This is my first entry to Fodor's so I apologise if some of the questions have been answered elsewhere on the site. I have read many of the responses to itinerary reviews and have just confused myself, so I thought I would give you a go with my problem as you all seem so knowledgeable. My husband and I have been to the East coast many times and are happy to travel distances by car. We are arriving in Las Vegas on 1st Jan 2006 for 3 nights (Mirage)out of 14 and that's as far as I have got - I want to go to S. Francisco (although I know it's chilly) and then travel down the coast to LA and maybe San Diego. Q. is this too ambitious over a 2 week period - where do you recommend to stopover on the way to SF etc etc. - I know this is a tall order but I felt the experts would save me lots of headaches. We are both 40, prefer comfort but like the unusual too.

Hi, flowergirluk! Welcome to Fodors! You will find that Fodorites are very helpful, so please ask away!

As for what you have outlined, your trip sounds perfectly doable in a two week period.

If you enjoy driving, you could drive in one day from Las Vegas to San Francisco. It makes for a long drive, about 12 hours more or less, but certainly possible. Get a good map of California, these usually include Las Vegas, so you do not need to get a separate map of Nevada - unless you are planning on doing some distance driving in Nevada.

From Las Vegas to San Francisco:
1)Take Interstate 15 west to Barstow (2 and 1/2 hours)
2)At Barstow, change over to Highway 58 towards Bakersfield (2 hours)
3)In Bakersfield, get on Highway 99 going North, about 20 miles out of Bakersfield, get on 46 going West. 46 will take you to Interstate 5, this is the main highway between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
4) Stay on Interstate 5 until the turnoff for Highway 152 (2 and 1/2 hours)
5) Take Highway 152 westbound, it'll take you over the Pacheco Pass (1 hour) - drive carefully! It's a fun drive.
6)Highway 152 meets up with Highway 101. Take 101 northbound for San Francisco (2 hours). You can either stay on 101 or take the more scenic route, Interstate 280, once you get to San Jose. 280 is one of the most beautiful freeways around.

This sounds complicated, but, if you had a map, you will see that it's a relatively simple route.

Winter may not be a good time to drive along the California coast. The weather may be great or it may be terrible. I'd suggest that you have a Plan B, just in case you can't drive along the coast but have to get from SF to Los Angeles on a more inland route, like Highway 101 or Interstate 5.

As for what to see, what are your interests? If you gave us some ideas: museums? plays? Disneyland? sports? restaurants? music?, I'm certain others will be able to give you many great suggestions!

Have a great trip! And welcome to California!

Sounds like a good plan and not too much for 2 weeks. You are likely to run into some inclement weather in California since it is winter time, but depending on where you are from, it could feel positively tropical to you

There are a couple ways you could approach this trip.

1. Fly into LV, drive or fly to San Diego, and then drive up the coast and fly home from SF.

2 Fly to LV, drive or fly to SF, then drive down the coast and fly out of LA or SD. I would really look into flying from LV to SF rather than driving because the drive is long and boring. Plus if it rains or is foggy in the central valley, the drive could be a real pain.

If possible, I would try to be flexible with the days you choose to drive down the coast - if a storm comes in, you wont want to be on Hwy 1 between Carmel and Cambria - the Big Sur coast. This is also the most beautiful section of coastline, so if you can keep your intinerary flexible to work around any storms, that would be good.

If you go the way easytraveler suggested it is I-15 "South" towards Barstow (not west). BUT, the only reason I would take this route would be if the weather was bad in Yosemite and you cannot pass through there, because why go 2 hours south to then go back north? I would take US 95 North towards Reno, just after Scotty's Junction you'll take 266 West then the 168 into Bishop (and this is beautiful country). Make sure you stop in Mammoth Lakes and Yosemite, very nice areas. Afterwards head towards Modesto, and on into Oakland...San Fran.
Then from San Fran you can drive straight down the coast towards LA and San Diego. Please also stop in Monterey, as this area is also VERY pretty.

It appears that it is/will be an early winter in the Cascades and Sierras, so I don't know that I'd recommend crossing any of the middle or northern passes, especially if (as suggested by your handle, flowergirluk) you're not familiar with snowy mountain driving.

Unfortunately the route between Las Vegas and San Francisco is pretty tedious even as US routes go. You cross the California central valley, where in January the weather is prone to chilly and "Thule fog" - mist that hugs the ground and can make driving quite hazardous. So the moral to the story is don't plan on rapid movements. Plus in January the daylight hours will be limited (although much less so than in Britain.)

I might suggest that you reverse your route. LV - San Diego - LA - SF would give you fewer hours of sensory deprivation and would allow you to spend more time seeing the interesting bits than the intervening bits. Just a thought.

