Need help with California itinerary
 

hi!
We are coming from Australia on Sept 17th to do a California road trip. Starting in Las Vegas (5nts) we are then driving through Death Valley (1 nt Lone Pine) to Yosemite (3 nts), then Sonoma (2nts). We will have two nights in LA before we fly back on Oct 3rd. My trouble is what to do for the remaining days in between. (Two nights- Sept 29/30). We were thinking of driving to Mendocino and then either north to the redwoods (not sure how far we'd need to go) or just straight back down through San Fran, stopping somewhere on the coast. Any suggestions? We want to make the most of this time. Thanks!

Welcome to California! (I'll be in Australia in October) Do you have any interest in seeing SF, or do you specifically want to stick to the coast? If you want to see SF, you could stay there for the two nights.

If you want a coast experience, I'd suggest you take 280 south to 17, cross the Santa Cruz mountains, drive down US 1 to the Carmel-Monterey area. It should be beautiful in late September. I just checked the calendar and see that the 29th is a Friday. If you elect this option, get an early start from Sonoma on Friday morning to avoid the Friday afternoon commute traffic over 17. It would also probably be a good idea to book your lodging in Carmel or Monterey ASAP. You could do a search on the board for lodging suggestions from previous posts.

If you have any further questions come back and post them. There are lots of Fodorites in this area who will probably give you varied suggestions.

If you decide to drive down the coast, here's a good place to stop for lunch:

www.philsfishmarket.com

Five nights in Vegas!!!!! That is a LOT. Any special reason? Usually one or two nights is plenty.

Secondly, have you taken into account the driving times of some of your trips? For example, Lone Pine to Yosemite can take up most of the day. Where are you staying in Yosemite? In the Valley? The West side? Makes a big difference.

Then Yosemite to Sonoma will take up most of your day just driving. Then the drive from Sonoma to LA is a minimum of seven hours and that would be mainly on I-5 which is the most booring interstate in the US.

I know Australia is big, but so is California. Driving times can be very challenging, especially since it will all be unfamiliar.

Curious

I love Vegas, but five nights is three nights too many.

Most of your drives will be in the 4 hour range (except the Sonoma to LA)

Lone Pine to Lee Vining which is the turn off to Tioga Pass is a bit over 2 hours. From Lee Vining to Yosmeite valley is about 2 hours. This whole drive will be very pretty in the eastern Sierra. The drive over Tioga Pass has amazing views.

Yosemite valley to Sonoma is about 4 hours.

AS I see it you have 2 nights to get from Sonoma to LA before your final 2 nights there and then fly home.

Driving north any more than you are and then expecting to get to LA would be really difficult. If you have seen the giant redwoods in Yosemite then you probably want to see some coast redwoods. You can check out muir woods from Sonoma or you can stop for an overnight in Santa Cruz and see some coast redwoods in Big Basin Park. Then keep driving on highway 1 and see the beautiful coast and stay somewhere south like Santa Barbara. You can do some wine tasting in the region and then make your way to LA.

Thanks everyone for your quick and helpful responses! The reason we are staying in Las Vegas for five nights is because we need to get in some shopping time..being from Australia! Also want to visit a few different restaurants there. We have been to Vegas before and think five nights will be ok for us.
I think i agree that it might be too much to drive any further north just to see Redwoods, if there are coastal redwoods near Sonoma anyway. Anyone know how long it would take to drive from Mendocino to LA via the coast? Thanks again...

Mendocino to SF via 1 is about 4.5 hours. On 101 it's about 3 hours.

From SF to San Luis Obsipo on highway 1 is over 6 hours. After that 101 and 1 have merged and it's a wider highway. For about 2.5 hours you will be on 101/1 then about Oxnard 1 splits off again. If you stay on 1 from here to Santa Monica it is about 1.25 hours. From there you can go inland to LA which is about 30 minutes of course it depends on what you mean by LA.

So that's about 14 or so hours. If you take 101 for some of the drive you will cut down on the drive time.

Sonoma to Menodcino is nearly 3 hours.

Sonoma to Muir Woods is only about 1 hour.

