West Coast road trip - help with itinerary

@spacedog - you'll have to let me know how it goes! And send me all the tips oo)

@Scoobysu - my next (or current?) step is looking at car hire. My plan is to have it for about 10 days, picking it up from downtown San Fran, and dropping it off at the Strip (the Four Seasons/Mandalay bay), so saving on a bit of parking in those places.

I'm struggling a bit to find search engines that give me non-airport locations for both pick-up and drop-off, without charging me 3 times as much (I'd have thought it'd be cheaper to pick up from a non-airport location) so am wondering if you are planning on a similar arrangement? In fact the only place that I've managed to find anything sensible is on the BA website with Avis xx( The one-way charge there doesn't look too bad - £63 in my quote.

I did check the VH car rental, and 1) it's only showing me 8 options, none of which is anything close to the "adrenaline" range, and 2) when I click on them, it lists "one way charges" as something to be paid locally to Alamo. How did you manage to get that removed, if you don't mind me asking?

P.S. a mustang would be excellent! Great choice! y)

One more thing, Scoobysu -- Assuming you're going with Alamo via VH (but you may not, maybe when you said Virgin you meant something other than VH), and that the Mustang you booked have the "mustang or similar", then apparently it's not necessary that you will get the mustang, or even a convertible. I don't want to alarm you, but just in case you are banking on it. I came across this thread a while ago, which is why I'm a little reluctant with booking with them...

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g1-i12567-k5715143-Alamo_Rental_Cars_Mustang_Rental-Road_Trips.html

Just read through this whole thread and your trip looks amazing mrsw y) Mrs P and I have completed a few trips that cover your itinerary in an RV (not for everyone but great fun!). Sounds like you are covering a lot of ground but this will give you a great taste of the experiences available....you may then decide to go back later on and check out your favourite places y)
Agree with all the other comments but especially the vote for Nepenthe on Highway 1. A beautifully secluded restaurant/cafe/shop positioned high above the Pacific Ocean with amazing views, food and atmosphere ^)
Anyway, enjoy the planning, especially for 2016 oo) oo)

Hi MrsW

Yes - I booked through VH via the link on the VS website as the price was a fraction of the other search engines! In terms of the one way hire then this is the excerpt from the e-ticket.

"One ways within Florida and within California and between California, Nevada and Arizona are free. All other one ways will incur a one way fee of between $99 - $500 + tax payable locally. ** Online check in available at http://www.alamo.com/offer/virgin **"

We're picking up from LAX the day after our arrival but I take your point regarding "or similar". I might start looking again - I really struggled to find other pick up points too other than via Hertz but I found their website very very frustrating! !

Book Alcatraz - its well worth the visit. I quite enjoyed the view from Coit Tower as well. Oh & there is Pier whatever number it is (sorry, I went back in 2002! SF-LA-LV - Monterray is stunning from what I remember)

Such a short time in Vegas I would leave out the drive to the grand canyon south rim!

I done the drive in March 2013 - there & back in one day! Never ever again!
There are plenty of stop offs on the way if you was interested. An abandoned town that Cars was based on for example.

Personally, I would spend the time on maybe doing the West Rim (not the same I know), Hoover Dam & seeing Fermont St/Old Vegas. Oh if its shopping you like.. There are 2x outlets in Las Vegas.

Just read through this whole thread and your trip looks amazing mrsw y) Mrs P and I have completed a few trips that cover your itinerary in an RV (not for everyone but great fun!). Sounds like you are covering a lot of ground but this will give you a great taste of the experiences available....you may then decide to go back later on and check out your favourite places y)
Agree with all the other comments but especially the vote for Nepenthe on Highway 1. A beautifully secluded restaurant/cafe/shop positioned high above the Pacific Ocean with amazing views, food and atmosphere ^)
Anyway, enjoy the planning, especially for 2016 oo) oo)

Yes, I think it's going to be a bit of a whistle-stop tour (but in a fairly relaxed manner) that will no doubt sparkle our interest in certain places for future visits The thing I find with holidays is that the more places you go to, the more you want to go to ii)

I'll see if I can fit in a visit to Nepenthe - I reckon we'll pass it quite early in the day so perhaps a coffee (and a bit of cake) might be in order.

Hi MrsW

Yes - I booked through VH via the link on the VS website as the price was a fraction of the other search engines! In terms of the one way hire then this is the excerpt from the e-ticket.

"One ways within Florida and within California and between California, Nevada and Arizona are free. All other one ways will incur a one way fee of between $99 - $500 + tax payable locally. ** Online check in available at http://www.alamo.com/offer/virgin **"

We're picking up from LAX the day after our arrival but I take your point regarding "or similar". I might start looking again - I really struggled to find other pick up points too other than via Hertz but I found their website very very frustrating! !

Thank you re the clarification on the one-way charge - I'll take more of a serious look on VH then, too, as I had let that put me off.

I, too, found the Hertz website unbearable. I think I tried it three times and it kept asking me over and over again on the locations of pick-up and drop-off without moving onto the next step. n(

I think car rental is harder to book than hotels and flights taken together!

Book Alcatraz - its well worth the visit. I quite enjoyed the view from Coit Tower as well. Oh & there is Pier whatever number it is (sorry, I went back in 2002! SF-LA-LV - Monterray is stunning from what I remember)

Such a short time in Vegas I would leave out the drive to the grand canyon south rim!

I done the drive in March 2013 - there & back in one day! Never ever again!
There are plenty of stop offs on the way if you was interested. An abandoned town that Cars was based on for example.

Personally, I would spend the time on maybe doing the West Rim (not the same I know), Hoover Dam & seeing Fermont St/Old Vegas. Oh if its shopping you like.. There are 2x outlets in Las Vegas.