Are you dropping your car at the end or planning to return to LV? If one-way, then you ought to do some comparative shopping - leave the car in LV, fly to SF or San Diego or LA (an hour and cheap), then rent in California for the remainder of the trip. "Drop off" fees for cars hired one way to/from LV-Calif. are notoriously high.

Hello flowergirluk, one time we drove from the SF area in December to LV. The snow was bad, the roads were closed, we had to stay overnight "somewhere" and the next day the CHP was the lead car for those driving to LV. Not a fun road trip. Mentioning this as Gardyloo said in his post there will be early snow etc.

One thought. I had friends from Italy that flew on JetBlue from LV to Oakland. JetBlue has large leather seats. The plane stopped in LongBeach and then continued on to Oakland Airport. So if you wanted to go to S CA first you could fly into Long Beach and start your trip. If you wanted to go to SF you could fly into Oakland airport, take the airport shuttle bus to BART and take BART into SF. After you enjoy SF you could rent your car and drive to S CA. Have fun planning your trip.

Dear flowergirluk of happy memory,

If you can return home from San Francisco, here is a good itinerary: From Las Vegas, go to San Diego via Palm Springs and the Anza Borega Desert. After San Diego, Tijuana, and La Jolla head to Los Angeles (stopping perhaps at Disney World on the way). After LA, head up Highway 1 from Malibu to San Francisco, stopping along the way in Santa Barbara and Cambria. Return home from San Francisco.

Hi.

I live in the middle of the Central Valley & the winter Tule fog & I would avoid the 13+ hour drive from Vegas to SF. Or, at least, make it a 3 or 4 day ddrive & take in several other locales.

Drive to San Diego - probably need 2 days there. Then over toward the coast to Santa Barbara-beautiful area & check out the downtown area (Friend married in the courthouse there about 5 years ago.)

Stay in Santa Barbara or continue on Hwy. 1 to San Luis Obispo. I'd suggest the Victorian House (I think that's the name) & breakfast or lunch at the Apple Farm-next door to the Victorian House. And, check out their gift shop while you're sipping hot apple cider awaiting your table.

Hearst castle is nearby-you need tour reservations first. There should be a website.

Then 2 nights in Carmel - take the 17 miles drive...Monterery Aquarium, Cannery Row, etc. Then onto SF - my home town! Be sure & take a cable car ride & enjoy a drink at the top of the Bank of America building - men must be in coat & tie.

Enjoy!

Hi, Flowergirluk--
I used to live in Berkeley...and travelled up and down the Calif coast; had cousins in Las Vegas, and went there too. I really second mstravel's comments. I'd go further: there's so much to see and do on the Coast--and SF in the winter is SOO cold and gray....I'd skip SF. Not that it's not a magnificent city--but aside from the streetcars, Lombard Street, Russian Hill...fantastic restaurants, the Golden Gate bridge...but to me, it's all touristy, and well, there are so many great cities in the world.., to me, what makes Calif great are the quaint little places (I love Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Carmel too!) and the wonderful opportunities to see nature---Monterey (aquarium AND the peninsula)--I'm going to see the Channel Islands for the first time (close to LA); next year, to Catalina....all of these are truly unique.
I would also check out San Diego--Balboa Park and its zoo--and a museum or two if you have time; and Old Town--a bit of Mexico in the US--very wonderful. (Take a trip out to the Coronado if you like famous old hotels.)
But really, short of spending too much time in the car, you won't go wrong no matter what you do. Have fun.

I would fly from Las Vegas to San Diego and then work your way north ending in SF. Happytrails did suggest driving from Las Vegas to San Diego. It's not a bad drive and you could stop in Palm Springs if you wanted. However, if you rent your car in Las Vegas and drop it off in SF, most charge a big drop-off fee.

Right now, flights from Las Vegas to San Diego on Southwest Airlines are $39 one way (this is for Jan 3rd). Get another rental car in San Diego, spend time there and then start north as others have suggested. Stay two days in La, maybe 1-2 in Santa Barbara. If you visit Hearst Castle, stay in Cambria, it's a charming and right on the ocean. Monterey and Carmel are other good stops.

J Correa is right about having a back-up plan for driving Highway 1 in January. Last year my DD, her boyfriend and I drove from San Diego to San Francisco the week between Christmas and New Years. Last year was an exceptional year for rainfall and we had plenty of it on our trip. It rained all the way to San Francisco but then we only had a light shower the first day there and the next two days were beautiful (just a little cool and some clouds). Our plan had then been to head south driving through Big Sur and ending up in Cambria. Well with the rains, Highway 1 was washed out so we had to head inland to 101 and then cut back on Highway 46 to get to Cambria. We still had a good time.

