I would suggest a few additional things.

Rent a car and drive yourself to the Grand Canyon, stay overnight if you can find a room.That would allow you to spend an evening/morning in Vegas too.

If you don't really care about big cities, find a way to skip LA and just spend more time in the country. I'd strongly encourage you to visit Yosemite.

Perhaps you could find a car rental from Vegas dropping off in SFO with no dropoff fee? Then you could drive to Grand Canyon, and from there devise a route that ends in SFO with as much nature as you can fit in.

WhereAreWe, I would love to spend a night under a star studded sky in the Grand Canyon. That would also give me perfect magical hour lighting for my photos at Sunrise and sunset. But I guess it would be doing too much of driving in too little time. SFO to Las vegas is 15 hours of bus ride and las vegas to South rim Grand canyon is about 5 hours. I dont know if I should skip LA. It has an aura at least outside the US. Just to have a glimpse I would love to spend a day there, not visiting the Universal studios et all, but to stroll on its streets.
About Yosemite, there is a strange story. I was travelling in an overnight bus in Turkey, on our Cappadocia Tour. I had a dream that I was standing at the entrance gate of a national park. I read the board and it said Yosemite. I had not even heard that name earlier in my life. It could be what I call "Random Acces Memory" I googled and found that it is on the US west coast. though it looked slightly different. I would really like to turn that dream into reality. But dont know I have sufficient time.
Should I totally skip Las Vegas and Grand canyon ( a big big attraction) and stick to only West coast highway 1 and Yosemite? tough call...

>>

The thing is Los Angeles is so spread out that there's really no "strolling" there. You can certainly pick specific locations and go there and stroll, but you have to get from place to place, and that's much easier done by car than public transportation (doable, but it will usually eat up a lot of time). Los Angeles has often been described as "a bunch of suburbs in search of a city".

sf7307, thanks for the info. I have not yet reached the micro level planning. Is it possible to take a day pass like muni in SF and travel to places within LA?

Sorry, I don't know, I've never been to LA without a car.

<But I guess it would be doing too much of driving in too little time. SFO to Las vegas is 15 hours of bus ride and las vegas to South rim Grand canyon is about 5 hours.>

I thought you were flying from SFO to Las Vegas??

If you want to go to LA, do as sf7307 said: pick a specific area and only go there. (Hollywood, Beverly Hills or whatever). It's extremely spread out and it can take hours to go from one edge of the city to the other.

Personally, I'd rent a car in Vegas, go to Grand Canyon and then head to SFO from there, skipping LA entirely.

OMG... I realize what a crazy itinerary I started with..
I agree that LA should be cut skipped...
That gives me 7 1/2 days on the west coast and Las Vegas + Grand canyon.. Still so little
I am thinking of renting a car at Salinas or Monterey. Travelling on the Highway 1 upto Hearst Castle and Paso Robles wine tasting- coming back to Salinas on highway 101 or higway 1 again. Doing this in 3 days. San Francisco 2 days and fly to and fro- 2 days in Las vegas and Grand canyon. I wish I could spend a day in Sequoia Canyon or Yosemite..
Confused but probably making a tighter itinerary..
Please help.

Idea of renting a car in Monterrey is to minimize driving in main cities. I would reach there via Salinas by public transport from SFO.

I guess you can do that, just do not stay in Salinas, it is a nice enough town but inland and mainly agricultural although it does have a nice John Steinbeck museum. Stay in Monterey, Carmel or Pacific Grove (they are all right next to one another). Then drive down (not up) Hwy 1 to do wine tasting in Paso Robles, stay overnight in Cambria (you can see Hearst Castle if you want and have time, but reserve a tour in advance) and then drive back to Monterey to turn in the car and take transit to SFO.

Paragkash, I think folks are giving you a lot of good advice. I'm not a huge fan of either Las Vegas or the Grand Canyon but they are undeniably big attractions and I would not presume to say you would not hugely enjoy both of them. Also, Banff is a lovely place but IMHO a bit more touristy than real outdoorsy. Too many details but I will whittle down my advice to the following:
1) If you are truly interested in the outdoors and National Parks, etc. there is very little to compare with Yosemite (and adjacent Sequoia NPs in California. Rather than touristy Banff, again for the true out of doors go to Montana and Glacier NP, just beware of bears, but that is a different subject.
2) You were correctly advised, avoid Tijuana at all costs. San Diego / LA have much to offer (on a different trip).
3) Coastal California is beautiful and the advice others have given you is good.

The Grand Canyon and Yosemite will both be very busy in June.

Grand Canyon can be either a day trip or an overnight, depends on how much time you can spare. If you aren't doing a lot of hiking you can drive there and back in one day but it is a lot of driving and not at all ideal.

