esaintjust

My boyfriend and I are 27 & 30 and we are travelling from NYC to San Francisco and want to road trip our way down to Las Vegas. We plan on arriving into San Fran on July 18th and need to be in Vegas on July 25, so on the way we want to hit as much as possible in Cali. We fly back to NYC 26th or 27th most likely from LV. I know going down (i believe) Highway 1 is very popular and scenic, I'm just having a hard time trying to plan it all out as far the stops and timing. We are interested in stopping in San Diego, Alcatraz, zoos, aquariums and the typical touristy stuff, . we also like EDM and I know from time to time there are events to attend so if you know of any please recommend those as well. Please also recommend any hotels that are affordable, we not picky just need a decent place to sleep.

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE !!

janisj

It looks like you have 6-ish free days (not counting on much on the 18th and 25th) which is not very long for San Francisco, Monterey, the coast, LA, San Diego and on to Vegas. UNLESS you really mostly want a road trip and not spending time anywhere. SF > Carmel/Monterey > Cambria > LA > SD > LV is about 1000 miles and 18 to 20 hours drive time. If you spend 2 nights anywhere (and you'd need to a few places to accomplish very much) - Say 2 nights in SF, 2 in Monterey (which would be required anyway because this falls on a weekend), and 2 in San Diego . . . that leaves you just one night somewhere else, and some pretty long drive days. Plus

What is your budget? What does "Affordable" mean to you?

Kathie

Las Vegas is out of your way in relation to the places you want to visit. Why not fly home from somewhere on the coast rather than driving to las Vegas?

suze

Or another way to say that is... San Diego is NOT between San Francisco and Las Vegas. Are you working from a map?

jamie99

There is still a mudslide on Highway 1 near Gorda, south of Monterey. It will not be fixed until September 30. So you would have to drive partway down into Big Sur then backtrack from Monterey to the 101 near Salinas, then pick up the 1 near Cambria. That alone would take at least 2-3 nights.

esaintjust

we have an event we are going to in Vegas on 7/25 thats the reason for the visit for LV, we're not a 100% on flying out of Vegas but will definitely be there for that night.

tomfuller

I hope you're not driving all the way from NYC to San Francisco and then to Las Vegas. As stated, there are several stretches of CA Rt. 1 that have had fires followed by mudslides. I don't know if US 101 will be closed south of Santa Barbara (again) and for how long.
In July, you should be able to go through Yosemite NP and over the Tioga Pass to get to Death Valley. It's an easy drive from Death Valley into Las Vegas.
Were you planning on flying into California (SFO?)? It might make sense to fly to Las Vegas first and rent a car there (cheaper) and drive to San Francisco from there via Yosemite. Return the car in LV before the event. Las Vegas car rentals have always been cheaper than anything I've found in California.

janisj

Tom - They HAVE to be in Vegas at the end! They have an event there.

esaintjust: you simply do not have enough time for all that. Either fly into Southern California and do LA/OC/SD then on to Vegas. OR fly into northern California and do a loop from SFO - say Monterey and Yosemite. Then fly to Vegas.

tomfuller

I understand the event. Begin and end in Las Vegas with no drop. Tioga Pass should be open into Yosemite in late July. A few years ago I drove from central Oregon to Las Vegas and back in 50 hours.
The next best option is to fly to LAS from SFO or Oakland instead of driving through the Mojave Desert.

janisj

They don't have enough time to begin and end in LV and go to SF etc.. They only have 6+ days total. UNLESS they just do say Vegas, Death Valley and Yosemite. But then there'd be that hellacious drive back to LV.

Michael

There are other things to see in California besides the coast. One could drive up to Lake Tahoe and then work out a route on both sides of the Sierra to eventually arrive in Las Vegas. Things to see: the Godl Rush towns in the foothills, or on the eastern side of the Sierra Bodie Historic State Park, Mono Lake, Devil's Postpile National Monument (https://www.nps.gov/depo/index.htm ) and of course, Yosemite National Park.

suze

Well something's got to give. They are WAY overscheduled with all the things mentioned in their OP. Too many places, covering too much distance, in too short a time.

And yes let's hope they are flying from east to west coast, both directions!!

esaintjust

Since there is clearly no time for everything, if I take out San Fran what is there to do/see in San Diego/LA (& near by) areas

And yes we are flying from New York City to the west coast, originally to San Fran but that is now changing and a very good possibility that we are flying out of LV but not 100%. We would be flying out 7/18 & probably returning on a 10pm-ish flight on 7/27 regardless if out of Cali or LV


Sidenote:: will need to be in LV for 7/25