The Lonely Planet USA guide has some suggested itineraries.

Without any input from you regarding what you do or don't want to do or see, it is hard to give advice.

Not everyone thinks that a driving trip in an RV (that is what they are called in the US) is such a great idea.

Consumes large amounts of fuel, can't go on many roads (can't travel into Death Valley in summer) etc.

Many people recommend renting a regular car and staying in motels.

Hi, We're English and have done quite a few of road trips to the USA. Never in a campervan though because there has never been more than 3 of us. You haven't tagged Utah along with the other States, but I think you should do. Our fav places in California (from the south upwards) are San Diego, Santa Barbara, Yosemite, Carmel, San Francisco, Napa Valley and/or Sonoma Valley. In 'Canyonland' (Arizona, Utah and Nevada)look out for the Grand Canyon (of course) but also Monument Valley (WOW), Bryce Canyon, Arches and Zion national parks. But take my tip and don't do them all in one trip like we did. You'll be fed up of seeing canyons after 4 or 5 days! Can't advise on South Dakota or Wyoming. In Las Vegas check out the Signature Suites (3 towers at the back of the MGM Grand). Each tower has it's own pool but you can also use the MGM facilities - their 'lazy river' is fab, as is the Signature suite you'll stay in.

Oh, I think it's a terrific idea. But most important is to know what month you plan to come. The season and weather will affect what you are able to do.

hi marginal, and thank you for your responce

the van we have hired is not a RV, i've found a camper van, which is smaller, the company that supply them are:

www.escapecamervans.com

as for my itinerary, it sounds a bit ambitous this is what we are looking to do:

land in los angeles lux airport

then we are looking to go to: san francisco
yosemite park
lake tahoe
yellow stone park
salt lake city
bryce canyon
grand canyon
las vegas (this is a must)
death valley nat. park
laguna beach
los angeles lux airport

hello elnap 29,

we are looking at maybe october time?

the weather is something we have been thinking of

October will be getting too cold for Yellowstone. Many of the lodges and in-park facilities will be closed. Temps will be below freezing (too cold for campervan) and there may very well be snow and ice.

Salt Lake City and Yellowstone are also a long way off of your other points on the itinerary.

Make an estimate of the mileage. The additional charges for mileage on that campervan will be awful.

A couple of notes:

There are many places in the west - and the national parks with unpaved roads. You may not be allowed to drive on them by 1) the rental company - it could cancel your insurance or 2) the park in that type of vehicle.

Weather can be an issue - since you are moving from dessert to high mountains and there isn't much time that will work for both. Weather should not be too hot in Vegas in Oct - but by then some of the mountain passes are closed and park service start to close down. And you definitely do not want to be driving something like this in ice and snow - even if you are very experienced in winter driving with a car.

If you do Sept the parks weather will be better - but then Vegas and other parts of the dessert can still be incredibly hot.

Camping places in parks can be reserved as much as a year in advance. Don't assume you can just reserve a couple of weeks in advance.

Whatever you do be sure you are always carrying enough fuel and water to last you for 48 hours in case you get stuck somewhere. And do realize that there are huge areas that do NOT have any cell phone service.

(If it were me I would do it by car - but if you love the idea of a sort of toy house - then go for it - just do all your research now.)

Distances in the west can be signficant. Pay close attention to the mileage between destinations. Make time to enjoy your stops, not drive through to keep moving.

You don't mention the time of year. The desert southwest can be blazing hot particularly to visitors from a mild climate. Consider when you want to be camping if it's 120 F at the campground.

When you have a schedule, check Las Vegas availability. Some of the conventions and trade shows in Las Vegas can book every room and drive prices up significantly. If you can avoid visiting at a peak period, would be better and more affordable.

thanks guys for your tips and hints,
i take on board everything thats been said, part of my reason for this post is to help with my research

at this present moment in time our trip is early in the planning stages

the reason for the campervan is to have the full adventure and to be our own bosses on the trip.

as i said our wish list is quiet long and i was hoping with some help and input from you guys we could shape our trip

again thanks guys keep the advice coming

There are much better ways to spend your time in the US than to spend too much of it driving to and from Yellowstone NP.

