USA WEST - LA - SF - VEGAS RURAL ROUTE

Welcome to the Thorntree. Some initial reactions to your questions:

• start in Los Angeles, picking up a car at the airport
• we had 2-3 nights in Culver City which is sort of close to Venice, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Getty Center, Hollywood, and LAX - so not a bad area if Disneyland isn't on your list
• drive the coast to San Francisco with overnight stops near San Luis Obispo and Monterey (although Santa Barbara is nice too if you have lots of time - good main street, interesting Mission)
• three nights in San Francisco as a minimum - also a maximum in two weeks I think
• a car is a nuisance there, but the there are some motels etc where a car can be accommodated for non-extortionate fees (and I include in this the HI Hostel Fisherman's Wharf at Fort Mason - great spot)
• after that, all motels everywhere will have parking, and it is definitely a good way to approach this road-trip: a modest sedan and budget-end motels
• I wouldn't include Lake Tahoe especially (unless you really had two spare nights) or Monument Valley - you don't have the time

I would look at an itinerary like this:

LA > SLO > Monterey > San Francisco > Yosemite NP > Hwy 395 (Lone Pine) > Las Vegas (just overnight) > Grand Canyon NP South Rim > Page maybe (Lake Powell) > Bryce Canyon NP > Springdale (for Zion NP) > return to Las Vegas

That is an outstanding road-trip in two weeks, and it is stunningly beautiful. Just start a list to settle where you will likely spend each night, and then source local accommodation.

The only possible fly in the ointment is that - if this is late October - Tioga Pass (the way out the eastern side of Yosemite NP) could be closed by snow, but it more normally first occurs in November. If it were closed, you can cross over further north - even as far north as near South Lake Tahoe.

This clockwise itinerary avoids the drive through LA and then out to Las Vegas or the Grand Canyon - added bonus.

We use www.rentalcars.com to pre-book cars overseas, and mostly use www.booking.com to find accommodation. But we do look at HI Hostels first.

Check the Yosemite Bug Resort and Hostel on the west side of the park - lovely place to stay two nights.

I'll endorse Sunbird9's itinerary if the national parks are what you mean by rural. If Tioga Pass closes before you cross through it, you're going north near Lake Tahoe anyway. You might as well keep Tahoe in your plans. You can reschedule as needed. If there is snow in Tioga Pass there may also be snow around Lake Tahoe. I think Tahoe is most beautiful when there is a fresh snowfall.

There is no need to go to Page unless you are going houseboating on Lake Powell. October is the tail end of the houseboating season. If you visit Grand Canyon National Park during your stay in Las Vegas, you'll see Lake Mead and Hoover Dam on the way. Lake Mead is also a huge reservoir in a desert just as Lake Powell is. Any visit to the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park should be an overnight satay at the South Rim at a minimum. The West Rim is not the national park even though it is much ballyhooed in Las Vegas.

Death Valley National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and Zion Canyon National Park can all be visited as day trips from Las Vegas. Don't let the term "canyon" mislead you. Grand Canyon, Bryce, and Zion are as different as night and day.

How much driving you do each day is up to you. What is your comfort level? Since you say you are new to the Southwest U. S. pay close attention to distances and estimated drive times. The Southwest is enormous. We measure distance by statute mile here. Estimated drive times do not include time lost to stops of any kind. If you are used only to UK driving you may find some of the drives to be long. The country is desolate in many places. If the maps show nothing, there is probably no sign of civilization or even habitation there. This also means cell phone service is spotty to non-existant out in the hinterlands.

Only the hotels in the central parts of large cities charge guests for parking. It is free of charge everywhere else. Another reason to avoid large cities.

Happy motoring.

The Southwest is enormous. We measure distance by statute mile here. Estimated drive times do not include time lost to stops of any kind. If you are used only to UK driving you may find some of the drives to be long.

Just one comment - distances are fairly long in the Southwest, but drive times are reasonable, because the roads are excellent and traffic is light (especially by October). You get a lot further in the Southwest in four hours than you could realistically hope to travel in the UK in that time.

But having said that, I would advise against long day-trips from Las Vegas ... the road-trip strategy is much more efficient, and pleasant.

You get a lot further in the Southwest in four hours than you could realistically hope to travel in the UK in that time.

NOTE: This does not mean you can exceed the posted speed limits with impunity. I've been pulled over by cops numeous times in places where the only visible, man-made objects, horizon to horizon, were my car, the cop car, and the road.

Speeds are very quick in the UK too - frighteningly so at times - but in most places, it is the congestion and intersecting traffic corridors that drag your overall average speed way down.

funnily enough i have booked accommodation for san fran already as i was told it was pretty hard to get a decent place... and ive booked the fishermans wharf already :)

Great minds do that!

It's a beautiful semi-historic building in nice parklands, with plenty of casual parking out on the gravel driveways.

Not terribly close to the centre of town, but handy for the Golden Gate, Marina District, Fisherman's Wharf / Pier 39, and adequate buses and trams to mostly everywhere else. Fine for three nights.

The country is desolate in many places. If the maps show nothing, there is probably no sign of civilization or even habitation there. This also means cell phone service is spotty to non-existant out in the hinterlands.

I guess from an Australian perspective we didn't find it desolate ... LV > Grand Canyon > around to Zion NP is like an over-size theme park pretty much. Even driving across Death Valley is reasonable quick if you want it to be. Take water of course.

From Tahoe ... I suggest. continuing on the 50 to Fallon where you will drive "The Lonelyest Road in America" into Utah ... Where one continues on the I-70 to the 191 South, to the activity rich, Parks in the Moab area ... Then,on to M. Vy. by following the 163 West from Bluff. Stop for a look-see at Goosenecks State Park . Leaving M.Vy. South to the 160 continue to reservations for the night at Cameron Trading Post on the 89. One then can by entering Grand Canyon by the East entrance. Driving the 64. pass the day visiting overlooks of choice... Leaving the Park on the 64 South to the I-40 West, Divert at Seligman to follow thw "Old Rt 66" into Kingman. Where the 93 takes you (at Last) into Las Vegas ... Happy trails ... carracar

Yes, rent a car in LA and drive up the coast (the train does not travel the coast most of the way) to San Francisco, or SF (locals prefer SF over "San Fran"). Stay overnight in Pismo Beach or Morro Bay which are on the coast, unlike SLO then another night in Monterey. Keep an eye on the Highway 1 road closure near Big Sur via Caltrans website and the top sticky at the top of this branch. The bridge may or may not be repaired by fall.
Glad to hear you have a room booked in SF, September and October are popular convention months there.
Sunbird has given you good advice on car rental for overseas visitors.