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We are planning a trip this Spring for 14 days, we have a vague outline as follows:
Day 1 - Arrive LAX from London - need somewhere to stay that night not necessarily in Los Angeles maybe drive approx 1 hour out of LA to take us on the way to Death Valley which is our next stop.
Day 2 - drive to Death Valley
Day 3 Death Valley
Day 4 Drive from Death Valley to Las Vegas
Day 5 and 6 Las Vegas - our student son flying up from San Diego to spend weekend there with us.
Day 7 Drive to Bryce Canyon stay overnight
Day 8 Bryce am? then drive to Zion stay overnight at or near Zion.
Day 9 visit Zion.
Day 10 and 11 drive Zion to San Diego - need advice on how to break up this part of trip as probably too far to drive in one go.
Day 11 to 13 La Jolla to spend weekend with our son.
Day 14 drive up to LAX fly back to London.
We need advice on how viable this trip is in terms of distances - we really don't want to spend hours on the road every day. Also any tips on other places to visit en route.

I suggest that you stay relatively close to LAX for your first night. It's a long flight from London and you may not be alert enough to deal with busy California freeways.

Death Valley is about 5-6 hours drive from LAX, so you could easily get there by early afternoon the next day. You might want to wait until after the morning rush hour to leave.

Zion to La Jolla is the longest drive - about 7-8 hours and there's really not much of great interest to stop to see on the way as you will already have spent the weekend in Las Vegas. You could easily do it in one day, it's all freeway.

To play around with routes and figure distances and driving times, you could use www.mapquest.com.

would it be better to fly from Las Vegas to San Diego rather than drive?
If we drive is there anywhere worth staying overnight I'm thinking maybe Palm Springs?

Flying is quicker, but you'd have to drop off your car in Las Vegas and then get another one in San Diego.

Palm Springs/Palm Desert would be fine to stay overnight. There are two routes from there to San Diego and La Jolla. The obvious one is the freeway, 10W to 15S, or you can take the "Pines to Palms" highway and skip the freeway altoghether. That route does take longer, but is more scenic.

You would take SR (State Route) 74 from Palm Desert, go left on to SR 371, left again on to SR 79 to Santa Ysabel. Don't miss Dudley's Bakery in Santa Ysabel! Then go left on SR 78, When you get into Ramona, SR78 goes right, you go straight on SR67 until you get to Scripps Poway Parkway, turn right. That takes you to I-15S. Go South on I-15 to Highway 52 West, which will take you into La Jolla.

thanks for the advice Barbara, we think we will probably drive LV to SD but will take a call on that closer to the time - depends on whether we have had enough of driving by that time! As you say we would have to leave the car in LV and hire another in SD. We are now in the process of finalizing the trip and finding hotels in the various places - any thoughts on hotels in and around Death Valley? Also trying to decide if we should just stay at Zion for 2 nights and just do a day trip to Bryce (I understand it could be quite cold at Bryce) or spend 1 night in each place.

There isn't a lot of choice with hotels in Death Valley! I don't think any of them are very great. The most you can hope for is clean, a shower and edible food!

http://www.nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/lodging.htm

I'd also suggest you read the reviews at www.tripadvisor.com. Maybe someone else here will have recent experience of lodging in DV.

Sorry, I can't help you with Zion and Bryce.

I couldn't agree with Barbara more! Stay close to LAX that night and drive to Death Valley the next day. This is why I feel this way.

1. Significant jet lag and fatigue.

2. You would be in the middle of LA area rush hour, a major stressor. Unless you absolutely must, you don't want to be on the freeways during this time.

Possible unfamiliarity with driving on the right (vs. left) side of the road.

A good choice for a hotel near LAX (about 1 mile away is the Embassy Suites Los Angeles - International Airport/South <http://tinyurl.com/2sekuh>.

They offer free evening cocktails, a restaurant for dinner and a good, made-to-order breakfast in the morning. How does that sound?

well it sounds perfect, but sadly they are full on the night we arrive. Any other suggestions gratefully received

Although I have not stayed there, there is another Embassy Suites near LAX <http://tinyurl.com/2pvbax> that is probably comparable in amenities, quality and maybe price.

