Elizabeth_Divers

We are a Scottish family of 2 A & 2 C ( 15 and 12) arriving San Francisco mid july, 2 nights santa Cruz, 7 nights L.A. 3 nights Long Beach, we have another 6 nights to fill and on the last night we need to be staying within 3 hour drive of San Fran. Is it possible to drive Long Beach to Las Vegas (taking in grand canyon (1 day)) then to within 3 hrs of SF on night 6? Hope someone can help

janschwartz

If you like driving long distances without seeing much... it's possbile to do the itinerary you describe. You'll need one full day to GET to Grand Canyon. Then at least 1 day to explore it a bit (be sure to get up to see the sunrise over the canyon... an absolute must). Have a grand dinner in the El Tovar Hotel.
It's not a long drive to Las Vegas, and you can get a good taste of the town in 1 or two nights (max). From there, why not drive to Yosemite National Park. One day will give you a good tour. Then you can finish up by driving to the Bay Area... if you want to be within 3 hours of San Francisco airport, you can stay in Sacramento, Berkeley, Napa, or near the airport in Palo Alto (home of Stanford University).

easytraveler

We'd love to help, but will need more details from you.

E.g., why 2 nights in Santa Cruz and 7 in LA, etc. - are you visiting friends/family? Or were those just dates that you had planned and your schedule is more flexible?

It's possible to drive LB to LV, but you probably want to start further east of Long Beach if you want to have a more leisurely trip to Las Vegas.

Why do you want to be within 3 hours of SF on your last night? Would you not prefer to stay right near the airport, which I'm presuming is SFO?

And so on...lots of questions. Please provide us with a few more details - are you interested in museums? the beach? fine dining? children's entertainment (which would be better in San Diego than Las Vegas, IMHO)? Your trip is 18 days long, is that correct?

tomfuller

Since you want to see the Grand Canyon, I would stay in LA less than 7 days. Personally I would not spend more than 7 hours in LA but that's just my opinion.
It is a bit cheaper to rent your car in downtown SF instead of at SFO. Are you headed directly to Santa Cruz or are you planning on spending a night in SF? You might also want to check airfare to San Jose and Oakland compared to SFO.
My wife and I both love the HI Hostel at 10th & H streets in Sacramento. It is about 8 blocks from the state Capitol grounds which are beautiful. They do have private rooms and the kids can stay in the dorms. The hostel is the second oldest Victorian mansion in the city.
To get from LV to Sacramento head north on US 95 all the way to Fallon and Alt. 50 to get on I-80 West getting off on Bus. I-80 when you approach Sacramento.

Toucan

If I understand the question, you have 6 days to spend between Long Beach-Las Vegas-Grand Canyon then to within 3 hours of SFO? If so, that would work but is a lot of driving (welcome to the US Southwest).

Long Beach to Las Vegas is about 5.5 hours, longer at rush hours.

A road trip from Las Vegas to Grand Canyon (Williams, AZ) is 4-5 hours one-way but traffic is usually not an issue, then either drive or train to the canyon which is another 30-60 min. Makes for a long day round trip.

You could shorten your GC trip by taking a day trip via coach, helicopter, or fixed wing flight all of which depart out of Las Vegas. These range from about $180 to $500 per person and may not be an option depending on your budget.

An even shorter visit would be to the Sky Walk which is an interesting experience that is a relatively short drive (or motor coach ride) from LV but tickets onto the walkway are pricey for what you get. At last check access onto the skywalk is about $80pp.

http://www.bestgrandcanyondestinations.com/index.html

You could visit Lake Tahoe on your way back traveling through Nevada or go up the central valley of CA which is a bit shorter trip. Plenty to see on both routes.

spirobulldog

For me, If I had extra time. I would use it in Yosemite National Park, Sequoia National Park, or the Redwoods.

The Grand Canyon does have a huge wow factor, but unless you are doing some serious hiking or some rafting, then it doesn't offer nearly as much to do as the parks in CA. I don't think hiking in July in the GC would be a good idea anyway. I think the CA parks have almost as much wow factor anyway. I will admit, there is nothing like that GC, but there is nothing like the waterfalls in Yosemite or the Sequoia and Redwood trees either. I don't know how good the falls would be flowing in Yosemite by July.

janisj

Sorry,but your post is a bit confusing.

You land at SFO and spend the first two nights in Santa Cruz, the next 7 nights in LA, followed by 3nightsin Long Beach . . . is that right?

This is REALLY difficult. Santa Cruz to LA via the quickest/least scenic route (in fact a downright nasty route) takes 6.5 to 7 hours at the best of times plus stops. Depending on exactly where in LA -- it is 350-375+ miles.

Via the scenic route on the coast -- it is a 2 day drive minimum.

And is there a reason you are starting w/ 10 days in LA/LB but landing in San Francisco? That is like landing at LHR and needing to be in Perth that evening. Why are you not flying into LAX?

Also, Las Vegas will be VERY hot. 40 to 45C is normal in July.

The two main sites between Vegas and SF are Sequoia/Kings Canyon and Yosemite. But one needs to book very far in advance for Yosemite.

Jean

Jet Blue Airlines operates between Long Beach and Las Vegas and Las Vegas and San Francisco.

Tomsd

OMG: Had a couple pops at the Padre game and some vino with friends afterward. Will come back and try to further decipher this - but you can visit the Grand Canyon from Las Vegas in a day (a van trip - or an airplane flight - or 5 hour drive) - and then fly from Vegas back to SG.

Driving from Vegas to SF is a long haul.

tracys2cents

What does it matter how long she'll stay in SF at the beginning of her trip, or why she's going to Santa Cruz? That's not what she's asking.

