Trip from San Francisco to Tucson
 

We're planning a trip with our 3-year old twins to see family in Arizona, (Tucson and Phoenix) and a friend in San Diego. We have about a week and a half. I'm trying to figure out the best use of our time and where it is appropriate to stop overnight with our twins. Also, it is possible to see our friend from San Diego in Orange County. I'm overwhelmed about mapping out this trip. Any and all help and suggestions are appreciated!

It would help to know the maximum number of miles or hours you want to drive each day.

If you drive directly between San Francisco and Orange County or San Diego there is no place of particular interest at the mid-point to spend the night (but there is is you detour over to Highway 1).

There is no place of particular interest to stop for the night near the mid-point of the drive between Laguna Beach and Phoenix.

If you drive to San Diego, Yuma AZ is a logical place to stop for the night if you drive from there to Tuscon.

HTTY

If the main point is to spend time with your friend and family, my choice would be San Francisco to Monterey to Cambria (or Pismo Beach) for the night. Then, Cambria to Laguna Beach for the night. Then Laguna Beach to Phoenix (and Tuscon). Returning to San Francisco from Phoenix, I would spend the night somewhere in the general vicinity of Los Angeles.

HTTY

classic.mapquest.com

roadtripusa.com

In the short time you have with kids

San Diego betterbidding.com Westin www.lajolla.com for me

hop on th I-10 to Tucson AZ and back easy

no hassle... www.hoteldel.com for a splurge...

SF a tonne more driving really not enough time

unless you mainly want to tour the inside of a car.

Have fun!

When the kids were little, I lived in Tucson. We spent a lot of vacations in California. We used to drive to San Diego every summer. It was a common vacation area for people from Arizona. The locals referred to us tourists as Zonies.

It wasn't a particularly scenic ride but it was easy. I remember it as being about 8 hours but when I checked on mapquest, it said 6 hours. It's a little shorter going between Phoenix and San Diego.

We also occasionally drove from Tucson to LA. That was a very long day trip but we made it there in one day.

We also would drive to San Francisco and/or Marin for some vacations. That was a two day long and very boring drive. Don't remember where we would stop.

What time of year will you be traveling?

San Diego to Tucson is an easy six hour drive on I-8 and I-10. You don't want to stop in Yuma for anything more than gas..cheaper in AZ than CA..Keep driving.

I'm assuming you live in the Bay area and SF is only your starting point - right? (not quite sure what qwo is on about, but that is normal ;) )

This won't be a bad road trip -- the worst/longest is the drive back from AZ (or even SD) to Northern CA. What time of year. That can make a big difference re best routes.

I'd drive SF in one go straight down I-5. It is less than 9 hours if you don't hit the LA basin during commute times. So count on a 12 hour day when including meal and rest stops. But at least that leg would be out of the way. Then you have tons of time to divide between SD/AZ. Then I'd take 2 days to drive back from Phoenix. Northern LA County is about the 1/2 way point so you could stay a night there somewhere near I-5.

All this is assuming you mainly want to visit the friends/family and not do a lot of independent sightseeing enroute.

hi everyone,

thank you for your great tips. we do live in the bay area. our main goal is family/friends. we plan to go the last 2 weeks in dec.

our 3-year olds are not "into" sight-seeing, unless it's trains or monster trucks. mostly im perplexed about which route would be best. time-wise. should we go to san diego 1st? or skip san diego and meet my friend in orange county? should we hit tucson or phoenix 1st or on the way back?

making it anywhere by xmas isn't of great importance except that we would like to have a nice dinner somewhere and nice overnight lodging. being with family/friends would be nice if it works out. again, just bamboozled by the whole routes/time thing.

There is an option to ride the Coast Starlight from Emeryville to Los Angeles and rent a car there for the rest of your trip.
The train ride would be long remembered by the twins.
The trains to Arizona from LA are not appealing since they arrive in the late night hours.

We once did the reverse from San Diego, and were advised to go over the Tehachapi pass (with luck you'll see long freight trains curling over the grade) to avoid LA traffic. Google map SF to SD and then click on the cursor on the blue line near Bakersfield and yo9u will get the itinerary I am talking about.

If you decide to go to Tucson first, I would think that going over the pass would be the logical route.

oops - just noticed I omitted part of my post . . . >>I'd drive SF to San Diego in one go straight down I-5<<

Meeting your friend in OC won't save you much/any time. Anaheim to Tucson takes 8.5 hours plus stops. SD > Tucson about 6.5 hrs. So I'd go visit you friend in San Diego and then have an easier trip on to Tucson.

Be sure to check the road reports before driving over Cajon or Tehachipi passes. Snow can close both/either one.

Why don't you just fly instead of spending this much time in the car?