Thylacinepup

We are a family with two teenage daughters we are traveling to San Francisco on the 8th September we're planning 3 nights in SF, 1 night in Yosemite and then we would like to make our way to the Grand Canyon, we will be driving ourselves and would like to know what the roads are like and should we stay somewhere between Y and GC

qwovadis

www.yosemite.com
www.395.com

The scenic route over the Tioga Pass to lonepinechamber.org
(Dow Villa Hotel my fav where ghost of John Wayne has been seen) Death Valley to Vegas www.tripres.com and on to Grand Canyon. carrentals.com cheapest SFO rentals(usually Fox)
classic.mapquest.com route planning.

Happy Trails!

montereybob

Google maps shows the drive time from Y to GC as 12-13 hours. So you might want to spend the night at any motel along the highway at the point that you get too fatiqued to drive safely. All the roads on your trip will be excellent. Sometimes Tioga Pass road is closed due to weather conditions. Check with the staff at Y when you are there.
Have fun.

Placename

Tioga Pass won't be closed in September. It would be nice if you could add another night in Yosemite. It's a wonderful place.

Grand Canyon is quite a drive from the Yosemite valley floor.

I think Lone Pine is a reasonable place to stop for the night. YOu need to get fairly far south. That would allow you to spend a little time in Death Valley National Park.

Michael

Once over the Tioga Pass you might want to take a detour and visit Bodie State Historical Park (assuming that it is open)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...ith/4855486766

tomfuller

Are you returning to San Francisco after the Grand Canyon to turn in the rental car and fly home?
If you can get 2 nights lodging in Yosemite, I would cut 1 night from SF at the start of the trip. If you have the time at the end of the trip, you could see the things you missed at the start in SF.
September may be cool in Yosemite but I don't think you will see any snow on the roads.

janisj

It is difficult to give totally useful advice w/o knowing a bit about the rest of your itinerary. For instance where are you going after the GC? LA or San Diego, or Las Vegas, or the Utah national parks, or someplace else? Then we can give you better advice about cars/flights etc.

One night at Yosemite will leave you very little time there. It is a 4+ hour drive and adding in the time to futz around w/ the rental agency, and find your way out of SF - basically half a day will be shot. So you need 2 nights in Yosemite to give you a bit more than one full day there.

And from YNP to the Grand Canyon is really a two day drive - another reason knowing more about your other plans would help.

Thylacinepup

thank you everyone after GC we were planning to go onto Las Vegas then return the car in Anaheim where we want to see Disneyland and Universal Studios before departure home on Wednesday 19th a total of 12 nights

tomfuller

Have you done the comparison shopping on airfares and rental car for 12 days? Does the rental car company charge a drop off fee or just charge a high rate per day if you leave the car where you did not rent it?
With an extra day after Disney you could drive up the beautiful California coast and return by way of San Francisco.
There are plenty of threads here on what to see in Las Vegas.

janisj

I wouldn't get bogged down in convoluted ways to avoid car drop off fees. Picking up in SF and dropping in LA or Anaheim might not have high fees. Or you might not have any drop off charges at all since you are from OZ. Some rental agencies offer special deals to foreign visitors not available to Americans.

Have you booked a room at the Grand Canyon? If not, you'll have the same issues as w/ Yosemite.

As for your best route -SF > Yosemite > Lee Vining or Lone Pine > Death Valley > Las Vegas > the Grand Canyon South Rim > Anaheim makes the most sense.

Songdoc

This sounds like a fantastic trip--but it would be even better if you could include the coastal drive between L.A. and SF. The closest analogy would be the Great Ocean Road.

But that said .... doesn't anyone else think this is an exhausting itinerary for 12 nights -- with jet lag from down under???

And FYI ... Universal Studios is at least a 90 minute drive from Anaheim. It could easily be more than 2 hours each way -- depending on traffic.

janisj

" doesn't anyone else think this is an exhausting itinerary for 12 nights "

Absolutely - but IME most Aussies think hours in the car is no big thing

Thylacinepup

wow! I'm starting to think we are trying to do too much! would we be better off flying from YNP to GC or just forgetting about GC, what are your thoughts?

tomfuller

After Yosemite, you could trade in the rental car and fly from either Fresno or one of several LA area airports to Las Vegas.
Rent a car in LV and drive to GC skipping Death Valley.
Return the LV rental car in LV and fly to an airport near Anaheim or closer to Universal Studios.
Whether you need another rental car there is up to you.
This avoids driving through a lot of rather uninspiring desert to get to see the Grand Canyon.
If time is short, skip two or 3 of these: Death Valley, Las Vegas, Disneyland or Universal Studios.
Make a stop at Hoover Dam on the way from LV to Grand Canyon.

joesorce

I assume you already have air tickets into SF and out of LA, so those dates cannot be altered?

Hertz.com, NationalCar.com have been showing the best rates for Aussies, both liability and collision coverage should be included in the quote and there should be no drop fee. If comparing other rates from other companies, note what may NOT be included in the cheaper quotes. California is the one state where you MUST purchase liability insurance or have your own liability car insurance, the car rental companies are not required to cover you at all (and credit cards only cover collision insurance).

Also Disney is not in Los Angeles so I'm not sure why you're returning the car to Anaheim...you'll then have to find transpo to LAX. 12 day car rental is probably very close to the same price as 14 day so you may be better off keeping the car two more days.

janisj

I'm going to sound like a broken record, but no suggestions or recommendations will be useful UNTIL you nail down rooms in Yosemite and at the Grand Canyon. If you can't do that -- then you might plan an entirely different itinerary.

If you can't get into Yosemite -- you could drive up the coast to SF then drop the car. Fly to Las Vegas and then collect a car to drive to the GC and on to Anaheim/LAX.

Or if you can't get rooms at the GC you could do SF > Yosemite > Vegas. Then fly to Orange Country or LAX.

And if you can't get rooms either place - then a coastal California trip is in order.

So -- find places to stay in those two places NOW. If you can't, the whole discussion moot . . .

Tomsd

Sounds like a fun little road trip. And where ye are going - the roads are very good.

And btw - you won't know for sure until you check - but I wouldn't think that for the first week in September - after Labor Day and when the schools re back in - there should be that much trouble getting accommodations in either Yo or the Grand Canyon.

Have a blast.

Thylacinepup

Ok! now I am so confused as mentioned we land in SF 8 Sept and depart LA 19 Sept, we would like to see Yosemite NP, Grand Canyon, Disneyland and Universal Studios how would you fit it all in?

Michael

Have you plugged in the mileage in Google map or www.viamichelin.com and decided that it is feasible?

tracys2cents

8th and 9th San Fran with an early afternoon
departure on the 10th to get you somewhere closer to Yosemite. 11th and morning of the 12th Yosemite, followed by a few hours drive in the evening. 13th drive the remainder of the way to Grand Canyon, spending eve of 13th and most of the 14th here...early evening 6pm drive to LAs Vegas, arrive 10:30pm 14th and all day 15th in Vegas. Sunday is a high-traffic day driving to Los Angeles but you have no choice, leave at 8:30am and plan to spend from 1:30pm to 7pm at Universal Studios, the only time you can really fit it in (and a few hrs is enough to take the tour and see a few of the attractions.) Drive down to Anaheim after 7pm (don't wait for the Monday morning traffic). So Sunday night you sleep in Anaheim, have all day 17 for Disney, eve of 17 you move closer to LAX if your flight is early, otherwise just stay in Anaheim. Whew, what a mess of a trip a but rest up in advance.