Help me with my roadtrip, california!
 

Hello,

My boyfriend and I want to do a road trip in california for 3 weeks in september this year.

I was thinking about this route;
-sacramento
-napa
-sonoma
-san francisco
-santa cruz
-monterey
-big sur
-yosemite national park
-kings canyon
-sequoia national park
-death valley
-las vegas
-grand canyon
-antelope canyon
-bryce canyon
-lake tahoe
-sacramento

I would like to know if this is possible in 3 weeks? Or that it is not even enough and we can put more stops in.

I can use all the advice since this will be our first time in the US.

Thankyou in advance!

In that order? If so it makes NO sense at all. Are you flying in/out of Sacramento? Instead it would be much better to book flights in to Sacramento (or San Francisco) and home from Phoenix or Las Vegas. Don't drive all the way back to Sacramento.

three weeks is not much time for all that territory -- but would be (barely) doable without the drives north to Tahoe and then to Sacramento.

Is it essential that you start in Sacramento?

If it is, I would add Zion NP and skip Lake Tahoe, Sequoia NP, and Kings Canyon NP using routing pattern:

Sacramento
Death Valley via Tioga Pass and Bishop
Las Vegas
Zion NP (my favorite)
Bryce NP
Antelope Canyon
Grand Canyon NP
Las Vegas
Santa Barbara
Big Sur
Monterey
San Francisco
Napa/Sonoma
Sacramento

HTtY

PS The drive from Sequoia NP to Las Vegas is long and unpleasant. The drive from Yosemite to Death Valley via Tioga Pass and Bishop is beautiful.

Hello, no we dont have to start at sacramento. And not in the same order I listed. These are just the places we would love to see.

So we can better skip lake tahoe?( i would love to see it but it doenst really fit in the route then i guess?)

From where can we better fly out then? Because we want to go to new york after the roadtrip.

Thankyou!

You don't need to skip Lake Tahoe - just not in the way it is listed. Or - yes, you can drop it. Me personally -- Tahoe would be better than Napa/Sonoma -- or drop all 3. I also would probably skip Death Valley -- it is extremely hot in Sept.

This should NOT be a loop itinerary. You don't have enough time to do a circular loop. Think linear and a one way rental.

One option would be something like fly into SFO SF > Tahoe > Yosemite > Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur > Santa Barbara > Las Vegas > Zion > Bryce > Grand Canyon - fly home from Phoenix or Vegas. This would be a VERY busy 3 weeks but a doable road trip.

Or SF > Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur > Yosemite > either Sequoia or Tioga Pass > Las Vegas > Zion > Bryce > Grand Canyon - fly home from Phoenix or Vegas

Okay thankyou,

We might skip tahoe then because we really want to go napa/sonoma( winelovers!) And zion is indeed better then bryce np.

Is it better then from las vegas onwards to go to zion np, antelope canyon, grand canyon and then fly out from
phoenix?

Thankyou

Sacramento is not usually on a list of must-see places. This routing starts with a drive up the very scenic Pacific Coast Highway:

Home
Los Angeles
Santa Barbara
San Simeon
Big Sur
Monterey
San Francisco
Napa/Sonoma
Yosemite
Death Valley via Tioga Pass and Bishop
Las Vegas
Zion NP
Bryce NP
Antelope Canyon
Grand Canyon NP
Las Vegas, Phoenix, or Los Angeles
Home

I believe there is no more efficient way to include most of your desired locations.

HTtY

Just ignore jennaok's post.

Instead of Napa, consider doing your wine tasting in Paso Robles. Less expensive and really great wines.

https://www.pasowine.com/pasorobles/geography.php

Austin beat me to it, there is good wine tasting in both Paso Robles near Cambria and also the Santa Ynez Valley near Santa Barbara with much less expensive tastings than Napa where many places charge $25 and up.
I would add a night in between Monterey and Santa Barbara if you want to stop at places like Monterey Aquarium, Hearst Castle and non Napa wine tasting. Otherwise it is a rushed drive with portions through Big Sur having a speed limit of 25-30mph.

>>Austin beat me to it, there is good wine tasting in both Paso Robles near Cambria and also the Santa Ynez Valley near Santa Barbara . . . <<

And in the Sierra foothills between Tahoe and Yosemite --

There is also the very appealing Santa Barbara Wine Country, but that is no reason to skip the beautiful and iconic Napa Valley.

HTtY

My advice would be to rent the car in Sacramento and see everything in California that you want to see and then return the car to SMF and fly to Las Vegas and rent another car there for the other things skipping Death Valley and Lake Tahoe.
The Las Vegas rental cars are cheaper than anything I've found in California.

tomfuller has a thing about one way drop fees.
If you are from outside the US or Canada you can often avoid these fees by using a third party broker like rentalcars.com
They do charge those fees during July and August for one way drives but waive them a lot of the rest of the year.
They will also include the insurance for car rental that most folks from outside the US will need.
I have family in Sacramento and I still vote for dropping it, it gets pretty hot in September (so does Death Valley).

I <strike><red>have family</strike></red> <u>live</u> in Sacramento and I still vote for dropping it . . .

Even IF there is a drop off fee - unless it is huge I would not jump through hoops to avoid one. There is the extra cost of the return drive and the wasted time to consider.

I'd put Lake Tahoe and vicinity way ahead of Las Vegas.

The drive over Tioga Pass to Mono Lake, down the east side of the Sierra Nevada, and through Death Valley is nothing to sneeze at.

HTtY