California Fly Drive
Discussion
Looking into a fly drive at Easter, with our 2 daughters 9 and 11, starting at SF and ending to be confirmed.
Other than Pacific Highway, Yosemite, and possibly Grand Canyon, we haven’t gone into too much detail yet, any suggestions or routes appreciated.
Don’t fancy ending up in Vegas with the kids, so any suggestions as a final destination would be great.
We love Sports and action, so anything along the way, such as football, American football, basketball etc would be great.
Don’t have to book accommodation prior or book some and ad-hoc the rest?
Other than Pacific Highway, Yosemite, and possibly Grand Canyon, we haven’t gone into too much detail yet, any suggestions or routes appreciated.
Don’t fancy ending up in Vegas with the kids, so any suggestions as a final destination would be great.
We love Sports and action, so anything along the way, such as football, American football, basketball etc would be great.
Don’t have to book accommodation prior or book some and ad-hoc the rest?
Boringvolvodriver said:
We did SF, Yosemite, Death Valley, Vegas and the Grand Canyon, then San Diego finishing in LA.
No kids but would recommend Sea World San Diego and maybe Universal Studies as well.
I did the above but the other way around (no Death Valley) great trip. Booked everything in advance.No kids but would recommend Sea World San Diego and maybe Universal Studies as well.
r159 said:
Boringvolvodriver said:
We did SF, Yosemite, Death Valley, Vegas and the Grand Canyon, then San Diego finishing in LA.
No kids but would recommend Sea World San Diego and maybe Universal Studies as well.
I did the above but the other way around (no Death Valley) great trip. Booked everything in advance.No kids but would recommend Sea World San Diego and maybe Universal Studies as well.
Did LA>Williams(Grand Canyon)>Vegas>Yosemite>Napa>SF>PCH>LA around 2 years ago. Did a few side quests along the way like horse shoe bend, hoover dam, carmel on sea, etc.
It was a great trip but I would not do SF again. Each to their own but it was quite the sh*t hole.
It took us about 4 weeks and we prob enjoyed the train up the grand canyon the most. We did the observatory car on the way there and the lounge car on the way back. The actual canyon itself was amazing but hard to kind of take in.
Watch out for snow chain requirements in Yosemite. The hire car companies dont usually provide them and the passes can stay closed well into late spring or even early summer.
We were lucky and got in and out ok but we did have to buy chains which are now in my garage! The bit that caught us out was PCH, there was a massive land slide and we ended up missing a massive portion of it and had to turn round and then drive inland. Was quite disappointed but what can you do.
Over the 4 weeks we ended up with 3 different hire cars. All were pretty leggy tbh. We had a Nissan 4x4 with a decent V8 to start with which was great spec but had a hard life. A rear wheel bearing went in Vegas. Luckily our hotel had a Hertz in the basement so took 5 minutes to swap over. They put us in an Infinity (sic?) which was garbage compared and was only a V6 and you could tell. Very tired on the inside but the only same class car they had.
It turned out not to be 4x4!!! As we found out in Yosemite in a very icy car park! We still made it in and out but I was spinning up the fronts a lot. If it was my own car I would not have driven like that!
Then that got all its rear windows smashed in SF. Yeah that was fun. So then we had to drive all the way to Sac airport for a swap over which took all day. The replacement was another Nissan 4x4 but this must have been their emergency spare as it was truly a dog. We only had a few days left at this point so we just made do.
We could not do Sequoia National Park as it was closed due to snow.
Be prepared for US prices too. For 4 I reckon you could easily spend $300 a day just on food. Dont forget standard tip is 20%.. that adds up.
The best value we found was Taco Bell. I know it gets slated but I liked it and you could get a lot of food for half the price of somewhere like In and Out.
Chik fil a was good too but pricey. They dont open on Sundays.
If you are going out through Kingman on the 40 to get to the GC then there is a good diner called the Wagon Wheel in a small town called Needles. The kind of place the locals have their shotguns strapped to the back of their pickups. We thought it was good, cooked breakfast about $15.
It was a great trip but I would not do SF again. Each to their own but it was quite the sh*t hole.
It took us about 4 weeks and we prob enjoyed the train up the grand canyon the most. We did the observatory car on the way there and the lounge car on the way back. The actual canyon itself was amazing but hard to kind of take in.
Watch out for snow chain requirements in Yosemite. The hire car companies dont usually provide them and the passes can stay closed well into late spring or even early summer.
We were lucky and got in and out ok but we did have to buy chains which are now in my garage! The bit that caught us out was PCH, there was a massive land slide and we ended up missing a massive portion of it and had to turn round and then drive inland. Was quite disappointed but what can you do.
