Vegas /California Road Trip Itinerary

[Lardychops]

SO EXITED!!
We just used out Avios points and upgrade vouchers (no brainer -it’s amazing!!) to book flights -2 weeks apart - in and out of Vegas next October!!!
This is our itinerary -

Fri/Sat Nights Vegas -(arrive at night so just one full day) and pick up hire car

Sun -Drive to Mammoth Lakes via Death Valley

Mon/Tues -Mammoth Lakes

Weds -Drive the Tioga pass through Yosemite -weather permitting as won’t be able to put tyre chains on a hire car- to San Francisco

Thurs/Fri -San Fran

Sat/Sun - Monterrey/ Carmel/ Big Sur

Mon- Santa Barbara

Tuesday -LA

Weds - Drive back to vegas

Thursday - West Rim Grand Canyon and Skywalk

Friday - Vegas

Sat - home

Well aware it’s a lot of driving which isn’t a problem for us. We want to cover a lot of ground and will share/both love road trip driving.

Any tips, advice, suggestions , hidden gems, thoughts of must- dos that aren’t immediately obvious, surprises you had along the way, and are willing to share would be greatly appreciated!

TIA x

Have you been to the States before?

Red Rock Canyon just outside Las Vegas is beautiful. The Hoover Dam is also worth a visit. Unless you are hitting a theme park I would probably skip LA. Others I'm sure will disagree but I didn't find SF that much to write home about. I know you say you like driving but that whole LA to SF is a traffic nightmare.

Given the time of year, I would probably stick to Southern California. San Diego is great, stay La Jolla near the beach. Alternatively, head further east and see some of the National Parks like Arches, Bryce Canyon, Zion and Monument Valley instead. These areas will feel like a great American Road trip rather than be stuck in traffic. Also the Tioga pass can close mid October and you'll have quite the detour if it is, I believe the snow there often comes in whiteout conditions, regardless of snow tires or chains whiteouts pretty terrifying to drive in.

I realise you love driving but there’s far too much going on in that itinerary and you could well end up
spending more time driving from place to place than actually seeing anything. Fewer place to drive to with more time spent in each one would be better.

Tioga Pass is currently closed due to early season snow. SF is a dump and LA is a sprawl of about 100 cities joined together. Where would you stay there?.

I would echo others in that I didn't enjoy my time in either LA or SF so I would limit any time you spend there. I probably wouldn' bother with LA at all.

Congrats on your avios bookings, always a good feeling!!

Agree with others though and @timbitstimbytes has good suggestions for an alternative route to make the most of the region at this time of year for this length of time.
I’ve done the trip a few times and as currently drafted yours is overly ambitious especially for October. You are just going to be in the car the whole time.

I think that's a bit much to be honest. Save LA and/or San Fransisco for another trip. Looks like you are literally driving through Yosemite. It's one of the most beautiful places on earth - but staying there would really allow you to see it and take the cleared pass in to it. We stayed there in snow and it was beautiful.

We have done a Vegas to San Francisco road trip, but our flight home was From San Francisco, much better than driving all the way back. Hated San Fran! Only spent a view hours there and did not feel safe at all, couldn’t wait to get to the airport home.

But it was one of the best trips of our lives!
We loved, Santa Barbara, Pismo Beach, a few other stops that i would have to look back on, but next time we go we are doing Vegas to San Diego, fly home from San Diego.
We booked everything on the day and didn’t plan anything in advance, we just decided how far we wanted to drive that day and asked advice from restaurant staff on where they would recommend next.

I have used AI to help us plan our next one, because we have more specific places we want to see so it has helped me plan more of a structured route.

That's hours and hours of driving. Are you planning on sleeping? 😉 You might want to consider flying back to Vegas as opposed to driving. It's a long drive, occasionally made longer by epic traffic jams (and tbh it's not a scenic drive).

Like others have stated Yosemite and Mammoth might be impassable at points. You could fly to Reno and visit Tahoe quite easily.

Also, keep in mind you may have to stay flexible as October is still fire season.

I would not recommend west rim GC - it’s a right old pain to get to, expensive and crowded. Not worth the time it would take. You are better off going to the proper GC out of LV if you want to see the big hole in the ground.

I agree San Diego way nicer than San Francisco and LA is very overrated - if you do go Venice and Santa Monica is nicer than the Hollywood area.

I found Monterey underwhelming. It’s just one street basically with tacky attractions.

