European on a US roadtrip - fill in my itinerary

[COcheesehead]

I've spent some time hiking, taking photos in most of these spots. Some ideas:

Page - Glen Canyon dam, Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend

Yosemite - hike Mist trail, bike rental is fun and beats the park traffic

Monterey, Carmel - aquarium, 17 mile drive

LA. - Hollywood tours, Santa Monica pier

San Francisco. - Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Lombard st, Napa/Sonoma

Grand Canyon south rim. - Bright Angel Trail, stay/ dine at the El Tovar

Some of these are good. Sonoma is great for wines, Napa is great for the towns. Carmel, walk Carmel Beach and eat at Passionfish or Casanova's. I would personally avoid most of LA and most certainly the Santa Monica pier. Pure tourist hell. Walk the beach or up Rustic Canyon or live like a local in Santa Monica and walk/dine on Montana Ave. You might see a star or two.

 

[Bryan Barnfellow]

Sounds like a really nice trip. I personally love the Mojave Desert and would suggest that you consider a trip to Joshua Tree National Park. Perhaps while your son is enjoying the theme parks in LA you could drive out for the day? I wish I had gone there more often when I lived in the US.

-BB

 

[mh]

We have booked a West coast US roadtrip in September this year and we have about three weeks. We've booked the major stops (hotels) and I now want to make sure we don't miss anything!



The outline itinerary looks like the following:



Fly into Las Vegas (2 nights)

Drive south to Grand Canyon (2 nights)

North to Bryce Canyon (3 nights)

Death Valley (1 night)

Yosemite (3 nights)

San Francisco (4 nights)

Coast between SF and LA (3 nights)

Los Angeles (3 nights)



We're two active mid 50's and will be travelling with our adult son. So....what's "not to miss"?

Do Zion instead of Bryce
Double check highway 1 road conditons between la and sf they had some erosion damage there

 

[gerntz]

Thanks everyone for your replies - they are all very helpful. So here is a little more detail on a day by day basis:

Fly to Las Vegas
Las Vegas
Grand Canyon (South rim)
Grand Canyon
Page
Bryce Canyon
Zion NP
Death Valley
Mammoth Lakes
Mariposa (YNP)
[Spare night]
San Francisco
San Francisco
San Francisco
San Francisco
Carmel / Monterrey
Cambria
Santa Barbera
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Fly home

Of the places we are visiting, Vegas is the only place we've been to before so we're not spending much time there. We're staying one night in Page just because it felt like such a long way between the Southern GC and our next stop although reflecting on that now it may give us the opportunity to visit the North rim.

We're actually staying at a place between Bryce and Zion - so thanks for all the tips on Zion - we will definitely do that.

We're not really intending on visiting DV but I think we need to drive through it to get to our next stop (in Mammoth), we would then drive through the park / visit the park on the next day, staying on the other side of the park in Mariposa. We've left the spare night at the moment in case we want to spend another night in the vicinity of the park although we might use it to drive to Napa.

The time in LA is really to visit some of the theme parks (six flags, universal etc.) which our son is very keen to do, otherwise we are thinking of the iconic sites (Hollywood, Chinese Theatre etc.)

With the exception of the spare night all our lodging is booked as i took some earlier advice that it might be quite busy around September.

Once again - thanks for all your tips!

You have a full schedule. Me, I'd add a night to Zion & skip/minimize DV. Use the spare night as a 2nd at Yosemite. As part of SF, go north to Muir Woods or Armstrong State Redwood Reserve for the trees. Truly magnificent. Muir is closer, but a) more crowded b) Armstrong's trees are better/more numerous. If you go to Muir, be there before it opens in the morning to get a decent parking spot. I presume with Cambria you're going to San Simeon. There's plenty more but enough. hav fun!!

 

[DrRoy]

If you have Page, AZ on the list, I presume you know about Upper Antelope Canyon (Navajo tour guide required) and Horseshoe Bend.
.

 

[Cap_Scarlet]

If you have Page, AZ on the list, I presume you know about Upper Antelope Canyon (Navajo tour guide required) and Horseshoe Bend.
.

Thanks - Yes, we'd like to visit those places but did not know about needing a Navajo guide!

 

[Ronstar]

Thanks - Yes, we'd like to visit those places but did not know about needing a Navajo guide!

I went with Ken's tours. You meet at their office, and they truck you to the canyon, give a nice tour and return. http://lowerantelope.com

 

[RE2Boys]

In 2013 we spent two weeks in that area with our then 15 and 17 year old boys. Flew into Phoenix and spent the first night.

Drove toward Bryce. Unless going backcountry, one day is plenty to car tour. Transferred to Zion and only had one day, wished we had planned two.
Then a day at the north rim of the Grand Canyon ending at Marble Canyon (Sun evening).
Did a motor float trip down the Colorado, living in the canyon until helicopter out on Sat morn.

Thence to Painted Desert, side trip to Tucson and Sonora NP ( I would have skipped this and spent more time at Zion) .

Of course, the highlight of the trip/adventure was going down the Colorado in the canyon with all else being added as time permitted. Quite an international group as we had a British and German families with us.

I'm not one to enjoy cities.

 

[LauAnn]

Do not skip Bryce. It is like no place else on earth. (IMO).

 

[Fedup]

@DrRoy, thanks for the beautiful pictures. Now I want to see those places.

 

[travelover]

General advice re national parks, get out of the car and get away from the parking areas ASAP. It is a whole different world 100 meters from the parking lots.