Pier 39 I think. We were in San Fran for a quick visit a couple of years ago, so didn't manage to do the Alcatraz or the Coit Tower. Looking at staying in the North Beach area this time, so Coit Tower would be an easy visit.

Thank you for your advice on Vegas - I've only allowed a short amount of time as OH is unsure whether he would like it (he doesn't like OTT things and "fake" stuff generally). Grand Canyon on the other hand, has been on his list to see for years. So I figured if we really liked Vegas then it's pretty easy to go back, and we'd spend more time on places that are harder to get to by plane (eg. national parks, places en-route PCH), rather than San Fran, LA and Vegas for this trip. I'll be sure to check out the places you mentioned for Vegas, as have not really started looking at specific things to do there as yet. 8D

well with such short time in vegas, see if the other half likes it & then plan your trip back there.

My missus wasn't looking forward to it for the same reason, but she absolutely loved it... and best of all wants to go back! but we have agreed to stay in old vegas next time for something different.

In which case after your sampler of vegas, do the South Rim of the Canyon (long 4-5hr drive), you can stop off at Hoover Dam on the way - you won't be there long, buts its nice to say you've been there & its only a short detour off the Canyon route.

You could also drive from the South Rim to the North rim - this route was closed to us in March due to Snow!

well with such short time in vegas, see if the other half likes it & then plan your trip back there.

My missus wasn't looking forward to it for the same reason, but she absolutely loved it... and best of all wants to go back!

When we first went to Vegas I must admit it was because "it was there" rather than any attraction to the place per se. Once we got there it was the very artificiality of the place that fascinated, along with the fact it renews itself every few years.

@pjh/eggtastico - It's really great to hear that Vegas exceeded your/your OH's expectations y) . I'm hoping that it would have the same effect on Mr W.

@Scoobysu - on the car rental front, I've done some more research and here's what I've found, in case it would be of use to you, too. I've tried all the websites I could think of (Kayak, expedia, VH, BA.com etc) and found that the cheapest sites for me for a Mustang or similar were [url]carhire3000.com[/url], [url]dollar.co.uk[/url], and [url]usrentacar.co.uk[/url], with the last one being the cheapest by a mile. For example, it's showing that I could rent a Mustang or similar for a mere £27 a day (including all the insurance, and one additional driver, but excluding sat nav and one tank of fuel). It appears to be a legit site with excellent reviews.

It looks like we are going to go with Dollar because 1) they seem to be the only one that has Mustang or similar from downtown San Fran locations which allows a drop-off in Nevada - this would save us a lot of hassle heading to the airport again with our luggage to pick up the car, and 2) apparently their Mustang or similar in their San Fran locations contain mainly Mustang, with some reporting that that's all they had - a better chance of getting one.

I'm just trying to decide on a hotel in San Fran so that I can pick the closest car rental location.

The other thing to bear in mind is that the "trunk" is pretty small on these convertibles. I've read reports that it would take a 28 inch and a 24 inch soft cover luggages, plus a racksack, or just the one 32 inch soft cover luggage. Of course you can always put the other bags on the back seat, but I think I'd feel more comfortable with everything in the boot, and YMMV. I'm going to measure out my suitcases this evening and see what will and will not fit... :w

Hope this helps

I'm just trying to decide on a hotel in San Fran so that I can pick the closest car rental location.

The other thing to bear in mind is that the "trunk" is pretty small on these convertibles. I've read reports that it would take a 28 inch and a 24 inch soft cover luggages, plus a racksack, or just the one 32 inch soft cover luggage. Of course you can always put the other bags on the back seat, but I think I'd feel more comfortable with everything in the boot, and YMMV. I'm going to measure out my suitcases this evening and see what will and will not fit... :w

Hope this helps

Hi MrsW - the trunk isn't a problem - we want the hire for the day after we arrive in LAX just to drive to LAS - my cunning plan is to buy more suitcases as we need them - after all we have a three suitcase allowance each & the 18 year old son is already compiling his "wish list" - but my Manolo's will come first :w But thanks for the heads up - I'll look at those websites to see what I can find!

I've been looking for hotels in San Fran too - I can't believe they are so expensive! It's a "special" trip. At the moment I'm booked into Hotel Carlton near Union Square but am hoping that come January the deals will come on line.

Hi MrsW - the trunk isn't a problem - we want the hire for the day after we arrive in LAX just to drive to LAS - my cunning plan is to buy more suitcases as we need them - after all we have a three suitcase allowance each

Great minds think alike )

I've booked the Galleria Park Hotel for the two nights with free cancellation, and shall be watching for other offers in the 10 months leading up to it! There's bound to be cheaper deals in January/summer sale?

I've gone with the Mustang or similar with Dollar (hopefully they will still only have Mustangs in their convertible fleet by the time we visit) for only £27 a day for the whole trip! Overall it works out only just over £100 more expensive than renting the cheapest "economy" car, so would be rude not to. ^)

Everything booked thanks to everyone's help here - let the countdown begin! oo)

I've booked the Galleria Park Hotel for the two nights with free cancellation, and shall be watching for other offers in the 10 months leading up to it! There's bound to be cheaper deals in January/summer sale?

That's the way to do it...

I've gone with the Mustang or similar with Dollar (hopefully they will still only have Mustangs in their convertible fleet by the time we visit) for only £27 a day for the whole trip! Overall it works out only just over £100 more expensive than renting the cheapest "economy" car, so would be rude not to. ^)

We did a road trip SFO - SEA in a Mustang. Not that much space in the boot but we managed. When we started travelling to the USA with the two offspring in tow, our favoured car was the Chrysler Sebring.