Advice on San Fran to Las Vegas Road Trip

[benitoapollonio]

Hey guys,

Myself and 5 friends are planning on road tripping in / around California this summer. We arrive in Los Angeles on the 24th June and are planning to then rent a car and head up the coast and finish in San Fran - we have our route / plan sorted for this so no advice needed on that but it's the next part of the trip we would like some advice on.

We plan to hand the car back in in San Fran and then hire an RV or camper and make our way to Vegas via Yosemite, Death Valley and basically the most beautiful route we possibly can. It's going to be in July and we have 8 days for the San Fran - Vegas leg of the trip.

Can anybody recommend specific RV/Camper rental companies?
How much are we looking at spending for the hire / rental?
What would be the best route?
What should we definitely not miss off seeing in that part of the trip?

I know these are quite broad questions but any advice at all would be much appreciated. Thanks!

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

I would recommend looking at just renting one vehicle for the entire trip. It's likely going to save you money, and it will certainly save you a lot of time. You might also look at finishing your trip back in LA, which might save you some money.

Cruise America, El Monte, and Camping World are a few of the largest RV companies, but you really have to shop around to get an idea of price. There are plenty of other companies out there too, but if you go with a small company, make sure you know their policies if you have some kind of break down.

Also, with any of the RV companies, you're going to have to see their policies in regards to Death Valley, as many of them do have restrictions on using RVs there during summer months.

There aren't generic "best routes" but the obvious choice based on what you've already said is to go from SF to Yosemite, over Tioga Pass, and through Death Valley to Vegas. From there, you could also look at some places in Utah, like Zion and Bryce, or to the Grand Canyon, depending upon the time you want to spend in SF and Vegas, etc.

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

Your holiday would be cheaper if you were to rent one vehicle for the whole trip and create a loop. With 5 people sharing the costs, it certainly makes an RV a viable option, the one thing you won't be able to do in an RV is cross Death valley, as it is not permitted during the summer months. If nothing is yet booked you could look at which City (LA,LV or SF) offers the best air fares and RV deals combined and start from there. (Example) From LA you could head to the Grand canyon NP >Vegas>Sequoia NP>Yosemite>SF and then head south down the coast back to LA, putting the Ocean on your side of the road. Cruise America usually offer good value compared to other companies, but their fleet are usually a bit more 'used' coming with the odd graze or ding but they have always been reliable. It's really a case of shopping around and seeing what suits your needs as deals change.