US West Coast in October

[yandao07]

Hi all, am going down the West Coast with my GF in October, would be grateful for some tips and comments on our draft itinerary ? Going to rent a car to drive around.

1. LA - 2 nights

2. LA drive down to Las Vegas

3. Las Vegas 2-3 nights, including day trip to grand canyon hoover dam etc

4. Las Vegas death valley Yosemite (4 nights?) then drive to san fran

5. Remainder San Fran (including Big Sur)

few questions:

1. anything to see between LA and Las Vegas? Should i break up the drive, i.e. spend a night somewhere and sight see or just drive straight?

2. on the Las Vegas to death valley yosemite route, r there places to stay around there or are these day trips? nt very sure on these.

thanks for all your help!!

 

[butterbarter]

Most people ( including myself ) just drive direct from LA to LV. It's only a few hours, so hardly worth breaking the trip to waste 1 night in the middle of nowhere.

You can do Death Valley as a day trip too. LV itself is pretty dead in the day unless you love gambling. So many people just just buzz off to do day trips to Grand Canyon, Lake Mead, etc.

I wouldn't stay too long in LV though. After 2 nights the casinos and hotels are just a blur of lights and the novelty is gone.

It's quite a long drive to Yosemite, so you'll probably reach there in the late afternoon. There are accomodations within the park itself as well as in small towns just outside the park.

My preference in such cases is to stay in these small towns as they are cheaper and just a few minutes drive from the park, but staying in the park has it's advantages ( though it will likely be more expensive). Just google for info.

Hi all, am going down the West Coast with my GF in October, would be grateful for some tips and comments on our draft itinerary ? Going to rent a car to drive around.

1. LA - 2 nights

2. LA drive down to Las Vegas

3. Las Vegas 2-3 nights, including day trip to grand canyon hoover dam etc

4. Las Vegas death valley Yosemite (4 nights?) then drive to san fran

5. Remainder San Fran (including Big Sur)

few questions:

1. anything to see between LA and Las Vegas? Should i break up the drive, i.e. spend a night somewhere and sight see or just drive straight?

2. on the Las Vegas to death valley yosemite route, r there places to stay around there or are these day trips? nt very sure on these.

thanks for all your help!!

 

[tokyofanboi]

why not just join a land tour est 1.4K include accommodation and transport and theme park tickets.

Do note that Vegas has the lowest tax compare to Los Angeles and San Fransciso. If your GF a shopper, There's North and South premium outlet in vegas and primm. Lots of shopping and makan place such as Gordon Ramsay newly open Burgr restaurant.

 

[invisible999]

(Californian here).

Plan is OK, however...

You know, US is HUGE and take this seriously. From LV to Grand Canyon drive is min 4 hours one way. Unless you leave LV at 7AM and leave GC at 7PM you won't see much there. Trust me, driving could be tiring. If you want to see GC, it is better to check out from LV on afternoon, drive to GC, walk around the rim, stay at Flagstaff, checkout next day, go again back to the rim, walk, hike and leave after this.

As it was said, there is not much to see in Vegas except Strip and that can be done in one or max two days - to walk from one hotel/casino to another one. But if you are not interested in this and gambling is not your cup of tea, then there is nothing for you there.

Drive from LA to LV is waste of time. You will spend minimum 4 hours on this in ideal conditions and if it is weekend, you need to surely double the time due to the jams. Instead hop on Southwest plane and get there in 30 min. Plus rental car rates in LV would be twice cheaper than in LA.

As it was said, Death Valley is a day trip. If you fly to LV at noon, you can see Strip on first day, go to Death Valley on second and GC - on third.

After that I'd rather fly back to LA, get a car and drive on Highway 1 from LA to SF, this one of most beautiful car trips ever and your time would be better spent on this, than on driving in the middle of the desert.

Finally - weather. In october, especially towards the end of it, would be starting to getting cold. Pacific Ocean is very cold and on coast (on Highway 1) temperatures won't exceed 10-15C that time during the day. Be prepared.