 

[DrRoy]

Thanks - Yes, we'd like to visit those places but did not know about needing a Navajo guide!

I used Adventurous Antelope Canyon Tours. I took the Photographer's tour, which required a tripod.

 

[explanade]

Probably considered the usual tourist haunts: from Munich to Salzburg (3 nights), then to Hallstatt (2), and then Vienna (6). This will be our first visit to Austria which is the final country in our trip. Looking forward to it!

I'm going at the end of August, beginning of September, in and out of Munich, going to Zugspitze Arena, Innsbruck, Salzburg, Hallstatt, St. Wolfgang.

Actually I've lived in Northern CA and have not been to Grand Canyon or the places in Utah. Only been to LA twice. Traveled way more out of the US than within it.

Not sure why. Oh I hate driving so much.

 

[explanade]

I used Adventurous Antelope Canyon Tours. I took the Photographer's tour, which required a tripod.

Why, is it dark inside the canyons?

How about the dust?

 

[JoeWras]

Do not skip Bryce. It is like no place else on earth. (IMO).

Agree. Just don't spend 3 days there!

 

[DrRoy]

Why, is it dark inside the canyons?

How about the dust?

Yes, it was dark, but I think the tripod requirement is to sort out serious photographers. Dust was not a problem. It is hard for wind to get into a slot canyon and stir things up.

 

[explanade]

Yes, it was dark, but I think the tripod requirement is to sort out serious photographers. Dust was not a problem. It is hard for wind to get into a slot canyon and stir things up.

So long exposures if you want base ISO?

Guess it may be like a cathedral with sunlight coming in through limited openings.

 

[NW-Bound]

Do not skip Bryce. It is like no place else on earth. (IMO).

Agree. Just don't spend 3 days there!

We did. But then, we had 2 months to wander around with an RV, while the OP has 3 weeks. He also plans to hit more spots than we did.

The point is that there's no way one can see everything. But then, one does not have to either. It is going to be a nice trip no matter what.

Thinking back, I have enjoyed any trip we have made. If we do not see something, we see something else by serendipity more than planning. It's all OK.

 

[JoeWras]

It's all OK.

There you go. You can't go wrong for scenery in this part of the world. Good luck to the OP for this good choice of vacation.

Now I want to turn the tables and go to Switzerland and/or Austria! Almost did this year, but decided to put it off a bit. I was kind of overwhelmed by planning, and DW and I decided when we go, less is more.

 

[FIREd_2015]

Thanks everyone for your replies - they are all very helpful. So here is a little more detail on a day by day basis:

Fly to Las Vegas
Las Vegas
Grand Canyon (South rim)
Grand Canyon
Page
Bryce Canyon
Zion NP
Death Valley
Mammoth Lakes
Mariposa (YNP)
[Spare night]
San Francisco
San Francisco
San Francisco
San Francisco
Carmel / Monterrey
Cambria
Santa Barbera
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Los Angeles
Fly home

1) Just outside of Page is the Horseshoe Bend - a couple of hundred meters walk from the road

2) On the way to Bryce Canyon is a place called "The Wave". You'll need a permit and they only hand out around 10 a day to walk-ins.

3) Bit of a detour but a nice scenic drive through Monument Valley if you're into old western movies

4) Mammoth area - Devil's Postpile National Monument, Reds Meadow Hotsprings

5) Yosemite - one of the best views is from Glacier Point

6) San Francisco area - Best panoramic view of San Francisco is from top of Mt Tamalpias - you can drive to the top. The other nice view is from Treasure Island. No toll if you drive there from the San Francisco side. Alamere Falls - water fall on the beach in Point Reyes National Seashore north of San Francisco.

7) Monterey - McWay Falls in Big Sur, Elephant Seals in Ano Nuevo State Park just north of Santa Cruz. 17 mile drive is also nice.

8) Grand Canyon South Rim - great views during sunrise at OOH AAH Point. Short walk down on South Kaibab Trail.

 

[gerntz]

Another thing: Since you're going to GC-south from Vegas, I'd stop & do a tour of Hoover Dam. Couple hours. Great new arch bride over canyon also.

 

[NW-Bound]

Heading South fro SF to LA include San Simeon near San Luis Obispo on your stops...

... I presume with Cambria you're going to San Simeon...

For many years, I always wanted to go see the Hearst Castle, but it was too far for a day trip from the LA area, which I visited often. And I drove up/down US-1 a couple of times but not passing Hearst Castle at a good time for a visit.

Cambria now has plenty of motels for passing the night, but we had our RV in our visit a few years ago, and stayed at a state campground in the area.

The Hearst Castle visit is broken into several tours. We just took the main one, with the intention of saving the others for future trips. Just did not want to overwhelm ourselves with so much opulence in one day.

 

[Cap_Scarlet]

thanks all for your responses - watch out for my blog of the trip!

 

[euro]

Sounds like a really nice trip. I personally love the Mojave Desert and would suggest that you consider a trip to Joshua Tree National Park. Perhaps while your son is enjoying the theme parks in LA you could drive out for the day? I wish I had gone there more often when I lived in the US.

-BB

I will second Joshua Tree NP - I have visited it several times and always enjoy it

 

[DrRoy]

So long exposures if you want base ISO?

Guess it may be like a cathedral with sunlight coming in through limited openings.

Yes, exactly. I took multiple exposures up to 30 sec and ran HDR.