California and the surrounding areas in Nevada and Arizona are wonderful places for a driving tour of the USA. They offer a great variety of scenery with some spectacular attractions. Here is my favorite driving tour in the California - Nevada - Arizona area.
You can begin anywhere along this route. Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas are good starting points because they have large airports with many international and domestic flights. You can follow the entire route or any part of it depending on how much time you have and how much driving you are willing to endure. I suggest you spend at least 3 days in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Las Vegas, as there is much to see in those cities. You should spend at least two days at Yosemite, the Grand Canyon and San Diego.
This map shows you the relative locations of the major attractions along the tour route.
Directions gives you approximate distances and driving times. Attractions tells you what there is to see along the way.
San Francisco to Yosemite: 200 miles (300 km.) 4 - 5 hours drive
Drive east across the bay and on interstate 205 to the central valley agricultural center of California. A bit south through the farms and orchards of the valley then east on route 120 or 140 through the ranches in the foothills and into the high Sierra Nevada Mountains to Yosemite.
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| Monterey |
Yosemite to Monterey: 200 miles (300 km.) 4 - 5 hours drive
You can backtrack to the San Francisco Bay area and turn south through San Jose and Santa Cruz, in the heart of the Silicon Valley technological center of the USA, then drive down the coast to Monterey. You can also go west to the central valley, and go a bit south on 99, then west on route 140 through the Coastal Mountains to Salinas and Monterey.
Monterey to San Luis Obispo: 143 miles (240 km.) 3 - 8 hours drive
You must take highway 1 along the coast rather than the interstate 101 inland. This is the spectacular California coast known as Big Sur where the Coastal Mountains plunge directly into the sea while their peaks nestle in the clouds. Highway 1 hugs the sides of the mountains with rocky promontories, high cliffs and secluded beaches tucked in tiny coves.
San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara: 100 miles (160 km.) 2 hours
Drive Highway 101 through the Central Coast Wine Country of California, past Solvang that incongruous Danish community in California, to Santa Barbara with its splendid beaches and fabulous homes.
Santa Barbara to Los Angeles: 100 miles (160 km.) 2 hours
Highway 101 follows the coast to Ventura then into the metropolitan center of Los Angeles.
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| Venice Beach |
Los Angeles to Las Vegas: 275 miles (450 km.) 5 hours
Interstate 5 takes you northeast from Los Angeles to Barstow then across the vast expanse of the Mojave Desert to Las Vegas Nevada. The road is great, but it becomes very busy on Friday evenings when many Californians head for a weekend in Vegas and again on Sunday evening when they go back home.
Las Vegas to the Grand Canyon: 225 miles (375 km.) 5 hours
Take interstate 515 south to Boulder City, then route 93 across the top of Hoover Dam and southeast over the desert to Kingman, Arizona. Take route 40 east, or old route 66 if you have a few extra hours, to Williams, Arizona, then route 64/180 north to the South Rim of the Canyon.
Side Trip to Sedona, Arizona: 50 mile detour (80 km.) 1.5 hours each way
From Williams, go east to Flagstaff and southwest to Sedona.
Grand Canyon to Palm Springs: 400 miles (650 km.) 8 hours
