Pacific coast road trip
I'm from upstate NY. Looking to do a west coast road trip in November for a total of 10 nights flying into Las Vegas for a few nights then off to the coast. Looking to visit Carmel, San Francisco,Napa,Portland,Seattle (flying home from Seattle) I would love to see Vancouver but I don’t think we will have the time. We want to enjoy the drive because that’s part of the journey so we really don't want to drive all day I would like to stop over night in some fun areas the only day I want to drive all day is from Las Vegas to Carmel because I want to get to the coast! Any ideas or help would be appreciated.
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I hope you mean ten nights not including the "few nights" in Las Vegas! Even so, ten nights to see Carmel, SF, Napa, Portland and Seattle is pretty ridiculous. Especially since you wish to "enjoy the drives".
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I suggest you limit yourself to Northern California this trip, from Carmel north along the coast as far as you can get comfortably, then home from SFO or Oakland, even Sacramento. If you've booked on Southwest, you can change without a penalty. Otherwise, it would still be worthwhile to change your flight home. I don't think you realize you've planned yourself into a less-than-enjoyable number of miles for just a few days. Please do reconsider.
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It occurs to me that another possibility is to eliminate LV and fly directly to an airport near the coast, maybe San Jose, depending on your starting point. Even then it'll be a drive and not a leisurely wander along the way. But you will have more scenic time and can always make a dash up I-5 for the flight home if/when you run out of time.
Leaving Las Vegas for another trip, flying in to San Jose, or another airport near Carmel, and out of Portland would be a vast improvement. |
have you already booked your flights? if you drove that route non-stop, your looking at about 25 hours. for most people, if they want to enjoy the drive (for example, i'd cut over to the coastal road in oregon), you are looking at about 5 days of driving. think you need to rethink this. what are your priorities. what about saving seattle, portland and vancouver (and vancouver island if you had more then 2 weeks) for another trip. if you focused on las vegas, big sur/carmel/monterey, san fransisco and napa...that would be doable. and to avoid one way drop off fees on a vehicle...assuming vegas is important to you, i might consider flying into vegas, enjoy a few nights there, fly to san fran. pick up your rental car and take off for the coast and napa part of your trip. then return the car and spend your remaining nights in san fransisco. you don't need a vehicle in las vegas or san fransisco unless you want to do daytrips outside of town.
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I understand you want to begin your trip on the coast in Carmel; however, it isn't possible to advise you until you state exactly how many days and nights you have to drive from Carmel to Seattle.
HTtY |
Ten days to drive between Las Vegas to Carmel to Seattle and staying in SF, Napa, and Portland means you will be on the road more than you may want to be.
Hopefully you are flying from Las Vegas to Carmel. |
Carmel, Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Napa ... you could spend a day in each place. There's good food all over the place and Yelp can help you find the local hot spots. Wine should be on the menu obviously in Napa. Honestly, you've got some good spots lined up. I agree with the other poster that you should stick to the Bay Area in California. Even San Francisco has so much to see that you could spend the entire time there and not see the whole city.
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As I mentioned briefly on your other thread - ten days is not enough time for what you want. It would barely be enough time for Carmel to Seattle, but even that would be a bit rushed if you wanted time in SF, Napa/Sonoma, the north coast/redwoods, the oregon coast and any place else.
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Because of the emphasis in the original post on Las Vegas and Carmel, it might be assumed that your tastes lean toward the glitzy and upscale. If that's not true, another possibility would be to skip everything except the California north coast, Oregon and Washington, and you'd have half a chance of doing that part of the itinerary some justice.
If the thought appeals at all, rather than change already purchased air tickets, buy one more which would be cheap, from Las Vegas immediately on into Oakland or SFO, get a car and head out north on Hwy 101, which goes through Wine Country, and farther north cut over to Hwy 1 and the coast village of your choice. If you start with Las Vegas and Carmel, you'll never make it, unless at the expense of the rest of your trip. |
Thank you everyone! I never thought of getting a flight from Las Vegas to CA! I looked at Southwest and there are direct flights to San Jose/Oakland/SFO so I WILL be booking a fight. I do know and would love to add more days on…but it’s not happening, work and we have to be home for Thanksgiving I left a day in between just in case our flights are canceled it’s really the worst time to travel. Nov. 22 is a special birthday for my boyfriend this is a trip he requested and I’ve always wanted to drive the coast Napa to Seattle so it’s perfect. I’ve been to Vegas, Carmel, San Francisco and Napa about 8 years ago. He’s never been. We have 8 nights to work with. I’m thinking of flying into San Jose get there by 10:00am and go to Carmel do the 17 mile drive scenic drive. We just want to get a taste of these areas I’m not sure how many nights to stay in each area. I need help with this part! Also what should we be sure to see and where to stay overnight between Napa and Portland. MmePerdu this is not a glitzy and upscale trip…lol. Although I love all the little shops in Carmel he is not a shopper and this trip is ‘’All About Him”
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If this trip is all about him, have you asked him if he wants to do all this driving? IMO, you really just need to leave out Vegas. Then you could have two days in Carmel/Big Sur, two days in San Francisco, one day in Napa area, one day between there and Portland, two days in Portland, and two days in Seattle.
