West Coast USA in 10days

[engineer21]

Well weve finally settled on out summer trip, heading to Cook Islands for a wedding and instead of heading on to NZ we are gonna do west coast USA

now im looking for a bit of advice from those who have been out there

we land in LAX at 12.30 03/08/2013 and leave from LAX 16.45 14/08/2013
whilst i know this is not the longest it could be work commitments are tight.

i had the grand idea of doing a loop, LA - Vegas - Tahoe - San fran - LA but looking at milage it would be a waste

so now just looking at LA and San Fran driving both ways

anyone got some tips?? places to stop? prob have 2 days in LA first, 3 days in san fran and 1 day before flying home

all ideas welcome!! and def looking at special hire cars!

[saleen836]

A couple of nights in Santa Barbara!

[Matt..]

You could maybe squeeze in: LA (2 nights), Mammoth Lakes (1 night), Yosemite NP (2 nights), San Francisco (3 nights), Carmel (1 night), Santa Barbara (1 night). It's approx 1,000miles.

[davepoth]

I think your second option is a bit more like it. Spending the whole ten days driving would be a bit crap TBH, especially when you're on honeymoon. Take a couple of days in LA to do the sights, rent the obligatory Mustang/Camaro and drive up US101 or I-5 to San Francisco in a day (it's a boring road with only a couple of things you might want to see, but it's the quickest way), spend a couple of days there, and then drive back down the PCH (so that you're on the ocean side, stopping for the night at Monterrey or San Luis Obispo.

[engineer21]

Not on honeymoon, its a friends wedding. But yeah what we've been thinking! Any good stuff to see between the two cities? Also any recommendations for hiring a camero/mustang?

I've never driven in us so, any pointers haha!

[davepoth]

engineer21 said:

Not on honeymoon, its a friends wedding. But yeah what we've been thinking! Any good stuff to see between the two cities? Also any recommendations for hiring a camero/mustang?

I've never driven in us so, any pointers haha!

Make sure whatever you get has a V8. That's the important thing. It's usually cheaper to rent from downtown rather than at the airport, and definitely rent in advance. LA should have a good stock of nice cars.

In terms of stuff to see, it does depend on what you want to do. As I said, the Pacific Coast Highway is a must see. There's also Hearst Castle, Cannery Row, Pismo Beach (where you can drive your car on the beach), Vandenberg Air Force Base, which does tours every second Wednesday of the month,

http://www.vandenberg.af.mil/publictours.asp

The National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, and loads more I can't even think of.

As for driving out there, it's easy. Turn the key, put the transmission in drive, and go.

[bint]

Stop in Monterey and if you can stop in San Luis Obispo on a Thursday, they have an amazing farmers market in the evening with big BBQs going.

[Kenty]

If you go up the Pacific coast highway to SF and then across to take in Yosemite, sequoia and kings canyon on the way back down. This takes in the gold country and also gives you a very pleasant trip without huge mileage.It would be about 1000 miles.
There is Hearst castle, Big sur, few days in SF and then return trip through the parks mentioned. You won't find accommodation in Yosemite as always fully booked so a day trip into the park is fine.

[a311]

For me the pleasure on this sort of trip is in the journey. It's quite a bit of driving but you could do a loop. By and large the scenery and roads are very interesting, it's not like trudging up and down the motorway in the UK which gets tedious but you'll be seeing everything for the first time kind of thing.

I'd at least include Yosemite, driving up via South Lake Tahoe from SF. The Tioga pass should be experienced and the drive into Yosemite form that direction is stunning.