• There is much to see when you drive up scenic Highway 1 to San Francisco.
• From Lake Tahoe you could drive through Gold Rush Country on your way to Yosemite NP
• You could drive to Death Valley via Tioga Pass and visit Bodie ghost town on your way.
• From Las Vegas you could visit Valley of Fire, Zion NP, Bruce Canyon NP, and Grand Canyon NP

After the Grand Canyon, instead of going to Salt Lake City and Yellowstone, you could visit places such as Monument Valley, Sedona, Canyon de Chelle\y, Santa Fe, Taos, and Palm Springs.

Not far from Laguna Beach is San Diego, which has much to offer.

HTTY

Zion, Bryce and north rim of tne Gtand Canyon group together well. I love Yellowstone and even more, Grand Teton National Park which is adjacent to Yellowstone. You can't go wrong!

North Rim is great but they close the road in (45 miles from Jacobs Lake in canyon) in mid Oct.

Try to hit the northern destinations and high altitude locations first with Las Vegas last before driving back to Los Angeles. http://traveltips.usatoday.com/rv-camping-las-vegas-nevada-51710.html
The only RV parking that I know of on the "Strip" is next to Circus Circus.
Are you spending any time in LA before or after you pick up the camper? If you didn't want to drive the camper out of LV, the rental cars are cheaper than some other places.

I don't really know what you are asking. My nephew and their kids did 3 weeks starting in Denver in an RV. I you want information about that, I can get it for you.

"the reason for the campervan is to have the full adventure and to be our own bosses on the trip."

Not quite sure what you mean by that. W/ a car you actually have more freedom. There are many places that a campervan is simply not practical. Also October will start to limit where you can go -- even more so in a camper. Yellowstone, Tioga Pass, North rim of the Grand canyon can all be closed or seriously limited by late October.

In the UK a campervan can be a great idea - and in some parts and at certain times, also good in the States. But having a car and doing a combo of some motels (MANY have kitchens or kitchenettes) and some camping will let you get to more places easier and much cheaper.

I have done this trip in a camper and with a car. The only place I would ever take a camper is to the U.S.Western Nartional Parks. Be careful of weather and your dates though.

daddypop - what a great way to celebrate turning 40! I love road trips! A trip around the western US is a real treat.

I have done many driving trips around the US, but those have all been in a car, so can't give direct camper van experience here, although I have been to all of the places on your wish list at various times.

I live in San Francisco now and I do see some of those Escape camper vans around town. The ones I've seen seem a quite manageable size even for city driving, although keep in mind how disorienting being on the wrong side of the road can be. The vans I've seen are basically painted as giant advertising billboards, with the name of the company plastered all over them, which I find off-putting. I know it's silly, but that kind of thing makes me feel conspicuous. And not in a good way. Just mentioning that in case you or your partner have similar irrational reactions.

Are you planning on staying in hotels at all? For instance in SF, LA, and Las Vegas, would you want to find a campground near the city to stay in the van or would you stay in a hotel in cities? Also be sure to check out the cost of campgrounds - they are getting more expensive, both private ones and ones in parks. And in more popular places, it is sometimes hard to find campground reservations, from what I've been told. Shouldn't be as much of a problem I would think in the fall. But to the degree that you have to plan ahead for a place to stay, it does lessen the whole spontaneity advantage of a van. Reservations are definitely an issue in Yosemite.

Anyway, on to itinerary - sorry for the novel I'm writing here, I'm just vicariously enjoying YOUR trip ;->

In terms of distance, and possibly weather conditions, the outliers that immediately strike me are Salt Lake City and Yellowstone, where campgrounds in the Park, except for Mammoth, are closed by October. I would consider eliminating both of those places. Yellowstone is wonderful (I used to live in Wyoming and went there every summer) but it is so far from the rest of your list and that late in the season somewhat problematic. Not sure what particularly interests you about SLC?

But if your heart is set on Yellowstone it is do-able -depending on how much you enjoy spending time driving.

This is vaguely how I would approach the order to visit them (first approximation, haven't researched routes/mileages/times). My advice would be to really think about whether you will get tired of spending so much time in a car and how you might rather be spending your time. Hiking? Art galleries? Whatever - not sure what your primary interests are.

