I am going on october and want to know if what i am thinking to do is the right thing. I am going to get the road very early going direct to yosimite and stay visiting the park until 6 pm, then i am going to Fresno and sleep there. About 9 am we are going to san francisco.Please, help me! Thanks. Cássia
Hi Cássia, and welcome to TripAdvisor forums.
No. This is not a good plan.
First, go to the California state forum: tripadvisor.com/ShowForum-g28926-i29-Califor… Post a new question. Let us know who is in the travel group (young adults? family with teenagers? retired couple?) Then tell us your planned itinerary and some information about your travel style (like to hike, want to shop every day, enjoy taking pictures, prefer fine dining,....) And let us know if you are traveling in early October or the end of October.
I'll watch for your new thread and share my ideas.
Hello,
Well, i am going to tell you all my plans. My group is me and my husband with 2 daughters, 22 and 15 years old and my oldest daughter's boy friend. we gonna rent a van and will arrive at LAX on 3 october,will spend 5 nights, visiting hollywood, getty Center, Grifith Observatory, beaches, outlets and Six flags park. Then, we are going to visit Grand canyon and stay at Flagstaff to spend the night.After we will stay 3 days at Las Vegas, outlets again, cassinos and a show. We will leave the hotel very early and drive trhough Tioga Pass to go to Yosimite Park and make a tour until 6 pm when we are going to Fresno. In the morning we are going to San Francisco to spend 4 days there.... Fisherman's wharf, Alcatraz, Chinatown, Cable cars, Lombard Street, shoppings. The end of our trip consists in going down by the Highway 1 to San Diego at La Jolla for 2 days.... and so come back to BRAZILLLLL. What do you think about.Please help me. Thanks a lot
Edited: 9:45 pm, April 09, 2012
Las Vegas to Yosemite Valley without stops and not going through Death Valley is 8 hours. So if you leave at 8 am, and make one stop for lunch and no other stops at all, you'll get into the Valley around 5 pm. There is no reason to drive south to Fresno. If you want an overnight stop that is between Yosemite and San Francisco, choose a town on Hwy 120 or Hwy 140. But since you won't have time to have seen anything in Yosemite, stay there or near there.
But this route does not go through Death Valley. Since this is the Death Valley forum, I am guessing you want to visit this fabulous National Park. If you take the route through Death Valley with no other stops, an 8 am departure puts you in Yosemite Valley between 6 and 7 pm.
If you really really want to rush through this section, how about this for an idea: leave early and drive to Death Valley. Spend an extra hour in the morning seeing some of the beauty of this National Park. Then drive up Hwy 395 to Lee Vining. See Mono Lake and stay in this tiny town. The next morning, drive through the Yosemite high country and stop a few times to see the beauty. Then continue out Hwy 120 and don't even visit Yosemite Valley. Go directly to San Francisco. Or include Yosemite Valley and drive to San Francisco in the late afternoon.
Just don't go to Fresno. It's not on the way.
Are you stopping for two nights along Highway 1 from SF to San Diego? Or do you think you're doing that in one day? I can't tell.
3 October: L.A. - 5 nights, 6 days
LONG drive to Grand Canyon, Flagstaff - 1 night
Las Vegas - __ nights, 3 days
driving through Yosemite, stay in or near Yosemite - 1 night
San Francisco - __ nights, 4 days
Highway 1 drive - __ nights, __ days
San Diego - __ nights, 2 days
Any reason you are staying in Flagstaff to visit the Grand Canyon? Flagstaff is about 1.5 hours from the park.
Stay inside the park at a lodge on the rim.
If going to Grand Canyon NP, I recommend staying in Tusayan, which is right outside the park entrance. When staying in National Parks in the U.S., expect to pay 4* prices for 2* quality, or 5* prices for 3* quality.
First of all, i want to thank you a lot because you helped me so much. I decided to go to Death Valley NP as you suggested and made reservations at Murphey's Motel in Lee Vining to spend one night. I haven't ever heard about Mono Lake and after you told me, i just read many reviews about this wonderful place and this town. Answering your question about Highway 1, we are going to leave very early San Francisco to take breakfast at Carmel and then making all the road at the same day, only stopping to take pictures along the way and have lunch, i think at Monterey beach.What you suggest to see at Death Valley. Thanks
thanks for your suggestion. I will see the hotels at this city, really is very near Grand Canyon.
Thanks for your reply and i will see some prices of the hotels at Tusayan as a suggestion of another reader.Do you think it's a good idea
I am here to thank you for all your helpful answer. I went to Lee vining and saw Mono Lake and spent a night at Murphey^s Motel. We loved this place.We arrived from Vegas about 5:00 pm and could see sunset at Mono Lake.
Me and my family went trough Tioga Pass and saw snow. Yosemite Park is a brethtaking place.
Glad your trip is going well!
