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Will be driving from Phoenix to LA third week of Dec. Any suggestions on route and must sees? Will have already gone to the Grand Canyon. Have about 4 days.
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Driving from Phoenix to LA
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Just take I-10 to LA. After you enter CA you will skirt the southern side of Joshua Tree National Park, so you could detour into the park and add several hours to your trip, which otherwise will be about 6 hours without traffic. Since there is no such a thing in the LA metropolitan area, it could be more like 7. Or you can get going early and hit the LA area in the early afternoon and get through pretty well.
You will then have 3 days in the LA area. You will not run out of things to see and do, I assure you.
The straight route is I-10 as dbdurand said. Joshua Tree is a good detour or maybe stop in Palm Springs. Not sure what you mean about the 4 days. Does this mean you will have 4 days in LA? If it was me I would leave early and just get to the LA area before traffic time. It takes about 5.5 hours to get from Phoenix to the downtown LA area (without traffic). If you left Phoenix around 7am, you'd get to metro LA by about 12:30 or 1pm. That is the best time to be driving through LA. Leaving Phoenix at 7am you'd get some traffic there but I'd rather deal with Phoenix traffic than LA traffic. Even if you left Phx at 8am you'd still be in good shape for LA depending on what part of town you are staying.
Give us more info about your trip and we can help.
Thank you for your replies. We are leaving Phoenix on Sunday and want to be in LA on Thursday. So we have decided to go to the Grand Canyon first and then wasn't sure if there is any thing else we could see on our way. Will look into Joshua Tree and Palm Springs is a good idea too! Haven't been there in 30 years. Just wondered if there was something to see in Utah or other areas around the Grand Canyon.
Have you been to Sedona or Flagstaff?
We will be in Sedona for my son's wedding. We think we will go to Flagstaff and the Grand Canyon the day after. We don't have to be in LA for three or four days. Just wondering if there is anything to see. Maybe Utah?
I've driven from Phoenix to LA and back and I know from my own experience and from what others have said that aside from the above suggestions of Palm Springs and Joshua Tree, there is very little of real interest. Monument Valley in Utah is definitely worth a visit, but you'll want to do that while you're up at the Grand Canyon as opposed to going all the way back up there after Sedona or Phoenix. Canyon de Chelly is lovely too, always supposing you aren't all "Canyon-ed" out.
OK, now I'm confused....are you leaving from Phoenix of Sedona?