West Coast Road trip stop offs?

[lozenges]

Sure we can but first we need to know those details of where you are going and then we can add suggestions. So are you already tied into an operators plan and if so what does the full itinerary look like, or can you start planning from scratch ? If you can start over tell us what you would like, does Zion NP appeal to you ? How much of your time do you want to spend in SF, LV and LA ? If you give us an idea of your itinerary we can make meaningful suggestions but it all comes from the detail.

We are tied to the above areas in that order unfortunately. Below are the durations in each place and few ideas of things to visit and do...

San Fran - 3 nights
Alcatraz, Pier 39, Golden Gate Bridge, Vista Point

Yosemite - 1 night
Nevada Falls trail

Mammoth Lakes - 1 night
boating, canoeing, kayaking, Biking

Las Vegas - 2 nights
General look around, get monorail, Fremount st - night glow

Monument Valley - 1 night
Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park

Grand Canyon - 1 night
Sky walk west rim (although this may change to Lifey's suggestion)

Phoenix - 1 night
Balloon ride, guided tour on guads

LA - 3 nights
Walk of fame, Hollywood sign, Beverly Hills - Paley Center for Media, Rodeo Drive, Mulholland Drive, Santa Monica/Venice Beach

San Fran - 1 night
Relax!

We know there is a fair amount of travelling between the places so if you can recommend any stop of places in between we can visit for an hour or so to break up the drive that would be great.

[Midwest Michael]

Not only is the west rim more expensive and less impressive than the national park, it really is out of the way based on your current plan. The Skywalk is accessed by a tribal road that you get to off of US-93 near Kingman - in other words you'd be backtracking most of the way to Vegas, driving past the National Park in the process!

It's also worth noting that just giving yourself 1 day to get from LA to SF would mean you would have to stick to the freeway and wouldn't have time to follow any of the coast - although the big section from Cambria to Monterey through Big Sur is closed for several months (at least) due to mudslide and bridge damage.

[Southwest Dave]

You may want to check out China town in SF and I would certainly recommend you book your tickets in advance for Alcatraz from the only official ticket office.

Any activities you plan on doing at Mammoth lakes I would plan them for early morning before heading towards Las Vegas. You are already very limited on time in Yosemite which is among my favourite places I have been. You could spend a full day in the valley but you really need to see the views of it up on Glacier Point which are spectacular and when you start heading to Mammoth you will need time to enjoy the stops and views along Tioga Pass so you shouldn't plan on arriving to Mammoth until the evening. There is a gas mart as you get near to the junction with 395 where you could turn off at and drive up the hill for views of Mono Lake. In the gas station there is a pretty cool diner called Woah Nellie Deli which serves great food.

From Mammoth, providing you don't get away to late, you could head across Death valley on CA190 to Death valley junction and then take the 'Locals route' along Bell Vista Road into Pahrump and 160 into Vegas. In Death valley you could make quick stops at the Dunes near Stovepipe Wells, Furnace creek and get a good look at the basin from Zabriske point.

You really must visit the south rim of Grand canyon NP and forget about Skywalk as it's a tacky tourist trap designed to lure people to a part of the canyon outside of the National park. If it was anywhere near as good it would be included in the National park system.

[lozenges]

Thanks Michael & Dave, really appreciate your feedback. I've managed to convince my partner to go to the South rim based on your feedback. If we are going to the South Rim, is there an address or zip code I can put into the sat nav for the best way coming from Monument Valley?

We've already got Alctraz booked, we thought this would sell out around the date we went so booked in advance.

Mike, the route you suggest from Mamouth Lakes sounds great, we'll take this way round for sure.

Thanks again guys.

[Southwest Dave]

You shouldn't solely rely on Sat Nav for your travels, always have paper maps as your main source so you can see the bigger picture. From MV you would head WEST ON us163 to 160 and head south on US89 and west again on AZ64 just past Cameron. This takes you to the canyon in the same direction as the river flows carving through the canyon. Lots of great viewpoints along Desert view drive and the first being the Desert view Watchtower which should be on your Sat Nav, but like I said, make sure you have paper maps for your trip.

[lozenges]

Top man Dave. You're a real source of knowledge. Great to have.

[SarahRose]

My family and I went from Los Angeles to San Francisco last summer and a few of our favorite stops were 17 mile drive (a small fee to enter but AMAZING views), the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Winchester Mystery House.

[lozenges]

My family and I went from Los Angeles to San Francisco last summer and a few of our favorite stops were 17 mile drive (a small fee to enter but AMAZING views), the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Winchester Mystery House.

Thank you, really appreciated. I'll take a look at these and get them added to our itinerary. Really appreciated.