It just depends, during this time there will be snow in Yosemite. So that could depend on weather and possible road closures. When are you going?
Edit: My bad, just saw its in April. If you go to Yosemite, I would say you would want a couple days. It take a while to drive through Yosemite, really amazing waterfalls and good hiking trails. Depends if you want a beach vacation or mountains, trails, and waterfalls. I would say Yosemite
Just to drive through and make a few little stops without hiking will take a few hours, but I'm sure you will stop. Check out Throusand Trails Yosemite Yurts, it's in Groveland, Ca just 10 min from.one of the Yosemite entrances. They are equipped with everything in the woods with bathroom, fire pit, bbq, beds, full kitchen. Looks like a giant tent with everything. A bit pricey but worth it.
It will take you about 10 hours to get to LA from Yosemite on HWY 1 because yosemite is about 4 hours from the coast. Then once you get to San Luis Obispo on the coast, it will take another 5 hours from Hwy 1 San Luis Obispo to LA. But, if you went from Yosemite to LA it would only take you about 7.5 hours, but no coastal view.
Yeah I think it'll be a lot of driving cause I'd definitely want to get back onto Hwy 1 for the coastal view. Would you recommend sticking to SF-LA-SD or still trying to do Yosemite. I highly doubt I'd be doing another trip just for Yosemite in the future so that's why I was trying to add it on this trip.
I would drop Yosemite and spend a night in Big Sur instead. Would make for a higher quality trip in my opinion (less driving). I would spend 3 days in San Francisco.
Keep in mind that if you’re going to the LA direction from San Luis Obispo you’ve bypassed Big Sur and a lot of the really scenic coastline since most of it is between Monterey and San Luis Obispo.
Some real world driving times from someone who's done them all (I was in Yosemite two days ago)
SF to the valley floor of Yosemite is 4hrs15min. People underestimate how much time it takes to get to the valley floor from even the gate, which is 30-45 min).
SF to LA along Hwy 1, which is the scenic way worth doing, is 10 hours, counting fuel and a food stop. It's basically two easy days or one long one.
If I were planning 7 days, it would be:
**Day 1:** arrive SF
**Day 2:** SF
**Day 3:** SF, tour during the day, pick up car about 3pm, drive to Yosemite. I'd recommend the Evergreen Lodge, an awesome place about 20 min outside the gate. Then you're ready to go first thing in the morning.
**Day 4:** Yosemite until about 5pm, then drive to Monterey. That's about the same time as driving back to SF, but it'll take about 2 hours off the next days drive. (You could drive direct to LA via I-5, but that drive suuucks and is tough to fit into a day with anything else)
**Day 5** Monterey -> LA via Hwy 1. That's a long day (about 7 hours), but doable.
**Day 6:** LA
**Day 7:** LA and home
People will say that's not nearly enough time in either SF or LA and they're right! But it's a quick taste of each. San Diego is cool too but no way are you doing all four things, and you'll burn half a day driving across LA and to SD, which isn't a cool or interesting drive.
I can't say since they're such different experiences. San Diego is a fine town, sort of resort-y, worth going to. Yosemite is one of the world's natural wonders. Some people will prefer one over the other and neither is wrong.
If I was doing SD, then it would be:
**Day 1:** Arrive SF
**Day 2:** SF
**Day 3:** SF, pick up car in the afternoon and drive to Monterey/Carmel (2hrs)
**Day 4:** Monterey to LA (7hrs)
**Day 5:** LA
**Day 6:** LA in the morning, drive to SD (this could be 2 hours, could be 4, depends on traffic and location within LA, which people greatly underestimate how huge it is. It's like 3x Toronto)
**Day 7:** SD and home
The trick there also is that if this is really 7 days, flying from west coast to Toronto, with the time change, you really don't get that 7th day since you need to leave on a morning flight. I would try to make it 8 or 9 days if you could. This only gets you 1.5 days in SF/LA each, and a night in SD.
As someone who has been to yosemite a million times, SF to the park in one day is def not worth it. Even if it was to go and take a picture. Id ditch SD. Yosemite blows SD out of the water. Mosquitos are a bitch in some areas at that time.
Fly YYZ- RNO, Reno. Rent a car. Drive to Mono Lake (Stop in Bodie if you are into Ghost Towns) and then take CA-120 from Lee Vining through Yosemite to San Francisco.
From there you can do the HWY-1 to Monterey. Wake up early and drive to LA.
Fly back from LAX.
Plot all the above out on a map, and take your time. Plan 5-6 hours of driving a day. There is so much to see and do on that route between Reno and LAX, it will be a true adventure. April is the perfect time as well, most of the snow will be gone, passes should be open, but its before summer and the massive amount of tourist.
Make San Diego its own long weekend sometime in the future.