So here's the list in order:
LAX
Death Valley
Las Vegas
Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon (not sure which order would make sense here or exact route - haven't been to either place for years - also look into whether you want to go to Bryce OR Zion or both - i sort of forget which sights are in which)
Yosemite (you can drive up east side of Sierras - highway 395)
Lake Tahoe
SLC and Yellowstone, if you decide to include them
San Francisco - wave at me as you pass by ;->
Down Highway 1 along the coast - I like doing this route north to south, as all the viewpoints are then on the side of the road you are driving on, so stopping at turnouts is easier and believe me, you will want to stop often to admire the views
You might want to stop in Monterey and Carmel (both are touristy but pretty)
Maybe stop in San Luis Obispo on the way by - enjoyable smaller town. Nice creekside cafes near the old Spanish mission.
Santa Barbara - worth a stay in the area.
Laguna Beach (not sure why this is of special interest?)
back in Los Angeles

I agree with the posts about the Pacific Highway (Highway 1) drive. We've been lucky enough to do it three times and it's a great experience going from San Francisco to Santa Barbara, or vice versa.

Just keep in mind in CA you need reservations to camp most places. We live on the coast and always see people driving around in their RV looking for a place to spend the night.

FYI, the "campervan" the OP is talking about is a regular minivan/van that has had a custom interior conversion -- and fancy paint job, lol. They can go anywhere a regular minivan or full-sized van can go.

Working link, I hope, to what they are renting: http://www.escapecampervans.com/

We rigged up a similar "campervan" conversion in our Town & Country van -- we just added an elevated plywood sleeping platform with space for port-a-potty, cooler and storage.

daddypop,

One thing no one has mentioned, but which may be important to you, is that your van is also your sightseeing vehicle. Everything that you've taken out, pots/pans, dishes, etc., will have to be stowed away/secured each time you drive somewhere.

My first husband and I had a VW van/camper when we were young. We decided pretty quickly that it worked best for trips where whatever we wanted to do was either within walking distance of where we camped or there was other transportation available, such as the shuttles in some National Parks.

Not trying to dissuade you from going the camper van route, just wanted to bring up something you might not have thought of.

norcalif,
thank you so much for your post, you have given us something to think of and some good ideas.

we are thinking of some camping and some hotel stays

as ive said on this post, we are very much in the early planning stages of our trip and we are looking at lots of different options, hence why we are asking you guys with maybe better or more knowledge to point us in the right direction.

so far all the posts have been very helpful, so id like to thank you all for your help so far

just a heads up, we have started looking in to hotels and car hire and maybe change the trip around a bit and maybe visit less places or even have a base city for a few days and travel around and then move on to another city for a few days and do the same and so on

what do you guys think of that idea?

My husband and I have traveled cross-country twice in our VW pop-top camper, touring most of the national parks, once to Alaska from NY state (12,00 miles in 7 weeks). The camper was small enough to drive on all park roads, side roads, gravel, etc.

Travel distances in the western states are great, but the main mistake people make is to underestimate the distances WITHIN the large national parks. Visiting fewer places, in order to experience each setting, is a better approach. Getting out of the car, hiking and/or walking, is the way to feel part of the surroundings. You can't drive from point X, to park Y, and leave the next day for park Z, and expect to do anything but rush around.

NorCalif, I just wanted to commend you on an excellent post - very helpful, I think.

Daddypop, we have much the same quandary on our own vacations. This is a large country, and there are so many places we'd like to see, so knitting them together in a coherent trip is a real challenge. Could you share some of your interests, to help us craft some helpful itineraries? I know you are in early planning stages, so expect you might offer quite a few with perhaps some priorities.

Hi daddypop,
Sounds like a great classic American roadtrip! Late September/early October should be really nice just about anywhere. You can mix it up any way you like, depending on how long you want to spend in different places.

Travelottie is correct about the national parks taking time to see. Consider focusing on one or two and allow yourself time to explore them. Yellowstone is *awesome* but really needs at least three nights (two full days.)

I don't want to try to plan your trip, but since you definitely want to see Vegas, consider putting South Rim of the Grand Canyon in that leg of the trip. They are about five hours apart. Consider camping (maybe two nights) in Mather Campground, which is nice, well developed, and has a big shower/laundry facility. It is so nice to walk along the rim and take in the massive beauty. You could even catch a ranger program.

