California/Las Vegas Roadtrip Honeymoon
Discussion
Apparently I'm getting married this year, so while the future Mrs CB is worrying about the wedding, we also need to sort out the honeymoon.
The outline plan is a San Francisco, Los Angeles & Las Vegas roadtrip, ideally in a Mustang/Camaro.
Jen has been to LA before, but didn't go to the beach areas and wants to visit some wineries, I'm more keen on the road trip aspect and the national parks etc. We both want to go to San Francisco. I've had a play on Google maps and come up with the following itinerary:
Fly to San Francisco
2 nights Carmel/Monterey/Santa Cruz area
1 night Santa Barbara
2 nights Venice Beach/Santa Monica
2 nights Las Vegas
1 night Mammoth Lakes
2 nights Yosemite
3 nights San Francisco
Fly back to the UK/real life etc
I had wanted to visit Lake Tahoe and the Garnd Canyon, but I don't think we will have time, unless we do a tour from Las Vegas. Does that look like a sensible itinerary, or can anyone suggest any improvements?
I've chosen to start from San Francisco, but are there any benefits for flights/car hire if we start in Los Angeles?
Can anyone suggest places to stay, visit or avoid on the route?
The outline plan is a San Francisco, Los Angeles & Las Vegas roadtrip, ideally in a Mustang/Camaro.
Jen has been to LA before, but didn't go to the beach areas and wants to visit some wineries, I'm more keen on the road trip aspect and the national parks etc. We both want to go to San Francisco. I've had a play on Google maps and come up with the following itinerary:
Fly to San Francisco
2 nights Carmel/Monterey/Santa Cruz area
1 night Santa Barbara
2 nights Venice Beach/Santa Monica
2 nights Las Vegas
1 night Mammoth Lakes
2 nights Yosemite
3 nights San Francisco
Fly back to the UK/real life etc
I had wanted to visit Lake Tahoe and the Garnd Canyon, but I don't think we will have time, unless we do a tour from Las Vegas. Does that look like a sensible itinerary, or can anyone suggest any improvements?
I've chosen to start from San Francisco, but are there any benefits for flights/car hire if we start in Los Angeles?
Can anyone suggest places to stay, visit or avoid on the route?
Edited by Craikeybaby on Wednesday 14th January 15:58
We did LA to San Francisco via Santa Barbara and Monterey last October. Only thing I would suggest is at least another night in Santa Barbara. We stayed two nights and wished we'd had another - it was a nice bit of relaxation after 5 days in LA, and a load of driving. The nightlife on the main street was good, but we didn't discover it til Day 2, and had an early start the following morning!
mike80 said:
We did LA to San Francisco via Santa Barbara and Monterey last October. Only thing I would suggest is at least another night in Santa Barbara. We stayed two nights and wished we'd had another - it was a nice bit of relaxation after 5 days in LA, and a load of driving. The nightlife on the main street was good, but we didn't discover it til Day 2, and had an early start the following morning!
Totally agree, Santa Barbara is an really cool hipster town .. definately worth checking out. The Lark is an excellent restaurant there.That HWY1 coastal drive is awesome, but leave plenty of time for stopping along the way .. lots of scenic viewpoints.
Craikeybaby said:
I've chosen to start from San Francisco, but are there any benefits for flights/car hire if we start in Los Angeles?
Not sure about flights, but we did a one-way car rental from SF->LA and it wasn't any additional cost. They will charge you an arm/leg to do that with the more exotic vehicles though.LA is a bit of a dump, don't waste too much of your time there .. Santa Monica is nice though.
Grand Canyon is awesome, definitely try and reserve a day to walk (halfway) down it ... nice contrast to Vegas.
Craikeybaby said:
Jen has been to LA before, but didn't go to the beach areas and wants to visit some wineries
For wineries you might want to check out Paso Robles which is a bit off HWY#1, there is an awesome hotel there called Hotel Cheval and it breaks up the long drive.Edited by g35x on Wednesday 14th January 15:39
Edited by g35x on Wednesday 14th January 16:00
Nice plan, we did LA/Vegas/Grand Canyon/Death Valley/Mammoth Lakes/Yosemite/San Fran in 9 days so yeah it is all do-able.
Loved the whole trip, but best thing was the helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon, simply stunning. Booked through Papillon.
