Ok then, we would be covering Yosemite along with Pacific Highway (big sur, Monterey with a 2 nighter) and add the Red woods NP

so, should we take the following route

Arrivng in Los Angeles on June 06 and stay there in Hollywood or downtown area for 3 nights (without renting a car)

Now we rent a car to cover PCH, Yosemite, Redwood NP and come to SF (4-5 nights )

is that ok

my question here is what do we do with the car in SF

note : we have to go Flybe’s back from LA

thamks

1. You’ll need a car in LA. Don’t stay “downtown”.

2. San Francisco. Return the car on arrival. Fly back to LA.

You could do a loop of sorts. After LA, head to Yosemite. Go over Tioga Pass, then head north on US 395 to Lake Tahoe. From Tahoe head to the Bay Area/SF. From there, you will go south taking in the Coastal Redwoods near Santa Cruz. Take in Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur. Head south down Hwy 1 to Cambria/Morro Bay/San Luis Obispo. Paso Robles is a great wine growing area to visit.

From the Central Coast, it will be a straight shot down to LA to fly home.

Look for California trip reports to help you plan your trip. Come back here to get advice on your more specific options.

Thought I'd drop a tip: if you're driving to/from San Diego, the highway 5/405 can be a nightmare drive depending on the time of day. If you're heading north, avoid the morning rush hour between 7:30am-9:30am. Leave as early as possible to avoid the 5 north Del Mar choke point.

If you're heading southbound from Irvine, you need to get Carlsbad by 2pm. After 2pm, the 5 becomes a parking lot and you will be stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for 2-3 hours.

LA traffic varies, but plan on it being a couple hours of your life either way unless it's very early in the morning.

MichelleY: >>Come back here to get advice on your more specific options.<<

The OP has several threads (at least six) about this trip with both specific and general questions.

MichelleY - what a great routing you have proposed , very impressive. I have gone through it over the google map and it has covered almost all destinations and in a 'loop'

The left outs are San Diego and Vegas - maybe I can make another from LA to cover Vegas and San Diego - please suggest

and another problem is what to do with the car in San Francisco . I don't think it would be a good idea to keep car in SF for 4 days as parking even at the hotel is so expensive

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fod...f69b54b2c1.jpg

The loop

Depending on the drop fee and parking fees + gas etc. you could use Amtrak for some of the less interesting parts of your trip. My loop would be: Take the Amtrak bus from Los Angeles Union Station to Bakersfield where you board the San Joaquin train to Fresno. In Fresno you rent a car to go to Yosemite. You can include Lake Tahoe before returning the car to Fresno.
From Fresno, you take the San Joaquin via Martinez to Emeryville with a bus over to whichever stop you want in San Francisco.
When you are ready to leave San Francisco, either rent a car (downtown) or fly out of SFO (or Oakland) to LAX (or Burbank).

Get a place to SF that allows cars. I think others have given suggestions on you other threads.

Tomfuller - thanks for the idea but you have omitted many the whole Pacific highway which I think would be a dream come true

MichelleY - Do you agree with Tomfuller ? W
ould be staying in SF for 4-5 days & Even if a find a place in SF to park for free, the daily rent i think would be higher $40/day x 5

any other way I can do the loop so as to avoid it ? Or maybe I fly to SF from LA. Stay there, rent a car and then cover PCH/Yosemite(it's the opposite)

Your Map has a lot of zigging and zagging. This would be better:

That's weird -- my map wouldn't post.

So LAX > from LA or Anaheim depending on where you end up staying drive up the Central Valley to Yosemite > then over Tioga Pass and north to Lake Tahoe > then To San Francisco > then down the coast through Carmel, Big Sur etc and back to LAX

OR If you want to drive all the way up 395 this variation: from LA or Anaheim drive north and catch Hwy 395 to Hwy 120 and go over Tioga Pass and in to Yosemite Valley > then north on Hwy 49 and either 88 or 50 to Lake Tahoe > SF > the coast and back to LAX

Janis - I think u are suggesting almost same as MichelleY

You could do a loop of sorts. After LA, head to Yosemite. Go over Tioga Pass, then head north on US 395 to Lake Tahoe. From Tahoe head to the Bay Area/SF. From there, you will go south taking in the Coastal Redwoods near Santa Cruz. Take in Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur. Head south down Hwy 1 to Cambria/Morro Bay/San Luis Obispo. Paso Robles is a great wine growing area to visit.

Yes -- I was trying to explain that your map was different with lots of backtracking. . . .

Rent a car (downtown) after you check out of your SF hotel. for your southbound coastal trip. If the drop fee in Los Angeles is large, you could get the Amtrak bus over to Jack London Square and take the southbound Coast Starlight as far south as SLO or Santa Barbara. Rent another car and see whatever you want of the southern California coastline.
South of Santa Barbara you can ride a Pacific Surfliner train. For one long stretch, the tracks are next to the beach with no roads in between the tracks and the ocean. On the other side of the train, you will see miles of blackened timber until you get south of Ventura..

tom -- your suggestion would miss the best of the coast, and one way car rental rates in either SLO or Santa Barbara would cost as much or likely more than renting in downtown SF.

that would just be awesome

Lodging reservations in Yosemite for June 2019 have been open for almost 6 months. As has been mentioned more than once in this thread, you need to see what, if anything, is still available in your budget range. If you only plan to spend a couple of days seeing the park, try to stay IN the park and not in one of the towns near an entrance gate.

>>try to stay IN the park and not in one of the towns near an entrance gate.<<

And more specifically IN the Valley. The 'park' is enormous and in the park could still be an hour or more from the Valley.

Many or rather all have suggested to make reservations for Yosemite 8-10months before travel plans, but unfortunately this is not possible in our case

We would like to make confirmation bookings only after we have booked our Intl flights and we plan to do it in Jan 2019 as by then most things and dates get finalised

Are Yosemite lodging reservations in the valley offer 'free cancellation' ?

If not in the valley, which other areas are suggested to lodging in & around Yosemite

thanks

>>Are Yosemite lodging reservations in the valley offer 'free cancellation' ?<<

What I would do - AFTER you have booked your flights, then try to book in Yosemite Valley. It is possible (very likely) there won't be availability but try anyway. If no luck, then book a fully cancellable room at Yosemite View Lodge or Cedar Lodge in El Portal (Yosemite View is nicer but also more expensive). Then keep trying for a cancellation in the Valley. yes, rooms book up FAR in advance, but because of that there are frequent cancellations when plans change. Most people will eventually be successful. Worst case - you won't nab a room in the Valley but El Portal is very close and an easy commute to the Valley floor.