Italophile

My sister and I are flying into New Orleans and driving back west, ending up in Los
Angeles. We have two weeks and have tentatively chosen stops at Baton Rouge, Houston, Fort Worth, Phoenix, Sedona and Las Vegas en route, but I'm interested in the recommendations of alternative places to stop and also recommendations for accommodation and sights at the chosen stops as well. We would definitely be seeing the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam.

Our itinerary isn't set in stone as yet, apart from the start and end cities. Thanks in anticipation!

nytraveler

I would definitely stop in San Antonio and bag Houston.

ElendilPickle

You can't make it from Fort Worth to Phoenix in a day. Consider taking a detour and visiting Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. You could spend the night and take a day to visit the caverns.

Lee Ann

Italophile

Thanks very much for the tips, we will check those places out

mlgb

I would go to San Antonio and then head for Carlsbad Caverns. Texas must be one of the most boring states I've ever been forced to drive across (and it goes on forever). Once you get to NM it is worth allocating several days. The pueblos such as Acoma, drive up to Santa Fe/Taos. Then back to ABQ. From there it is a atraight shot to Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon. With two weeks you can head north to southern Utah (Kanab is a good stop). Try to see Bryce and Zion at a minimum. Its an easy drive from Zion to Las Vegas and prettier than going thru Arizona.

Cranachin

Here's another vote for San Antonio and for Albuquerque.

The old saying "Texas is miles and miles of miles and miles" is true!

Italophile

Thanks all for your great input. We have decided to omit Louisana all together this time and just venture into some of northern Texas - rest of plans remain unchanged. We hope to do Louisana and points east next trip.

tomfuller

Is this a one way car rental? Drop off fee?
If you are coming from the west coast, why not just use a car from Las Vegas and make a big circle fly back from there.
San Antonio is a lot nicer than Amarillo.

Italophile

We are flying into LAX (from Sydney) so will pick up the car hire there and head out of town. Plan now is to drop car off there before flying home, so won't be a one way any more. Will check out San Antonio, thanks for the tip tomfuller!

tomfuller

Think about flying onward from LAX to either Las Vegas, Phoenix or Albuquerque and renting the car there.
You may be shocked at the car rental rates in California.

Italophile

Thanks - we did look at some and seem ok compared to prices at home, but not sure how many "add ons" there might be!

Sue_xx_yy

Google maps shows this as a 27 hour, 1900 mile/3100 km plus journey - excluding Sedona and Las Vegas. Otherwise 2000/3300km with Sedona and Las Vegas (via Hoover dam) included (but still excluding Grand Canyon). This is assuming maximum efficiency - it doesn't include side trips to find food, attractions, lodging etc.

Tomfuller raises an excellent point, the drop off fee for the car may be worse than the change fee for your flights. Just a thought.

Consider changing your flights and itinerary, so as to make for a loop drive either in Arizona/California OR mid-south/Texas; or add a one way flight between New Orleans and - well, whatever, maybe LA or Las Vegas - someone here is sure to know about relatively cheap flights on Southwest airlines, for example.