Vegas to San Francisco

Giggsy75

I'm planning a trip to Vegas with my partner and we want to drive from Vegas to SF. I just have a few questions. Firstly has anyone on Boards.ie driven this route and if so how long was the journey, is it the one interstate or will we have to go thru many towns/cities? Recommended hotels/motels or sights (Indian reservations etc) along the way.
It's our first time to drive in the states and we've never been to the west coast so we know nothing about the area. Any tips or bits of info would be much appreciated.

rebel.ranter

Hi Gigsy, planning the opposite trip at the end of Sept? You are not in Oz at the moment are you?

ShoulderChip

right well there are a number of things to consider here

firstly you could fly for about 50dollars with southwest airlines

if you are driving you can either go to la and then up the most amazing coast road in the world up to san fran

or you can go up the desert road to san fran.

ShoulderChip

http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055193435
http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=289086

check out them for more detailed information.

Giggsy75

rebel.ranter wrote: »

Hi Gigsy, planning the opposite trip at the end of Sept? You are not in Oz at the moment are you?

Hi rebel.ranter, no I'm not in Oz @ the moment, planning the trip for the middle of Sept till bout 3/4 Oct, should be a blast, can't wait.

ShoulderChip thanx for the links, we really want to do the whole driving thing so if we were to take the desert route how long or complicated is the journey, and are there many sights on the way?

rossie1977

if you are referring to the route through nevada via carson city/reno then that is approx 640 miles on US route 95 basically all the way to carson city (moving to US route 50 just before carson at silver city). From reno its a straight 210 mile journey to san francisco on interstate 80, great scenery as you climb out of nevada and into california for the first time.

if you take that route you pass through some real tiny towns before getting to mount grant a 12,000ft peak and accompanying Walker Lake at its base (approx 300 miles from las vegas), carson city is 100 miles from mount grant and is the state capital of nevada and has a number of casinos and nearby lake tahoe deserves a day or two, reno while a bit run down these still has some good casinos and nightlife although the days when it was nevada's gaming capital (pre 1960s) are long gone. not much to see in northern cali once you leave reno, you pass by sacramento on the way to san fran, we stopped there for a while not a very interesting town and the downtown has its assortment of weird characters

you could also take the slightly shorter route to san fran through california via bakerfield, shorter and alot less desert, i don't know anything about that route though

Giggsy75

Hi Rossie1977, thanx for that info, nice detail Roughly how long did the journey you did take? We'll only have about 8 days in vegas and SF. Also, what are the roads like to travel, we're not quite sure which route to take yet. The Interstates look kinda scary on the tv, spagetti junctions :eek: 8 lanes and what have you. We'll be sharing the driving, neither of us have driven abroad before but we love driving, so what can we expect.

brick tamland

did this years ago. two real options, stay on the highways or go through Yosimite (spelling???) national park. we went thru the park and didnt regret it for one minute. lovely place to see. but it is a very long trip and if flights are cheap i'd do it that way to be honest.

Giggsy75

brick tamland wrote: »

did this years ago. two real options, stay on the highways or go through Yosimite (spelling???) national park. we went thru the park and didnt regret it for one minute. lovely place to see. but it is a very long trip and if flights are cheap i'd do it that way to be honest.

The internal flights are cheap, but we'd love to see some truly amazing sights and a bit of history on the way. Yes the whole flight thing is an option but only as a last resort. I have a mate who's been to Yosemite and he was mad about it too. Thanx for the tips

brick tamland

Giggsy75 wrote: »

The internal flights are cheap, but we'd love to see some truly amazing sights and a bit of history on the way. Yes the whole flight thing is an option but only as a last resort. I have a mate who's been to Yosemite and he was mad about it too. Thanx for the tips

if thats what your looking for then thats would be the best thing for you alright. get yourself a good map , and if your looking to stay in the park book well in advance. we stayed in some small town near the park for one night and we had a great night in there one bar.

Giggsy75

brick tamland wrote: »

if thats what your looking for then thats would be the best thing for you alright. get yourself a good map , and if your looking to stay in the park book well in advance. we stayed in some small town near the park for one night and we had a great night in there one bar.

