SAN Fransisco to Las Vegas

SAN Fransisco to Las Vegas

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B4rnst4ble

Original Poster:

790 posts

148 months

Saturday 17th November 2018
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Hello all
Doing a road trip next year from sf to lv
Just wondering if anyone has done it and also any good half way points to stay and visit through Yosemite park
Also looking at hiring some nice cars to do it in
Has anyone any experience of good hire companies which hire sports cars
Cheers mike

V8LM

5,166 posts

208 months

Saturday 17th November 2018
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Not much around Yosemite. If you wish to stay in the park then you need to book early (I.e. now).

bobtail4x4

3,701 posts

108 months

Saturday 17th November 2018
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we did it in 2015, hired a convertible mustang £50 a week more than a saloon,

long straight roads, 120degrees in vegas,

yosmite was a bit touristy for me, wherever you stopped was full of loud yanks,

the road from LA to San fran Pacific coast highway was better, I drove it 3 times.

TheRainMaker

6,302 posts

241 months

Saturday 17th November 2018
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Did it a few years ago, it's fantastic, although we stopped in LA.

We hired a Mustang as you do hehe

Mustang by The Rain Maker, on Flickr

Mustang at Yosemite by The Rain Maker, on Flickr

Yosemite Park by The Rain Maker, on Flickr

Mustang Santa Monica Sunset by The Rain Maker, on Flickr


HasToBeV8

153 posts

87 months

Saturday 17th November 2018
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Not many hotels in yosemite mainly camping. You should definitely visit though!

You should definitely go via death Valley as well - best deserted roads by far.

Hertz rent out v8 mustangs/cameros/challengers around 100/day. Or corvette a bit more from hertz and sixt. Or some more exotic stuff from hertz is available but you start paying big and restricted mileages. All the rental agencies do standard mustangs and the like for around 40 a day if that's more your budget.

I've done various trips in those areas in all the cars mentioned on different occasions. You won't regret it!

stugolf

473 posts

202 months

Saturday 17th November 2018
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I've literally just got back from LV > LA > SF and back again

From SF we went through Sacramento but that was fairly forgettable but we did stay in Lake Tahoe and that was amazing well worth visiting

The drive back to Vegas is around 450miles split into 2 isn't bad and you get to travel through north Yosemite national park and past Mammoth lakes and a few others then into the desert near Bishop, amazing scenery but very remote!

Hired an SUV (Ford Edge) for the job rather than a Mustang as ours was a road trip stopping in one place a night so can't help there

flatso

1,240 posts

128 months

Saturday 17th November 2018
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Did it about 3 years ago in a Camaro SS, Death Valley-Yosemite-coastal road -Sonoma and Nappa as well. It was amazing. Hertz have some Penske Mustangs to rent, you have to reserve ahead of time. I’d probably go for a V8 Stang convertible today.

TCS1

595 posts

134 months

Saturday 17th November 2018
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We stayed down the road in Wawona. Nice drive to the valley and ideal for a day trip.

A.J.M

7,893 posts

185 months

Saturday 17th November 2018
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My mate and I did this last year.

SAN Fran, down the Pacific coast highway, stopped off at Monterey bay, next night Santa Barbara. Then LA for an overnight.
Then Route 2 upto Route 66, through Barstow and into LA.

Way back we did Death Valley, Furnace creek and Dante’s view, stayed in beatty, then Mammoth lakes then back to San Fran.




This was our mighty Steed.
A 3.5 v6 eco boost Expedition.
375bhp, 6 speed auto, made my Disco3 and mates Disco4 seem small. We stuck about 3000 miles on that in 16 days and was a great car.

996TT02

3,308 posts

139 months

Saturday 17th November 2018
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Be aware that the roads to Yosemite are only open in Summer. I drove down the Pacific Coast Highway (do it in 2 days not one as I did, lots of opportunities to stop) to San Luis Obispo and then wended my way inland from there. Amazing roads, don't for a moment imagine any hours of dreary monotony, you will find an excuse to stop every 20 minutes if you must. Death Valley, part of Rt 66, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, all ticked. Returned car to LA (Long Beach) and flew back to SF for return flight. Can't say I missed Yosemite - I certainly did not miss Vegas after leaving, personally don't see the attraction.

anonymous-user

53 months

Saturday 17th November 2018
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If you go anywhere near Los Angeles be VERY careful about what time of day you travel and which days of the week. The traffic around that whole enormous area is/can be truly insane.

In all honesty the same applies in the Bay Area (SF) as well.

Jakg

3,451 posts

167 months

Saturday 17th November 2018
quotequote all
B4rnst4ble said:
Hello all
Doing a road trip next year from sf to lv
Just wondering if anyone has done it and also any good half way points to stay and visit through Yosemite park
Also looking at hiring some nice cars to do it in
Has anyone any experience of good hire companies which hire sports cars
Cheers mike
Did this last month, 13 days.

Rented a Mustang (of course!) from Budget. Was about £600. It's "only" the 2.3L Ecoboost, not the 5.0 one. Has about 300HP but isn't a sports car.



Original plan was SF -> LA via the pacific coast highway, but we ended up driving down to LA, then onto Vegas, then back to Santa Barbara and then back to LA.

I really liked some of the smaller coastal towns - e.g. Santa Barabara & Oceano - i'm not really a city person. Bear in mind though that it's not cheap - SF is now more a more expensive city to live in than Zurich.

Yosemite isn't really "on the way" unless you take the interstate route which is quite boring. Yosemite books up really, really early, too.
stugolf said:
The drive back to Vegas is around 450miles split into 2 isn't bad and you get to travel through north Yosemite national park and past Mammoth lakes and a few others then into the desert near Bishop, amazing scenery but very remote
It's a very long drive between Vegas and LA, but most of all it's very boring - it's all empty desert, which in the day is something, but at night its almost hypnotic nothingness.

