My family wants to visit relatives in San Diego over Spring break and it looks like the only way we can afford it is to drive. I'm thinking of going from Mpls to Lincoln, NE the first day (we can't leave until the afternoon), and then driving to Denver or Vail the second (LONG) day, then to Vegas which my husband really wants to see so hopefully a shorter day driving, finally to San Diego. Does anyone have any suggestions of better cities to stop over at or other itinerary recommendations? Thanks.

Doable.

However, Lincoln to Vail is ~580 miles while Vail to Las Vegas is ~680 miles. And I think hotel at Vail may be expensive. You need to drive a little bit further the 2nd day in order to have a shorter drive on the 3rd into LV. No way can you stop at Denver, which is way too soon.

Mpls to Lincoln is 7 hours. Des Moines is around 4, Omaha around 6 if you find yourself not wanting to go all the way to Lincoln.

Denver is around 6-7 hours from Lincoln, so not as long as you might think. The long day is going to be Denver to Las Vegas - that's at least 11 hours. If you do make it to Lincoln (or even Omaha), I'd try to make it at least to Vail, maybe even Grand Junction the next night instead of Denver. GJ is about 4.5 hours from Denver, which would make for a long day. But, from there to LV is more doable and would get you into LV at a reasonable hour so you could explore a little, instead of getting there late evening dead-tired after driving all day from Denver.

Of course, you're missing a whole lot of great places to stop on the way by driving straight thru. Can you afford to fly to Las Vegas and drive to San Diego? Or are you driving your own vehicle, thus saving money on a rental? There can be some really cheap deals on flights from MSP to LV.

Think day 2 is long? Wait till you see day 3!

I have Day 1 at 434 miles, Day 2 at 487, Day 3 (Denver) at 750 and day 4 at 333. Enjoy 1 day in sunny San Diego and beat a hasty retreat.

Pretty agressive for a 1 week trek in a car, but that's up to you.

How about spending more time around Vegas, maybe visiting some Utah parks?

Just thinking out loud.....

Is this a one week spring break??? I hope you are planning two weeks for this round trip.

I have a possible alternate route from Lincoln. I80 to York Highway 81 now before you skip over 81 is 4 lanes and turns into I35 at Salinas, Ks. Take I35 to Oklahoma City and catch I40 west to Amarillo. Should be able to do this in 9 hrs. Day 3 would be to Gallup possibly Flagstaff. Day 4 catch I8 in Phoenix and onto San Diego save Vegas for drive home. Not sure which routehas the greater risk for snow storms that time of year.

If this is only for a week I would not even attempt it. There are some good fares from Mpls. to Vegas so would look for them and then rent a car to drive to San Diego. The drive is fine if you have more time but for one week it is just too much. At least it would be for us.

We have 11 days to travel. I will look into flying into Vegas and renting a car from there to see if that makes the price more doable. Thanks!