Over the 4 weeks we ended up with 3 different hire cars. All were pretty leggy tbh. We had a Nissan 4x4 with a decent V8 to start with which was great spec but had a hard life. A rear wheel bearing went in Vegas. Luckily our hotel had a Hertz in the basement so took 5 minutes to swap over. They put us in an Infinity (sic?) which was garbage compared and was only a V6 and you could tell. Very tired on the inside but the only same class car they had.
It turned out not to be 4x4!!! As we found out in Yosemite in a very icy car park! We still made it in and out but I was spinning up the fronts a lot. If it was my own car I would not have driven like that!
Then that got all its rear windows smashed in SF. Yeah that was fun. So then we had to drive all the way to Sac airport for a swap over which took all day. The replacement was another Nissan 4x4 but this must have been their emergency spare as it was truly a dog. We only had a few days left at this point so we just made do.
We could not do Sequoia National Park as it was closed due to snow.
Be prepared for US prices too. For 4 I reckon you could easily spend $300 a day just on food. Dont forget standard tip is 20%.. that adds up.
The best value we found was Taco Bell. I know it gets slated but I liked it and you could get a lot of food for half the price of somewhere like In and Out.
Chik fil a was good too but pricey. They dont open on Sundays.
If you are going out through Kingman on the 40 to get to the GC then there is a good diner called the Wagon Wheel in a small town called Needles. The kind of place the locals have their shotguns strapped to the back of their pickups. We thought it was good, cooked breakfast about $15.
I was there in September.
- Everyone (including locals) told me to avoid SF - drug-central, with all the associated petty crime. "You don't want to be dealing with a broken window on your rental just because you had to see Fisherman's Wharf" was one line told to me.
- Yosemite is stunning but VERY seasonal. The eastern way in/out (Tioga) is closed until something weird like June (due to the high altitude of the pass and the ridiculous amount of snow- and rock-fall to clear), the waterfalls are at their most majestic in Spring, but the hiking is best in Sept/Oct when it starts cooling down again. The valley centre can feel like a bit of a circus at peak times, as can the main hiking routes, but the upper plains to the north/east are a LOT quieter and very pretty. I'd also plan accommodation there early, and allow extra budget - it's NOT cheap. Also research where to stay carefully - roads get busy so travel in/out isn't painless, but the in-park accommodation has some VERY mixed reviews.
- PCH is a cool bit of road, but AFAIK the road is still blocked about 15-20 miles south of Carmel. Worth looking into while route planning.
- Whale watching cruise was an amazing way to spend a few hours - I saw >10 different humpbacks and a pod of 300-400 dolphins who decided to play with us for about 30 minutes. Monterey / Moss Landing have a few operators as they're right on top of a deep channel so the humpbacks come close to shore (I went with Sanctuary out of Moss Landing - small boat so more personal, great couple of guys including one who seems to live for whales...very knowledgable. If you find yourself as far south as San Diego, that area also apparently does some good cruises.
- Expect the GGB to be shrouded in cloud/fog for much of the morning, in case you wanted any photos of it.
- Lake Tahoe is a very popular resort and is beautiful with a load more good hikes, and feels quite alpine (but with a US twist, obviously). Again it's not cheap.
- If you find yourself on the eastern side of the Sierras, and interesting little detour down a non-metalled road was an abandoned mining town called Bodie. Very atmospheric, and intriguing to think the ruins date from only 100 years ago.
- If you're in the Monterey area (and I would recommend that general area - Carmel was a lovely place to stay, but again not cheap), there's two petrolhead detours - Laguna Seca circuit is literally on the doorstep, and only slightly further up is Canepa (google it - the museum was cool, the showroom better than almost anything London has to offer...and then there was the workshop out back which you could observe from a balcony...and where i counted something like 9 Porsche 959s! Plus Gullwings, Ferrari's old, new and F-, etc...), which is very close to Henry Cowell park with a lovely grove of Giant Redwoods.
- If you can avoid the de-rigeur giant SUV, there's actually a bunch of properly good driving roads in and around the Sierras (there's a cracking route north of Lake Tahoe towards Reno, if you need to head that way, and similarly engaging back-roads south-east of Lake Tahoe towards Bodie, and then the :ahem:
direct route from Henry Cowell park up towards SF (I parked up at a summit rest-area when I saw a gaggle of Porsches, BMWs and a 'vette taking a break from a hoon). Plus PCH south of Carmel is worth a run down-and-back early in the morning when quiet.
- USE WAZE!!! The police out there love their radar traps, and on major roads the visibility is such that they'll get you on radar before you've twigged there's an SUV in the central reservation. It saved me from at least 2 or 3 tickets.
- Believe the google maps travel times. CA is genuinely huge. And beware of traffic in / around the big cities.
Other stuff from my research (but that I can't personally comment on):-
- Death Valley had some flooding this year (Yep, go figure) which has caused some damage, so check if the roads and sights are all open again.