Yeah don’t bother with LA. And if I’m honest I’d probably do SoCal another time or fly out of San Diego. I love SD. SF is a bit of a dump but worth doing a few things if you really want to do Alcatraz or hike mount Tam and get the view down.

But honestly I would do the national parks loop and cover, Zion, Bryce, Moab and especially Sedona. You can’t miss that out (I’d also hit Flagstaff if possible)

Its too much, both driving and place hopping. I dont see the point in spending one day in LA. Definitely add hoover dam to your list. I also wouldn't do the west rim/skywalk, its a tourist trap. We did a helicopter ride from Vegas over the canyon and got to land inside of it, well worth the money.

I just AI-ed because I'm bored.

This is an epic, highly ambitious road trip that covers some of the most beautiful terrain in the United States. However, the plan features extreme driving distances, tight timelines, and major seasonal geographic hurdles that could disrupt the entire itinerary.
Below is a detailed critique of the bottlenecks, along with a revised structure to keep the trip enjoyable without spending the entire vacation staring through a windshield.

The 3 Biggest Bottlenecks

1. The Winter Pass Gamble (Yosemite's Tioga Pass)
You correctly called out the tire chain restriction. Tioga Pass (Highway 120) sits at nearly 10,000 feet and historically closes for the winter. Even a minor autumn or early-winter flurry will cause a temporary closure, and rental car companies strictly prohibit the use of tire chains. If it closes while you are in Mammoth, your "drive through Yosemite" turns into a grueling 7-to-8-hour detour around the top of the Sierra Nevada mountains just to get to San Francisco. 1, 2, 3, 4]

2. Excessive Windshield Time
Several of your driving days are incredibly demanding:
Sunday: Driving Vegas to Mammoth via Death Valley is a minimum of 6.5 hours of pure driving, not counting any stops to actually see Death Valley.
Wednesday: Mammoth to San Francisco via Tioga Pass is roughly 5.5 hours under perfect conditions, but with sight-seeing and Yosemite traffic, it’s a full 8+ hour day.
Mon / Tues / Weds (Week 2): Going from Monterey to Santa Barbara (4.5 hours), then Santa Barbara to LA (2 hours plus brutal traffic), and immediately LA back to Vegas (4.5 hours) means you are changing hotels every night and spending your entire Southern California experience on the highway.

3. The Grand Canyon Backtrack
Driving from LA to Vegas on Wednesday, and then immediately driving 4.5 hours out to the Grand Canyon West Rim on Thursday, only to drive 4.5 hours back to Vegas is a massive duplication of effort.

The Perfect-Weather Master Itinerary
If your trip falls during the summer or early autumn when Tioga Pass is guaranteed open, use this streamlined flow to cut down on backtracking.

DayRoute & StopoverDriving TimeConcierge Insight
Fri/Sat
Arrive Las Vegas
N/A
Rest up and enjoy the Strip before the long drive.
Sun
Vegas → Death Valley → Lone Pine
~4.5 hrs
Break up the massive mountain drive. Sleep in Lone Pine to see the Alabama Hills.
Mon
Lone Pine → Mammoth Lakes
~1.5 hrs
Short drive. Gives you a full afternoon in Mammoth.
Tue
Mammoth Lakes
N/A
Explore Devils Postpile or Mono Lake.
Wed
Mammoth → Tioga Pass → San Francisco
~6 hrs
Leave at dawn. Drive through Tuolumne Meadows.
Thu/Fri
San Francisco
N/A
Ditch the car; use rideshares or cable cars to avoid $70/night parking fees.
Sat/Sun
SF → Monterey / Carmel / Big Sur
~2.5 hrs
Spend Saturday in Monterey, Sunday driving down the breathtaking Big Sur coast.
Mon
Big Sur → Santa Barbara
~4.5 hrs
Drive the southern half of Highway 1 through San Simeon and Cambria.
Tue
Santa Barbara → Route 66 → Kingman, AZ
~5.5 hrs
The Pivot: Skip LA's traffic. Push east toward the Grand Canyon to save hours later.
Wed
Kingman → Grand Canyon West → Las Vegas
~4 hrs
See the Skywalk in the morning, then make the short 2-hour drive into Vegas.
Thu/Fri
Las Vegas & Depart
N/A
Relax pool-side to recover from the ultimate road trip.