Never been to Yosemite but I wouldn't even consider going there as a day trip, I would definitely stay overnight.

One of the best parts of staying in the park overnight is that the day trippers go away so it quiets down. You can wake up early in the morning and go for a walk/hike before the park gets crowded again, and that will be a much better experience than dealing with all the traffic and people later in the day.

So I think you could do Yosemite and Grand Canyon, but it would make things more hectic for you, unless you really cut back the time you spend in SFO and the time you allot for driving the coast/wineries. On the other hand, if you could convince yourself to skip Las Vegas and Grand Canyon entirely, then you've just made things pretty simple - spend a couple days/night visiting Yosemite and SEKI, 3 days driving the coast and visiting wine country, and a couple days in SFO. That really simplifies your trip - one car rental instead of two and no extra flight to Vegas. You could very easily stay in SFO the first 2 days to allow yourself to adjust to the time difference and rest up from the long flight, then head out on your driving loop and come back to SFO the night before your flight to Banff.

If you do want to come back, it makes more sense to visit Vegas and the Grand Canyon from Southern California, so you could spend a week visiting San Diego/LA, Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon.

From what I know, June is a good time to visit Yosemite. The roads should all be open and the waterfalls are flowing pretty well. Later in summer there are bigger crowds and the waterfalls diminish. Earlier (in April/May) there are fewer people but roads are not yet open. So you might have picked the best month to visit. For the Grand Canyon, you could visit any month and the views are pretty much going to be the same. There would be snow in the winter which could cause icy roads but the canyon is beautiful with some snow on it. Otherwise, April/May and September/October are great months to visit the Grand Canyon with fewer crowds, nice weather and the same great views you'd see in summer. Actually probably better views because there tends to be a bit of haze in summer months. So you might want to consider all of that if you are pretty certain that you'll come back in the future.

Love Yosemite but it's not really in your "route." Not sure if you can use all the US Car Companies coming from abroad - but check out www.carrentals.com and their various prices.

If you could do it - rent a car in Vegas (and do fly from SF - inexpensive flights v. a very long bus ride) - and spend the night at the Grand Canyon. Enjoy riding the buses to the west end to see the Sunset and get up early to greet the sunrise on the east end. 5 hour - pretty much freeway type drive to/from Vegas.

You can also check on drop off charges/weekly rental charges and see if renting a car for a week makes it worthwhile to keep it - or fly to LA from Vegas and rent a car there to turn in up in SF.

Leaving LA - you could have a nice lunch/wine tasting in/around Solvang and a couople hours later - wind up in Cambria for the night - and the next day - take the Hearst Castle tour in the morning and then drive up/through stunnning Big Sur.

Banff the town might be a little touristy, but Banff the area "not real outdoorsy"? That's ridiculous.

This thread is getting me confused.

Me, too.

I don't understand the revised plans of renting a car in Monterey or Salinas. (Salinas, really?)

You can rent a car right from San Francisco Airport and get on the freeway without having to be in any city traffic. Monterey is about a 2 to 2 1/2 hour drive from SFO.

Otherwise, I'm wondering how you plan to get to Monterey/Salinas from SFO or SF. It'll probably take you at least half a day without a car.


Los Angeles is for driving. Forget about using public transportation unless you have tons of time - which you don't.


Hope this helps a bit, as I'm like Michelle getting confused with where exactly you would like to go and where exactly you plan to go.

Jamie99. Jlub, WhereAreWe, Tomsd, sf7307, MichelleY, easytraveler.... Thanks a lot for taking pains and devoting time to enlighten me with wonderful suggestions...The confusion is giving me sleepless nights, but surely, with your replies.. it is leading me to probably best itinerary for me..

I should hopefully come again, at least to make the most of my 10 years tourist visa. But we will be a few years older.(I am 47/ architect from Mumbai)
Las Vegas and Grand Canyon are big draw. Tough to drop them.

Revised itinerary for your kind comments:
11th June- Land at SFO.. Check in n relax, stroll a bit
12th June(Wed)- Take a flight to Las Vegas Stay the night
13th June(Thus)- Bus day Tour to South rim and back by night.
(have heard that South is farther but better than west rim. Wouldn't like to drive so much. Will come back the same day as West coast is my priority)
14th June(Fri)- Fly back to SFO- Local sightseeing ( should I rent a car here at the airport around 10 am and prpone the 3 day drive rather than the next day)

(3 day scenic drive to Big Sur and further- This I feel would be the highlight of the tour)
15th June(Sat)- Rent a car at SFO Airport/ or San Jose and drive down to Monterey- spend the night

16th June(Sun)- Drive down Highway 1- upto Hearst castle- Stay at Cambria (is it too much for a day)

17th June(Mon)- I wish I could use this day for Yosemite. Especially after reading its luscious description by WhereAreWe; on my way back to san Francisco. Don't know how to make the most out of this day besides just driving back to SFO.

