West Coast car route (25 days)
 

Is it a good route?

1 Barcelona - Los Angeles
2 Los Angeles - San Diego ( 194 Km )
3 San Diego - Phoenix ( 646 Km )
4 Phoenix - Montezuma Castle - Grand Canyon NP (155 + 220 Km)
5 Grand Canyon NP
6 Grand Canyon NP - Las Vegas (446 Km)
7 Las Vegas - Death Valley NP - Las Vegas (224 + 224 Km)
8 Las Vegas - Zion NP - Bryce Canyon NP (275 + 140 Km)
9 Bryce Canyon NP
10 Bryce Canyon NP - Monument Valley NP - Arches NP (462 + 227 Km)
11 Arches NP - Salt Lake City (376 Km)
12 Salt Lake City - Yellowstone NP (578 Km)
13 Yellowstone NP
14 Yellowstone NP - Salt Lake City (578 Km)
15 Salt Lake City - Reno (834 Km)
16 Reno - Sacramento (229 Km)
17 Sacramento - San Francisco (138 Km)
18 San Francisco
19 San Francisco
20 San Francisco - Yosemite NP (317 Km)
21 Yosemite NP - Sequoia NP (279 Km)
22 Sequoia NP - Los Angeles (394 Km)
23 Los Angeles
24 Los Angeles
25 Los Angeles - Barcelona

I would personally skip Sacramento and add a day to Vegas.The drive from Reno isnt a terrible one day drive. Also instead of Reno I would do Lake Tahoe. Yellowstone is WAY out of your way unless you are very ambitious. You could also check into flying into L.A. and out of Salt Lake or another city to save some back tracking.
Best Wishes!

Thank you very much panhandle

If you're going to omit Sacramento, then add a day to San Diego. As you have it now, it's hardly worth coming here at all. You barely have time to see the Zoo!

Are you planning to hike down into the Grand Canyon? If not, you don't need to stay there for a whole day/2 nights.

Make sure you have a cooler in your car with drinking water. You'll be driving across a lot of desert and you need to keep hydrated. You can find cheap coolers in most supermarkets. Buy bottled water by the case (24 bottles).

You have too much driving back and forth.

Las Vegas - Death Valley - back to Las Vegas

Why back to Las Vegas, just to start out again:

Las Vegas - Zion NP?

Also in California your itinerary is:

Reno - Sacramento - San Francisco - (back to)Yosemite!

I think you will do better to design your trip going forward only and no backtracking. You could zigzag a bit, but always go FORWARD.

I've got to look at a map of the West, but the others are correct, you need to spend less time in the secondary places like Sacramento.

Happy planning! :)

Why not go west from Yellowstone to Mt Rainier Nat Pk in Washington. Then Mt. St. Helens, Portland to the Oregon coast, SF, and down from there?

Thank you for your answers.

Orcas: If I do that I supose that I need to spend more days (min. 2).

To all: I'll skip Sacramento but, isn't it nice? I don't know any place of USA, so could you tell me what places are the most beautiful? (West).

Easytravler: Could you propose me an alternative route for not to going forward?

Many thanks from Barcelona.

Personally, I feel like you're trying to do too much. Visit fewer places and spend more time at each and less in transit. After the trip is over, all you'll remember is the driving! I would start out:
1 Barcelona-LAX
2 LAX-Death Valley
3 Death Valley
4 Death Valley-Vegas
5 Vegas
6 Vegas-Grand Canyon
7 Grand Canyon-Bryce/Zion

This is where it gets tricky. Even with 25 days, I think you'll be losing too much time driving to Yellowstone. But if you really want to, then head to Yellowstone after Bryce/Zion.

8 Bryce/Zion
9 Bryce/Zion-Salt Lake City
10 Salt Lake City-Yellowstone
11 Yellowstone
12 Yellowstone-Seattle
13 Seattle
14 Mt Rainier
15 Mt St Helens-Portland
16 Portland-Crater Lake
17 San Francisco
18 San Francisco
20 Yosemite
21 Yosemite
22 LAX
23 lAX
24 LAX
25 LAX

Obviously, it needs a bit of fine-tuning, but I think you'll do well to omit San Diego, Phoenix, Yellowstone, etc. Keep in mind, it takes nearly 12 hours to drive from Bryce Cyn to Yellowstone- nearly 2 full days of driving! There's really no way to get around that...is there any way you can save Yellowstone til next time?

