Driving from Vancouver to LA - recommendations?
Discussion
Planning a 2 week holiday for late next year. Flying into Vancouver to see some relatives for a couple of days and then driving down to LA and flying home from there.
Total journey time is roughly 24hrs so will break it up.
Seems that hiring a car in Canada and returning in the US is do-able but could be expensive so thinking of hiring a car for the 2 days in Canada, then taking the train to Seattle and picking up another car there for the US part of the trip.
There are a lot of places we could visit down the west coast, but would be good to hear of the real ‘must see’ places that are worth stopping at.
Thanks in advance.
Total journey time is roughly 24hrs so will break it up.
Seems that hiring a car in Canada and returning in the US is do-able but could be expensive so thinking of hiring a car for the 2 days in Canada, then taking the train to Seattle and picking up another car there for the US part of the trip.
There are a lot of places we could visit down the west coast, but would be good to hear of the real ‘must see’ places that are worth stopping at.
Thanks in advance.
Panamax said:
How are you planning to rent a car in one country and drop it off in another?
You might find that's trickier than you expect!
Yep - hence hiring a car in Canada for that part, then train to the US and picking up another hire car. Will ask the question of BA anyway, just to see what they quote You might find that's trickier than you expect!
We got the train from Vancouver to Seatle where we picked up a car for a road trip to Yellowstone as we'd heard a couple of horror stories trying to cross the border in a rental car from some friends.
The train followed the coast most of the way and the scenery was pretty spectacular so would definitely recommend it.
The train followed the coast most of the way and the scenery was pretty spectacular so would definitely recommend it.
After speaking with BA and a couple of the hire companies, hiring in Canada and returning in the US is not going to happen.
So current plan is to have a car for a couple of days in Vancouver as we'll need it to visit relatives on Victoria Island, return the car to Vancouver Airport, fly to Seattle (only a 1hr flight and about £160 for 2), pick up a car there and return to LA at the end of the trip.
Just need to sort out the route from Seattle to LA without taking forever, but still want to drive some of highway 1 for the views
So current plan is to have a car for a couple of days in Vancouver as we'll need it to visit relatives on Victoria Island, return the car to Vancouver Airport, fly to Seattle (only a 1hr flight and about £160 for 2), pick up a car there and return to LA at the end of the trip.
Just need to sort out the route from Seattle to LA without taking forever, but still want to drive some of highway 1 for the views
mattman said:
After speaking with BA and a couple of the hire companies, hiring in Canada and returning in the US is not going to happen.
So current plan is to have a car for a couple of days in Vancouver as we'll need it to visit relatives on Victoria Island, return the car to Vancouver Airport, fly to Seattle (only a 1hr flight and about £160 for 2), pick up a car there and return to LA at the end of the trip.
Just need to sort out the route from Seattle to LA without taking forever, but still want to drive some of highway 1 for the views
If you need to be on the island, why not fly to Seattle, hire the car and take the ferry to the island. You can go from Anacorted to Sidney, then short drive to Victoria. Saves hassle on 2 car hires and another flight.So current plan is to have a car for a couple of days in Vancouver as we'll need it to visit relatives on Victoria Island, return the car to Vancouver Airport, fly to Seattle (only a 1hr flight and about £160 for 2), pick up a car there and return to LA at the end of the trip.
Just need to sort out the route from Seattle to LA without taking forever, but still want to drive some of highway 1 for the views
mattman said:
After speaking with BA and a couple of the hire companies, hiring in Canada and returning in the US is not going to happen.
So current plan is to have a car for a couple of days in Vancouver as we'll need it to visit relatives on Victoria Island, return the car to Vancouver Airport, fly to Seattle (only a 1hr flight and about £160 for 2), pick up a car there and return to LA at the end of the trip.
Just need to sort out the route from Seattle to LA without taking forever, but still want to drive some of highway 1 for the views
Look at renting and returning the hire car at other places in Vancouver vs the airport. Could well be cheaper . Then simply get the train from downtown to the airport or use uber. Book the ferry crossing to the island in advance, normally cheaper, unless you want flexibility, if so, arrive at the ferry port 1hr+ before the next scheduled ferry, they might be able to squeeze you on without the reservation. Super early morning ferries you can often get on I've found.\So current plan is to have a car for a couple of days in Vancouver as we'll need it to visit relatives on Victoria Island, return the car to Vancouver Airport, fly to Seattle (only a 1hr flight and about £160 for 2), pick up a car there and return to LA at the end of the trip.