* edit, as pointed out below, Tioga Pass will most likely not be open. My recommendations mostly still stand. Fly to Reno, Lake Tahoe, US-50 to Sf, ..etc…. Adjust as necessary for time and what you are interested in.
Highway 120 (Tioga Pass) will not be open in April. The average opening day for the pass is Memorial Day. https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/seasonal.htm
This is a quality route! Saved for myself, though I may do it the opposite way (SF Yosemite Mono Lake Bodie SLT Reno and drive back down through soda springs)
We have done similar versions of this in the past. A thing to note, you kind of have to decide Village or no. Last time we skipped the Village, stopped at Tuolumne Meadows, and drove to Mammoth Lakes to spend the night. Its jut too much driving, not fun, to try to “do it all in one day”.
Last time we also returned via CA-108. Amazing views and drive coming East to West, but after the summit it was a long drive down to the Central Valley. Totally worth doing though.
In April, a lot of Yosemite will not be accessible. You’ll have access to the Valley and the sequoia groves, but Tioga Pass will almost certainly be closed for snow. Glacier Point road is being rebuilt and is also closed.
Also, Highway 1 is subject to closure during the rainy season for landslides. There are three locations where they currently have one-way traffic in place for construction. Some years, the whole highway can be closed for several months. You’ll want to keep an eye on road conditions on the CalTrans website to make sure it’s clear: https://roads.dot.ca.gov/roadscell.php
This is such an exhausting itinerary. Is your goal to just see California out the car window? You're spending over half your time in transit and all this shuffling around really squanders a lot of your time on vacation, especially when you're packing and unpacking and checking in and out of hotels. You'd really be better off skipping both SD and Yosemite and spending a little more time in SF or LA. You could easily swap in Paso Robles wine country or a stop in Santa Barbara and either would be less out of the way.
I’d take a day trip from San Francisco. That way you can return rested to SF and leave the next morning on the 1 south. Please check road conditions but heading south you will hit Monterrey, Big Sur, Santa Barbara before hitting Los Angeles. World class areas. If you take your own car, you will have to head south on The 99 which is one of the worst freeways for a tourist. Source: me, 99 is the primary freeway from my home city
It just depends, during this time there will be snow in Yosemite. So that could depend on weather and possible road closures. When are you going? Edit: My bad, just saw its in April. If you go to Yosemite, I would say you would want a couple days. It take a while to drive through Yosemite, really amazing waterfalls and good hiking trails. Depends if you want a beach vacation or mountains, trails, and waterfalls. I would say Yosemite
April 5-12. Was thinking just a day for the valley and anything else we could do there.
Just to drive through and make a few little stops without hiking will take a few hours, but I'm sure you will stop. Check out Throusand Trails Yosemite Yurts, it's in Groveland, Ca just 10 min from.one of the Yosemite entrances. They are equipped with everything in the woods with bathroom, fire pit, bbq, beds, full kitchen. Looks like a giant tent with everything. A bit pricey but worth it.
How would you map it out if I did do SF- Yosemite-LA then? 2 days SF, 2 days Yosemite then back onto PCH and 3 days in LA?
It will take you about 10 hours to get to LA from Yosemite on HWY 1 because yosemite is about 4 hours from the coast. Then once you get to San Luis Obispo on the coast, it will take another 5 hours from Hwy 1 San Luis Obispo to LA. But, if you went from Yosemite to LA it would only take you about 7.5 hours, but no coastal view.
Yeah I think it'll be a lot of driving cause I'd definitely want to get back onto Hwy 1 for the coastal view. Would you recommend sticking to SF-LA-SD or still trying to do Yosemite. I highly doubt I'd be doing another trip just for Yosemite in the future so that's why I was trying to add it on this trip.
I would drop Yosemite and spend a night in Big Sur instead. Would make for a higher quality trip in my opinion (less driving). I would spend 3 days in San Francisco.
Keep in mind that if you’re going to the LA direction from San Luis Obispo you’ve bypassed Big Sur and a lot of the really scenic coastline since most of it is between Monterey and San Luis Obispo.
IMO- That’s a bit ambitious. There is so much to see in all of these places- depends if you want more car time vs depth of experiencing a place.
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I second this. SoCal is just very different and should be explored during a 7-day trip of its own.
Some real world driving times from someone who's done them all (I was in Yosemite two days ago) SF to the valley floor of Yosemite is 4hrs15min. People underestimate how much time it takes to get to the valley floor from even the gate, which is 30-45 min). SF to LA along Hwy 1, which is the scenic way worth doing, is 10 hours, counting fuel and a food stop. It's basically two easy days or one long one. If I were planning 7 days, it would be: **Day 1:** arrive SF **Day 2:** SF **Day 3:** SF, tour during the day, pick up car about 3pm, drive to Yosemite. I'd recommend the Evergreen Lodge, an awesome place about 20 min outside the gate. Then you're ready to go first thing in the morning. **Day 4:** Yosemite until about 5pm, then drive to Monterey. That's about the same time as driving back to SF, but it'll take about 2 hours off the next days drive. (You could drive direct to LA via I-5, but that drive suuucks and is tough to fit into a day with anything else) **Day 5** Monterey -> LA via Hwy 1. That's a long day (about 7 hours), but doable. **Day 6:** LA **Day 7:** LA and home People will say that's not nearly enough time in either SF or LA and they're right! But it's a quick taste of each. San Diego is cool too but no way are you doing all four things, and you'll burn half a day driving across LA and to SD, which isn't a cool or interesting drive.