In terms of cars, the Camaro SS we rented was pretty disappointing. Not enough room in the boot for a suitcase if you want the roof down either. I'd probably recommend a Challenger or something massive, American sports cars are really not anything to write home about especially if you're used to MR2 Roadster/MX5 handling. Would not recommend hiring a car from LAX unless you like 3 hour waits.
Hotel prices in Vegas vary massively, and counterintuitively, they sometimes get cheaper closer to the date of your stay. Individual hotels prices also change massively day to day (depending on the events they have on) so you may be better off staying in different hotels each night. Case in point: first 2 days at Mandalay Bay were £40/night, third was >£300!
Got a bit bored of San Fran after a day, too many freaking tourists. Queue for the cable car was like 2 hours.
Loved the whole trip, but best thing was the helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon, simply stunning. Booked through Papillon.
In terms of cars, the Camaro SS we rented was pretty disappointing. Not enough room in the boot for a suitcase if you want the roof down either. I'd probably recommend a Challenger or something massive, American sports cars are really not anything to write home about especially if you're used to MR2 Roadster/MX5 handling. Would not recommend hiring a car from LAX unless you like 3 hour waits.
Hotel prices in Vegas vary massively, and counterintuitively, they sometimes get cheaper closer to the date of your stay. Individual hotels prices also change massively day to day (depending on the events they have on) so you may be better off staying in different hotels each night. Case in point: first 2 days at Mandalay Bay were £40/night, third was >£300!
Got a bit bored of San Fran after a day, too many freaking tourists. Queue for the cable car was like 2 hours.
It looks like you're starting and ending in SF?
I'd probably book an open jaw ticket, and fly into SF, drive to LA, drive to vegas, and fly home from there.
Only things I have to add, are go see the giant sequoia trees (general sherman) at Sequoia national park, if you feel like splashing out being the honey moon and all stay a couple of nights at the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur http://www.postranchinn.com/
On the drive, don't make the mistake I made and skip Hurst Castle, biggest mistake ever (apparently... since I didn't see it)
I didn't think that much of Santa Barbara, bit boring to be honest, same with Monterray, both worth a night at most.
I'd probably book an open jaw ticket, and fly into SF, drive to LA, drive to vegas, and fly home from there.
Only things I have to add, are go see the giant sequoia trees (general sherman) at Sequoia national park, if you feel like splashing out being the honey moon and all stay a couple of nights at the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur http://www.postranchinn.com/
On the drive, don't make the mistake I made and skip Hurst Castle, biggest mistake ever (apparently... since I didn't see it)
I didn't think that much of Santa Barbara, bit boring to be honest, same with Monterray, both worth a night at most.
We did an almost identical route on a Harley last summer.
One thing I'm glad I did was check out the program at he Hollywood Bowl......got to see Steve Martin (he of Parenthood fame but also a very accomplished bluegrass banjo player along with his folk group) in concert with the LA Philharmonic.
Really great venue and a fantastic night out, pretty much regardless of who's on.
Mel's Drive-in in San Francisco is worth a look.
Laguna Seca is just outside Monterey but is monumentally boring unless something's going on.
One thing I'm glad I did was check out the program at he Hollywood Bowl......got to see Steve Martin (he of Parenthood fame but also a very accomplished bluegrass banjo player along with his folk group) in concert with the LA Philharmonic.
Really great venue and a fantastic night out, pretty much regardless of who's on.
Mel's Drive-in in San Francisco is worth a look.
Laguna Seca is just outside Monterey but is monumentally boring unless something's going on.
Craikeybaby said:
Thanks, so it looks like 2 nights in Santa Barbara & 1 in Venice Beach. Is Monterey to Santa Barbara doable in a day with the odd sightseeing stop?
Yes, we stopped quite a lot, and took a couple of detours off the main route as well. In a normal car as well! I would say we left Santa Barbara at 9.30am, and were in Monterey by 5 at the latest.
We went to S F in April.Never again.Very disappointed.Full of addicts/homeless people acting in an aggressive/intimidating way.Generally a disappointing place apart from Alcatraz.I definitely wouldn't waste 3 days there which are much better spent elsewhere.The Hilton there is a bit of a dump.
Agree Santa Cruz hasn't much to do.Carmel is ok but quiet and full of fairly pretentious people.
Huntington Beach is great - very chilled.Further south San Clemente is quiet but chilled.
Further north than S F are some good vineyards to visit in the Napa and Sonoma valleys.Francis Ford Coppola has one with props from the Godfather films and a Tucker car on show.
