Gogab

I have never been to the US but we would like to drive from San Francisco to Yosemite, maybe staying the night, to Death Valley (staying one night), to Las Vegas, then onto Phoenix via the Grand Canyon early April. What are the best routes? Will the Tioga Pass Highway be open at this time and is this the best route to go? We want to do this trip in 6 days with staying in Las Vegas for 2. Is this possible? We have 3 older kids with us also.
Thanks for any suggestions.

janisj

Tioga Pass is almost never open in April - only one time in the last 30 years and that was on April 29.

So your whole plan is difficult. A doable option would be 2 nights in SF. 2 Nights in Yosemite. Fly from either Fresno or San Francisco to Las Vegas and stay 3 nights. One of the days in LV you can take a day trip to Death Valley.

janisj

Oh - missed the Phoenix bit. Shuffle things -- 1 night in YNP or 2 nights in LV and then add 1 night in Phoenix (why phoenix BTW?)

I'd personally 100000% cut a night from Vegas before I'd cut Yosemite -- extra especially w/ kids.

Just what do you mean by "older" -- older teens or adults?

Gogab

Thanks janisj.
Our plan is to fly into San Francisco stay for a couple of days. Then I thought it might be nice to go to Yosemite and then onto Vegas for a couple of nights. The Phoenix bit is really just to fly out from as we are doing a cruise out of Galveston, Texas and we need to fly there. Plus we are keen to see Hoover Dam and The Grand Canyon.

My kids are 15, 13 10, so not too old.
Thanks again for your help.

Maggi

My European relatives are shocked at the driving distances in the US and always underestimate how long it takes to get to the places they have planned. You don't want to spend all your time in the car on a 6 day vacation. The kids will be bored silly. With absolutely optimal travel time (ie no traffic problems, which are common in CA)it will take you over four hours to get to Yosemite. The park is 1100 sq miles which at 30 miles an hours take a long time to navigate or see anything. I would skip overnight in Death Valley and drive straight to Las Vegas for one night only then do Hoover Dam on the way to the Grand Canyon. Spend one night at the Grand Canyon (which is almost 2000 square miles). Watch the sun rise over the canyon and do some hiking with the kids to stretch their legs.

janisj

" The park is 1100 sq miles which at 30 miles an hours take a long time to navigate or see anything."

Not in April it doesn't. Sure the park is the same size -- but w/ the back country and Tioga Pass closed one is really limited to Yosemite Valley and the big trees areas near the south entrance.

You can't drive from YNP to Death Valley OR Las Vegas w/o going the looooooong boring way around the south through Bakersfield, or the looooong beautiful way around the north/Lake Tahoe etc. Neither is doable on such a short trip.

To get from northern CA (whether you go to Yosemite or not) to vegas in April --fly. The fares on Southwest are usually very good.

Otis_B_Driftwood

If you only have six days, I'd either spend it all in Northern California (SF, Yosemite, and maybe Gold Country, coast or Napa/Sonoma) or do Vegas and the Grand Canyon.

If you go to Vegas, you could also go to Zion National Park on your way to the Grand Canyon. Zion is the redrock version of Yosemite and much its equal in many ways. A trip via Zion and the GC to Phoenix is certainly doable in 6 days without spending most of your time driving which would be the case if you go from SF to Phoenix in the same time.

Are you really coming all the way to the US to take a cruise out of Galveston? A Florida embarkation port would have so much more to offer your kids before and/or after the cruise.

marisylvia

Hi Gogab,
Your post reminds me of the plans friends in Berlin had for their first US visit. I agree with Maggi that it is hard for Europeans to imagine the vast distances in the US. I asked them to bring out a map, and when they saw what they were contemplating, they made adjustments, and I was happy to help them change their plans. They ended up touring San Francisco, visiting Yosemite and camping out, then driving up the coast highway to Lake Tahoe, which they loved. We lent them our Prius, and when they returned it I heard about how they saw a "beer", which I realized was a "bear" in Yosemite. There is much to see and do in Northern California, and with three kids you don't want to be stuck in a car. Check out distances on a good map and plan accordingly. Good luck!

Gogab

thanks everyone for your helpful feedback. We are from Australia so know all about driving long distances, so driving alot does not scare us. We are keen to get as much out of little time as possible. We are actually on a world trip and the US is just part of our holiday. We thought the Caribbean cruise out of Galveston offered the places we most wanted to go that is why we chose to go there. Our ticket has us fly into San Francisco on 2nd April and our cruise leaves on the 11th April so we were trying to work out what to do with our time in between. Our aim with our whole holiday is to get a taste of the world, small snippets that we or our kids can return to one day. I agree that maybe our plans are a bit "out there" in terms of trying to see too much in a small amount of time but our whole trip in some respects will be like that.

We can change things up a bit. We are flying into SF so that is where we will start, Yosemite would be nice even if for a day, DV I thought would be nice since we are in the area, even just to drive thru. Las Vegas would be an eye-opener for the kids and us so a couple of days there would be nice. Grand Canyon may be too far to be doable, but when it seems so close it's hard to not want to try it. Phoenix was just so that we didn't have to go all the way back to SF. But we could leave the car in LV and catch a flight from there.

What do you think?

janisj

"DV I thought would be nice since we are in the area, even just to drive thru."

The problem is you cannot drive to/through Death Valley from Yosemite w/o going hundreds of miles out of your way. April is a WONDERFUL time to see DV and Yosemite. But honestly the best way to do it - especially in your short timeframe - is to fly into SF and visit SF and Yosemite from there. Then fly to Las Vegas and use it as a base for LV, DV, and the Grand Canyon. Then fly from Vegas to meet your cruise.

Plus this would save the high drop off charges for the one way car hire. The drop off charge could be as much as the SF>LV airfares, and it would save you a whole day of really tedious driving.

emalloy

Janisj has given good advice if you really want to see SF, Yosemite, LV, DV and GC. Have a fantastic trip

Gogab

Thanks janisj. Will have to look at this further

ziggypop

Gogab, I have visited the places on your list. In my opinion the best places to see are San Francisco, then onto Yosemite(took wife and I 7 hours to drive there from S.F.), Grand Canyon and then onto the city you want to fly out of.(Las Vegas or Phoenix). The national parks are awe inspiring while the cities are just cities. I would fly out of Vegas cause it is a cooool city. Enjoy your trip, ziggypop

ziggypop

P.S., if you are staying overnight in the parks make reservations EARLY as rooms are very limited.