I don't know where you should stay between Napa and Portland as you will only have time to take I-5. I have only driven the coast as that is the most scenic route. You don't have time for that. Seriously, can you reconsider and just concentrate on Northern California. You will have a much better trip and I'm sure he will appreciate it. |
What exactly do you want to see/do? Now you say you only have 8 nights which is not the 10 nights you originally mentioned.
8 nights is not enough time even w/o Las Vegas. 8 nights gives you about 7.5 days. That is enough time (barely) for Carmel, SF, Napa and the redwoods in northern CA. Leaving no time for Oregon or Seattle. So . . . What dou you want out of the trip? |
By the reactions to your small adjustment, you may realize that your miscalculation is far from fixed. When I suggested flying from LV to the Bay Area, I meant continue on directly, skipping LV altogether except to change planes. If LV is still included, even as 1 overnight, you've missed the point completely, unless I'm wrong and you aren't stopping.
And by back-tracking to Carmel you've lost another opportunity for a nice, rather than forced, drive to Seattle. Even without Carmel it won't be a particularly enjoyable drive, with most of the coast route too long to include. It doesn't matter whose trip this is, some attention must be given to the sheer amount of time it will take to get from Carmel to Seattle. Close to 1000 miles and 15 hours driving straight up the center on the interstate, no stops for anything, no sea views on any coast road, plus stops for gas and food only, 3 days are gone. Add scenic routes that take 3 or 4 times as long (or more), well, you see where this is going. I suggest you sit down with your husband and decide what will have to go. If it's his trip, as you say, let him decide. But something's got to give here. |
Also, keep in mind that rental car rates will be higher if your drop off/pick up location is different.
At this point, you probably think we're picking on you or something. Honestly, all I can say is that we are trying to keep you from doing nothing but driving. You really need to consider dropping Las Vegas altogether, flying into and out of SFO, and limiting your visit to Northern California. You can always do Vegas another time, even just a long weekend. Seattle and Portland and points in between would be a great "next time" trip. |
Who wouldn't want a couple of nice cold and rainy 8 hour drives for their birthday?
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Wow you guys are tough! First let me assure you this is not my trip this is what HE picked. I am a big traveler he is not! It was hard getting him to go for 10 nights! He would rather drive than sit on a plane his first choice was Hawaii till he saw how long a flight it would be, the same with Europe. I went to Africa he thought I was nuts! He wants to go to Vegas. I’m thinking the only long ride will be from Napa to Portland. This is an area I’m not familiar with. Where I’m looking to this group for ideas. We can do five hour drives for this part of the trip. I’m thinking of not staying overnight in Napa just going to a winery or two he’s not a wine drinker. I am and have been to Napa before. I know he would enjoy going on a wine tour.
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If he's not a traveler, perhaps he doesn't understand these distances. Can't you just explain to him that this trip won't work? Or better yet, let him read the advice you asked for and received.
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"Tough" is what people come here for, and how we try to save the less experienced from themselves. It isn't coming across that either of you quite get yet how much beautiful stuff you'll miss by spending so much time driving to where you think you want to go. But I also know that kids and travelers sometimes need to learn from their mistakes.
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That fastest (inland) drive from Napa to Portland is about 10 hours under the best of circumstances. If you wanted to drive the coast all the way from Napa to Portland, it would take at least 16 hours.
If you didn't plan to spend the night in Napa but just drive through the valley, make a stop or two, and then head back to the coast, the farthest you'd probably want to drive that day is Gualala or Sea Ranch. (I wouldn't take the time to do a wine tour unless you spent the night in Napa.) If 5 hours of driving a day is your goal, your next night would probably be Eureka or Arcata. The third night would probably be Coos Bay. Portland by the fourth night, and then you fly home. So, assuming 2 nights Vegas, 2 nights Carmel, 2 nights SF, and 4 nights to do Napa and the coastal drive... there's your 10 nights. Not much wiggle room. Consider how much more of Carmel and SF you could see if you dropped Vegas. You should definitely investigate the one-way car rental cost. |
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