Good luck.

 

[Shiny Things]

Invisible999 speaks truth, and I agree with him on almost everything. Couple of things, though:

1) Las Vegas isn't as much of a soulless hellhole as you make it out to be. The Bellagio Fine Art Gallery is small but excellent (and their Warhol Out West exhibition should still be on). The aquarium at Mandalay Bay is huge and fantastic. The restaurants are world-class; the museums (try the Organised Crime museum or the nuclear-testing museum!) are great, and there's hidden little gems like the Pinball Museum on East Flamingo, about 10 minutes' taxi ride off the strip.

Plus the Valley of Fire and the Hoover Dam are both an hour or two down the road and utterly incredible.

2) He's right; don't drive to Vegas from LA, it'll drive you mad. Fly instead. (I prefer Virgin America to Southwest, but either is fine).

3) You can easily leave an entire week for that drive from Las Vegas - Death Valley - Yosemite - SF. On the way, here's another couple of options:
* The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest, near the town of Bishop (which incidentally is a nice place to stay) - a grove of 4,000-year-old pine trees surviving in incredibly harsh conditions, 11,000 feet up in the White Mountains.
* Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur: when you drop down out of Yosemite, you'll come out around Fresno or Merced, and from there it's an easy two-hour drive over to Monterey. From there, you can head south along CA-1, which takes you through Carmel and Big Sur; I'd recommend going all the way south to Pismo Beach, then turning around there and heading back up 101. From Pismo, you can be back at SFO and dropping off your car in about three hours flat.

4) Places to stay on the LV-DeathValley-Yosemite-Monterey-BigSur-Pismo-SFO route? Sure! Here you go:
Furnace Creek Ranch in Death Valley; Creekside Inn in Bishop; for Yosemite, anywhere in Mariposa or Oakhurst; for Monterey, the Intercontinental The Clement (right on the waterfront); for Santa Cruz, if you decide to go there (and you should) either the Beach Street Inn or the Sea and Sand Inn; for Big Sur, the Glen Oaks lodge; for Pismo Beach, the Best Western Shore Cliff Lodge. You're welcome.

 

[invisible999]

11,000 feet up in the White Mountains.

Ahem, temperatures there in October will be below freezing, even if roads are open.

P.S. Are you living in SF? If you do not mind, when next time I will stop at SF, I can drop a message and we can meet at *$ and share travel stories.

 

[yandao07]

thanks all for the replies, really appreciate it!!!

We'll change our itinerary such that we'll fly straight to LV instead of driving.

Just a few more questions:

1. i'm looking to buy a laptop there, is there a good place to get in LA or should i go LV or San Fran? Or is it possible to order online to deliver to my hotel?

2. We're still planning drive on from LV to the Yosemite, death valley route - understand highway 1 looks great but we're planning to see it when driving down big sur from san fran.

thanks all again!!!

 

[invisible999]

1. i'm looking to buy a laptop there, is there a good place to get in LA or should i go LV or San Fran? Or is it possible to order online to deliver to my hotel?

Fry's Electronics, Best Buy and Micro Center are retail places you want to go for that to see/touch what you want to buy. Fry's usually has the best selection, plus often there are promotions/discounts.

Check each site, see which model you are interested in and then check the retail store, however at store they usually have subset of choices available online.

Fry's and Best Buy have presence in at all three locations. Micro Center has stores in SF Bay Area, not sure about other two locations. I'd recommend to go and buy at store rather than online. Less hassle.

2. We're still planning drive on from LV to the Yosemite, death valley route - understand highway 1 looks great but we're planning to see it when driving down big sur from san fran.
thanks all again!!!

Good luck.

 

[yandao07]

Fry's Electronics, Best Buy and Micro Center are retail places you want to go for that to see/touch what you want to buy. Fry's usually has the best selection, plus often there are promotions/discounts.

Check each site, see which model you are interested in and then check the retail store, however at store they usually have subset of choices available online.

