Circular Road Trip Vegas, Yosemite, S F, Coastal and Vegas

Hi all,

just planning our 1st road trip to USA next week for my wife and I now kids are grown and was looking for some helpful hints and tips. A mixture of everything the States has to offer is eagerly anticipated

The only fixtures are start and finish in Vegas, 1 hire car is sorted and 1st 3 nights at MGM booked/

Plan seems to be based around

3 nights Vegas, Grand Canyon etc by air,

Drive via Death Vally to Yosemite area (2 nights)

Drive to San Francisco 3 nights...

Coastal Route 1 towards Santa Barbra stopping several nights en route but very flexible

Return to Vegas for 1/2 nights and return home

1st ever post any any assistance will be appreciated

Circular Road Trip Vegas, Yosemite, S F, Coastal and Vegas

It sounds like a manageable pacing for the trip. Staying in one place at the beginning will give you a chance to adjust to the new time zone.

The coast route between Monterey and Cambria is closed because of the Big Sur fires. See the posts on the Big Sur thread for details and updates. The coast from SF to Monterey is nice, but not very dramatic. There is a nice lighthouse at Pigeon Point and a State Park with elephant seals at Ano Nuevo north of Santa Cruz.

From Monterey, you%26#39;ll need to head inland to Salinas and then south on 101 to Santa Barbara. If you need rest breaks, you can stop and some of the missions on the way for a bit of California history.

Book your accommodations near Yosemite ASAP. At this point, you might even be able to snag a place inside the park since they have a 7 day in advance cancellation policy. Next week includes the 4th of July long weekend and many Americans will be on the move, filling the popular vacation spots.

Circular Road Trip Vegas, Yosemite, S F, Coastal and Vegas

Just a clarifying question: Are you traveling next week or doing your planning next week? If you are traveling, book SF now too. And book any nights that fall between July 3 and July 7. It%26#39;s one of the busiest travel weekends in the US.

We land in Vegas Sauturday 5 July and stay in Vegas at MGM until the Tuesday morning when we begin the drive to Yosemite early that morning.

Has not heard of the Big Sur fire until the post so many thanks for the heads up and will look at that urgently. Wonder if I should reconsider a different route altogether as the coastal drive sounded great originally but this could impact on our drive quite badly?

Take a look at some of the posts on the California forum, that way you can survey the posts from Pacific Grove, Monterey, Big Sure and other areas where the effects of the fires are being discussed.

The situation is subject to change, so stay tuned.

My guess is that Highway 1 through Big Sur will be open by the time you get here. If not, then it%26#39;s easy to switch over to Highway 101.