To drive - LA to Vegas or Vegas to San Francisco

Travelling to west coast USA later this year. Flying direct from Dublin to LA with Aer Lingus. 4 Nights LA , 5 nights Las vegas and 5 Nights San Francisco. Flights and hotels all booked but no internal travel arrangements between the cities made yet.

That's were you knowledgeable people come in. We are considering renting an open top car and driving one of the legs i.e. either LA to Vegas or Vegas to San Francisco.

Any idea which would be more scenic / enjoyable and the approximate times involved ???? Any advice appreciated

Thanks
Davy

SAn Francisco to LA has a great coastal drive, I can honestly say that it is the most scenic drive I have ever undertaken. LA to Vegas on Vegas to SF is just highway.

Planning of visiting California this summer as well. From what I're read the drive from SF to LA is fantastic. Think it's about 400 miles - I'd say two to three days to enjoy the scenery enroute.

The other routes can be done throught some of the national parks but LA to Vegas goes through Death Valley so in the middle of summer it will be baking.

John

It would not be a good idea to drive to Vegas from either SF or LA. You will basically be driving through desert. After about 20 mins you will have seen enough. The heat will be a killer also. Instead I would suggest flying in and out of Las Vegas with one of the lowcost airlines (probably get cheaper fares from LA) and then driving LA-SFO. The coastal highway is very secenic especially around Monteray.

Agree with Soy, fly into and out of LV, we drove to LV from Utah and although a novelty for a while (it looks like a glowing UFO in the middle of nowhere depending what time of the evening you approach) but gets monotonous after a while. We flew out of LV to LA and drove to SF.

Mr.V and I went to California on our honeymoon. I can honestly say it was one of the best holidays we ever had. We planned long in advance. We originally wanted to go to Vegas, but on looking at the drive times and the temperature, decided against it. So we flew into SF, spent a few days there, then went to Yosemite National Park- heaven if you're into hiking and the great outdoors. Then we went back to Route 101 and followed the coast to LA. We stopped along the way in CArmel ( fantastic beach, a haven for the ludicrously wealthy- Clint Eastwood used to be the Mayor) a very touristy spot and very nice- gorgeous restaurants. We also stopped in San Luis Obispo ( spelling? ) - this not great, I wouldnt go again. We stopped in Santa Barbara which was also fantastic- would love to go again. And we went to LA- we stayed in Santa Monica- good to see, but if I were to go again I'd probably skip LA altogether- maybe just fly into it or out of it, and concentrate on Santa Barbara,, the monterey peninsula, yosemite and maybe either Napa Valley or San Diego as I've heard good reports about both of those. But I suppose it really depends on whether you prefer the outdoors- hiking/beach type holiday or sightseeing/shopping/casino type holiday. One recommendation- definitely hire a convertible- we loved ours- felt fantastic to drive along Highway 101 with the top down, and rock music playing - the scenery is fantastic. I'm envious now!

I've done both drives from SF to LA and from LA to Vegas. The drive from LA to Vegas is shorter definitely - mostly due to the fact that you are driving through the desert and for hundreds of miles the scenery is the same and you just keep on going. Only advantage is you pass through Barstow (where there is/used to be an excellent outlet centre).

The drive from SF to LA - I've done both routes - the scenic and the highway. It's mightly long and after a while it gets kind of monotonous (I have to say I fell asleep both times).

Vegas, LA and SF are all worthy of a visit - they are all so different. But like the previous poster if you can fit it in Yosemite is so worth a visit also. When you arrive its kind of like "is this it", but when you get out of the car and just strain your neck to see the top of the mountains which surround the valley its as the Americans say "Awesome".

One thing - if you are opting for the open top car be very careful on the drive to the desert - its searingly hot we hit temps of 114 when we did it.

Oh forgot to mention a very good site is the Fodors one. I think it is www.fodors.com but just type in Fodors.
They have excellent discussion boards and you type in California and put your question to the viewers. I used it quite a lot on my trips and found that advice from locals on trip times and places to visit were invaluable - Americans have tips on everything - how to keep cool places to stop places to eat places to avoid etc.

I am using them again this year for a trip to Florida - they still haven't frightened me enough about Hurricane Season - pity I didn't ask the boards before I booked for July!

Having done all these routes also, I would recommend drivingVegas to San Fran. Highlights are; Death Valley (Numerous amazing things here, including coyotes), Youngs Valley, Bristle cone pine park (4 thousand year old trees), extinct volcanoes, and of course the amazing Yosemite. This will take 3 days. Downside, when you come out of Yosemite you've got a pretty uneventful 4 hour drive to San Fran.

The coast is good but not near as eventful, but you can still get your fill around San Fran ie Muir Woods rainforest (Seqouia trees) and amazing drive north.

U can still drive back to LA from San Fran ( its a 8 hour drive straight) Personally I'd Fly straight from San Fran to San diego, which is more worthwhile than LA.

Thanks Guys - full of information as usual