Fry's and Best Buy have presence in at all three locations. Micro Center has stores in SF Bay Area, not sure about other two locations. I'd recommend to go and buy at store rather than online. Less hassle.


Good luck.

thanks alot man!! really appreciate your help!

 

[Shiny Things]

Ahem, temperatures there in October will be below freezing, even if roads are open.

Nah, you're probably looking at highs in the single digits above freezing. Still, it'll almost certainly be open - the White Mountains are bone-dry, and the park doesn't usually close until November. Just wrap up warm, because the bristlecone pines are spectacular. It's worth it.

Note to OP: if you're going in the third or fourth week of October, there's a slight chance the Tioga Road (CA-120) through Yosemite will be closed. Check this website for updates; in the very unlikely event that we get a huge dump of snow in the next six weeks and the road closes, you'll need to drive a bit further north and take CA-108 across the Sierras instead.

If you're going in the first or second week of October, you can basically disregard the above.

P.S. Are you living in SF? If you do not mind, when next time I will stop at SF, I can drop a message and we can meet at *$ and share travel stories.

Yeah, absolutely. West coast best coast, right?

 

[invisible999]

Note to OP: if you're going in the third or fourth week of October, there's a slight chance the Tioga Road (CA-120) through Yosemite will be closed. Check this website for updates; in the very unlikely event that we get a huge dump of snow in the next six weeks and the road closes, you'll need to drive a bit further north and take CA-108 across the Sierras instead.

If you're going in the first or second week of October, you can basically disregard the above.

You have no idea what weather might do. About 10 years ago IIRC all three mountain passes were closed in October. But you are right, chances are low.

Yeah, absolutely. West coast best coast, right?

Exactly.

 

[Matt.Lee]

Hi guys any idea what the temperature will be like in the 3-4 week of dec?

 

[Shiny Things]

Exactly.

I clicked that and was expecting this.

 

[Shiny Things]

Hi guys any idea what the temperature will be like in the 3-4 week of dec?

Here's the medians from a quick romp through Wikipedia:

San Francisco: high 15, low 8

Los Angeles: high 14, low 9

San Diego: high 18, low 9; delightful.

Las Vegas: high 13, low 4; decent chance of freezing, outside chance of snow.

Flagstaff/Grand Canyon: high 5, low -10; don't bother

Seattle: high 7, low 2; rainy and cold, basically don't bother

SLC: high 3, low -6; snowy; only if you're into snowsports

Denver: high 6, low -9; snowy; don't bother

Palm Springs: high 21, low 7; delightful

Phoenix: high 19, low 8; miserable hellhole

Honolulu: high 27, low 20; THIS. DO THIS

Road forecast: I-80 will open and close intermittently; most of the other roads over the Sierras (between California and Nevada) will be closed for the season. If you're thinking of travelling intercity, you should fly instead of driving, except for SF-LA-SD or LA-LV. SF to Las Vegas is not gonna happen.

 

[invisible999]

SF to Las Vegas is not gonna happen.

On December 31 1999 I drove from Flagstaff, AZ to SF. We left at 9AM, at 9PM we've been home with two stops for gas and one stop for lunch/dinner. Quickly everyone went home to change/shower and after two hours get back together for New Year celebration.

Those were days of doing crazy things...

 

[yandao07]

Hi guys, sorry ar, had to revise my itinerary cause we thought of focusing more on the highway 1 stuff.

1. SG to LA to LV

2. day at LV - drive at 3pm night to flagstaff

3. Grand Canyon Hoover Dam etc

4. Flight from Flagstaff air port to Carmel Monterey

5. explore big sur area (stay a night there?)

6. Monterey in the day - drive to Oakhurst

7. day at yosemite

8. Oakhurst drive to Santa Barbara (stay the night?)

9 santa cruz

10 drive to san fran 5 days

Few questions:

1. are the small highway 1 towns worth staying or are they day trip towns?

2. on big sur, shld i stay at big sur or shld i base myself at Carmel and drive in?