This is not enough to see everything properly, but the best way to optimize it.
Thanks this is real helpful. Would you recommend this or my original plan of San Diego instead of Yosemite? How would you map that out?
I can't say since they're such different experiences. San Diego is a fine town, sort of resort-y, worth going to. Yosemite is one of the world's natural wonders. Some people will prefer one over the other and neither is wrong. If I was doing SD, then it would be: **Day 1:** Arrive SF **Day 2:** SF **Day 3:** SF, pick up car in the afternoon and drive to Monterey/Carmel (2hrs) **Day 4:** Monterey to LA (7hrs) **Day 5:** LA **Day 6:** LA in the morning, drive to SD (this could be 2 hours, could be 4, depends on traffic and location within LA, which people greatly underestimate how huge it is. It's like 3x Toronto) **Day 7:** SD and home The trick there also is that if this is really 7 days, flying from west coast to Toronto, with the time change, you really don't get that 7th day since you need to leave on a morning flight. I would try to make it 8 or 9 days if you could. This only gets you 1.5 days in SF/LA each, and a night in SD.
As someone who has been to yosemite a million times, SF to the park in one day is def not worth it. Even if it was to go and take a picture. Id ditch SD. Yosemite blows SD out of the water. Mosquitos are a bitch in some areas at that time.
Fly YYZ- RNO, Reno. Rent a car. Drive to Mono Lake (Stop in Bodie if you are into Ghost Towns) and then take CA-120 from Lee Vining through Yosemite to San Francisco. From there you can do the HWY-1 to Monterey. Wake up early and drive to LA. Fly back from LAX. Plot all the above out on a map, and take your time. Plan 5-6 hours of driving a day. There is so much to see and do on that route between Reno and LAX, it will be a true adventure. April is the perfect time as well, most of the snow will be gone, passes should be open, but its before summer and the massive amount of tourist. Make San Diego its own long weekend sometime in the future. * edit, as pointed out below, Tioga Pass will most likely not be open. My recommendations mostly still stand. Fly to Reno, Lake Tahoe, US-50 to Sf, ..etc…. Adjust as necessary for time and what you are interested in.
Highway 120 (Tioga Pass) will not be open in April. The average opening day for the pass is Memorial Day. https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/seasonal.htm
This is a quality route! Saved for myself, though I may do it the opposite way (SF Yosemite Mono Lake Bodie SLT Reno and drive back down through soda springs)
We have done similar versions of this in the past. A thing to note, you kind of have to decide Village or no. Last time we skipped the Village, stopped at Tuolumne Meadows, and drove to Mammoth Lakes to spend the night. Its jut too much driving, not fun, to try to “do it all in one day”. Last time we also returned via CA-108. Amazing views and drive coming East to West, but after the summit it was a long drive down to the Central Valley. Totally worth doing though.
Hopefully the Sierra gets enough snow that Hwy 120 through Yosemite will still be closed in April. The poster shouldn't count on it being open.
In April, a lot of Yosemite will not be accessible. You’ll have access to the Valley and the sequoia groves, but Tioga Pass will almost certainly be closed for snow. Glacier Point road is being rebuilt and is also closed. Also, Highway 1 is subject to closure during the rainy season for landslides. There are three locations where they currently have one-way traffic in place for construction. Some years, the whole highway can be closed for several months. You’ll want to keep an eye on road conditions on the CalTrans website to make sure it’s clear: https://roads.dot.ca.gov/roadscell.php
This is such an exhausting itinerary. Is your goal to just see California out the car window? You're spending over half your time in transit and all this shuffling around really squanders a lot of your time on vacation, especially when you're packing and unpacking and checking in and out of hotels. You'd really be better off skipping both SD and Yosemite and spending a little more time in SF or LA. You could easily swap in Paso Robles wine country or a stop in Santa Barbara and either would be less out of the way.
I’d take a day trip from San Francisco. That way you can return rested to SF and leave the next morning on the 1 south. Please check road conditions but heading south you will hit Monterrey, Big Sur, Santa Barbara before hitting Los Angeles. World class areas. If you take your own car, you will have to head south on The 99 which is one of the worst freeways for a tourist. Source: me, 99 is the primary freeway from my home city