18th June(Tue)- I would like to be in San Francisco on this day any how, as I wouldn't like to do much travelling/ driving before I take a morning flight the next day.

19th June(Wed)- Outbound flight to Vancouver at 8 am

I hope this works.. everyone's efforts and wisdom right from the beginning of this thread are well appreciated and all this is surely helping me to evolve as a traveler and understand the land, culture and people in a better way...
Please keep enlightening

Hi, Paragkash,

Thanks for your detailed clarification of your itinerary. Here's what I would suggest with an eye to maximizing your time as well as not having to lug your luggage all over the place. Others may have better recommendations.

11 June - Land at SFO, then fly directly to Las Vegas. Find a nonstop flight (Southwest has numerous flights, also good luggage allowance) which will take you just 1 and 1/2 hours. Enjoy a bit of Las Vegas. Overnight in LV.

12 June - day trip by bus to Grand Canyon. These are all day bus tours starting at about 7am and ending after 9pm. You'll be too tired to do anything else. There may not be any flights at 11/12pm to SF, so spend the night in Las Vegas.

This way you're not rushing around going from SFO to find your SF hotel, checking in, then checking out and rushing off to SFO again the next morning. This is all wasted time.

13 June - fly back to SFO as early as you possibly can. Rent car at SFO, then drive south to Monterey...Cambria this day, the 14th and part of the 15th.

14 June Big Sur

15 June - afternoon, start driving for Yosemite. If you're around Cambria and get on Highway 46 and Highway 41, it'll take you about 4 hours to get to Yosemite. Most of this will be flat land but also just two-lane roads. Spend the night inside/outside Yosemite (probably outside)

16 June Visit Yosemite

17 June start back early for San Francisco. Just avoid peak traffic hours. I'm vacillating between recommending that you drive straight back to the airport and returning the car or keeping it for the rest of the day, as there are places in SF that you can more easily drive to and see, especially like across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Let's say you keep the car, drive around SF the remainder of the day, and, if you don't mind a bit of night driving, then return the car late at night at SFO. It's easier to return the car at night than in the daylight when the airport is very busy. Spend night in a nearby airport hotel. Almost all of the hotels have shuttle service, so once you return the car, you can get a shuttle service to the hotel.

18 June Take BART into San Francisco and enjoy the entire day there. Return to your airport hotel at night by BART.

19 June Take hotel shuttle for your flight to Vancouver.

Hope this helps a bit!

Please comment:
Option 2-
14th june(Fri)- Early morning flight Las Vegas to San Jose- Rent a car at the airport- take highway 101 to Monterey- Reach at lunch time. Spend some time there and at Carmel and proceed Southwards to Cambria for overnight stay or before that. (Should I spend more time here)What time does the sun set in June 2nd week in California? Don't want to drive in the dark.

15th June(Sat)- Hearst Castle in the 1st half .. proceed to Yosemite National Park (Google says its a 3.30 hrs drive) Overnight at Yosemite

16th June- Yosemite in the day.. Leave by 3.30 pm to reach San Jose Airport by 7.30- drop the car.. Proceed to SF by BART via Fremont

17th and 18th June- San Francisco

Is it packing too much in 3 days of drive?
Should I spend more time on highway 1?
Please help...

I know you hate to hear this, but I think you should save LV, GC for another trip. On that trip, you could go to Vegas and include the Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce and other great areas of the Southwest. This time, if you give them up, you could easily add Yosemite.

Just my 2 cents for what it's worth

Don't plan on Yosemite June 15-16 UNLESS you can book a room in Yosemite Valley. It very likely is already full, but try right now. IF you can get in at Yosemite Lodge at the Falls or Curry Village then your two half days in Yosemite make a little sense. (or if the Lodge/Village is full, try Yosemite View Lodge in El Portal - which is just outside the Park entrance. Every other place to stay is at least and hour's drive from Yosemite Valley and won't work for your plan.)

And yes, easytraveler's idea to fly directly on to Las Vegas after landing at SFO is the best idea. No reason to waste a night sleeping near SFO.

"Leave by 3.30 pm to reach San Jose Airport by 7.30- drop the car.. Proceed to SF by BART via Fremont"

Why San Jose? BART doesn't go to San Jose and the Fremont BART station is 20 miles from the airport. You can drop the car at SFO and take the much easier/faster BART trip from there.