Las Vegas (US Trip)

[toughmat88]

Hello lovely bunch of people.

Not the 1st time going to Vegas but will be the 1st for me and my daughter (recently split up with the wife)

We are due to go fly into Vegas in June for 4 nights then are free to do what we want, we are due to fly back 2 weeks later from LAX.

The plan is to fly from Vegas to Portland, stay a few days then fly from Portland down to LA.

Daughter is a massive fan of killer whales and have heard they are easily spotted in portland and plus will be able to see the harbour where "Free willy" was filmed.

Still thinking about driving from Portland down to LA as we will be able to stop off at San Francisco and Sacramento.

Has anyone done similar or any stops that needs to be made?

Thanks in advance

[Bezerk]

You'll not see any whales in Portland OR.

I think you mean Maine?

You'll waste 4 days of the trip on long flighta?

Portland ME should be combined with an East Coast trip.

Edited by Bezerk on Thursday 6th February 15:57

[toughmat88]

The flights are only 2 hours, compared to driving which is 900 miles.

Would be visiting Oregon,portland

Edited by toughmat88 on Thursday 6th February 16:51

[InformationSuperHighway]

Very (very) unlikley to see Orcas, but plenty of great grey whale watching opportunities off the Portland coast.

https://www.travelportland.com/region/whale-watchi...

A roadtrip down the coast would be epic, but very long. So plan carefully.

[JQ]

Or if you want to see whales fly via Icelandair and stay a couple of nights in Reykjavik. I’m fairly certain they don’t charge additional fees for breaking up the journey.

I’m just back from Vegas and hired a Z4 for 2 days taking in the whole Grand Canyon- stayed in Flagstaff and loved Antelope canyon and Zion Park, absolute highlights of the trip. Went to Mother Road Brewing Co in Flagstaff - great beer, great food and they were hosting an astronomy lecture which was very popular and pretty cool.

[Voodoo Blue]

I'd add a couple of points, Portland isn't the nicest city on the west coast, Seattle is better but a bit further away and if you're planning on driving the PCH to LA make sure you check for any landslides south of San Francisco as they happen frequently, take a while to clear and can mean a significant detour.

[omniflow]

JQ said:

Or if you want to see whales fly via Icelandair and stay a couple of nights in Reykjavik. I’m fairly certain they don’t charge additional fees for breaking up the journey.

I’m just back from Vegas and hired a Z4 for 2 days taking in the whole Grand Canyon- stayed in Flagstaff and loved Antelope canyon and Zion Park, absolute highlights of the trip. Went to Mother Road Brewing Co in Flagstaff - great beer, great food and they were hosting an astronomy lecture which was very popular and pretty cool.

What was the weather like? We're off there on Tuesday of next week and I'm about to start packing.

Did you do Vegas via Page and Zion in just 2 days, or is that a typo?

[JQ]

omniflow said:

JQ said:

Or if you want to see whales fly via Icelandair and stay a couple of nights in Reykjavik. I’m fairly certain they don’t charge additional fees for breaking up the journey.

I’m just back from Vegas and hired a Z4 for 2 days taking in the whole Grand Canyon- stayed in Flagstaff and loved Antelope canyon and Zion Park, absolute highlights of the trip. Went to Mother Road Brewing Co in Flagstaff - great beer, great food and they were hosting an astronomy lecture which was very popular and pretty cool.

What was the weather like? We're off there on Tuesday of next week and I'm about to start packing.

Did you do Vegas via Page and Zion in just 2 days, or is that a typo?

Weather was variable, beautiful sunshine with the roof off the car in parts and a snowstorm in others. It was snowing in Flagstaff and Page. Horseshoe Bend was a whiteout and impossible to see from the viewing point, but the locals we met said the weather was quite unusual. -8 degrees in Flagstaff. So bring some warm clothes. Antelope Canyon in the snow was pretty cool.

Yep, did Page and Zion in 2 days. Rented a car from Sixt, 10 min walk from Caesars Palace from 8am on Tuesday until 8am Thursday. Dropped the keys off at about 9pm on Wednesday night. We did do a fair bit of driving and wish we'd been able to spend more time on the road, but we met a couple in Flagstaff who'd driven 3,000 miles to get there, so our 600 mile trip was like popping to the shops for them. Stayed at Country Inn & Suites by Radisson which was perfect - lots of parking, clean basic accommodation with a pool and buffet breakfast.

[captain_cynic]

Voodoo Blue said:

I'd add a couple of points, Portland isn't the nicest city on the west coast, Seattle is better but a bit further away and if you're planning on driving the PCH to LA make sure you check for any landslides south of San Francisco as they happen frequently, take a while to clear and can mean a significant detour.

Google maps will do that for you.

If you're thinking of driving the PCH (which is brilliant, done it twice) then consider driving up it from LA to SF. That way you can also drive from LV to LA which is only 5 hours and another drive full of phenomenal scenery.

Biggest problems with driving are the traffic you'll get on bigger cities (particularly downtoen SF) and being stuck behind a Prius doing 50.

You'll also need to pay the one way fee for dropping it off in a different location.

[C5_Steve]

captain_cynic said:

Google maps will do that for you.

If you're thinking of driving the PCH (which is brilliant, done it twice) then consider driving up it from LA to SF. That way you can also drive from LV to LA which is only 5 hours and another drive full of phenomenal scenery.

Biggest problems with driving are the traffic you'll get on bigger cities (particularly downtoen SF) and being stuck behind a Prius doing 50.

You'll also need to pay the one way fee for dropping it off in a different location.

