Driving Vegas to San Fran via La

grange mac

I drove this route few years ago but went via yeosmite
This time going through La. Any ideas what we should do we have 2 weeks from mid Oct.

So far we have 3 nights in vegas ( where should we hire a car!) and staying 2 nights in santa monica so can travel to La on a day trip.

I know La is a kip but she wants to see it ....any water parks/gun ranges open that time of year as that is more my scene. She plans on shoppn and going to Universal in La.

Thanks for all assistance.

InTheTrees

grange mac wrote: »

I drove this route few years ago but went via yeosmite
This time going through La. Any ideas what we should do we have 2 weeks from mid Oct.

So far we have 3 nights in vegas ( where should we hire a car!) and staying 2 nights in santa monica so can travel to La on a day trip.

I know La is a kip but she wants to see it ....any water parks/gun ranges open that time of year as that is more my scene. She plans on shoppn and going to Universal in La.

Thanks for all assistance.

Santa Monica is in LA. Its a massive city. Some parts are certainly kips but as a whole it isnt at all. Hollywood, Beverley hills, Santa Monica, the beaches etc. Its world class and its big enough that you shouldnt get bored.

You have to drive though. Its huge and spread out with little public transport and a lot of freeways. I think it gets a bad reputation from people not understanding the need for a car and expecting there to be buses.

InTheTrees

Nevada has different gun laws to California which is why the gun ranges in las Vegas can offer full auto machine guns. That's why its a big tourist thing in Vegas now. Fun too.

If you don't need machine guns, you can go and rent hand guns at regular gun shops in california that have ranges attached. Google gun shops and call them and ask.

InTheTrees

The coast road between la and sf is spectacular. You want to allow two nights to do it well.

Sinfonia

InTheTrees wrote: »

Santa Monica is in LA. Its a massive city. Some parts are certainly kips but as a whole it isnt at all. Hollywood, Beverley hills, Santa Monica, the beaches etc. Its world class and its big enough that you shouldnt get bored.

You have to drive though. Its huge and spread out with little public transport and a lot of freeways. I think it gets a bad reputation from people not understanding the need for a car and expecting there to be buses.

This. Santa Monica is a lovely area, but getting to downtown LA by bus from there could be up to 2hrs if there's traffic. About 30-40mins in a car. Even downtown to Hollywood is a huge trek without one.

InTheTrees

Yup. Also "Downtown LA" is like the City Of London, its all banks and financial institutions with nothing for tourists. Dry and dull and closed after about six in the evening. Dont be lured there thinking its the City Centre.

Poiteen

Is there anything you're particularly interested in seeing? I live in LA and would be happy to point you to lots of cool things to see.

My family usually loves to hit the outlet malls when they visit, I'm pretty sure there are some big ones to the east of LA, that you can stop off at on your way from Vegas.

Universal is like a hybrid theme park and studio tour. Warner bros is better for really seeing around the working parts of an actual studio, and six flags is better as a pure theme park for roller coasters etc. Six Flags will only be open on the weekends in October because it's off-season, and the water park will be closed.

grange mac

Thank you,

May take you up on that.Herself intends to go shopping & go to Universal. Im an outdoors kinda guy..would have liked the water park but however..I just dont want to be bored while we go from vegas to san fran!

Poiteen

You certainly shouldn't be lacking for outdoors things to see. You said you visited Yosemite last time, if you liked that, I would highly recommend Sequoia National Park / Kings Canyon National park which are the lower part of the same forest and really really beautiful. Red Rock Canyon is a very different kind of landscape, but pretty amazing too. It's got those crazy rock formations you see in old western movies.

If you want to let your wife go shopping on the third street promenade in Santa Monica, you could go surfing on the beach, or rent a bike and cycle down the bike path. If you don't want to surf, you can rent stand up paddle boards in the Marina - it's easier than surfing, and still gets you out on the water.

They're going to be showing free movies on the pier in Santa monica on Fridays during October: http://santamonicapier.org/frontporchcinema/

Most tourists go to Third Street to hang out, but Main street is much cooler and has a great vibe in the evening, and has lots of great restaurants: http://www.mainstreetsm.com/index.php. Also on Main street is Food Truck Tuesdays: https://www.facebook.com/smfoodtrucklot, and a farmers market on Sunday morning.

If you're looking for fairly cheap food, Taco's Por Favor on Olympic Blvd is fantastic mexican food. Make sure to get some of the Agua Fresca.

