind of traffic you'll be dealing with. You might only make it to Santa Barbara by 9pm. Even if the coast highway is fully reopened, trying to get from there to SF in a day is not going to work well.

[ravikiran]

thanks guys for all the updates, i think i have started to think of skipping LAX, so to skip it what will be the route i take and what to put in the GPS.

Rgds
ravi

[Lifemagician]

,,, and what to put in the GPS.

The gps will probably be quite handy when you are in SF and other larger urban centres. But for laying out the route, and deciding which to take, nothing can beat a good map of California. It will show you where the scenic routes are, as well as the National Parks and other details.

[Midwest Michael]

There's never a single answer.

Dave has given you one very good and popular option.

If you decide that seeing the coast is your top priority, then you'd probably want to head straight across through Bakersfield reaching the coast in the Morro Bay/Cambria area. You'd be taking I-15/CA-58/CA-99/CA-46.

This thread is following the landslide situation in the Big Sur area.

[glc]

Is there any way you can rearrange your trip, and steal a day from somewhere else? With 3 days, you could do LV-LA-SF via the coast road. With only 2 days, I agree, you will have to skip LA.

[Southwest Dave]

Dave. Can you pls explain the second option >>>>>> or, from Las Vegas drive across Death valley on 190 to 395 and head North towards Mono lake and head West on CA120 over the Sierra Nevada into Yosemite on Tioga pass.

This option will not take you to the coast, but it would take you through 2 spectacular National parks, Death valley and Yosemite NP on route to San Fran. Look at the map and you will see the route and then if there is something in particular you would like explained, please ask here in this thread..

Note] We only respond to road trip questions via the forums and not privately as it is beneficial for all.