Cool didn't know you could stay in the park, something else to consider Cheers Brick

rossie1977

Giggsy75 wrote: »

Hi Rossie1977, thanx for that info, nice detail Roughly how long did the journey you did take? We'll only have about 8 days in vegas and SF. Also, what are the roads like to travel, we're not quite sure which route to take yet. The Interstates look kinda scary on the tv, spagetti junctions :eek: 8 lanes and what have you. We'll be sharing the driving, neither of us have driven abroad before but we love driving, so what can we expect.

we did the route in about 16hrs but we stopped off in carson, reno, sacramento and a small casino in the middle of nowhere about 2 hours outside vegas. Total driving time between vegas and SF would be 8-9hrs

as for the roads the highway between vegas and reno is like a normal irish dual carriageway expect once you leave vegas the road is almost totally devoid of traffic and you may go miles without seeing another car depending on the time of day. No spaghetti junctions on that route

the interstate between reno and SF is much busier and some of the drivers are a**holes but if you have driven on the M50 during rush hour then interstates in the west should not hold too many problems. The main problems you will encounter will be entering SF i suspect, everything else shouldn't cause any distress

betonit

we did thi strip a few years ago. Stayed in vegas mon - thurs (1/3 of the weekend price).
Gave ourselves till sunday to get to San Fran. (2 nights, more than enough time You'd be surprised how fast you'd get there)
We went via Death Valley- Yosomite (stayed a night). Nothing planned or booked. Make this a part of you holiday rather than just putting it down as travel time.
After we left yosomite we we went to Santa cruz, This is south about 80miles of san fransisco. This allowed do some of the costal route 1.
We stopped for a night in "half moon bay" stayed in a 1800s style B&b twas a great trip. I'd do it all again. The drive between vegas & san fran was excellent. Dont plan it just gives your selves a few days to get there and stop off in a few places on the way. If you have the time, if not try drive through yosomite.

Giggsy75

We'll probably be in Vegas over a weekend coz we want to catch Cher in Caesars Palace, hope I'm not ripped off with the hotel price. Yosemite will more than likely be on the cards now. Thanx again for all the tips

mcgrate

Yup i did the same trip. Left vegas on a friday and was in San Fran by sunday with not too much driving involved.
Approx 3 hours to death valley from vegas via the outlet malls (yes we got sidetracked there), and red rock canyon. - stayed at the Furnace Creek ranch in Death valley - approx $100 and Fine for one night stay. All facilities onsite and the most amazing scenery you will ever see.
Left earlyish (9am) on sat morning and headed west out of death valley. Be prepared to allow a further 2 hours to get out of the valley from furnace creek. The toughest (and spectacular) driving is on this route. You climb 9,000 ft then plummet down Sea Level again. its like driving on a rollercoaster - pretty slow going but amazing.
Came out of DV at Lone pine and from there its a straight run up to Yosemite and Tioga pass. Takes about 2 or 3 hours to get through yosemite - again depending on if you hike or stop for lunch etc.
Stayed Sat night in Hotel Charlotte in Groveland. Would Highly recommend that hotel. Small place but with a fantastic restaurant. nothing much to do in groveland but we didnt get there till 7ish. HAd dinner then slept.
From grovelands, its a quick 2 hr spin to san francisco...

rebel.ranter

Giggsy75 wrote: »

Hi rebel.ranter, no I'm not in Oz @ the moment, planning the trip for the middle of Sept till bout 3/4 Oct, should be a blast, can't wait.

Hi, I know another Gigsy from Athy, I thought you were him! I am doing a similar trip.
- 21st Sept hitting LA (well Santa Monica) for 4 chill out days,
- then one night in Santa Barbara,
- then 2 nights in Monterey,
- onto Yosemite for 2 nights,
- driving back to San Francisco for 3 nights,
- flying onto Vegas for 3 nights, then finishing up in New York for 5 nights.

Might bump into you on the road!!

niborm

I definitely wouldn't recommend doing the trip in one day - it's just too long and not really all that pretty. However, as the other posters have said Yosemite is incredible and you should definitely have a look there. It was a real highlight...I stayed in Wawona Lodge when there and would def recommend.

dingding

Done a similar trip a couple of years ago in the following direction.

Started off in San Francisco
Monterey - On the old Highway one - coast road.
Santa Barbara
Los Angeles
San Diego
Scottsdale, Arozona
Las Vegas

Done it over 2 weeks spending a couple of nights in each place. Hired a car in SF and left it back to LV no problem.

Great trip.