For what it's worth, some of my favourite things in LA are: Driving out to Malibu as the sun goes down, cycling on the bike path, discovering all kinds of food from all of the various immigrant communities here (Mexican, Salvadoran, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Japanese), the super fresh food from the farmers markets, the views from the Getty Center and the Griffith Observatory, LACMA (art museum), visiting the various small breweries around (Golden State in Glendale is cool), going to basketball games at Staples Center.

grange mac

Poiteen,

Thank you for all that detail. Can you also tell me about theme parks...like rollercoasters etc

Thank you again.

Poiteen

Ok, so the major theme parks are: Disney (including Disney California Adventure), Universal, Six Flags Magic Mountain and Knotts Berry Farm.

Disney is obviously the headliner, but it really is designed for kids, the whole thing impressive, but the rides are pretty tame.

Universal you're going to anyway, it's kind of a studio tour with some rides thrown in. I haven't been there myself, but my family enjoyed it.

Six Flags and Knotts Berry Farms are the places to go for rollercoasters. They both have water parks, but they'll be closed for the season when you get here. In October they're both only open on weekends, Six Flags is open Fri-Sun, and Knott's Berry Farm is Thurs-Sun.

I've only been to Six Flags and not Knott's Berry Farm, but most people say that Six Flags has the better rollercoasters. My sister, who really loves rollercoasters, and has been to most of the theme parks in the UK had a great time at Six Flags. Knott's Berry Farm is going to open a Halloween themed area called Knott's Scary Farm, which might be fun, if you're in to that.

If you go to Disney, Six Flags or Knott's Berry Farm, I would give them the whole day. You can be done with Universal in a half day probably. Whichever one you go to, I would advise you to leave as early as you can manage (I know you'll be on holidays) in the morning. All the traffic goes towards Santa Monica in the morning, and away from it in the evening. Travel time from Santa Monica to Universal is probably 1.15 hours in the morning (before 11am) after that it will take longer and longer. I wouldn't be surprised if it took over 2 hours. Actually that timing is probably about what you should expect for Six Flags and Knotts Berry Farm too.

If you go to Six Flags the morning is definitely the best. We got there about 10.30 and for the first hour or so we only had to wait 15-20 mins for the rides, after lunch most of the good rides had long long waits. When you get there, go as deep in to the park as you can stand - there will be less crowds and you can get a few rides in quickly.

If I was you, here's what I would do - on the last morning in LA, I would drive north to Six Flags, have fun all day, and then head back to the coast (via the 118) and maybe spend that night in Ventura or Santa Barbara. That way you don't have to deal with getting back in to LA traffic, and then back out again the next day.

grange mac

Ok im sold on 6 flags. What I will do so is base us in santa monica for a week 4-5 days making sure its through weekend. After that we can head onto san fran for last few days.

Whats story with driving there..should I get a bus or drive? Last q for now...theme park tickets buy in advance, buy at hotel or buy at entrance?

corcaigh07

let us know your plans and how it goes, Grange Mac. I'm interested in doing something similar to you soon, although I'll probably incorporate San Diego into my trip, not too far out of the way from LA onto Vegas.

grange mac

corcaigh07 wrote: »

let us know your plans and how it goes, Grange Mac. I'm interested in doing something similar to you soon, although I'll probably incorporate San Diego into my trip, not too far out of the way from LA onto Vegas.

Will do, no bother. Must google San Diego to see where exactly it is. People keep all tips coming esp you poiteen!!

Poiteen

In LA, driving is almost always going to be faster and easier than public transport. The one exception I'd say, is Hollywood. Parking in Hollywood is a total nightmare, so if you're stopping off there, the metro is a good idea. Coming from Santa Monica you could drive to Culver City, park at the Metro stop (there's a huge car park), and from there you can get the Metro to Hollywood/Highland (Where the Chinese Theatre is and where the Oscars are held). Universal is one more stop on the metro from Hollywood. There's one change on the Metro, so it's not really that much of a time saver, but it eliminates the parking headache. If you are just going to universal, and leaving out Hollywood, you might as well drive there. Then you could stop in at Griffith Park and see the observatory while you're in that neighbourhood.

I think I got our tickets for Six Flags online in advance, but I don't remember if there's a discount, sorry I don't really know about deals on tickets. There used to be special residents discounts for Disney, but they discontinued that.

grange mac

I owe you few brews for all the tips!!

tobyjensen

Remember to leave Vegas on nights other than Sunday (maybe Saturday too) because that's when everybody's driving back home to LA. Did that once on a holiday weekend. Trip took four times longer than normal.

Poiteen

oh yes, good point toby.

