Key West - Los Angeles road trip tips
 

I'm taking a trip to the States with a friend mid-July. Never been to the Southern states, never been to the West coast, decided to drive from Key West to Los Angeles in 10 days, need advice on where to stop.
We don't want anything really in-depth, we just want a taste of the Southern hospitality and wanna see the cool stuff. Our plan is as follows:

July 16-19: Key West
July 19-21: no idea yet
July 21-23: New Orleans
July 23-25: no idea yet
July 25: Grand Canyon
July 26-28: Las Vegas
July 28-30: Los Angeles

So basically I need ideas for places to briefly visit/pass through between Key West and New Orleans, and New Orleans and Las Vegas, and also advice on if the Grand Canyon is worth spending an entire day there or not. I'd love to take the equivalent of the old Route 66 between Amarillo and Los Angeles, but I'm not sure if that's still a worthy drive now that it's mostly highways, so I could use some advice on that too.

Thank you guys in advance!

Dumb Idea. Sorry but it is.

That is nearly 3,000 miles

You have July 20 - July 27 - which is not 10 days. To make the drive (not counting sightseeing) you would have to be butts in seats/wheels turning between 6 and 7 hours every single day.

(You can't count the same dates in 2 different places - what you actually have is:

July 16-19: Key West
July 20: no idea yet
July 21-22: New Orleans
July 23-24: no idea yet
July 25: Grand Canyon
July 26-27: Las Vegas
July 28-30: Los Angeles

Yeah, no, you're wrong and you're calling my idea dumb, although you simply don't understand how dates work. I'll clarify it though:
On the 19th, we CHECK OUT of our hotel in Key West, get in the car, and drive away. The 19th and the 20th are days we have no plans for yet, and then on the 21st, we CHECK IN to our New Orleans hotel (meaning we have to get to New Orleans by approx. 6-7 PM, meaning we could leave from freaking Orlando that morning and still make it). On the 23rd we LEAVE New Orleans, and then our next hotel booking is on the 26th in Vegas, meaning we have the 23rd, the 24th, the 25th and even most of the 26th to get there.

Now that we cleared this up, please don't criticize my plan, but give me tips. Thank you.

Then your post was incorrect and what you plan is:

July 16-<B>18</B>: Key West
July 19-<B>20</B>: no idea yet
July 21-<B>22</B>: New Orleans
July 23-<B>24</B>: no idea yet
July 25: Grand Canyon
July 26-<B>27</B>: Las Vegas
July 28-30: Los Angeles

janisj and I agree on this. Where do you rent the car? Do you rent prepaid with insurance included and no drop fee?
Renting in Miami (most likely) return the car to Miami and fly from Miami to New Orleans. Spend 2 days in and near New Orleans. Maybe go to Biloxi MS for a beach day if the weather is good.
Fly from New Orleans to Las Vegas and rent another car there.
From Las Vegas go to see the South rim of the Grand Canyon and maybe a National Park or 2 in southern Utah before returning the car in Las Vegas.
There is an Amtrak thruway bus that goes from Las Vegas to Los Angeles which is a better option than driving a rental car across the Mojave Desert IMO.
For a taste of the old Rt. 66 on the way back from the Grand Canyon, turn off I-40 at Exit 139 and drive the old highway all the way to Kingman. On US 93 almost back to Las Vegas, stop to see Hoover Dam. Turn right soon after coming off the big new bridge into Nevada.

Make sure that the air conditioning in the car is stout. You will encounter heat and humidity that is second to none.

Too many miles in too few days to enjoy the sights.

I have no idea how many of you there are (assume at least 2 since you say "we") but at least two of the proposed segments, Grand Canyon to Las Vegas and Las Vegas to Los Angeles are less than 300 miles each. I suspect those are both doable in less than one day for many people.

The Key West to New Orleans segment is almost 1000 miles and that's one you might consider flying unless there is something specific you want to see in Florida or along the Gulf Coast.

Flying to New Orleans and flying from there to Phoenix or to Vegas for the Grand canyon would give you more time in both locations since that New Orleans-Grand Canyon segment is 1500 miles. Could that be done driving in say, tow days? Sure depending on how many drivers, etc., and how much in between you wanted to see.

But you got lucky with some of the respondents and for once they aren't belittling one another because one "takes the train everywhere" to quote the other so progress is being made.

