US west coast road trip itinerary.
Discussion
GF and I are looking to do a west coast of the US road trip over August / September and looking for thoughts on my proposed itinerary. Neither of us have been to the west coast before, although in 2015 I did do a week in Vegas.
I’m late 20s and she’s early 30s, we still like fairly lively holidays although also like to go walking and see the outdoors. The things I think are ‘must do’s’ are: San Fran, Wine country, LA, Vegas, Grand Canyon, and Yosemite. We’ll probably hit Vegas quite hard so my thoughts are to do Yosemite after Vegas so we can unwind and enjoy the outdoors.
Looking to squeeze all this in in under 3 weeks. Here’s my very rough plan:
Days 1-3 San Fran
- Day 1 - fly in to San Fran (get in late afternoon)
- Day 2 - explore San Fran, Golden Gate Bridge etc
- Day 3 - day trip to Napa Valley for vineyard tours (is this do-able as a day trip or should we add an extra night and stay in Napa?)
Days 4-5 Pacific Coast Highway
- day 4 pick up rental car in morning and head down PCH. Thinking lodge style accommodation near Big Sur that night
- day 5 drive down PCH. Thinking an air bnb in Morro bay or one of the small towns on the coast.
Days 6-9 LA
- day 6 drive into LA. Thinking an air bnb somewhere on the coast - Venice beach way maybe - any suggestions appreciated. Probably do a big night out first night so day 7 will be pretty chilled.
- day 8 we fancy staying in an air bnb somewhere up in the hills. Does this sound sensible and still good for a base to explore LA?
- day 8/9 explore LA, Hollywood tours, shopping, gun firing etc sure there’ll be lots to do.
Day 10-13 Vegas
- Day 10 - drive to Vegas. Big drive but there doesn’t look like much in the middle to see (?) so may as well get it over with. Check into a hotel. Probably do a show at night.
- Day 11 - pool party / big night out
- day 12 - explore Vegas and downtown. Stratosphere rides (still getting over these from 2015!!)
- day 13 - helicopter tour of Grand Canyon.
Day 14-17 Yosemite area. This is the bit I really know nothing about! Want to see as many big sights as we can and do some trecks. The area is huge - I presume moving around is required? Maybe two different accommodations over the 3 nights working north.
Day 18 drive back to San Fran, return car and airport hotel for the night.
Day 19 fly home.
There’s a lot of gaps here but the idea of this is to allow us to book up flights and accommodation and then fill things in from there. Slightly worried it’s a bit rushed, particularly San Fran and the PCH, but not sure how else we’d fit in all our ‘must do’s’ within 20 days?
I’m late 20s and she’s early 30s, we still like fairly lively holidays although also like to go walking and see the outdoors. The things I think are ‘must do’s’ are: San Fran, Wine country, LA, Vegas, Grand Canyon, and Yosemite. We’ll probably hit Vegas quite hard so my thoughts are to do Yosemite after Vegas so we can unwind and enjoy the outdoors.
Looking to squeeze all this in in under 3 weeks. Here’s my very rough plan:
Days 1-3 San Fran
- Day 1 - fly in to San Fran (get in late afternoon)
- Day 2 - explore San Fran, Golden Gate Bridge etc
- Day 3 - day trip to Napa Valley for vineyard tours (is this do-able as a day trip or should we add an extra night and stay in Napa?)
Days 4-5 Pacific Coast Highway
- day 4 pick up rental car in morning and head down PCH. Thinking lodge style accommodation near Big Sur that night
- day 5 drive down PCH. Thinking an air bnb in Morro bay or one of the small towns on the coast.
Days 6-9 LA
- day 6 drive into LA. Thinking an air bnb somewhere on the coast - Venice beach way maybe - any suggestions appreciated. Probably do a big night out first night so day 7 will be pretty chilled.
- day 8 we fancy staying in an air bnb somewhere up in the hills. Does this sound sensible and still good for a base to explore LA?
- day 8/9 explore LA, Hollywood tours, shopping, gun firing etc sure there’ll be lots to do.
Day 10-13 Vegas
- Day 10 - drive to Vegas. Big drive but there doesn’t look like much in the middle to see (?) so may as well get it over with. Check into a hotel. Probably do a show at night.
- Day 11 - pool party / big night out
- day 12 - explore Vegas and downtown. Stratosphere rides (still getting over these from 2015!!)
- day 13 - helicopter tour of Grand Canyon.
Day 14-17 Yosemite area. This is the bit I really know nothing about! Want to see as many big sights as we can and do some trecks. The area is huge - I presume moving around is required? Maybe two different accommodations over the 3 nights working north.
Day 18 drive back to San Fran, return car and airport hotel for the night.
Day 19 fly home.
There’s a lot of gaps here but the idea of this is to allow us to book up flights and accommodation and then fill things in from there. Slightly worried it’s a bit rushed, particularly San Fran and the PCH, but not sure how else we’d fit in all our ‘must do’s’ within 20 days?
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