And also Grange Mac, I don't know how much of the california coast you've seen before, but make sure to leave enough time for the drive north. You want to make sure that you're driving the section of road between San Luis Opisbo and Monterrey in the daylight. Not only is it one of the most beautiful sections of road in the country, but it's pretty treacherous at night

InTheTrees

Poiteen wrote: »

oh yes, good point toby.

And also Grange Mac, I don't know how much of the california coast you've seen before, but make sure to leave enough time for the drive north. You want to make sure that you're driving the section of road between San Luis Opisbo and Monterrey in the daylight. Not only is it one of the most beautiful sections of road in the country, but it's pretty treacherous at night

If you can take 101 if it's going to be dark. Shame though. On hwy one there's a huge advantage in going south to north rather than north to south because you'll be on the inside lane of the road. Much more relaxing. Going south you're on the outside lane with a 300 foot cliff just off your right wheel and it can be a white knuckle experience.

grange mac

Didnt see any of coast before. Last time drove vegas through yesomite. onto san fran.

I intend to do all driving during day as found night driving on minor roads tough.Hardest part was taking a left turn...forgot to keep it wide...next thing had pair headlights facing me...so lets just say didnt forget that.

Will all my driving not be north?

Poiteen

Well of course that's entirely up to you. But I don't think I'm over stating it when I say that driving Highway 1 between San Luis Opisbo to Monterey is one of the top 3 tourist attractions in the whole state. Since you're making the drive to San Francisco anyway, and you seem to have time in your schedule, it's well worth taking the coast road.

Since you want to be in daylight all the way to Carmel or Monterey, it's worth stopping off for a night somewhere north of LA.

tricky D

Is SLO still a complete no smoking town? Heard the mayor there even banned it in private homes some years ago. Any other do's and don't's for smokers?

/just 2 days to go now....:)

grange mac

Dont smoke!!

grange mac

Where should I get a car and insurance...carhire000- ever hear of them?

Herself is nervious as we hav no accomo booked but im sure well b grand...wont we?

InTheTrees

No harm in having a reservation for Santa Monica, and you can get good deals online for Las Vegas so its worth looking.

As for insurance on car hire. Different states have different rules so its hard to say but dont skimp on it. Nothing like peace of mind when you're in a foreign country.

tricky D

I'm in Santa Monica right now on my SF/LA/LV/Yosemite/SF trip. Here's some of my take. The PCH/route 1 is spectacular. Spend 2 nights if you have the time, maybe Monterrey and San Simeon. Hearst Castle is right beside San Simeon and should be booked in advance for the morning after. Do not drive it at night as it's a waste of scenery in many parts and dangerous/challenging in others.

I've heard that carhire2000 are not the best.

Get a rental with Loss Damage Waiver for peace of mind. It's worth it. Same for regular travel insurance. My bags got lost in London along with 250 others on the flight, but with loads of cover and stuff borrowed from friend in SF it's not so bad.

10351 Santa Monica Blvd has the SmithHouse with about 120 beers on draught. I would advise you to book accommodation in advance.

If or when I think of anything else, I'll post in the day or 2.

Patrick

I'm planning on doing a similar trip in November (Seattle -> LA). I'm wondering if I need to get an International Driving License or is my full Irish driving license enough? We'll be renting a car so I guess the rental company will require an international one?

tricky D

Patrick wrote: »

I'm planning on doing a similar trip in November (Seattle -> LA). I'm wondering if I need to get an International Driving License or is my full Irish driving license enough? We'll be renting a car so I guess the rental company will require an international one?

No need. Tatty paper one is fine.

grange mac

Guys countdown is on...slight issue though, cant get any search engine to give me list cars to choose for journey from vegas to san fran...any ideas appreciated

InTheTrees

Well there's lot of choice. Personally I'd go for something Honda Civic/Toyota Corolla sized. You'll be spending a long time in it so dont get a tiny one, it'll give you a headache after a few hundred miles.

The Civic/Corolla size will give you enough room with good gas mileage. I believe in car rental parlance its a "sub compact".

One size larger and you'll probably be into American cars (there are also smaller american cars but I'd opt for japanese if poss), which isnt usually a good thing. If possible avoid any Chrysler and go for Ford (or Chevy if they're out of fords). There's also some far east makes, KIA and Hyundai which i'd avoid, they're pretty low quality. Avoid the chevy aveo at all costs.

Remember the Car rental company is usually totally flexible if you talk to them, i've been offered upgrades if I take a car thats just been returned and hasnt been cleaned for instance, I've been offered a convertible because they needed it moved, Stuff like that can happen so no harm in asking right?