- There are numerous groves of Giant Redwood and Sequoia, so you don't HAVE to go to Sequoia NP to see them (but that one apparently is definitely the most impressive).
- Everyone (including locals) told me to avoid SF - drug-central, with all the associated petty crime. "You don't want to be dealing with a broken window on your rental just because you had to see Fisherman's Wharf" was one line told to me.
- Yosemite is stunning but VERY seasonal. The eastern way in/out (Tioga) is closed until something weird like June (due to the high altitude of the pass and the ridiculous amount of snow- and rock-fall to clear), the waterfalls are at their most majestic in Spring, but the hiking is best in Sept/Oct when it starts cooling down again. The valley centre can feel like a bit of a circus at peak times, as can the main hiking routes, but the upper plains to the north/east are a LOT quieter and very pretty. I'd also plan accommodation there early, and allow extra budget - it's NOT cheap. Also research where to stay carefully - roads get busy so travel in/out isn't painless, but the in-park accommodation has some VERY mixed reviews.
- PCH is a cool bit of road, but AFAIK the road is still blocked about 15-20 miles south of Carmel. Worth looking into while route planning.
- Whale watching cruise was an amazing way to spend a few hours - I saw >10 different humpbacks and a pod of 300-400 dolphins who decided to play with us for about 30 minutes. Monterey / Moss Landing have a few operators as they're right on top of a deep channel so the humpbacks come close to shore (I went with Sanctuary out of Moss Landing - small boat so more personal, great couple of guys including one who seems to live for whales...very knowledgable. If you find yourself as far south as San Diego, that area also apparently does some good cruises.
- Expect the GGB to be shrouded in cloud/fog for much of the morning, in case you wanted any photos of it.
- Lake Tahoe is a very popular resort and is beautiful with a load more good hikes, and feels quite alpine (but with a US twist, obviously). Again it's not cheap.
- If you find yourself on the eastern side of the Sierras, and interesting little detour down a non-metalled road was an abandoned mining town called Bodie. Very atmospheric, and intriguing to think the ruins date from only 100 years ago.
- If you're in the Monterey area (and I would recommend that general area - Carmel was a lovely place to stay, but again not cheap), there's two petrolhead detours - Laguna Seca circuit is literally on the doorstep, and only slightly further up is Canepa (google it - the museum was cool, the showroom better than almost anything London has to offer...and then there was the workshop out back which you could observe from a balcony...and where i counted something like 9 Porsche 959s! Plus Gullwings, Ferrari's old, new and F-, etc...), which is very close to Henry Cowell park with a lovely grove of Giant Redwoods.
- If you can avoid the de-rigeur giant SUV, there's actually a bunch of properly good driving roads in and around the Sierras (there's a cracking route north of Lake Tahoe towards Reno, if you need to head that way, and similarly engaging back-roads south-east of Lake Tahoe towards Bodie, and then the :ahem:
direct route from Henry Cowell park up towards SF (I parked up at a summit rest-area when I saw a gaggle of Porsches, BMWs and a 'vette taking a break from a hoon). Plus PCH south of Carmel is worth a run down-and-back early in the morning when quiet.- USE WAZE!!! The police out there love their radar traps, and on major roads the visibility is such that they'll get you on radar before you've twigged there's an SUV in the central reservation. It saved me from at least 2 or 3 tickets.
- Believe the google maps travel times. CA is genuinely huge. And beware of traffic in / around the big cities.
Other stuff from my research (but that I can't personally comment on):-
- Death Valley had some flooding this year (Yep, go figure) which has caused some damage, so check if the roads and sights are all open again.
- There are numerous groves of Giant Redwood and Sequoia, so you don't HAVE to go to Sequoia NP to see them (but that one apparently is definitely the most impressive).
gotoPzero said:
It took us about 4 weeks and we prob enjoyed the train up the grand canyon the most. We did the observatory car on the way there and the lounge car on the way back. The actual canyon itself was amazing but hard to kind of take in.
Apologies for the hijack, and the hacking of your post above - I've just kept the bit I'm interested in.I've just googled this, and I've managed to find a train from Williams to the South Rim. However, it doesn't appear to travel UP the canyon itself. It's more a case of it going up to the canyon. Is this correct, or did you manage to find a train that travelled through the actual canyon?
omniflow said:
gotoPzero said:
It took us about 4 weeks and we prob enjoyed the train up the grand canyon the most. We did the observatory car on the way there and the lounge car on the way back. The actual canyon itself was amazing but hard to kind of take in.
Apologies for the hijack, and the hacking of your post above - I've just kept the bit I'm interested in.I've just googled this, and I've managed to find a train from Williams to the South Rim. However, it doesn't appear to travel UP the canyon itself. It's more a case of it going up to the canyon. Is this correct, or did you manage to find a train that travelled through the actual canyon?
