LA-San Diego-Vegas-San Fran-LA!!15 days!

toby2111

Hi Everyone!!

My girlfriend and I just booked flights for the trip of a lifetime this summer 2009.So,thought I'd try get advice on planning it....hopefully some of you guys can help!!
So,heres the deal.We land LAX 2pm Sat 27th June and am going to rent a car(Chevy Cobalt,Pontiac G6 etc) or maybe a Chevy Equinox as we plan to do a bit of driving.Heres a very rough itinerary,so please feel free to recommend changes or add on anything!!

*June 27th-Land LAX,pick up car/4x4,go south towards San Diego.Dont fancy staying in LA cos I was there before,didnt think much of it.
*28,29,30th June-Chill and explore San Diego.
*July 1,2,3-Hit Vegas and party hard!
*July 4th-Tempted to stay in Vegas for Independence Day but could be too costly so might head towards Death Valley,Yosemite,Tahoe and spend 4th,5th,6th July along here.
*7th,8th,9th,10th July-Pull into San Fran,chill and explore.
*11th,12th,13th July-Explore coast from SF to LA along route 1,maybe stay in Monterrey,Carmel,Santa Barbara etc.
*14th July-Arrive into LA,explore a little bit cos have early flight home on 15th July!!

So,thats about it folks!I might be taking on a bit too much but we both will share the driving.So basically looking for recommendations re: this trip and also any hints/tips re: car rental or just general good old friendly advice!!!Carhire3000 seem to be very good value for car rental but are getting mixed reviews online.Has anyone used them before?

Much appreciated,

Toby

rossie1977

seems to be nicely spaced and not a huge amount of driving in one day. july in vegas will be hot but at least you can get out of the heat there, it will be stupidly hot in death valley with no protection and they close the park if it gets above 120F which is roughly 49 celsius, don't bother with death valley if it gets above 100F because you will cook out in the desert and its extremely isolated

my advice would be to stay in vegas for july 4th it will be mental there that night, book early and you will get a good deal and hotel prices in vegas have fallen big time in the last 6 months with the recession. head then to tahoe.

toby2111

Thanks rossie1977,

Yeh,I heard Death Valley can be extremely hot but read online that a stop in Furnace Creek was supposed to be fantastic and highly recommended.Would Yosemite be worth a night or two??Figured that Tahoe would be too much of a drive out of the way en route to San Fran but again heard its beautiful.Might take a day off the San Fran,route 1,drive to LA and go to Tahoe instead?I take it you've done the trip before???Or you're from there??Thanks for the advice so far,appreciate it!!:)

rossie1977

yosemite is easily worth a day, i was there in early june about 8 years back and the spring melt was in full flow so all the waterfalls/rivers were at bursting point and it was a site to behold in its beauty, my friend went there in late august and her photos look completely different, waterfalls down to a drip

99% of tourists just spend their time in yosemite valley which is huge in its own right but there is a massive park to explore outside the valley, spend at least one night there anyway would be my advice.

death valley for me should only be done in the spring-time when the flowers are in bloom, death valley is the hottest place on planet earth, you are not even safe in your car if it gets too hot (signs along the road in and near DV will warn you "if you smell melting thats your tires")

there is plenty of things to see within 30-45 minutes drive of las vegas strip e.g. red rock canyon, valley of fire, hoover dam/lake mead and the wonderful mount charleston

tahoe is not that much out of the way, we drove that way a few years back, there is nothing between vegas and carson city, 400 miles of nothing, carson city is very close to tahoe and is a big change from the desert landscape

ronbyrne2005

Traffic can be a nightmare between LA and san diego. We were driving from San diego to Vegas and it took about ten hours as the traffic near LA was mental at time of day we went.
Think about visiting Mexico for day? San Diego Zoo and Balboa park are worth a day, as is the harbour in san diego and beach resorts such as mission and pacific beach.
Hoover dam and Yosemite are essentials. You can sleep outdoors in summer in Yosemite , we did. Would consider flying to vegas on cheap flight from San Diego or LA rather than drive all way there and back to coast.

toby2111

Thanks rossie1977 and ronbyrne2005.Its always great to get info from people who have actually done this trip!
rossie1977-so,would I be better off staying out of Death Valley in case the car overheats?I knew it was hot but didnt think that hot!!If so,what would be the best way to drive around Death Valley to get to Yosemite?Or could I just drive through it,then stop off in Yosemite for a day or 2 en route to South Tahoe?
ronbyrne-yeh,I heard drive from san Diego to Vegas could be a long one.Did you take Interstate 15?Or go through Joshua Tree National Park?Either way,I'll be leaving at about 7am that morning to get to Vegas by 3 or 4 hopefully!Will defo,take a quick spin over to Tijuana.Do Zoo,Seaworld etc.My bro stayed in La Jolla before,said its very nice but pricey.Any tips for Vegas i.e hotels,things to do.Will take a spin out to Hoover Dam,Lake Mead,Red Rock Canyon etc.Would love to do a helicopter trip to Grand Canyon seeing as we're close-ish to it but heard its very expensive.
Anyway,thanks again for the advice,keep it coming!!