In Vegas our favourite hotel is the Wynn/Encore.Steakhouse is superb and lunch at the Country Club highly recommended.
Hope you have a good trip.
Agree Santa Cruz hasn't much to do.Carmel is ok but quiet and full of fairly pretentious people.
Huntington Beach is great - very chilled.Further south San Clemente is quiet but chilled.
Further north than S F are some good vineyards to visit in the Napa and Sonoma valleys.Francis Ford Coppola has one with props from the Godfather films and a Tucker car on show.
In Vegas our favourite hotel is the Wynn/Encore.Steakhouse is superb and lunch at the Country Club highly recommended.
Hope you have a good trip.
Family Blib are doing something very similar this July. Although, we're flying to Las Vegas then driving to Death Valley for a couple of days, on to LA and then a meander up the PCH to San Francisco before we fly back to Vegas and thence to London.
Edited by Blib on Wednesday 14th January 22:03
Shaoxter said:
Nice plan, we did LA/Vegas/Grand Canyon/Death Valley/Mammoth Lakes/Yosemite/San Fran in 9 days so yeah it is all do-able.
Loved the whole trip, but best thing was the helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon, simply stunning. Booked through Papillon.
In terms of cars, the Camaro SS we rented was pretty disappointing. Not enough room in the boot for a suitcase if you want the roof down either. I'd probably recommend a Challenger or something massive, American sports cars are really not anything to write home about especially if you're used to MR2 Roadster/MX5 handling. Would not recommend hiring a car from LAX unless you like 3 hour waits.
Hotel prices in Vegas vary massively, and counterintuitively, they sometimes get cheaper closer to the date of your stay. Individual hotels prices also change massively day to day (depending on the events they have on) so you may be better off staying in different hotels each night. Case in point: first 2 days at Mandalay Bay were £40/night, third was >£300!
Got a bit bored of San Fran after a day, too many freaking tourists. Queue for the cable car was like 2 hours.
Good to hear it is doable, I really fancied driving to the Grand Canyon, but didn't realise quite how far away it is, I keep hearing good things about the helicopter trips though - just need to convince the OH who is a bit of a wimp when it comes to these things.Loved the whole trip, but best thing was the helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon, simply stunning. Booked through Papillon.
In terms of cars, the Camaro SS we rented was pretty disappointing. Not enough room in the boot for a suitcase if you want the roof down either. I'd probably recommend a Challenger or something massive, American sports cars are really not anything to write home about especially if you're used to MR2 Roadster/MX5 handling. Would not recommend hiring a car from LAX unless you like 3 hour waits.
Hotel prices in Vegas vary massively, and counterintuitively, they sometimes get cheaper closer to the date of your stay. Individual hotels prices also change massively day to day (depending on the events they have on) so you may be better off staying in different hotels each night. Case in point: first 2 days at Mandalay Bay were £40/night, third was >£300!
Got a bit bored of San Fran after a day, too many freaking tourists. Queue for the cable car was like 2 hours.
I'm not too worried about luggage space, we're used to a Fiat 500 being our bigger practical car and pack accordingly. We'll be heading to the Highlands in my MR2 in the spring too. I'm surprised at how good the roads look, especially in the national parks, I'd love a little sports car for those, but hoping to go native with a V8!
HotJambalaya said:
It looks like you're starting and ending in SF?
I'd probably book an open jaw ticket, and fly into SF, drive to LA, drive to vegas, and fly home from there.
Only things I have to add, are go see the giant sequoia trees (general sherman) at Sequoia national park, if you feel like splashing out being the honey moon and all stay a couple of nights at the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur http://www.postranchinn.com/
On the drive, don't make the mistake I made and skip Hurst Castle, biggest mistake ever (apparently... since I didn't see it)
I didn't think that much of Santa Barbara, bit boring to be honest, same with Monterray, both worth a night at most.
Yes, flying into and out of SF, I'm actually looking forward to the drive from Las Vegas back to San francisc through Death Valley and Yosemite. I did look at Sequoia, but it looks like you can only access the park from the west, so it would mean a longer route and missing Death Valley, but it is still a possibility as I've heard a lot of good things about Sequoia.I'd probably book an open jaw ticket, and fly into SF, drive to LA, drive to vegas, and fly home from there.