Hi, Jordirr:

I've briefly looked at a map of the Western US and here's one suggested itinerary:

LA - San Diego

San Diego - Phoenix

Phoenix - Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon - Monument Valley

Monument Valley - Lake Powell

Lake Powell - Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon - Zion

Zion - Las Vegas

Las Vegas - Death Valley

(cross Death Valley to Highway 395

go SOUTH on 395 to Highway 178 then to Highway 99)

Death Valley - Sequoia National Park

Sequoia - Kings Canyon

Kings Canyon - Yosemite

(cross Yosemite to Highway 395 again)

Yosemite - Lake Tahoe - Reno

Reno - Sacramento - San Francisco

SF - Los Angeles via the beautiful coastal route

Personally, I think you are going to be very tired, as this is a strenuous driving trip. I would cut down a bit on all that you want to see, because you not only have to drive but also to stop. E.g., Yosemite is worth a one day stop.

The first thing I would recommend cutting out is Sequoia - Kings Canyon.

Others may have other suggestions and other itineraries.

Again, happy planning! :)

Sacramento is a nice place to live, but it isn't particularly scenic, nor does it have as much to offer visitors as other places in the state. For more urban areas, SF and San Diego and LA are good. The real draw of California is the coast and the mountains.

Thank you again

What time of year are you visiting? If in the summer I would think twice about Death Valley.
I agree with others to go to fewer places and spend time enjoying them.
Agree about skipping Sacramento...
Have fun.

In July

jordirr, when are you coming to California? The time of year makes a huge difference in ability to cross the Sierra Nevada by road.

When is this trip. If it's July and August, I'd leave out some in the middle and go the Pacific NW. I like the idea of mixing the desert southwest with the rain forests of the Pacific NW. Also, I'm not keen on Las Vegas, Sacramento, Death Valley or LA. Here's a revised ending:

10 Tellowstone NP (fascinating)
11 Yellowstone NP
12 Yellowstone NP
13 Glacier Nat Park (awesome park)
14 Glacier Nat Park
15 Mt. Rainier (awesome mt)
16 Mt. Rainier
17 Seattle I- 5 to
18 OR Coast (incredibly beautiful)
19 OR Coast
20 OR coast to Redwoods to SF on I-5
21 San Francisco (great city)
22 San Francisco
23 Santa Barbara, route 1 (gorgious route)
24 Los Angeles
25 Los Angeles – Barcelona

I see the time was posted while I was doodling around on the internet. July is a great time for the PNW and a hot time for the desert.

Aarghh! posted at the same time!LOL!

July will be fine for roads across the Sierra. I know a lot of people say not to go to Death Valley in the summer, but it's a great thing to see as there's nothing quite like it anywhere else. It will be VERY hot, so you would not be walking about very much, but you can see a lot from your air-conditioned car!

Also, as we have advised many others, if you're going to Yosemite, you really could miss Sequoia as you are trying to fit a lot into a relatively short time.

Since you are coming from Barcelona, I assume you know about very dry/desert conditions which can be found in parts of Spain. However, this part of the West is VERY dry and VERY big. A lot of what you will be travelling through will be wilderness.

You need to think of carrying a lot of water, driving in the desert areas only before noon - if at all possible - carrying sunscreen, hats that will cover not only your face but also your neck, an adequate first aid kit, etc. etc.

How many degrees are you talking about? Here in Barcelona the highest temperature in summer is 40ºC. Is it much higher in the West of USA?

What about skiping San Diego?

I see a lot of opinions (I like it) but I only have 25 days!!!! :-) If you have to tell to a catalan boy what are the best places to go. What would you say? Please give me a list with a top five or top ten destionations.

Thank you again.

Before we do that (top 5 list), give us some ages, how many people, any children?

What are your likes and dislikes? etc.

The more information we have, the better we can answer your questions.