rossie1977

yeah its not called death valley for nothing, there is your average temperatures, it hit 54 degrees celcius in july 3 years ago, the average day time temperature is 46 degrees there in july, its about 17 here http://weather.yahoo.com/Death-Valley-California-United-States/USCA0286/statistics.html?unit=c

things to do in las vegas, star trek thing now closed since i wrote this http://w3ww.adverts.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055175172

regarding vegas hotels it depends on your budget, first timers to the city should always stay mid-strip, if you have the money (approx $150-$200 a night) to spend on a room stay at the encore or palazzo. a room at the mirage should cost about $100 a night or less these days wonderful hotel and pool area. flamingo will be under $100, so will ballys.

check here for prices http://www.travelaxe.com

special offers will appear here bit early for july offers yet though http://www.smartervegas.com/promotionaldiscountscodes.aspx

actually its not, through that website mirage has an offer of a room for 4 nights (including july 4th) for $400 https://reservations.mgmmirage.com/bookingengine.aspx?host=promo&pid=160&code=35VOLCANO&show=rates&kbid=1162904&sub=727035

treasure island is slightly cheaper at $340 for the 4 nights https://reservations.mgmmirage.com/bookingengine.aspx?pid=170&host=promo&code=DIRECTTI&show=rates&kbid=1162904&sub=727035

toby2111

Thanks rossie1977!!
You're slowly turning into my ideal holiday planner!!!Thanks a million for the advice and tips!I was kinda hoping to stay in Caesars Palace but it looks kinda expensive.Paris Las Vegas looks kinda cool and is quite reasonable at the moment.I wonder would it be best to hold off until May/June before booking hotels,car rental for the whole trip??Hopefully prices might fall even further with this global recession that we constantly hear about!!Well,I'm gonna blow my last few euro's on this trip of a lifetime,might even hit the jackpot in vegas!!Thanks so much again for your advice.If you have any other tips on what to see/do in and around the West Coast,Vegas,Yosemite,San Fran etc,feel free to add...I'm learning quickly!!:D

Toby

rossie1977

caesars is great but its a mix of old and new towers, the older towers were built in the 1960s, early 1970s so the rooms are smaller than the newer palace and augusta towers which were built in 1997 and 2005 respectively

if you can get paris at a good rate, snap it up, if you book through the hotels direct you can always cancel your old booking if a better offer comes along, thats not possible through 3rd party sites of course so be careful

i did a similar trip with the gf last june.

we flew into San Fran, stayed there for 4 nights, rented a car and drove the coast road(highway 1 i think, most scenic drive Ive ever done) to Santa Barbara stopping in Big Sur for a night along the way. Got a train from SB to LA as traffic in LA is nuts, didnt need the hassle of it!

Stayed in LA 2 nights and got a train to San Diego and stayed there 4 nights. We then flew from there to Vegas for our last 4 nights and had a blast in Vegas. It didnt dip below 40C any day we were there !

I think you have a lot of driving packed into your trip to be honest as you only have 2 weeks. California is massive. Do you really need to drive as much? We were gonna drive from San Diego to Vegas but i think its an 8 hour drive or thereabouts, where a flight takes an hour and cost us about $50 !

I must admit though the drive from San Fran to Santa Barbara was one of the highlights for me and will do it again hopefully.

San Fran is an amazing city, Alcatraz is cool,make sure to book a tour well in advance. we rented bikes one of the day and cycled over the golden gate bridge, was something else.

Big Sur- spectacular
Santa Barbara-lovely city, lovely beaches
LA- did the Hollywood bit and that was enough for us.
San Diego- really warm,friendly people and class mexican food !
Vegas- Unreal place. Make sure to book a helicopter ride to the grand canyon, trip of a lifetime.

Hope this helps a bit, just do plenty of research before deciding.

No point spending most of your hols in the car.

Ceartgoleor

Hey, did this last year (admittedly over 3 months almost though), starting in San Francisco and eventually working our way down to San Diego/Tijuana. San Francisco is an incredible multicultural city, there is loads and loads to do there so give yourself plenty of time! Alcatraz usually has to be booked a bit in advance though. Cycling the Golden Gate was our personal highlight of the stay there. Santa Cruz on the coast is absolutely amazing, great for surfing, really chilled out, great place.

Santa Barbara was where we stayed for most of the time, and the place is beautiful. It's like somewhere in the south of france in terms of the relaxed, Mediterranean style vibe to the place, great beaches as someone mentioned earlier, and just twenty minutes out the road is Isla Vista, home to the UCSB campus and possibly one of the best party towns in America!

LA is worth seeing, but it's so big it's kind of hard.

Personally the highlight of our trip out there, and the one place I'd say not to be missed on a trip to Southern Cali is Huntington Beach, we got there for the US Surf Championships last year and the place is absolutely amazing!

toby2111

Hi rarnes1 and ceartgoleor!

Thanks for your tips,appreciate them.

rarnes1-was half thinking of flying from san diego to Vegas but checked google maps,its over 6 hours to drive there...long but theres 2 of us.Plus i'd like to getoutta vegas and explore myself(Lake mead,Hoover Dam,Red Rock canyon) instead of sitting on a tour bus!!Got 18 days in total so plenty of rest time!Plus I hate waiting in airports so reckon its the open highway for me,see a bit of the countryside...or desert!!Getting a good quote for a car from carhire3000.com....dont know if they're good or bad??Anyone use them before?

ceartgoleor-Was in LA before,didnt think much of it,gonna spend 1 night in it before we fly.Prob gonna stay in Huntington Beach first night we get there..any recommendations re:hotels,things to do?And we'll defo stay in Santa Barbara for a night.

Thanks for all the great advice guys,keep it coming!I've got lots of research to do,cant wait!