Only things I have to add, are go see the giant sequoia trees (general sherman) at Sequoia national park, if you feel like splashing out being the honey moon and all stay a couple of nights at the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur http://www.postranchinn.com/
On the drive, don't make the mistake I made and skip Hurst Castle, biggest mistake ever (apparently... since I didn't see it)
I didn't think that much of Santa Barbara, bit boring to be honest, same with Monterray, both worth a night at most.
Post Ranch looks stunning, will consider it when we get to booking hotels.
Do you mean visit Hearst Castle, or just take a look?
My initial thought was 1 night in Santa Barbara and 2 at Venice beach/Santa Monica, but will see. I may also ditch the first night in Monterey and stay at the airport, rather than driving all that way straight after a 12 hour flight.
Crossflow Kid said:
We did an almost identical route on a Harley last summer.
One thing I'm glad I did was check out the program at he Hollywood Bowl......got to see Steve Martin (he of Parenthood fame but also a very accomplished bluegrass banjo player along with his folk group) in concert with the LA Philharmonic.
Really great venue and a fantastic night out, pretty much regardless of who's on.
Mel's Drive-in in San Francisco is worth a look.
Laguna Seca is just outside Monterey but is monumentally boring unless something's going on.
That sounds like an awesome trip, how long did you spend over there?One thing I'm glad I did was check out the program at he Hollywood Bowl......got to see Steve Martin (he of Parenthood fame but also a very accomplished bluegrass banjo player along with his folk group) in concert with the LA Philharmonic.
Really great venue and a fantastic night out, pretty much regardless of who's on.
Mel's Drive-in in San Francisco is worth a look.
Laguna Seca is just outside Monterey but is monumentally boring unless something's going on.
Meals drive in sounds great, that's on the list now!
mike80 said:
Craikeybaby said:
Thanks, so it looks like 2 nights in Santa Barbara & 1 in Venice Beach. Is Monterey to Santa Barbara doable in a day with the odd sightseeing stop?
Yes, we stopped quite a lot, and took a couple of detours off the main route as well. In a normal car as well! I would say we left Santa Barbara at 9.30am, and were in Monterey by 5 at the latest.undred orse said:
We went to S F in April.Never again.Very disappointed.Full of addicts/homeless people acting in an aggressive/intimidating way.Generally a disappointing place apart from Alcatraz.I definitely wouldn't waste 3 days there which are much better spent elsewhere.The Hilton there is a bit of a dump.
Agree Santa Cruz hasn't much to do.Carmel is ok but quiet and full of fairly pretentious people.
Huntington Beach is great - very chilled.Further south San Clemente is quiet but chilled.
Further north than S F are some good vineyards to visit in the Napa and Sonoma valleys.Francis Ford Coppola has one with props from the Godfather films and a Tucker car on show.
In Vegas our favourite hotel is the Wynn/Encore.Steakhouse is superb and lunch at the Country Club highly recommended.
Hope you have a good trip.
Thanks for the warning - I'll avoid the Hilton! We weren't planning South of Los Angeles but Huntington beach does sound appealing, especially as we both surf. Las Vegas recommendations sound good! Agree Santa Cruz hasn't much to do.Carmel is ok but quiet and full of fairly pretentious people.
Huntington Beach is great - very chilled.Further south San Clemente is quiet but chilled.
Further north than S F are some good vineyards to visit in the Napa and Sonoma valleys.Francis Ford Coppola has one with props from the Godfather films and a Tucker car on show.
In Vegas our favourite hotel is the Wynn/Encore.Steakhouse is superb and lunch at the Country Club highly recommended.
Hope you have a good trip.
Craikeybaby said:
Thanks, so it looks like 2 nights in Santa Barbara & 1 in Venice Beach. Is Monterey to Santa Barbara doable in a day with the odd sightseeing stop?
I think so - if you get unlucky with motorhomes you might have trouble, but I started out at first light and had the road to myself, which was nice, but in a Dodge Neon, which wasn't so nice. 
Blib said:
Family Blib are doing something very similar this July. Although, we're flying to Las Vegas then driving to Death Valley for a couple of days, on to LA and then a meander up the PCH to San Francisco before we fly back to Vegas and thence to London.
Sounds like a good trip! We'll be a bit later in the year, so shouldn't be quite as warm in Death Valley, althoigh we will only be passing through. Hope you have a good trip!Edited by Blib on Wednesday 14th January 22:03
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