The Winter Route Alternative (If Tioga Pass is Closed)
If your trip is scheduled between late October and May, you must drop Mammoth Lakes. Instead, run the loop counter-clockwise to keep the driving safe, warm, and highly scenic. 1]
Vegas to Grand Canyon West: Do this first on your way out of Vegas. Sleep in Kingman or Needles.
Drive to Santa Barbara: Head west through the Mojave Desert straight to the coast.
Santa Barbara to Monterey: Drive north through Big Sur (which is fully open and stunning).
Monterey to San Francisco: Spend your mid-trip days in the city.
San Francisco to Yosemite Valley: Enter Yosemite from the west via Highway 140. The valley floor stays open year-round and rarely requires chains.
Yosemite to Las Vegas: Drive out of the west side of the park, head south through Bakersfield, and take the highway back to Vegas. 1, 2, 3, 4]

Personally I would give San fran a miss. We really enjoyed monterrey/carmel/santa Barbara.

Personally I think you are doing too much and will basically be in the car the whole time seeing the road.

We spent 10 days just doing La to San Francisco.

Hey OP,

I do love a US road trip!!

SF is my fave city in America. I recommend booking tickets for Alcatraz - it is a must do. After that take a walk around Fisherman’s Wharf, see the sea lions, grab some ice cream from Ghiradelli. Hire bikes & cycle across the Golden Gate Bridge & back. Cable car to Union square, walk to Chinatown, visit Haight Ashbury.

On the way to Carmel, stop at the Santa Cruz boardwalk. Visit Cannery Row, maybe the aquarium if you have time. Definitely do the 17 mile drive & swing by Pebble Beach golf course.

Stop at the Bill Bixby bridge for pics. Stop at Nepanthe for drinks/food.

Visit the Madonna Inn near San Luis Obispo. If you have time, spend a few hours in Solvang.

In LA I’d just spend the day in the car driving round all the famous sites. Griffith Observatory, Walk of Fame, Hollywood Sign, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, Maybe food at The Grove. Dinner in West Hollywood or on Sunset. Or maybe at Santa Monica. Don’t underestimate the traffic. Try and time it so you are not driving at rush hour.

I’ve done vegas, Grand Canyon, Phoenix, San Diego, LA, Death Valley then vegas as a trip, it was fairly full on driving wise (with toddlers!) I wouldn’t bother with the second night in vegas at the beginning, one day at the end is plenty, furnace creek in Death Valley was interesting to eat at as an alternative (it was 119 f when I went!)

Echo what others say. Your distances are insane. Look at an atlas, not Google Maps. Compare the UK in size to Nevada and California. Imagine driving from Peckham to the Peak District, every day, hoping to experience the best of London and the peaks. I know it’s far and you may only go once in your life, but you need to cut things riiiiiiight down.

Hey all- yes have done previous road trips in USA
Duly noted re distances although that’s less of an issues than the potential weather issues you all raised vis a vis the Tioga pass etc
We have thrown the itinerary through AI
also and think we will by tweak the route but also add more days turn it into a 19 day trip rather than 14.

So still after tips around less obvious hidden gems/ quirky must dos / things that surprised you in any of the following places

Vegas
Mammoth Lakes
San Fran
Monterrey
Carmel
Big Sur
Santa Barbara
LA
xx

Hearst Castle

We have done two similar trips but over 3 / 4 weeks each time.

Trip 1 in October, 3 weeks: flew into SF and from there went up the coast to the Oregon border and across to Lassen NP. Then to Tahoe and the Donner Pass and came down the west side of the Sierra Nevada and stopped to take in Yosemite from the west side, plus Kings Canyon and Sequoia NPs. Then through Death Valley to Vegas and took a flight over the Grand Canyon. Then across to LA for a quick stop and back up to SF.

That was a lot of driving and we hadn’t planned a particular route in advance, just found motels as we went. In mid October it was definitely getting snowy, so I wouldn't count on the Tioga Pass being open.

Trip 2 in July, 4 weeks: Flew into San Diego, couple of days there then picked up car. Drove to LA and stayed at Marina Del Rey for Universal Studios, Venice Beach and Santa Monica.Then made our way up the coast to SF with a couple of stops, and up to Lassen. From there to Reno and down the east side of the Sierra Nevada to Mammoth Lakes. Through Yosemite, on to Kings Canyon and Sequoia and through Death Valley to Vegas and did a helicopter trip over the Grand Canyon. Then through Palm Springs and Joshua Tree to San Diego.