I believe PCH still has a section closed so you can't drive the whole length at the moment. Not sure what the diversion is like

[captain_cynic]

C5_Steve said:

I believe PCH still has a section closed so you can't drive the whole length at the moment. Not sure what the diversion is like

Fairs, but the OP is looking at June. I suspect things might be cleared up by then.

The shortcut would probably be quicker than the PCH as it looks like the closure is in the middle of Big Sur... Which is the best part unfortunately.

[The jiffle king]

Hoover dam
Horseshoe bend
Zion national park
Grand Canyon (Views are amazing at sunrise and sunset)
route 66 (Not much to look at but it's a bucket list thing)
Bryce Canyon

All within a drive of Vegas although nights away needed

[C5_Steve]

captain_cynic said:

Fairs, but the OP is looking at June. I suspect things might be cleared up by then.

The shortcut would probably be quicker than the PCH as it looks like the closure is in the middle of Big Sur... Which is the best part unfortunately.

It's been closed since Feb 2023. It's not a short closure, it's due to a landslide (Regents Slide). Last update was Sept last year and all they said was "sometime" in 2025 it may reopen but with the fires as well now I'd expect it not to be open.

(I'm going there myself in June hence paying attention to it)

[toughmat88]

Thanks guys,

Yeah we are staying at Vegas for 4 nights, we have previously done the Hoover, red rock canyons, Rachel and Area 51.

Just trying to get a schedule together really which gives us enough time to visit each space.

Would be going grand canyon, flagstaff and then sedona. Would also love to visit monument valley but will have to see.

As of Oregon its a $40 flight down to LAX which makes sense compared to 900 mile drive.

Just thinking of how long do we stay in each place as we have 14 days

[JQ]

Can't help with the other stuff, but we were recommended Macys in Flagstaff for breakfast. We didn't go, as we had breakfast at the hotel but might be worth a look.

[Voodoo Blue]

C5_Steve said:

captain_cynic said:

Fairs, but the OP is looking at June. I suspect things might be cleared up by then.

The shortcut would probably be quicker than the PCH as it looks like the closure is in the middle of Big Sur... Which is the best part unfortunately.

It's been closed since Feb 2023. It's not a short closure, it's due to a landslide (Regents Slide). Last update was Sept last year and all they said was "sometime" in 2025 it may reopen but with the fires as well now I'd expect it not to be open.

(I'm going there myself in June hence paying attention to it)

And that's my point, it can take months to clear a big landslide. The last time we went down from SF they'd cleared a previous landslide and opened the road a few days before we started. We saw road closure signs on the way and thought they hadn't taken them down yet so kept going. 75 miles later the road was blocked, another landslide had happened the day before

No choice but to turn around and drive 75 miles back and jump on the 101 down to Carmel. If the OP bakes the PCH into his plans he may well be disappointed, the 101 and I5 aren't the most pleasurable ways to get to LA from San Francisco.

As an alternative, if it is closed, you could cut across to Yosemite from San Francisco, the Tioga Pass should be open in June (again check this before you go, we've driven though snow in early June even though it was blazing hot at the start and finish), then drive down the 395 towards Death Valley. You'll have a choice of going left back to Vegas or right to LA. If you do this check the NP website as Yosemite has required advance booking for entry recently. It costs $2 to book an entry slot.

[Voodoo Blue]

toughmat88 said:

Thanks guys,

Yeah we are staying at Vegas for 4 nights, we have previously done the Hoover, red rock canyons, Rachel and Area 51.

Just trying to get a schedule together really which gives us enough time to visit each space.

Would be going grand canyon, flagstaff and then sedona. Would also love to visit monument valley but will have to see.

As of Oregon its a $40 flight down to LAX which makes sense compared to 900 mile drive.

Just thinking of how long do we stay in each place as we have 14 days

If you're planning on staying at the Grand Canyon I'd book the hotel sooner rather than later, they sell out really quickly and get very expensive. We stayed in the El Tovar which is right on the south rim last June and it was brilliant. We got up at 4:30 to watch the sunrise and then walked back to the hotel for breakfast. But it was $800 for 2 nights and we booked that nearly a year in advance. The time before that we stayed in the Holiday Inn Express in Tusayan just outside the park entrance and that was nearly $300 a night, again booked nearly a year in advance.

If you do a loop around the Grand Canyon you could do Bryce and Zion NPs which are spectacular. Monument Valley, The Grand Canyon and Sedona would fit in with that as well.

[Voodoo Blue]

Some pictures from last June, Zion, Bryce, GC Sunrise and Monument Valley taken from the same spot as Tom Hanks in Bubba Gump

Edited by Voodoo Blue on Friday 7th February 11:55

[Freakuk]

I did this the other way around a few years ago. My wife lived in Oregon for a few years so we started up their and worked our way down.

I actually quite liked Portland but we stayed nearby in Lake Oswego where she lived previously. Then headed south towards SF/LA and finally Vegas.

We did have a day/night over at Mt. Hood as this was where the external shots for The Shining were shot.

There were plenty of highlights including Cannon Beach, Ojai (I bumped into Charlize Theron there).

[Hedgeman]

I've travelled a lot in south west US, and am a huge fan of the majestic desert landscapes. An alternative itinerary from Vegas would be a grand tour of the Utah and Arizona national parks. So up to Zion, Bryce Canyon, drive across the Grand Staircase Escalante (one of the most scenic roads in the US) to Capitol Reef to Moab, visit Canyonlands (utterly majestic, my favourite NP), Arches and then drive down through Monument Valley, into Page for Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon, on down to Flagstaff via the Grand Canyon, down to Phoenix and then west across the Mojave to LA.

I really wouldn't fly up to Portland, feels like a bit of a waste of time. Route 1 down the Pacific coast is a nice drive though, and I much prefer the road north of San Fran to the congested mess between San Fran and LA.