B4rnst4ble

Original Poster:

790 posts

148 months

Saturday 17th November 2018
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Thanks for your info so far
Where would you guys recommend an over night stop ?

mikef

4,825 posts

250 months

Saturday 17th November 2018
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If you’re going in summer, you could head over over Tioga Pass (warning:closed by snow 8 or 9 months of the year) and stay at a motel in Lee Vining on the eastern side outside the park. Mono Lake nearby has some interesting tufa formations. Further down the road toward LV is Bishop, a fishing resort which is where we usually stop. Plenty of nice motels there

craig1912

3,273 posts

111 months

Saturday 17th November 2018
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We are doing LA to San Francisco, Death Valley, Yosemite, Las Vegas (and then off to Barbados). Booked flights, and accommodation inc Monterey and Saints Barbara ( and in Death Valley and Yosemite)- bookmarked the thread for ideas of what to do/ see.

nickchallis92

82 posts

85 months

Sunday 18th November 2018
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Me and the girlfriend went from SF to Vegas via Yosemite this summer. We stayed in the Yosemite Riverside Inn which was beautiful.

We thought Yosemite was incredible. Did it all from a convertible Mustang from Sixt. We turned up and they had a Mustang and 3 Camaros (one of which was an SS) and let us pick.

America is such a great place to visit. Enjoy it!


drmcw

172 posts

91 months

Monday 19th November 2018
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I haven't got as far as Las Vegas but my son now lives just South of San Francisco and we did a short road trip in October having previously done another one with my wife in April.

Yosemite is amazing and we went in April when the roads were thankfully open and there was still a risk of mandatory snow chains and the Park not that crowded. I think it's wise to prebook all national parks just for entry and as has been said you need to book well in advance for accommodation in the parks. The Sequoia Park somewhat more to the South is also well worth a visit but probably not suitable for your route. We stayed in Mariposa about an hour from Yosemite. Would I go to Yosemite again? No I don't think so as there is so much more to see.

Personally I didn't think much of Lake Tahoe but Carson City was great as was the ghost town Bodie which would probably be on your route. Death valley was weird but we saw only a tiny part.

What I did enjoy on both trips were the still thriving gold rush towns where you could still see how the main street would have looked in their heyday. Places such as Couterville, Angels Camp, Sutter Creek, Sonora and further North Truckee was fun, Nevada City, Silver City and Grass Valley.

Death valley was fun, China Wall near Tahoe is worth a look which we did during a thunderstorm which was limiting and my son being a Bay Area driver had never driven in rain so that was exciting as it was stair rods.

Don't hire a Malibou it's a truly rotten car. However, Avis seem to offer good deals if booked from the UK.

The Pacific coast road is great but always check if roads are open. It was closed beyond Big Sur in April. Amazing that they allow it but stunning coast.

If you can take take the smaller highways as we found the travelling to be way more interesting and stopping in the small towns was really interesting. Carmel Valley springs to mind where the guys in the bar told me how to get back onto 101 but then one said - are you in a hurry and proceeded to explain the joys of the more rural road which was terrific.

As for loud Americans - phooey. Californians are great people and so friendly. The accents vary but don't grate like they can in the UK.

It's a wonderful State and if the rest of the US is comparable a great country. I didn't expect to like it but I fell in love and would happily live there if I had enough money Nothing seems to be cheap. I really wouldn't want to be poor in California in particular.

Mike


croyde

22,701 posts

229 months

Monday 19th November 2018
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5 of us did this in 1992 in an Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera.

SF to Monterrey, then cut across to Yosemite, then Death Valley on to Las Vegas.

Stayed in Motels along the way. Every time I needed to fill up it was a few dollars from each of us to fill the tank.

We carried on to LA and down to San Diego with a day trip to Tijuana.

Back to SF via various places for flight home.

Did similar a year later in a Pontiac Grandprix adding the Grand Canyon to the trip.

That holiday turned into a real fear and loathing in Las Vegas thanks to a New Zealander and Crystal Meth.

I was young and stupid back then but still makes a great story involving getting arrested at gunpoint, a trip to an Emergency Room, a hurricane and no sleep for 3 nights.

theplayingmantis

3,721 posts

81 months

Monday 19th November 2018
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done it in RV (including the detour to Yosemite and back across to Pebble Beach then coast down to LA and across death valley to LV. 2 weeks. not really long enough. minimum would say 3 weeks.


seiben

2,343 posts

133 months

Monday 19th November 2018
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Take a couple of days in Yosemite and make the effort to walk a bit further - we spent a few hours heading up to Vernal Fall and Nevada Fall, a wonderful walk and so much quieter once you've gone a mile or two as most tourists won't walk too far from the car park hehe

We spent an evening in Death Valley then dropped out South and headed West to Monterey (via a visit to Laguna Seca). It was a much quieter route out with arguably better scenery – we barely saw a car for two hours, which is pretty surreal when you’re bombing along with the cruise control set to 95 hehe

I’d go against the grain and suggest you don’t get the ubiquitous Mustang – they’re bloody everywhere when you get near the coast, they’re all driven by tourists and from what I could see 90% are Ecoboosts. We managed to pick up a Hemi-powered Dodge Charger which made fantastic snorty noises and was an all-round excellent car for close to 3,000 miles. We’d booked a Mustang via Avis, but had a decent enough choice at the airport and this was sufficiently left-field enough that we didn’t see many others out there. It also had a boot you could actually put things in…