Just need to sort out the route from Seattle to LA without taking forever, but still want to drive some of highway 1 for the views
For the last 12 months+ the train from Vancouver to Seattle has been a replacement bus service. No idea when the normal trains will resume. Takes 3 hours or so on the bus.
Edited by Rich_AR on Thursday 8th December 22:01
The I5 is probably one of my most disliked roads in the US. It's rarely remote enough to switch off and enjoy the scenery and for the most part the scenery is just visible on the horizon with the Sierras to the east just made out and the coastal range a shadow to the west. Then south of Sacramento your just sitting in a furnace with the sun beating down on you.
Ok so that's the bad bit out of the way, there is a hell of a lot to see though between those points if you have time.
Starting at the top you have whale watching, Boeing. Olympic national park, Mt Rainer, Mt St Helen's, around the back of St Helen's is good but a long slow drive through forrest,the front side is drive up and back from the I5. Then from Portland you have the Columbia River Gorge, not too big a detour from your north south direction is Multnomah Falls and well worth it, Futher into the gorge there are Bonneville dam with its fish ladder and farm you can visit or the spectacular view from high up the on the cliffs from vista house.
Heading further south you have a bit of a choice to make, inland through the CRG, Mt hood. Bend and crater lake, or the I5 for speed or the coastal RT. The inland route is probably more interesting than the I5 which only has some scenery where it gets twisty in the southern portion of OR and the inland route give you more opportunities for incorporating CRG and Mt Hood and crater lake is closer to the road in the south, but it's still a fairly tedious drive with distant volcanos (be honest it's a long drive no matter though) The coastal route has some spectacular beaches inlets and cliff hugging roads, but can equally become tiresome after seeing a bit IIRC it's more rugged to the South. There are a few opportunities to cross between the routes so you can try and incorporate more of the top attractions but I'd try not to miss out on crater lake even if it's late season and the full rim road is closed just the visitor centre viewpoint is worth it but better if you can drive around.
Dropping into CA the I5 show's it's best bit off through southern OR and down past Mt Shasta, Shasta lake and into Redding, worth stopping at the Mt Shasta viewpoint on the I5 providing your not in a blanket of smoke, but as I said south of redding it's boring as hell and just a fast RT South. But in SO OR your at another decision point with inland route coming together and splitting apart, inland CA from kalamouth is Forrest most of the way to reno but then your in the Tahoe area and east of the Sierra (mammoth Yosemite backside, Mono lake, Bodie ghost town. Heading towards the coast takes you to redwood np and the road back from the coast to redding cuts through the coastal mountains reminding you it's remote and rugged over here too as it follows the river through canyons and gorges. Outside of redding is Bernie falls where a combination of waterfall and springs has water just pouring out of the rock with waterfalls starting halfway down, and it can be incorporated in a loop with Lassen NP.
If I'm honest SoCal is about the one corner of the US I've not done much with, obviously out of San Francisco you have the well trodden but not much by me coastal highway to LA, inland you have the hellscape of the I5 but beyond is Yosemite, Kings canyon and sequoia if you missed redwoods np (different type of redwoods, tall and fat rather than very tall and just big) and if you found yourself on the 395 after turning left out of OR your dropping back into the back of the LA region anyway.
Now a complete curve ball on such a long drive is the I 15 is not out of the question, head inland in WA, there is spectacular scenery around WA and ID with old spiral highway outside Lewiston then onwards through gorges and mountains dropping down into Boise. Shoshone falls outside Twin falls, detour to Yellowstone then down the I15 to Vegas taking in Cedar breaks, Zion on the way. Hoover dam maybe a flight to the grand canyon before onwards to LA
Just remember if it's winter when you go then east west routes through mountains can be closed making it much harder to incorporate coastal and inland attractions.
Ok so that's the bad bit out of the way, there is a hell of a lot to see though between those points if you have time.
Starting at the top you have whale watching, Boeing. Olympic national park, Mt Rainer, Mt St Helen's, around the back of St Helen's is good but a long slow drive through forrest,the front side is drive up and back from the I5. Then from Portland you have the Columbia River Gorge, not too big a detour from your north south direction is Multnomah Falls and well worth it, Futher into the gorge there are Bonneville dam with its fish ladder and farm you can visit or the spectacular view from high up the on the cliffs from vista house.
