Road Tripping in the USA!

[TW]Fox;30352775 said:
You want to drive south on the pch otherwise the coast is on the opposite side of the road.
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I don't think this is a big enough concern to warrant changing the route itinerary if it's already planned. I drove north on the PCH (LA > Monterey) which is pretty much single carriageway the whole way and it was hardly like having one lane between the car and the coast made it any less enjoyable. Indeed, in some of the twistier sections, I was pretty glad to have a little more tarmac between myself and the cliff edges, especially in the big old barge we were driving :p

Ronty - your general loop is what I did a couple of months ago, 9th - 24th October I would say definitely make sure you drive the PCH on your way from LA to SF. The stretch I drove, from Pismo Beach up to Monterey counts as one of the most spectacular roads I have ever driven. I actually have a load of footage from a GoPro I stuck on the dash while we were driving - I had a mind to stitch it all together and create a time lapse of the drive, but laziness has presented me doing it so far. Let me know and I can try and upload it if you like.

Coming up from SD to LA it's not quite as spectacular, as it passes through more urban areas, but some of the coastal resorts and towns as you get closer to LA are quite nice - Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, etc. If you've got the time, I'd stick to the coast.

As for vehicle, I went with two other guys, so we had to opt for an SUV to fit us and all our luggage. It didn't spoil the trip at all, but perhaps a Mustang would have been more enjoyable for canyon carving, so I'd have one if I went again. Death Valley in a convertible would be awesome at that time of year (wasn't too hot I found), but in Yosemite, it wont matter - spend as much time out of the car as possible, it really is a magnificent place. But as Ross says, it's definitely one of those thing you should do if you have the opportunity, and whilst I was there, there were hundreds of rental Mustangs, Chargers and Challengers around.
 
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Agree with this - north felt safer but still enjoyed the drive. Going South you have the passenger in the way too ;-)

Conscript said:
I don't think this is a big enough concern to warrant changing the route itinerary if it's already planned. I drove north on the PCH (LA > Monterey) which is pretty much single carriageway the whole way and it was hardly like having one lane between the car and the coast made it any less enjoyable. Indeed, in some of the twistier sections, I was pretty glad to have a little more tarmac between myself and the cliff edges, especially in the big old barge we were driving :p

Ronty - your general loop is what I did a couple of months ago, 9th - 24th October I would say definitely make sure you drive the PCH on your way from LA to SF. The stretch I drove, from Pismo Beach up to Monterey counts as one of the most spectacular roads I have ever driven. I actually have a load of footage from a GoPro I stuck on the dash while we were driving - I had a mind to stitch it all together and create a time lapse of the drive, but laziness has presented me doing it so far. Let me know and I can try and upload it if you like.

Coming up from SD to LA it's not quite as spectacular, as it passes through more urban areas, but some of the coastal resorts and towns as you get closer to LA are quite nice - Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, etc. If you've got the time, I'd stick to the coast.

As for vehicle, I went with two other guys, so we had to opt for an SUV to fit us and all our luggage. It didn't spoil the trip at all, but perhaps a Mustang would have been more enjoyable for canyon carving, so I'd have one if I went again. Death Valley in a convertible would be awesome at that time of year (wasn't too hot I found), but in Yosemite, it wont matter - spend as much time out of the car as possible, it really is a magnificent place. But as Ross says, it's definitely one of those thing you should do if you have the opportunity, and whilst I was there, there were hundreds of rental Mustangs, Chargers and Challengers around.
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I didn't think it was unsafe. I was more making a tongue in cheek comment that the road was so close to the coast that being on the lane furthest from the edge hardly made a difference to the experience.

Certainly a doddle compared to the driving I had to do a few days later, when we had to drive over the Sierra Nevada in thick fog/rain/snow, in the dark, on an unlit mountain pass, and already tired because we were on a 200 mile/6hr diversion diversion and not entirely sure if we'd be spending a night in the car. That was a little more hairy - but all part of the adventure :)
 
Thanks for the responses chaps.