That was a lot of driving too, but I had planned and booked everything in advance.

You’ll need to book Alcatraz well in advance, and buy an America The Beautiful pass to get you into the NPs.

Agree with PPs that LA is a huge sprawl and not that nice, and our second trip to SF we stayed in Oakland and took the train in. San Diego is by far the nicest of the three big cities.

The Area 52 museum in Vegas is really quirky - loved it.
Hoover Dam is a must in my opinion.

The Grand Canyon is amazing - but I'm not sure (heretic opinion) that you get much from just driving to it - standing on the edge and going 'that's big' and getting back in the car.

I hiked down it and stayed down there and it was stunning. Drove DH there as he'd never been - and we stayed overnight and he was 'gosh, that's big' but that was it really...

Furnace Lodge is great - but they shut up serving food early - so be aware. Death Valley is fun to say you've been - but you kind of have to get out and look around a tiny bit.

I loved Joshua Tree National Park - great night skies.

And I've been to LA and San Fransisco a few times - and agree with posters above, San Diego is a far nice city to visit!

Whilst in and around Santa Barbara I would recommend driving inland, its about 30 mins or so, to Solvang/Los Olivos. Solvang is a cute Dannish town and the surrounding area is wine country. Lots of tasting rooms on the main street so you dont have to visit all the wineries. We'll worth a couple of hours.

We did a very similar post GCSE trip 18 months ago and it was amazing. However - we flew into Vegas and out of LA and we did it over 3 weeks. We stayed 2 nights in Vegas then picked up the car and drove to Red Rock Canyon and on to Deafh Valley. We stayed one night there, and I think 2 night at every other place you mentioned I think. Some may even have had 3. We stayed in Santa Monica rather than actual La and went on a bus trip to take us into the centre. It wasn’t really the best place, but glad we went. I quite liked San Fran, but we got a bus trip round and just stayed alongside Fisherman’s Wharf the rest of the time, which mostly felt safe. It’s an amazing trip, but you do need time to enjoy each place.

Sedona is lovely. One road trip saw us flying from LA to Phoenix, renting a car and staying there a couple of nights, before driving via the GC, Route 66 and the Hoover Dam into Las Vegas.

A second trip instead we drove to LV from LA via a stay in Palm Springs (one of my favourite places), visiting Joshua Tree en route.

i agree that San Diego/La Jolla is nicer than LA. If you are doing the SF-LA drive, I absolutely recommend staying a night at the Madonna Inn, and visiting Hearst Castle.

It seems an odd choice to fly via Las Vegas but spend most of your time in coastal California.

What is it that you want from Mammoth Lakes? It’s close to 6 hours from Las Vegas to Mammoth Lakes with no stops and is likely to be cold and wet at this time of year. The driving itself is easy (apart from getting out of Vegas…) but you risk missing so much in Death Valley.

At this time of year there’s a real risk of the Tioga pass being closed, and while the Sonora pass is also lovely, it’s a massive detour missing out Yosemite entirely. And even if you get to go via the Tioga pass, it’s still a significant detour into the valley floor and you’ll barely have time to park up let alone see any of the incredible sights.

If you must head off west rather than enjoying the red rocks around Vegas, southern Utah and northern Arizona, I’d go via Joshua Tree NP and Palm Springs.

OP as you consider the advice here, the good thing is that as you’ve booked via Avios and upgrade vouchers, you can actually change/rejig your flights for very little money.

San Diego was a surprise to us — fabulous little city, friendly people, beautiful, cool things to see. We flew in and out of it, drove to LA, SF, Vegas, back down through LA, took the Surfliner train from LA back down to San Diego (really glad we did that as that historic train route is likely soon to cease to exist as the coast erodes and the track falls into the sea).

Your itinerary is ambitious— I would suggest rearranging the itinerary so that you are flying into one city and out another to avoid backtracking— traffic in California is an unpleasant force to be reckoned with — parking is a nightmare as well in the cities.

Whatever you do, do not fly in or out of LAX — it is truly awful traffic.

Consider flying into Vegas and out of San Diego or vice versa, or even leaving Vegas for a one-off shorter trip later and really have the time to see the shows, explore the hotels, travel out to the dam, etc., and this trip, focus on the California coast and parks.

Agree re. Sedona and Flagstaff. Sedona is beautiful.