Heading further south you have a bit of a choice to make, inland through the CRG, Mt hood. Bend and crater lake, or the I5 for speed or the coastal RT. The inland route is probably more interesting than the I5 which only has some scenery where it gets twisty in the southern portion of OR and the inland route give you more opportunities for incorporating CRG and Mt Hood and crater lake is closer to the road in the south, but it's still a fairly tedious drive with distant volcanos (be honest it's a long drive no matter though) The coastal route has some spectacular beaches inlets and cliff hugging roads, but can equally become tiresome after seeing a bit IIRC it's more rugged to the South. There are a few opportunities to cross between the routes so you can try and incorporate more of the top attractions but I'd try not to miss out on crater lake even if it's late season and the full rim road is closed just the visitor centre viewpoint is worth it but better if you can drive around.
Dropping into CA the I5 show's it's best bit off through southern OR and down past Mt Shasta, Shasta lake and into Redding, worth stopping at the Mt Shasta viewpoint on the I5 providing your not in a blanket of smoke, but as I said south of redding it's boring as hell and just a fast RT South. But in SO OR your at another decision point with inland route coming together and splitting apart, inland CA from kalamouth is Forrest most of the way to reno but then your in the Tahoe area and east of the Sierra (mammoth Yosemite backside, Mono lake, Bodie ghost town. Heading towards the coast takes you to redwood np and the road back from the coast to redding cuts through the coastal mountains reminding you it's remote and rugged over here too as it follows the river through canyons and gorges. Outside of redding is Bernie falls where a combination of waterfall and springs has water just pouring out of the rock with waterfalls starting halfway down, and it can be incorporated in a loop with Lassen NP.
If I'm honest SoCal is about the one corner of the US I've not done much with, obviously out of San Francisco you have the well trodden but not much by me coastal highway to LA, inland you have the hellscape of the I5 but beyond is Yosemite, Kings canyon and sequoia if you missed redwoods np (different type of redwoods, tall and fat rather than very tall and just big) and if you found yourself on the 395 after turning left out of OR your dropping back into the back of the LA region anyway.
Now a complete curve ball on such a long drive is the I 15 is not out of the question, head inland in WA, there is spectacular scenery around WA and ID with old spiral highway outside Lewiston then onwards through gorges and mountains dropping down into Boise. Shoshone falls outside Twin falls, detour to Yellowstone then down the I15 to Vegas taking in Cedar breaks, Zion on the way. Hoover dam maybe a flight to the grand canyon before onwards to LA
Just remember if it's winter when you go then east west routes through mountains can be closed making it much harder to incorporate coastal and inland attractions.
Edited by 8.4L 154 on Friday 9th December 08:44
Edited by 8.4L 154 on Friday 9th December 08:48
8.4L 154 said:
Lots of good advice
I'd second taking an inland route. Portland for craft beer, over Mt Hood towards Madras and the canyons round the Metokus River, south via Crater Lake, Lassen NP, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite over Tioga Pass, Mono Lake, Mammoth, detour to Death Valley via Star Wars Canyon, and if you have time cut through the Mojave to Joshua NP. You'd see an amazing and diverse range of sights that way. We've done that route (minus Joshua) in 6 days on a motorbike, so in a car it's a very comfortable trip. Edited by 8.4L 154 on Friday 9th December 08:44
Edited by 8.4L 154 on Friday 9th December 08:48
Cabsi said:
If you decide to hire a car in Vancouver, I'd recommend Canadian Affair (they use Avis). I've used them 3 times and they have been by far the cheapest (including this year).
Seconded. Not least as their car hire rates are FULLY inclusive including all the excesses which the hire companies try to sell you. They're not always the cheapest however so shop around.Flights all booked in the BA sale, with car hire - around £1200 less than we were being quoted before xmas so that’s a result.
Flying direct to Seattle to avoid the car hire issues, now starting to plan routes, but will depend whether we can get hold of tickets for the Vegas GP or not.
Flying direct to Seattle to avoid the car hire issues, now starting to plan routes, but will depend whether we can get hold of tickets for the Vegas GP or not.
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