ge_tex

My wife and 2 kids (age 9) are driving from Dallas, TX to San Diego, CA for two weeks of vacation. It is my understanding that there is a northern route (Hwy 40) and a southern route (I 10 and I 20) which takes you close to Mexico. I've read some recent travel advisories near El Paso so we're leaning towards taking the northern route there and back. Has anyone driven the Southern route? Is it safe?

BigRuss

That northern route will go pretty far out of the way. What are the travel advisories and do they extend east from El Paso to (say) Midland and west into NM? If not, the trick would be to arrange the trip so as to avoid stopping in El Paso. If the travel advisories are just road construction, that's no big deal. What is the safety issue?

But there are US roads (US 360) that go south of Albuquerque and I-40 that would take wife and kids past Carlsbad and Roswell if they go to either Abilene or even Midland and then get off I-20 and angle westward.

RBCal

El Paso is one of the safest cities in the USA. If you are concerned about drug violence in Juarez, it's strange you aren't about San Diego being adjacent to Tijuana since the drug violence there is just as bad.

ge_tex

I've seen recent travel advisories about the drug violence near Juarez mainly. I'm not aware of issues near San Diego. I would like to be informed of places to avoid on our way to San Diego. We are only staying in San Diego 2 days and then we are moving up the coast to Anaheim, Hollywood and San Francisco. I'm just trying to determine if the southern route (I-20 and I-10) is currently safe and better route than the more northern route (I-40). Thanks for the input.

ElendilPickle

Juarez is in Mexico. El Paso is in Texas. You'll be fine. Really.

I still think you'd be better off flying since almost everything you want to see is in California.

Lee Ann

bardo1

Either route is safe - though not really "fun" (downright boring, actually).

I agree w/ above: why noy fly and maximize your time in California?

dfr4848

The ONLY travel advisories I've seen are for travel IN Mexico and you're not going to Mexico. Shouldn't be a problem at all. I think the only thing you need to decide is whether there are some places you want to visit on the northern route (like Santa Fe, Grand Canyon, etc) versus the southern route (Carlsbad Caverns, etc).

emalloy

For fun along the way, head west on 10 to 285 and take the kids to Carlsbad Caverns, If you don't have an America Beautiful pass, get one ($80 and gets all of you into all National Parks for a year). You could continue north on 285 through Roswell to I-40 and then west. Perhaps a stop at Acoma pueblo for a tour or drop down to el Morro/Inscription rock for a hike then west with a stop at Petrified Forest/Painted Desert then Walnut Canyon and on up to Grand Canyon then west to Kingman, south on AZ 95 to Lake Havasu then south to either I-10 or I-8 and on to San Diego. This will take at least a week if you spend any time in the parks.

mrkindallas

Do yourself a huge favor and fly to San Diego. The drive to San Diego, while safe via either route, is boring and long. When you get to El Paso in 12 hours and realize that you are only halfway there, you'll wish you'd flown.

If the cost is prohibitive, look at getting a flight at least part of the way there. I'd prefer to take Southwest to Phoenix and drive 6 hours to San Diego than to drive all the way to San Diego again. While you'd have to rent a car, the advantage is that if the car breaks down, the rental agency will take care of you rather than you having to fix your car yourself.