[Misc] Motorhoming around California ??

Ding Dong ! · May 8, 2019

Looking to see if any of you good folk on NSC have hired a Motorhome ( or RV ) in the States and toured ? Something I'd like to consider for next year but not a clue where to start looking with regards to: best companies / prices, book a packages or book independently etc etc.

Probably fly to San Francisco then head off to: Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Monument Valley etc etc for 3/4 weeks.

Muzzy · May 8, 2019

I haven’t actually done this but I have looked into doing similar.
We have just come back from a road trip to the US but decided the cheaper option was to hire a car and stay in hotels...

Lots cheaper
Easier parking
Lots less fuel consumption. An RV will give you an average of 9mpg.
Easy to arrange accommodation each day for stops so not worth the hassle of being committed to pre booked sites.
It can also mean that you are way outside of town and requiring a very poor public transport system to commute in and out of places of interest.

One thing to keep in mind.
You cannot hire an RV from arrival day. The rental companies do not allow this. You have to collect next day. I found this with every company I asked for quotes from.

Tim Over Whelmed · May 8, 2019

What about security, that's one thing that's always put me off of travelling in RVs, you seem like prime targets!

Ding Dong ! · May 8, 2019

Muzzy said:
I haven’t actually done this but I have looked into doing similar.
We have just come back from a road trip to the US but decided the cheaper option was to hire a car and stay in hotels...

Lots cheaper
Easier parking
Lots less fuel consumption. An RV will give you an average of 9mpg.
Easy to arrange accommodation each day for stops so not worth the hassle of being committed to pre booked sites.
It can also mean that you are way outside of town and requiring a very poor public transport system to commute in and out of places of interest.

One thing to keep in mind.
You cannot hire an RV from arrival day. The rental companies do not allow this. You have to collect next day. I found this with every company I asked for quotes from.

That's settled it then. A quick costing I did came out at about £4500 for flights and Motorhome rental at about £4,500 on top ( without fuel,food, spending money etc etc )

Thanks for the advice and think you are right that a fly drive is best option. :wave:

LamieRobertson · May 8, 2019

Ding Dong ! said:
That's settled it then. A quick costing I did came out at about £4500 for flights and Motorhome rental at about £4,500 on top ( without fuel,food, spending money etc etc )

Thanks for the advice and think you are right that a fly drive is best option.

Whoa ..nearly as much as some are attempting to sell their ticket for Sunday’s game

JJ McClure · May 8, 2019

Your suggested itinerary also would include some mountain roads that would be pretty hard going in an RV (although plenty do it). Its all mountain roads in and out of Yosemite and if you're then heading towards the Grand Canyon your likely route will include Death Valley which is a fantastic drive but also has lots of elevation changes.

Arthritic Toe · May 8, 2019

Road trips are over-rated IMHO. These places are great to visit when you've got there, but if you're not careful you end up spending most of your holiday in the car, endlessly driving across featureless landscape.

I remember once driving out to Monument Valley from Flagstaff. The only return for my first two hours of driving was that a distant mountain had moved fractionally closer.

Mellor 3 Ward 4 · May 8, 2019

Muzzy said:
I haven’t actually done this but I have looked into doing similar.
We have just come back from a road trip to the US but decided the cheaper option was to hire a car and stay in hotels...

Lots cheaper
Easier parking
Lots less fuel consumption. An RV will give you an average of 9mpg.
Easy to arrange accommodation each day for stops so not worth the hassle of being co

mmitted to pre booked sites.
It can also mean that you are way outside of town and requiring a very poor public transport system to commute in and out of places of interest.

One thing to keep in mind.
You cannot hire an RV from arrival day. The rental companies do not allow this. You have to collect next day. I found this with every company I asked for quotes from.

We've been lucky enough to do several fly-drives in the States, including the route you're doing and have always done the car+Motel/Hotel option and not the RV

It works out cheaper and you get a clean bed (plus normally a pool/hot-tub) at the end of each day.

In addition, if you go into any towns parking is an issue.

Use Google Maps plus TripAdvisor.

Bold Seagull · May 8, 2019

I hired a Pontiac Firebird and drove from Las Vegas through Death Valley to Yosemite, over to San Fran, then down the coast to LA staying on Venice Beach which is a bit like Brighton in some ways.

Had a round of golf in Death Valley on the lowest elevation course on earth. Really enjoyed the trip. Got pulled over for speeding in Yosemite by a policeman who couldn't have been more stereotypical american road cop if he tried. He took one look at my passport and license and didn't fancy the paperwork so just told me to 'enjoy the park and stop driving like an idiot'. Was a bizarre day as I left Death Valley in a t-shirt with the roof down, and ended up in Yosemite freezing cold with snow on the ground.

Great trip. The journeys definitely made it for me. Got to kind of relax and not be in a rush to get places.

Questions · May 8, 2019

Tim Over Whelmed said:
What about security, that's one thing that's always put me off of travelling in RVs, you seem like prime targets!

I’ve seen too many American slasher movies to stop me even remotely thinking about that sort of holiday.

Badger · May 8, 2019

Arthritic Toe said:
Road trips are over-rated IMHO. These places are great to visit when you've got there, but if you're not careful you end up spending most of your holiday in the car, endlessly driving across featureless landscape.

I remember once driving out to Monument Valley from Flagstaff. The only return for my first two hours of driving was that a distant mountain had moved fractionally closer.

I agree to some extent. You definitely have to be careful choosing the right places, but there are some great drives.

I did a trip to California last year. We flew into Orange County and hired a car for a couple of days to explore. Then we flew up to San Fran, spent a couple of days in the city before hiring another car to drive down the coast to Monterey and Big Sur. A fair bit of driving but I'm glad we decided to take a flight instead of doing the long drive up the coast.

One good thing in California is that additional drivers are free whenever you hire a car.

Rugrat · May 8, 2019

Ding Dong ! said:
A quick costing I did came out at about £4500 for flights

I don't know how many are going or how much research you've done but make sure you check out Norwegian. We fly to and from Ca a fair bit and 'discovered' Norwegian last year. They are absolutely superb by comparison to the usual suspects imo. Buy the baggage and grub package. Better service, great planes and the 'easy' Gatwick option

rabbitmaddie · May 8, 2019

Fly drove around California last Summer. San Francisco then to other side of Yosemite (it was closed by forest fires), down through death valley, baseball game in Vegas, Grand Canyon, LA, Monterey, Big Sur back to San Fran. 3,000 miles in three and a half weeks. Never two days travel on the trot. Apart from a couple of hours driving around LA, was plain sailing the whole way.

Monterey, do the whale watching boat trip, or just watch them from the beach, 150 yards out.

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[Misc] Motorhoming around California ??

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