3. any other general comments would really be helpful!!


thank you!!!!!

 

[Shiny Things]

Few questions:

1. are the small highway 1 towns worth staying or are they day trip towns?

2. on big sur, shld i stay at big sur or shld i base myself at Carmel and drive in?

Answering two questions at once: Pismo Beach is a nice place to spend the night on your way up, yes; and definitely stay in Big Sur (at the Glen Oaks Motor Lodge, if you can get it).

3. any other general comments would really be helpful!!

General comment: did you look at that route on a map? It looks like an ant's smoked some of Humboldt County's finest and then walked over your map.

Here, this is what you're trying to do. Don't do that.

Firstly, a few itinerary fixes:
1) There's no direct flight Flagstaff -> Monterey - you'll end up with a layover in Phoenix no matter which way you slice it. If you're going to do that, you might as well fly back to SFO instead and rent the car out of there.

1a) Flagstaff's only served by one airline (US Airways), so flying out of there is going to be expensive as hell. Once you've seen the Grand Canyon, you'll want to double back to Las Vegas - you can get a nonstop to SFO from there, and you can also save yourself the rental car one-way fee.

I just checked FLG-MRY vs LAS-SFO for mid-October, and it looks like Flagstaff-Monterey is three times more expensive and three times longer. Don't do it.

2) You have so many loops and doublebacks it's not funny. Try this route instead:

• Fly into SFO
• Oakhurst/Yosemite
• Pismo Beach
• Drive up Highway 1 to Big Sur
• Continue to Monterey and Santa Cruz
• Drop the car back at SFO

It's 200 miles shorter (a good four or five hours), and you don't have the huge, boring loop down to Santa Barbara (which takes you so far out of your way that you have to go into outer Los Angeles).

It'll also be cheaper to rent the car out of SFO; you'll have a better range of vehicles to pick from; and you won't have to pay a one-way fee for picking up at MRY and dropping back at SFO.

Edit: ooh another thought - spend a full day (i.e. two nights) in Las Vegas. It'll help you get over the jetlag if you spend the day walking around in the sun, then have a huge dinner and collapse.

 

[Dr.Vijay]

Your option is much more cleaned up!

Oh and another option is to visit Hearst Castle - should be on the way.

Answering two questions at once: Pismo Beach is a nice place to spend the night on your way up, yes; and definitely stay in Big Sur (at the Glen Oaks Motor Lodge, if you can get it).

General comment: did you look at that route on a map? It looks like an ant's smoked some of Humboldt County's finest and then walked over your map.
.......
Edit: ooh another thought - spend a full day (i.e. two nights) in Las Vegas. It'll help you get over the jetlag if you spend the day walking around in the sun, then have a huge dinner and collapse.

 

[yandao07]

• Fly into SFO
• Oakhurst/Yosemite
• Pismo Beach
• Drive up Highway 1 to Big Sur
• Continue to Monterey and Santa Cruz
• Drop the car back at SFO

Edit: ooh another thought - spend a full day (i.e. two nights) in Las Vegas. It'll help you get over the jetlag if you spend the day walking around in the sun, then have a huge dinner and collapse.

thanks!! Just a few follow-up qns (pls?)

1. i agree with the fly into SF part, just that it'll mean that the day will be quite shag man. I'll be driving to from flagstaff to LV(4-5hrs?), then LV fly to SF, then SF drive (3.5 hrs?)?

am i missing anything? Sry man, getting abit old and weak, haha!

2. question on the flights? I'll be flying into LA at 1.30pm, will i be cutting it too thin if i book a 5pm flight into LV?

Your option is much more cleaned up!

Oh and another option is to visit Hearst Castle - should be on the way.

yup would drop by!


Thanks all!! Really really appreciate your help!!!

 

[invisible999]

It looks like an ant's smoked some of Humboldt County's finest and then walked over your map.

My first thought too. Generic rule - unless it is a round trip, avoid backtracking and if you have to do that use different means of transport.