Most people do the latter. Its basically a massive scar into the desert and at the south rim its several miles wide.
The train itself goes from Williams directly to the main viewing point on the rim of the canyon. It runs 2x daily (IIRC). The trip takes about 1 hour maybe a bit more.
The station at the canyon end is about 100m walk from the rim. If you book a guided bus tour they take you off the train and the bus is waiting pretty much directly at the train. You then get a bus with about 20 others and they take you to 3 or 4 different view points with maybe 10 minutes at each.
Then you get dropped back off at the main lodge where you can get lunch or whatever. I think its about another hour there. Then the train leaves to head back to Williams.
I think we set off about 9am and got back to the station for 3pm.
There is a hotel at the station - its quite large and modern (ish).
Also in Williams town there are a lot of shops and Route 66 type stuff.
We stayed just outside the town in a really good air bnb. I was going to recommend it to OP but its a twin room so kids would have to share a room with the parents. Its an epic spot though on a working ranch and the owners are cool people. I still speak to them.
HTH
havoc said:
- Expect the GGB....
Re the GBB... there are no longer any toll booths - its all done by ANPR. So you have to go online and pay using your credit card. Dont forget as the fine is way more than the toll!
I waited till we were leaving SF and then went on and paid it all in one lump. I think (but dont quote me) you can pay up to 7 days after the fact.
We were there four years ago and SF was excellent (GG Bridge, Alcatraz, Sausalito etc.)Put car in secure garage for three days and got around on trams and hired bikes for a day. Saw some druggies but never hassled or saw any crime. It was certainly better than LA and Hollywood.
Went over the Tioga pass which was stunning but had only opened fully a few days before (1st July). Strange going from Yosemite 24 deg C, over Tioga -5 deg C and into Death Valley at 40+ deg C.
Id give Las Vegas a miss with kids.
We had our car upgraded for free and ended up with new Jeep Grand Cherokee for £400 for 10 days!
Went over the Tioga pass which was stunning but had only opened fully a few days before (1st July). Strange going from Yosemite 24 deg C, over Tioga -5 deg C and into Death Valley at 40+ deg C.
Id give Las Vegas a miss with kids.
We had our car upgraded for free and ended up with new Jeep Grand Cherokee for £400 for 10 days!
Edited by craig1912 on Wednesday 27th December 12:06
If you are going to do San Fran for a few days, then it can be easier, cheaper and less concerning to skip the hire car for that portion i.e. fly into SF, get a Taxi to your hotel, enjoy the city by foot/tram/Uber for a few days then go back to the airport to collect a car for the remainder of the trip (so it can be dropped back there when you fly out).
You could also do the same in Vegas, where a car is equally pointless. We've done Vegas twice mid-road-trip and paid for 5 days car hire and parking for the car to just stay in the hotel car park. We realised afterwards, we could have flown to Vegas and hired the car 5 days in.
We have now taken this approach when flying into Washington and New York, we just plan to do the first 3-5 days as a City Break without a car, then add the road-trip part on afterwards.
Kids will love vegas, so don't rule it out, it's all shiny lights, loads to do and if you go at the right time the hotels can be very cheap. It's also very useful for visiting the Hoover Dam/Grand Canyon. It's very easy to walk past the gambling part, even though it's always in your face.
You could also do the same in Vegas, where a car is equally pointless. We've done Vegas twice mid-road-trip and paid for 5 days car hire and parking for the car to just stay in the hotel car park. We realised afterwards, we could have flown to Vegas and hired the car 5 days in.
We have now taken this approach when flying into Washington and New York, we just plan to do the first 3-5 days as a City Break without a car, then add the road-trip part on afterwards.
Kids will love vegas, so don't rule it out, it's all shiny lights, loads to do and if you go at the right time the hotels can be very cheap. It's also very useful for visiting the Hoover Dam/Grand Canyon. It's very easy to walk past the gambling part, even though it's always in your face.
Edited by Guyr on Thursday 28th December 11:47
For Alcatraz, I’d suggest booking the night tour if you can…and book well in advance.
We enjoyed the Sequoia national park, driving through an tree and going to see the General Sherman - but that may not be your thing.
You have Napa and Sonoma to the North of SF which can be good for food as well as wine.
On recent roadtrips here, I have taken to eating Applebees. Not a fancy restaurant but you can easily order ahead and get a decent quality fresh salad on the road. Don’t have to have fast food fried stuff with cheese.
We enjoyed the Sequoia national park, driving through an tree and going to see the General Sherman - but that may not be your thing.
You have Napa and Sonoma to the North of SF which can be good for food as well as wine.
On recent roadtrips here, I have taken to eating Applebees. Not a fancy restaurant but you can easily order ahead and get a decent quality fresh salad on the road. Don’t have to have fast food fried stuff with cheese.
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