I don't take the train everywhere but I do when it makes sense to me. All of the times that I have gone to Las Vegas I have driven or flown. I have also flown to LV and rented a car to go several places.
Later this month DW and I will be riding on Amtrak from Winnemucca NV to Erie PA (2443 rail miles).
Read my Epic Journey post. From Erie we rent a car and go all the way to the coast of Maine.
Rather than drive my own car over 6000 miles, we choose to take trains and rent a car for a big loop.

Wish U had a big bowl of popcorn.
You will love Key West. Did you get reservations? Old town is the best.
I would take the Fl turnpike to Orlando, stay at one of the hotels at Disney Springs for the night. Next day head for the panhandle of Florida.Destin is very nice.

I have to think about next leg. My husband is a crazy long distance motorcycle rider. I need to ask him.

I not u. Texas ugh. I guess Dallas is a good stop. Albuquerque NM is ok. Try rometorio website. I know he uses an auxiliary tank on his bike for states like Texas. You can go for long distances without a gas station.

One word: HOT. Not a great time for this trip. You've got 90-100+ dry heat in the west. You've got brutal humidity in Florida and New Orleans. Lots of cool stuff in between but 1) too hot to enjoy or 2) no real time to sightsee. Southern hospitality is more like hide in the A/C and drive from building to building.

You need reservations for Grand Canyon if you actually want to stay in NP and it may be too late for that.

The part I would fly is NO to Grand Canyon given that you don't seem to have any interests. That's at least a 20 hour drive. I mean 7 hours minimum each day, butt behind the wheel. You could probably fly much cheaper to Vegas. Not to mention one way cross country drop off rental fee.

It's doable. I wouldn't say it's dumb. But I'm also not sure if I'd call it fun or worth the money.

Here is a tip: Fly, at least from Florida to New Orleans, then I would fly to New Mexico (Santa Fe is cool) or Phoenix for Grand Canyon then drive to LA.
I drove once with my late husband from Austin, TX (he picked up the car in NOLA) to LA via San Antonio and on I-10 in July with a car that developed severe AC problems and it was NO FUN and took us 5 days or more. I-10 has to be the most boring Interstate ever invented. I also had a list of places to visit like Carlsbad Caverns, Tombstone and Bisbee, etc. and all we ever saw was the inside of McDonalds (restroom stops) with a break for lunch before checking into our next motel.

Florida to New Orleans is one of the best scenic rides. Texas is the state I would hate driving through.
It is hot anywhere in the south in summer. We deal with it and have survived for almost 30 years. I went to upstate NY last May and they had a heat wave and 50% of people have no ac. I was miserable. At least we have ac.

3000 miles = 50-60 hours of drive time. If you drive 12 hours a day you will spend 5 of your 10 days driving in stifling heat. Doesn't sound like much of a vacation to me.

To give yourself time to do some sightseeing, do consider flying (Southwest Airlines is a good choice) for a couple of legs of the trip. Southwest flies from Fort Lauderdale, Florida and goes to New Orleans, several Texas cities, Albuquerque, Phoenix, AZ, Las Vegas and San Diego, California.

Driving all the way across Texas (roughly the size of Germany) would take a lot of time from your trip.

There are many ways you could make it all work. It really depends on what kind of trip you want and how much time you want for taking in the sights.

I love road trips--have a blast!

Flying isn't a road trip.

If OP and friends are from overseas, they will be able to get a cheap car package with no return fees. IF they are 25. If not, problems are possible.

If I were doing this trip, it would look like this:

Key West, St Petersburg, Pensacola, New Orleans, Santa Fe, Kayenta (Navajo Nation) Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, LA

Actually, I would skip Las Vegas, but that's me.

It will be seriously hot. I have lived in NM and Florida and Mississippi, and it will be hot. But I lived there before air conditioning and survived to tell the tale.

Bianca_koka, if you are still out there, plan to buy a cheap icebox and have lots of cold drinks with you. There are places on this route where you will not be able to buy fuel for 90 miles. Dont let your dial get low. Your mobile phone may not work, so having a map (usually free at each state border) can be essential.

Don't lose your temper. Trips like this will test your patience many times.

Ackislander, great tips. I grew up doing cross country trips in the summer. Some of my best memories. Santa Fe would be a good stop.

Ackislander has great tips. I like those stops too. Like the others, I'll tell you that Texas is the most boring, huge, State to drive across. There is nothing to see, but you have to get to the other side! You will find that you won't get radio reception everywhere. Sometimes it may be in Spanish.

Definitely get a cooler, usually available in most supermarkets, and keep it full of soft drinks, bottled water and ice.Some snacks too.

If your gas gauge is less that half full, fill up at the next gas station. And use the rest room (which may not be spotlessly clean!)

This is an adventure!