Routes not set in stone yet, open to either way round. Was trying to avoid staying in Vegas over a weekend as prices seem to double but im not going to sacrifice time elsewhere to avoid it.

Prevailing opinion seems to be go for the 'stang on your first road trip, so that's settled. Plus using Alamo gets the sting taken out of it with the 10% code and quidco.

Conscript - How did you find the weather at that time of year? Obviously varies by location, but mostly dry and bright or quite varied?
 
Pretty varied. On the whole it was dry and fairly warm, I think we only had one rainy day on the whole trip. However, we found the temperature could vary greatly over a pretty short space of time, as the elevation of our route changed. I remember one day we woke up in our lodge in Mammoth Lakes (about 7k feet up) to several inches of snow, chucked on jumpers, coats, hats and gloves, then jumped in the car for the next leg to Death Valley. Only a couple of hours down the road, as we dropped into the valley toward Lone Pine, we pulled over and got changed into shorts and the shirts at the side of the road because the temperature had risen so much.

I probably over packed, but we were constantly changing between jeans/shorts, so I'd definitely take some warm clothes with you, just in case and maybe a lightweight rain coat. LA, LV, Death Valley were hot as you'd expect, but SF was merely mild and Yosemite can also be quite chilly.

If you are going to SF and visiting Alcatraz (worth it), then definitely take a couple of layers...even if the weather is good in general, the wind in the bay can be bitter and you'll feel it on the boat over.
 
[TW]Fox;30354651 said:
Safer?! Crikey image some of you lot on some of the high mountain roads if you thought any part of the PCH was 'unsafe'
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Just thinking that exact thing.

Its not like youre going to be doing a night leg here, maybe some over analysing.

Even then, we got into Yosemite late after a drive from Death Valley. Yes it was dark, but just take your time.
 
Hi guys,
I had originally planned to do this trip in 2015 but things changed, and we're now planning it properly for 2017 end of April/early May to avoid USA/UK major holidays etc just my wife and I.

We're basically set on 17 nights, flying to and from LAX. We're generally city people but do like to take in the great outdoors along the way. I'm open to suggestions / tweaks on the route we're planning. We're currently minds set on doing ~3 days in LA at the end visiting Universal/Disney as we love visiting those kinds of places to round the trip off with lower need for driving.

1: Fly to LAX => San Diego
2: San Diego
3: San Diego
4: San Diego => Las Vegas
5: Las Vegas
6: Las Vegas
7: Las Vegas => Death Valley
8: Death Valley => Yosemite
9: Yosemite
10: Yosemite => San Francisco
11: San Francisco
12: San Francisco
13: San Francisco => Somewhere on PCH
14: Somewhere on PCH => LA
15: LA (Universal)
16: LA (Disney)
17: LA (Disney)
18: Fly from LAX


So a few questions / bits of advice needed:
- Am I being stingy with PCH from SF=>LA?
- Regarding Grand Canyon - doing the south rim appears to be quite the trip - anybody done it from a similar route - and if so is it worth the extra driving? If so would it be a better case to fit it in before LV from SD?
- Regarding hire car, we've done convertible before, so not really fussed about paying over the odds on something like that, and would rather be able to comfortably fit all our stuff in the trunk without worry. With that in mind, is the general consensus still Full Size/Premium to go for? We just want something good size and comfy. Any general consensus on hire company - we've used Alamo before based on allowable choice, but anything different now if we're not exactly fussed on exact car?
 
South Rim is the place to go - the West Rim isn't the proper Grand Canyon.

Book a flight from Vegas - takes 40 minutes to get there.
 
The PCH is beautiful, so it might be worth adding a stop and taking a more leisurely drive to enjoy it. Gives you time to stop and enjoy parts of it, such as the McWay Falls, Bixby Bridge, or just to pull up and gawp at the scenery if you wish. When I went, we we heading north so went from LA to a place called Arroyo Grande (lovely little town) near Pismo Beach for the night. Next day, we drove up the PCH and stopped at Monterey and then drove on into SF the following day, which gave us plenty of time on the coast road.