Because of our experience, I will have to disagree with momtravel about skipping SF. We had a great time despite the weather and if you have never been to the West Coast, SF is a must see. Momtravel says it's touristy but all the things she mentioned are the sites tourist love about the city. The one thing we didn't do was Alcatraz. The weather was a little iffy and we didn't want to spend most of a day on the tour as our time was limited. Momtravel mentions places in San Diego to see and she's right-but those things are touristy to me since I live in that area. So I guess it's all from a perspective of where you live.

Sounds like a wonderful trip. Once you put together a tentative itinerary, come back if you have more questions.

Good heavens, skip SF? I have friends that often come from Italy to visit SF in January!!! To me San Diego can be quite touristy. But it is all in the eye of the beholder of course.

Skip SF? All I can do is sit here and shake my head in wonder. One of the most fabulous cities in the world..well, you say tomato and I say to-mah-to I guess.

Thanks Guys, I'm going to get a BIG map now and plot several alternative routes - we like a bit of culture, a bit of 'Cheese' (as we brits say) and scenery, so I certainly will be looking at all your suggestions - I'll let you know how I get on !! Thanks again P.S we know what rain is like - especially in Northern England.

This is my first entry as well so hope I can make this clear enough. This coming August my husband and I will be enroute our son's wedding in Dorset, UK. We would like to fly from NZ to SF - then travel South by car to leave from LA. We know we really can't spend too long in California this time but really want to revisit our dear friends in Carmel Valley. Is a trip south feasible in say 3 days to reconnect with Air NZ or are we going to spoil/waste such a visit to California? We have to fly out of LA as that is how our special (Airpoints) fare must be constructed. We loved Yosemite but recall it was a fair way from Carmel. A friend here in NZ suggest we should try to travel via Mammoth Lakes - is this just too long a journey to comfortably do in a few days, in light of the fact we will have to flossy up pretty quick on arrive in the UK (first visit there) to become the Parents of the Groom - plus would hate to damage my hat!! Will stay one nght in San Marino before flying onto Heathrow.

We'll be returning to California after many years (January 1980) where we spent quite a while in SF then Carmel, travelled South, Big Sur and around to Yosemite. It snowed so hard we bought chains in Fresno but the beauty of Yosemite was nothing short of magical. We stayed in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, LA etc; the furtherest South, I recall was San Deigo, furtherest east its Wildlife Park. We checked out Palm Spring's roadrunners, Cablecar etc. The boys were then 7,5 and 3 so we spent quite a bit of time refueling and entertaining them over 6 weeks. We do not want to go to LV etc this time around as sure it would be too far. We are open to suggestions so that we can continue to appreciate a great State, this time through the eyes of fit nearly 60 year-olds, dh a English teacher and me, a librarian. Thanks so very much,
Barbara

Barbi48 - From Carmel you would have two route choices - south on California Hwy 1 past Big Sur and Hearst Castle, a fairly slow but wonderfully scenic road, or inland to US Hwy 101, which is motorway virtually the entire distance. Hwy 1 and US 101 re-connect near San Luis Obispo, 150 miles or so south of Carmel. If you take Hwy 1, you should allow one overnight stop between Carmel and the LA airport; if you head over to 101 you can make it in one day if you choose - maybe 7 or 8 hours depending on traffic.

So it's up to you. Some things to note are that the inland (101) route can be blazingly hot in parts in August (around Paso Robles, for example); OTOH traffic can slow things down along the coast.

Either way you ought to be able to see your friends for a day or so. Don't forget that Carmel itself is a couple of hours' drive from SF, again, depending on route.

Contrary to one advice, do not even think of going over the Sierra in January. Most of the roads are closed, and those that are open may require chains.

Even if you forced to take higway 101 from Carmel to San Luis Obispo, you should backtrack up highway 1 to Hearst Castle. Just north of the castle there are elephant seals right below the road and January is in the middle of the mating season. The viewing there is far more accessible than at Año Nuevo State Park above Santa Cruz.

Thanks for that clarity Michael - we're now remembering all those kms we clocked up on 101 - the smells from the feedlots, those endless trucks etc. so are almost tempted to fly out of SF and risk the allied carrier (no actual Air NZ SF-UK link) but service is just too good on ours. Barbara

Barbi,

I think that you are confusing 101 with Interstate 5. I do not recall endless feedlots on 101 or even that much truck traffic.

Southwest Airlines flies beween Las Vegas and several California cities. You have to go directly to their website, can't get to it via the wholesaler type sites.

Barbi-I put this on your other thread also but you mentioned that it would be too hot to go to Mammoth Lakes in August. Mammoth is at around 7,900 ft elevation in the Sierra Nevada mountains. It is very nice during summer with highs in the 70's F and 80's F. There could be an occasional hot day but over all the temperature is very moderate in August.