West coast trip
 

Planning a trip around June 2015 with my fiancé . We always wanted to visit western United States . Looking to travel from Grand Canyon - San Diego - LA - San Francisco - through Oregon last stop Seattle Washington . Any thoughts on what to see? which way to travel? how much time it would take to hit all those points? gonna fly to Arizona rent a car for the trip and fly back home from Seattle . Hope to get some replies thanks!

What time of year are you planning the trip? Other than looking at the scenery, what do you want to do? Museums, hiking, cities, etc.

I would opt for spring or fall. I would also look into starting in Albuquerque, Denver or Las Vegas. if you start in the spring. Start in Seattle if you start in the fall. I would also want to hit the National parks in Utah,






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Look into also flying into Las Vegas, I've heard cars are cheaper there although it is a little further drive to the GC. How many days do you have?

If you could fly into Phoenix - you could stop at beautiful Sedona on the way to the Grand Canyon. From the Grand Canyon - many options - including a half day river float trip - or go hard core and run the rapids for a few days.

Hard to go wrong with going from the GC up to beautiful Zion and Bryce parks in Utah and then over to Las Vegas - and from there over here to San Diego.

And from San Diego - drive up the beautiful Cal coast taking a couple/three days getting to San Francisco - and plenty of posts in here on all of that.

Depending on your time - you could also drive some up the coast north of SF - or just zip up to say Ashland - across the Oregon border - and it's a cute little college town where you can spend the night - and then head over to the Oregon coast.

Many other options have also been kicked around - and check the particular states in here for more posts.

Don't get stuck with a big rental drop off fee! How I would do it: YMMV.
Fly to Las Vegas Rent a car and go to see Grand Canyon (North or South Rim?) If North Rim you can go see Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks.
Drive to San Diego and Los Angeles if you feel you must.
Return car to Las Vegas and fly to Medford or Eugene Oregon on Allegiant Airline. Rent a car there and see a lot of Oregon and Washington. Return the second car and fly to San Francisco if you still have time left. How many days for your trip and where are you coming from? Interests?

I like your screen name........... :)

Answers to tomfuller's last two (important) questions will help giving you advice. If you're the outdoorsy, active type, we can give you information on hiking instead of museums...

Thanks guys for the feedback . As for our interests they differ alittle I like cities, museums , night life , trying different food. my fiancé likes hiking I'm willing to do either but leaning more towards cities , museums . Seafood is a must lol . Spring is the better option I guess if we are starting from the south west . We want to end in Seattle and fly back from there. I know we are gonna get a huge fee for the one way car rental . I have some pull in the car rental department so hopefully won't be too bad . As for time we have 8-10 days depending on work as we get closer I will find out . (Ten thumbs ) thanks it's legit how I get lol . FYI my screen name says 46 not my age in case anyone was wondering I'm a paramedic and 25 y/o . But back to the topic at hand my fiancé is telling me already that she doesn't wanna be in the car too long each day (understandable) . May have to narrow it down. Can anyone tell me about California hwy I think it's called I was told that's a very good route to travel for scenery . Thanks again for

Your feedback.

>>As for time we have 8-10 days depending on work as we get closer I will find out<<

Sorry but that isn't anywhere near enough time for what you are contemplating. In fact, 8-10 days would be fairly quick for just San Diego, SF and the coast in between.

But the Grand Canyon to San Diego to LA up the coast to to SF to Seattle is nearly 2,000 miles and well over 36 hours drive time. And that is only if you take the fast I-5 route from SF up to Seattle.

You need to get back to the drawing board and decide what/where you want. Just the Grand Canyon and SoCal would easily fill 8 days. If you can stretch it to 10 days - then you could manage the GC, either San Diego OR Los Angeles (SD would be my choice), 1 or 2 nights along the coast, and SF - flying out of SF.

I agree with Janis. That is not enough time to do all you wish to. These are two, maybe even three different trips. It is too much to cram into 8-10 days. You would be in the car the whole time.

This is in response to your question about CA hwy 1. Yes, it is considered scenic. It's listed as a National Scenic Byway. See:

http://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/scenic_byways.html

You mentioned an interest in museums. Here's a statement from Wikipedia.

"There are 841 museums and art galleries in Los Angeles County.[107] In fact, Los Angeles has more museums per capita than any other city in the world.[107] Some of the notable museums are the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (the largest art museum in the Western United States[108]), the Getty Center (part of the larger J. Paul Getty Trust, the world's wealthiest art institution[109]), the Battleship Iowa, and the Museum of Contemporary Art. A significant number of art galleries are located on Gallery Row, and tens of thousands attend the monthly Downtown Art Walk there."

And a link to a listing of some of the major museums.


http://www.latourist.com/index.php?p...ngeles-museums

As has been previously upthread, 8-10 days isn't enough time to travel from San Diego to Seattle, especially if your fiancee doesn't want to spend much time in the car. California is almost 900 miles from the Mexican border to the Oregon border~something many people don't take into consideration.

I think with your time frame, you'll be better off (spending less time in the car) limiting the trip to either California OR Oregon and Washington.

Agree with janisj, not enough time, stick to the Highway 1 drive, 3 days in LA, 1 night Pismo Beach (or Cambria), 1 night Monterey and 3 in SF. That is 8 days right there.

jamie99's itinerary is a good one if you'd like to stick to California!

IF the Grand Canyon is a 'must' you really need to stick to San Diego and/or LA. If the Grand Canyon isn't a deal breaker -- then jaimie99's plan makes sense.

Or - you could substitute San Diego for LA - but you'd have a longer drive and would need to just drive through LA on your way north up the coast.

The real Q is how much car time can you handle. No problem to go from the Grand Canyon to SD - but it's a 8+ hour drive - straight thru without much stopping.

No problem from here in San Diego - to halfway up the Coast - to say Cambria - in about five+ hours - if you work around LA traffic/rush hours.

From there - what else do you want to do?

Stopping in LA for museums is great - but you have to work that in your schedule.