From Mendocino to route 101 junction is a stomach churning winding road... do you really want to see Mendocino? I would suggest going no further north than Healdsburg, and spending time seeing Monterrey and Carmelsouth of San Francisco, and taking Route 1 down to San Luis Obispo.
If you decide to stop in Healdsburg, we have a cute vacation rental apt. overlooking the Russian river where you could stay. There are lovely redwoods in Armstrong Woods not far from Healdsburg. Not as crowded as Muir Woods and easier to get to.

The drive to Mendocino is not bad if you take 101 to Route 128 and go through the Anderson Valley. There are, however, some other routes that are - as <i>kleroux</i> states - definately stomach churning!

If you want to see BIG trees make a stop in Kings Canyon/ Sequoia National parks.It's on your way to Yosemite. They have trees that are over two thousand years old. The General Sherman tree is believed to be a much as 2700 years old.40 feetwide at its base.See www.sequoia.national-park.com

I forgot to mention you can take the ferry over to sausalito

disregard my last reply (I responding to wrong thread).duh

Yes spend 2 or 3 less nights in Vegas, and put them into more time on the CA coast. :-)

If your driving down the coast from SF to LA, Big Sur is beautiful. Also stop and see the Hearst Castle.You might need to buy tickets ahead Hearstcastle.com There was a place to eat(there is not many along this stretch)a little before you get to the castle food was okay but they have a area you can walk out in back of the places that has great views of the coast.Also be aware that this part of the coast can be chilly

From Sonoma, you can go to Armstrong Woods
www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=450
It's about a 90 minute drive. It's a beautiful park and vastly less crowded than Muir Woods.

Then, if you want to see the coast, drive about another 30 minutes west to Sonoma Coast State Park
www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=451

Hi Vanjane

If your still considering Mendocino I say go. If your heading south to LA from Mendocino here is your quickest route. From Mendocino head north to Ft Bragg About 9 miles. Turn East (righthand turn) on Highway 20 drive 20 east to Highway 5 it is about 128 miles say 2.5 hours 20 is not as curvey as your other options Then head south on 5 to LAX it is about 460 miles. At 70 miles an hour thats another 7 hours with a gas stop. 20 is a nice drive and you get to see the largest natural lake in California, Clear Lake.

Have Fun!

The Mariposa grove in Yosemite has the SEQUIOA trees too. I just dont understand that you can travel all that way from Australia to shop in a tourist(totally artificial) trap like L.Vegas when there's so much beauty to see in the National parks.zion-Bryce etc;;;To each hisown. Paul

I was just noting the variety of weather you could encounter in all the places you are going this month. You could have highs over a 100 in Death Valley and Vegas, and lows into the 40's/ even 30's maybe in Yosemite and Lone Pine. Pack layerered outfits.

I don't think any of this is being read
by our aussie friends(have'nt heard back)

Ignore the Vegas haters vanjane. The total unreality of the strip, the great restaurants, and the shopping (along with whatever gambling you want to do) can be very relaxing. First the unnatural wonders of Vegas, then the natural wonders of the rest of the West. I agree that you need to get a good map and check out the distances. You are talking about covering a huge territory, and driving alot of miles on winding mountain roads. Also take into account that once you get close to LA or San Francisco you can hit grid lock where your average speed could drop to ten miles per hour. I just got back from a San Francisco - Yosemite trip. We drove north out of San Francisco on Hwy 1 on one day, and Muir Woods is more than one hour from Sonoma taking that scenic route. Every road except 101 was a twisting road rally experience. All three of my passengers developed motion sickness, where only one thought they were susceptible to it before we started. Hwy 1 is not in very good condition in many sections. We flew in and out of Oakland airport. On the way back to the airport from Yosemite, it took us over an hour to travel the last 15 miles on the freeway, at 10am on a Thursday morning.

Hi again,
Yes, I have been reading all your posts and am grateful for all your suggestions! Thank You. We are leaving next week and are thinking of maybe just spending some time in SF and then a night further south along the coast. Still reading the boards for tips though. Thanks again!

Highly recommend San Francisco. Our only regret this last trip was not spending enough time in the city itself. Believe it or not, September is actually a sunnier month than August in SF. The fog is substantial in August, and the high temperatures were actually quite low when we were there mid August - in the mid to upper 60s Farenheit, which is normal. Temperatures start to go up just by going across the bay to Oakland, and rise rapidly as you drive inland. There is a big difference between daytime highs and lows at night in Yosemite Valley. Check the national park web site for weather info.

good luck on your trip