Hi I need to get from Las Vegas to San Fransisco and I have allowed myself 5 days/4 nights to do it. Probably going by hire car as we have luggage. Any suggestion for route or itinery (baring in mind it's the first time in Calafornia and we would have already been to LA area).

Thanks

The time to drive to Las Vegas is from Los Angeles.....not San Francisco to Las Vegas.
If you look at a map (and there are some online) you'll understand why.
You are MUCH closer to LV from LA than from SF

Thanks for replying, i didn't pose the question properly.

I'm driving from SF to LA first down Hgwy 1 and then to Vegas. I wanted to go cross country via some interesting places like Death Valley, Yosemite etc etc. Is 5 days long enough or are you saying forget it and just drive back to LA?

Michelle, you might be interested in the official California State tourism website. Here's the website address/URL:

http://www.ca.gov/state/portal/myca_homepage.jsp

Then, click on Travel/Tourism, a listing you will see on the left side.
There is a lot of helpful info for a first time visitor....maps, descriptions of cities, etc.

Good luck and hope you have a great visit with us.

I'll let others supply you with their suggestions for an itinerary.

And, here is the official State of Nevada website for tourism:

http://www.travelnevada.com/

Depends on time of year you're doing this. I wouldn't go via Death Valley if it June-August.
I've done LV - Death Valley - then up rt 395 in California to Yosemite. It took about 2 hours to get to Death Valley. we took 95 out of Vegas to 373 to 190(Death Valley Junction). we then took 190 thru the park to 395.
We went LV-Bishop in one day. We stopped at some things in Death Valley but didn't do any hiking. Bishop to Yosemite took another day.

Whether you go via Death Valley or straight by the Nevada side to Reno you're going thru some pretty isolated areas so need to keep some cold water to drink and don't let the gas tank go too low since you never know when you'll see a gas station again.

So it sounds as if your goals are:
1) start in SF
2) see Highway 1, drive to LA from SF
3) want to go back north to see Yosemite, but by different route
4) back South to Death Valley
5) to LV for flight home

Is that it?
And you have 5 days/4 nights to do all this?
Can it be done? Yes.
It's a LOT of driving, close to 26-30 hours just looking at the driving time charts, which would be roughly 6-7 hours a day, considering that you won't have 5 full days. Not much time for enjoying Yosemite or DV, but if your goal is simply to survey everything, it can be done the way you've described.

As noted above, DV can be very dangerous during summer. Cars easily overheat and there is NOTHING out there for dozens of miles at a time.

I have three weeks however I have allowed myself 5 days to travel north to SF from LV. I do not want to go through LA as I have will have already done that part in the previous weeks.