Also remember there's nothing against returning it in LA and getting something different. Have fun with it. A convertible is really nice and makes for a memorable experience too. You only live once.

grange mac

Got the hang of the automatic after few min....went with a dodge standard car...vegas was fab drove from vegas to santa monica...not a hope without a satnav!! Got us to 6 flags today....great spot but only open fri-sun...

Want to see the giant trees so am I better going 101 or 1?

Second Q, where should i stay overnight between Santa Monica and San Fran?

Thanks guys...leaving here on sun so any replies asap plz!!

khris inda pink

Hi a small tip for others looking at this if your driving in to vegas (we bussed it ) do it at night much better

InTheTrees

grange mac wrote: »

Want to see the giant trees so am I better going 101 or 1?

Second Q, where should i stay overnight between Santa Monica and San Fran?

Thanks guys...leaving here on sun so any replies asap plz!!

Take Highway One. Dont take highway 101, its just a freeway, nothing to see! Do you only have one night on the way to SF?

Highway 1 is the really scenic road along the coast. Leave early though because after Morro Bay its a long winding cliff road, stunning scenery but quite slow. If its after about 3 in the afternoon its better to stay the night and do it the next day honestly.

(Dont be tempted to take highway 101 though, you'll really miss you.)

You can stay in Monterey. There's plenty of motels/hotels there, you wont need to book in advance. And then its an easy drive to SF the next day.

There's giant redwoods in Santa cruz county which is further north on highway one on the way to SF. Ask at your hotel in Monterey, they'll know.

tricky D

grange mac wrote: »

Got the hang of the automatic after few min....went with a dodge standard car...vegas was fab drove from vegas to santa monica...not a hope without a satnav!! Got us to 6 flags today....great spot but only open fri-sun...

Want to see the giant trees so am I better going 101 or 1?

Second Q, where should i stay overnight between Santa Monica and San Fran?

Thanks guys...leaving here on sun so any replies asap plz!!

Yup, easy to miss where the 1 and 101 diverge. SatNav is a must. To repeat InTheTrees, you just have to take the 1/PCH; To not do it is almost criminal. The scenery is spectacular but the road is challenging in parts, especially north of San Simeon. Allow another 20ish minutes due to roadworks and their single lane contraflows. Don't drive it at night due to scenery and safety.

San Simeon is another spot you could stop at with loads of motels and plentyof people doing the PCH trip gathering at the San Simeon Bar and Grill at night. It's also right beside Hearst Castle (try to book in advance). It's pretty much the half way point on that stretch.

Enjoy!

InTheTrees

tricky D wrote: »

San Simeon is another spot you could stop at with loads of motels and plentyof people doing the PCH trip gathering at the San Simeon Bar and Grill at night. It's also right beside Hearst Castle (try to book in advance). It's pretty much the half way point on that stretch.

Enjoy!

This is a good plan. Get an early start the next day though.

And set the gps for this place for a stop:

http://www.nepenthebigsur.com/

DO you have a reservation in SF? Its quite a long days drive from San Simeon to SF. It is forgivable (but you'll miss more spectacular scenery) to cut over to 101 by Monterey, that'll get you into SF in a couple of hours, while staying on hwy1 will take much longer.

grange mac

InTheTrees wrote: »

Take Highway One. Dont take highway 101, its just a freeway, nothing to see! Do you only have one night on the way to SF?

Highway 1 is the really scenic road along the coast. Leave early though because after Morro Bay its a long winding cliff road, stunning scenery but quite slow. If its after about 3 in the afternoon its better to stay the night and do it the next day honestly.

(Dont be tempted to take highway 101 though, you'll really miss you.)

You can stay in Monterey. There's plenty of motels/hotels there, you wont need to book in advance. And then its an easy drive to SF the next day.

There's giant redwoods in Santa cruz county which is further north on highway one on the way to SF. Ask at your hotel in Monterey, they'll know.

Thank you, plan is to tell herself im leaving @10 am tomor morn...with or without her...then Ill know i will be on the road by 11. Going to stay in monetry and have 2 nights budgeted to get to san fran so have time to see those giant redwoods.

InTheTrees

Good plan. One night in San Simeon and one night in Monterey would make it a relaxed drive.

There's an amazing Aquarium in Monterey.

Have a great time!

grange mac

Drive over...stayed in monterey 2nights...fab scenery around in esp in pebble beach area..well worth visit. Note to anyone travelling 1 North...buy a map as didnt know 1 and 101 merge and de merge along this route...in my case when 1 ended spent hour looking for it only for askn would be still looking for it.
Its good drive but def need 2 days if doing my route.