Best of luck and happy planning!

hello guys,

thought i'd up date you on my road trip, looks like we're going to give up on the camper van and go by car. we are also looking to just pre book rooms in san francisco, los angeles and las vegas. but wing it for the rest

so we've decided to trim the trip down a bit

what do you guys think?

The Route:
Fly in to San Francisco stay: 3days
1 hour 39 mins drive to Sacramento stay: 1 day
2 hours 5o mins drive to Carson City stay: 1 day
2 hours 29 mins drive to Yosemite National Park stay: 1 day
3 hours 17 mins drive to Fresno stay: 1 day
2 hours 55 mins drive to Carmel stay: 1 day
4 hours 19 mins drive to Santa Barbara stay: 1 day
1 hour 45 mins drive to Los Angeles stay: 3days
2 hours 5 mins drive to San Diego stay: 1 day
5 hours 51 mins drive to Phoenix stay: 1 day
3 hours 54 mins drive to Grand Canyon National Park stay: 1 day
4 hours 58 mins drive to Las Vegas stay: 3days
Fly home from Las Vegas total hrs drive: 36 hrs/ 1,963 miles

at the moment the days we're looking to stay are up for debate
as we have to look in to each place in more detail.
but if you guys have some thoughts that would be great or even a different route or city that we could visit that makes the trip flow better then please say

again the time of year will be around sept/ oct 2013

look forward to you posts

thanks
daddypop

Honestly I'd drive the 6 hours from Yosemite to Monterey/Carmel and stay 2 days instead of Fresno.
Is there something you really want to see in Phoenix? Consider Sedona instead.
What's the deal on the drop off fee on the car?

Agree with tomfuller - Fresno is not a vacation stop. Also, assume the drive times posted above are optimal, but that you will run into traffic (significant in some areas) that will increase your travel time. In particular, I'd apply that thought to Los Angeles/San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area, and Phoenix.

For the places you have listed, I would say early-mid October would be lovely. September may be hot.

I agree with the others. Either add your drive to Fresno day to Yosemite or Carmel/Monterey.

Lee Ann

Looks like you're making good progress in your planning!

When you say you are staying 1 day someplace it looks like it means you will be there 1 night? So for instance, if you leave Carmel on a Tues., drive to Santa Barbara and spend Tues. night, then you would leave Santa Barbara on Wed. to drive to LA? So you would really only have one morning in Santa Barbara? Am I interpreting your schedule correctly? (I know it's still very tentative.)

If so, I think you may be rushing yourself a bit. It might be a little tiring changing where you spend the night every night for a week, for example. There's the overhead of finding a place to stay, finding places to eat, packing and unpacking, etc. So just spending the night someplace and then leaving the next day doesn't give you a lot of time to actually do anything in that place. But it really depends on how much you enjoy just the journey itself, rather than the destinations. Since you are not locking yourself into a lot of reservations ahead of time, you can adjust your schedule somewhat as you go, if you wish.

+1 for eliminating Fresno. The straightest route from Yosemite to Carmel takes under 4 hours. Fresno is not a visitor destination.

Personally, I would also eliminate Sacramento. SF to Carson City is about 4 hours (depending on traffic - don't go on a Fri. afternoon), so again I wouldn't break up that drive with an overnight stay. I think you might rather add that day to some other part of your trip.

This may be a minority opinion, but if you want to spend more time in various places, I might even consider eliminating San DIego, unless there is something unique that you want to see there. It is a delightful place (I have family there and have spent a fair amount of time there myself lately) but after doing the coast from Carmel to Santa Barbara and then LA, you will have sampled a lot of the kinds of things Southern California has to offer. Unless you want to do the zoo or something unique to SD?

Unless you have a desire to see/visit all the state capitols, I'd stop at Lake Tahoe.
Sacramento is one of my favorite cities. The three best things I have found are the capitol including the grounds, Old Sacramento beside the river and the California Railroad museum.
My favorite HI hostel in the world is at the corner of 10th & H across the street from City Hall. It is a Victorian mansion.
I've been to Carson City from Sacramento and returned to Sacramento to board the Coast Starlight at midnight.