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San Francisco (plus Yosemite Day Tour) to LA

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  • 28-04-2015 5:13pm
    #1
    TheDuchess
    Registered Users Posts: 30 ✭


    Hi

    Planning on possibly driving from San Francisco to LA this summer.
    From looking online - it looks like we could the drive in 3/4 days and still see most of the sights.

    Does anyone have any recommendations as to where to stop / stay and if this will be enough time?

    Also considering doing a 1 day trip from San Francisco to Yosemite. We know this won't be enough time to fully appreciate the Park but its all we can fit in the schedule this time. Has anyone done this tour before and if so was it worth it?

    Thanks!


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    #2
    iusedtoknow
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,698 ✭✭✭iusedtoknow


    Yosemite in 1 day? Madness and simply not worth it. You'll spend a good 10 hours in a car staring at freeways.

    We drove from SF to Yosemite on a Saturday morning (no commuter traffic), it is a 4.5 hour drive (in a car) at least to the park - that is as long as there isn't an accident on the Coldacott Pass which happens every 2 or 3 days at a minimum. We were in the park for 5 days and didn't see half of what we could have.

    As for LA. 4 days down highway 1 is just about perfect. You need to book ahead, but the hearst mansion is completely worth it - San Simeon is a nice place to break up the drive

    Personally...I would leave SF and head to Monterey area, over night there (nice little seaside town) then start the schlep down the 1 from there via the the 17 mile drive around people beach. From there, it is a nice drive down to San Simeon, stop there, the next day do the morning in Hearst Castle and then start the drive further down the coast. You could make it to LA from there around night fall, but it's a long drive- Santa Barbara is a nice enough town to over night in before the hell that is LA traffic.


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    #3
    ingalway
    Registered Users Posts: 652 ✭✭✭ingalway


    We drove from SF to LA in July last year. Spent 4 days doing it, beautiful drive down, leave plenty of time to stop off along the way just to take in the scenery and if you are lucky you might get to see plenty of whales and seals along the way.

    I have to say I was not that mad about some of the usual 'highlights', probably as it was incredibly busy at that time of year.

    Santa Cruz was exceptionally busy - basically a big amusement park. Did not stick around too long.

    Monterey has some nice places to stroll around but again very commercial. We stayed here for the first night.

    We did 17 Mile Drive which will take you to Carmel. It was good but not as spectacular as I expected. Carmel is very upmarket and very busy, it has a lovely beach which is well worth stopping off at.

    There is a lovely long stretch along the coast, Big Sur etc, where there are lots of National Parks, many of which you can book accommodation in.

    For me the nicest place we stayed in was Morro Bay which was totally unexpected, a small town and not overly busy. We stayed at the Beach Bungalow Inn and Suites, absolutely gorgeous little place.

    Santa Barbara is lovely and another good stop over, the Boardwalk/beach area is great.

    It really depends what you like - if you are into busy, commercial places then there are plenty of places to enjoy this but if you prefer smaller towns, or National Parks, then again you have many choices. It's worth putting a bit of thought into it to get the most out of your time and you will need to book ahead, it is extremely busy.

    Not sure if you are keeping the car for long but a Sat Nav was great for us. If it's only for the drive down to LA then you are probably fine without one but if you are keeping the car in LA then I can't imagine not having one for getting around - the traffic is incredibly bad and finding places is not easy - distances do not seem far when planning a journey but getting to places can be a nightmare. I bought a Sat Nav from an online seller and had it sent to the place we were staying in SF, way cheaper that taking it as an extra from the car rental company.

    We got a great price on car rental by booking through the Aer Lingus site with Hertz - much cheaper than all the others. Register for the Gold Plus Rewards and you save loads of time when picking up and dropping off. Not sure if you are flying back from SF...we originally thought we would drive to LA, spend a week there and drive back overnight on I-5 to SFO for flight home. After asking around we were told this was mad and I'm so glad we listened. Instead we left the car at LAX and flew back up to SFO in the morning and got the flight home that afternoon, much less stress, although LAX is horrible.

    Hope this helps a little. It was a fantastic holiday.


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    #4
    Cienciano
    Registered Users Posts: 14,293 ✭✭✭✭Cienciano


    I did it about 5 years ago. I did a day trip from san fran to yosemite, you can do it in a day alright. Got to see plenty there, half dome, el capitan, giant redwoods etc. I booked a tour which picked me up from my hotel, It must have been from about 7am till 9pm.
    Also, took the bus down to LA, not to bad a drive but fairly boring roads. But definitely worth checking out Big Sur, looks class if you have time.


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