If that doesn't work, you might want to simply make an international call to either one and inquire about reservations.

Once I tried to book reservations at a "sold out" hotel (according to their web site) and called the hotel directly. Guess what?
They had one or two available rooms that were held back for some reason, and they were able to give me one of them. So much for the accuracy of web site information. It might be worth a try.

What month are you planning on coming. There is nothing to do in Death Valley in the summer. It is just to hot. You can expect temperatures to be 120. Furnace creek Inn is nice, but is closed during the summer season. I don't think you are allowing enough time in Bryce.

Vic,
that's a good thought re calling the hotel - I have had the same experience myself, so I will give it a try. thx

Spirobulldog:
we will be there mid April - have booked Furnace Creek for 2 nights. Have changed Zion/Bryce part of trip.
Day 7 leave LV am for Zion stay at Desert Pearl Inn for 2 nights.
Day 8 Zion.
Day 9 leave Zion am for Bryce - overnight at Bryce Canyon Lodge.
Day 10 Bryce am then back to LV for pm flight to San Diego.
This way we will be at Bryce for sunset on day 9 and sunrise on day 10.

Just found the Best Western Marina Pacific Hotel in Venice Beach for $159 - anyone got any thoughts on whether this good hotel/location/price?

It's an O.K. area. Their web site says that they are about 5 miles away. It probably is not a bad choice.

Venice Beach is very "interesting" to say the least. You'll find a very eclectic assortment of people there. Good for people watching though.

Having said that and if it were me, I would want to minimize the hassles and just stay near the airport and have the hotel shuttle pick me up and deposit me at the front door. This is just my personal opinion though.

You're spending the first 3 nights and you're 4th out of 14 days just on Death Valley. Totally too much. Instead, fly immediately from LAX to Las Vegas, it's only an hour, and make Las Vegas your base. Take one full day for a day trip to Death Valley from there.

That would work. It would eliminate many hours of driving through really boring desert. You'd still see enough of it on the way to Death Valley! You could still stay in DV overnight of you wanted, and IMO there is enough to see there to stay over one night. Also, this plan would make it easier for you to fly from LV to San Diego instead of driving.

Good thinking, joesorce!

well have finally got the trip all worked out. Hotels are all booked. I want to thank everyone for their input- this is the first time I have used this site and your advice has been invaluable.
Just one last question:
What is the most scenic route from Los Angeles to DV - we will be staying at Furnace Creek. We have plenty of time to get there. We will probably be up early as our body clocks will still be on UK time, so may leave LA before rush hour and plan to arrive in DV sometime in the afternoon just as jetlag catches up with us!

Also scenic route from DV to Las Vegas? I think I read somewhere about a 'locals route' that avoids r15 - really don't want to be on that on a Friday!

We stayed at Furace Creek Ranch for 2 nights the last week of December. We did eat at Furnace Creek Inn one night, and it was even better than we expected. We did Scotty's Castle, Zabreski Point, Devil's Golf Course, Titus Canyon Drive, Artist Drive, Artist Palete, Hiked to Natural Bridge. Titus Canyon is one heck of a drive. It is on a dirt somewhat rough road, 20 miles long or so. You should allow about 2 hours to drive it. Don't miss it. You'll never drive on anything like it in your life.

I think the 14 to the 395 is much more scenic than the desert route. This will take you into the eastern Sierra Nevada mountain range. If you continue north a bit past the first Death Valley signs at Olancha and the 190, you will get to Lone Pine, the jumping off point for exploring Mount Whitney, the highest point in the continental U.S. You can then take the 136 south to get to the 190. This should only add about 30 minutes or so to your drive.

If the visibility allows you a peek at Mount Whitney, then you can see the highest point and lowest point in the continental U.S. in the same day.

Titus Canyon road sounds fun we will be driving a 4wd so will try to get to do the drive. thks for all the other info on DV - was it worth going to Scotty's Castle? I've seen some posts that say it's a long way to go and not too interesting

Ivk
thks the route sounds interesting - roughly how long would it take to get to DV