Yes you can drive from Las Vegas to within 3 hours of San Francisco Airport in a night, but it will be about 6.5 hours of driving.Longer if it's a Sunday evening as traffic leaving Vegas is slow.

janisj

Ok - re-read what I posted. I didn't ask 'why' the are staying in Santa Cruz.

I asked for clarification because SFO to Santa Cruz (fine) and immediately Santa Cruz on to LA may not be what she meant. Hopefully there are some days in between SC and LA. If not, it might make more sense to fly from SF to LA . . . just sayin' . . .

Elizabeth_Divers

Hi thanks for all the replies. I seemed to have caused some confusion though!
We are flying in and out of San Fran. We arrive very late at night, will sleep in airport hotel and pick up rental car next moring and set off for Santa Cruz - why - because we want to see it and my sons have a surfing lesson booked. We leave Santa Cruz early Sat for what I know will be a marathon drive to LA. We have booked a rental house in LA for a week because we want to see LA, Universal etc. We will leave LA one week later for the fairly short drive (I think 2 hours?) to Long Beach area. Havent booked anything there yet but want to allow 3 nights to chill after Los Angeles. We then have 6 nights to spare. We need to arrive back in San Fran on Monday lunchtime as we have booked an apartment for Mon and Tues nights and we fly back to Scotland on Wed night. So, there's what we have planned so far.
The six nights as yet unplanned, need to take us from Long Beach area to within a couple of hours of SF. I was really looking for advice to see if we could comfortably do this trip taking in Las Vegas (just to see it at night really and to do a Grand Canyon trip , probably by air). Any advise on this part of our trip would be good. Thank you

lvk

Long Beach is in Los Angeles County, not 2 hours away. Were you thinking of Laguna Beach? Or San Diego? (I'm not sure where your LA Rental house is, but LB wouldn't be more than an hour from most points in LA)

Regardless, I don't think it is unreasonable to spend 6 days going from Long Beach (Or Orange County beaches) to Las Vegas, then San Francisco. Our European houseguest do similar loops all the time.

tomfuller

Allegiant airline flies from Las Vegas to Monterey four days a week. http://www.allegiantair.com/
The fares are cheap compared with some of the others.
They also have hotel deals and rental car deals in many places that you can add to your airfare in a single transaction.
You can make it from Monterey to SFO in slightly less than 3 hours.

janisj

Thanks. That clears things up a lot.

OK--now I am going to ask a "Why" and hopefully won't get jumped on for it.

"We will leave LA one week later for the fairly short drive (I think 2 hours?) to Long Beach area"

Why 3 days in Long Beach after a full week in LA. Long Beach is basically just a city in the LA area. It is only a 20 or 30 minute drive from some parts of "LA". Like moving from a week in Edinburgh to 3 days in Queesferry. Most anything you could visit from Long Beach you can visit from your base in LA.

What part of town is your rental home? That could make a big difference if Long Beach makes any sense.

If you want chill time after LA, (unless you have a compelling reason for staying in LB) condider heading farther south -- Laguna Beach or even San Diego.

In your free days could easily do Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon and and have time to spare - maybe visit Zion too. All three will be HOT.

I'd drive because you could do a loop drive LV to the Grand Canyon/Zion/LV.

Then I'd drop the car and fly to SFO since one doesn't need/want a car in the city

janisj

was posting the same time as lvk . . .

janisj

One thing I did want to add. Las Vegas really isn't a family sort of place. Not that aren't fun things for the kids-- there are a few.

But they can't go inside the casinos or some of the shows. At other times of the year they could lounge by the pool all day -but it may be too hot for that. Not that you shouldn't go there,but 1 or 2 nights would be more than enough.That is why I'd do a driving tour to the GC and Zion to use up your 6 days.

OR -- if you can consider not visiting Las Vegas- then I'd spend the 6 days all on the CA coast. (it is likely too late to get reservations at Yosemite or I'd suggest that)

clarkgriswold

"You can drive from Monterey to downtown SF in 3 hours". Not always, not on a Monday morning.
Is your car rental already pre-paid? If not, check the rates for renting at SFO and dropping at Las Vegas. Then check one-way fares for flying from Las Vegas to SFO and don't forget to check www.southwest.com which doesn't come up on Expedia or other travel sites. At SFO you can ride Bart train back and forth into the city, you won't need a car for 2 days in the city.

Hertz and Alamo probably have the best rental car rates for Scots, make certain insurance and taxes are included in the quote.

Tomsd

After LA - it all depends on how you want to chill out/cruise.

San Diego is easy to get around - fairly laid back compared to LA - and we enjoy living here - but if you want something in addition to the time at the beach you have already enjoyed in Santa Cruz and presumably during part of your stay LA - you might consider driving over from LA to say Zion, and see that great park, and from there you can get to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.


Or drive from LA to the Grand Canyon (or fly to Las Vegas or Phoenix) - and spend time there, maybe driving the two and a half hours over to Monument Valley, etc. http://tinyurl.com/83phj6g

Or you could also drive to Sedona from the GC ( http://tinyurl.com/7238fde and it's also about two and a half hours) and from there - it's an easy shot to Phoenix if you wanted to fly back to Vegas - or up to Reno to see Lake Tahoe - or to Sacramento to get down to Yosemite, etc.

You could also fly/drive from Vegas to Lake Tahoe for a couple scenic days and then from
Tahoe back to SF - it's a 4 hour trip - if you don't hit traffic.

Tomsd

And definitely check out Southwest airlines, as they usually have the lowest fees for the most routes. Here is the page for their routes: http://travel.southwest.com/travel/e...AV-TG-ROUTEMAP