I'd say the Grand Canyon is definitely worth the drive, but then for me, it was an absolute must for our trip. We drove from LA to Tusayan (which I gather is kind of like a resort town for visiting the GC). We didn't stay there - we went to the south rim just for a couple of hours, but we just sat and watched the sun set over the canyon, which is an experience I wont soon forget. I'd definitely like to go back and spend a few days at the GC, hiking and whatnot. After the sun set, we drove to Flagstaff for the evening (another lovely town), before heading on to Lake Havasu, which is roughly as far as driving back to LV. So it's a long diversion off your route, but if you can make the time, I'd say it's certainly worth it.

That said...there are lots of places in LV which will offer helicopter tours which take you out to the Grand Canyon, so you could consider one of those, but they are quite expensive.
 
Thanks for the quick responses both.

Fox, regarding flight to/from South Rim, I assume you're just suggesting just the flight - then what's the best way of getting from GC airport? Assume some sort of public transport / bookable services to get to the main areas?
 
Personally I think I'd want an extra night on the PCH. You don't really want to do more than about 3 hours driving (when mapping it out on Google Maps) as you'll end up stopping so much and doing detours and such.

We stopped in Monterey, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara and found the distances ideal.

It's also a shame you only really have 2 full days in San Diego (assuming you land in the afternoon in LA). There is easily 3-4 days of cool things to see and do just in downtown alone (Coronado, the Zoo, Seaport Village, Little Italy etc...).
 
DaveyD said:
Thanks for the quick responses both.

Fox, regarding flight to/from South Rim, I assume you're just suggesting just the flight - then what's the best way of getting from GC airport? Assume some sort of public transport / bookable services to get to the main areas?
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I think there was an airport at Tusayan, which is within a few miles of the south rim visitors centre ("Grand Canyon Village"). I'd hazard a guess there's at least a regular bus shuttle between them or something. Fox might know better.
 
DaveyD said:
Thanks for the quick responses both.

Fox, regarding flight to/from South Rim, I assume you're just suggesting just the flight - then what's the best way of getting from GC airport? Assume some sort of public transport / bookable services to get to the main areas?
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Various tour companies offer packages which includes the flight and bus transfers to the main viewpoints. We went with Vision Air. You leave at about 9am and are back on the strip mid afternoon.

Though this was 6 years ago :eek:
 
Will have a good look into it - looks like the most convenient way of doing it all, quick look it's about $300/person to get there with company called Scenic.
 
Doing the East coast next year with my girlfriend, shes a teacher so have to go in holidays, flights are coming out around £700 now for 2017, whens the best time to book 2018 flights?
 
hurfdurf said:
Doing the East coast next year with my girlfriend, shes a teacher so have to go in holidays, flights are coming out around £700 now for 2017, whens the best time to book 2018 flights?
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If you plan to do New England then I can recommend these guys who we used for 4 hotels in August this year.

https://www.larkhotels.com

Boutique, not cheapest but found all of them really difference and funky. Like large B&B's really, but my wife and I preferred the laid back and funky environments.
 
Flights booked for my Route 66 road trip in August. Starting in Chicago. Haven't booked a hire car yet - it seems surprisingly difficult to rent an American muscle car, it's all saloons, hatchbacks, and SUVs. I'd have thought this would be a market very well catered to.
 
SlyReaper said:
Flights booked for my Route 66 road trip in August. Starting in Chicago. Haven't booked a hire car yet - it seems surprisingly difficult to rent an American muscle car, it's all saloons, hatchbacks, and SUVs. I'd have thought this would be a market very well catered to.
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Book the standard convertible class with one of the major car rental firms (Alamo, National etc...) and you'll basically end up with either a Mustang (S550 Ecoboost or V6) or Camero (V6).

Getting a coupe will be much harder.
 
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