West Coast USA holidays from the UK usually mean three cities: San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Our package holidays combine two or three of them, and one route adds a stop at Zion National Park in Utah. This guide sets out every route we sell, with its nights, hotels and monthly prices. It then covers when to go, what the Pacific Coast Highway looks like in 2026, and how a road trip differs from a city-to-city package.
Quick answer
Allow 7 to 10 nights, with the longer stays on three-city routes. April to June and September to October give the best balance of weather across San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The packages table below shows what each route costs by month, so you can match dates to budget.
- Flying time
- About 11 hours direct from London Heathrow to Los Angeles or San Francisco.
- Time difference
- California and Nevada are 8 hours behind the UK for most of the year, and 7 hours for a few weeks in March and around late October.
- Entry for British passport holders
- An ESTA costing about US$40, lasting up to two years. Applications now need a selfie photograph, and an older ESTA without one may need re-applying.
- Driving
- A UK photocard licence is accepted. International Driving Permit rules differ from state to state.
- Currency
- US dollar (USD).
West Coast USA holiday packages from the UK: routes, nights and prices
We sell five fixed West Coast USA holiday packages. The table shows the route, the length, the lowest future monthly price in each cabin, the hotels named in the package and how the price moves by month.
| Route | Nights | From, economy pp | From, business pp | Hotels | Price pattern |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles and Las Vegas | 7 | £1,379 (Nov 2026) | Economy only | 4* The LINE Hotel, 4* Park MGM Las Vegas | October 2027 is the dearest month, at £1,799 economy |
| San Francisco and Las Vegas | 7 | £1,459 (Nov 2026) | £4,409 (Jun 2027) | 4* Hotel Riu Plaza Fisherman’s Wharf, 5* Caesars Palace | August 2027 on request |
| San Francisco and Los Angeles | 8 | £1,299 (Feb 2027) | £4,239 (Feb 2027) | 4* Hotel Riu Plaza Fisherman’s Wharf, 5* The Hollywood Roosevelt | £2,499 to £2,619 in Oct–Dec 2026, £1,299 to £1,579 in Feb–May 2027 |
| San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas | 10 | £1,479 (Nov 2026) | £3,639 (Oct 2026) | 4* The Marker San Francisco, 4* The LINE Hotel Los Angeles, 4* SAHARA Las Vegas | January is the dearest month each year: £2,359 economy in 2027, £2,669 in 2028 |
| San Francisco, Los Angeles and Zion (Utah) | 9 | £1,669 (Oct 2026) | No future business prices | 4* Hotel Zeppelin San Francisco, 5* Mondrian Los Angeles, 4* Under Canvas Zion | No departures priced November to January |
Each from-price is per person for two adults sharing a room, in economy unless shown under business. Your travel dates, departure airport and room choice all move the final figure, which a specialist confirms when quoting. ATOL 10713 protected.
The package price covers:
- Return flights from UK airports, with hold luggage.
- Internal flights between the cities on each route.
- Car hire on the Zion route.
- Hotels for every night, as listed in the table.
- Private transfers between airports and hotels.
- A deposit from £199pp to hold the booking.
Which West Coast combination suits you?
The routes share cities but feel different on the ground. Choose by what you most want from the trip: beaches and film history, a walkable city with a bay, desert entertainment, or a national park.
Los Angeles and Las Vegas
Los Angeles gives you Hollywood Boulevard, Griffith Observatory and the beach towns of Santa Monica and Venice, where the pier and boardwalk take up an easy afternoon. Add the Walk of Fame outside the TCL Chinese Theatre and the shops of Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, and two full days go quickly. Griffith Observatory is free to enter and closed on Mondays, with paid parking closest to the building. You then fly to the Strip for shows, pools and dining. For hotel choice, day trips and the Grand Canyon from Vegas, see our guide to Las Vegas holidays. Holidays to Los Angeles and Las Vegas suit a first visit that mixes the coast with the desert.
San Francisco and Las Vegas, or San Francisco and Los Angeles
San Francisco is compact, hilly and best seen on foot and by cable car. Plan a morning for the Golden Gate Bridge and another for Alcatraz. Ferries leave only from Pier 33 on the Embarcadero, run by a single company under contract to the National Park Service, so book as soon as your dates are fixed. The Ferry Building on the Embarcadero is a good lunch stop between the two. Three cable car lines run: two climb from Powell and Market to the Fisherman’s Wharf area, and the California line runs to Van Ness Avenue. Leave time for Chinatown, the sea lions at Pier 39 and the steep blocks of Lombard Street. Pair the city with Las Vegas for contrast, or with Los Angeles to keep the whole holiday in California.
San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas (or Zion)
Both three-stop routes arrive in San Francisco, fly south to Los Angeles and end in Las Vegas for the flight home. The classic version flies from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and spends the final nights on the Strip. The Utah version drives instead, spending nights at Zion National Park in safari-style tents before handing the car back in Las Vegas. Choose it if you would rather hike canyon trails than sit by a casino pool.
From spring to late autumn, private cars cannot use the Zion Canyon Scenic Drive, and the free park shuttle takes you to the trailheads. No ticket or reservation is needed for the shuttle or park entry. The Angels Landing hike is the exception: it needs a permit, allocated by seasonal and day-before lotteries on Recreation.gov.
How many nights do you need on the West Coast?
We suggest three nights in each city where the trip length allows. Jet lag can mean early mornings for the first day or two, which suits sightseeing but may mean early nights. Each city change then takes around half a day once you add hotel checkout, the airport and the transfer at the other end.
That arithmetic explains the package lengths. Squeeze a third city into a short trip and it becomes a string of travel days. Nights added to the final stop are the simplest extension, because they change no flights in the middle of the route.
Adding Yosemite changes the sums. The National Park Service puts Yosemite Valley 195 miles and four to five hours by road from San Francisco, and about six hours from Los Angeles. That makes it a poor day trip. Two nights near the park, arranged tailor-made, give one full day in the valley without spending most of it in the car. It would also mean driving that leg rather than flying between the two cities. To carry on across the Pacific, our Las Vegas and Hawaii holidays combine the Strip with the islands.
Can you do a West Coast USA road trip holiday?
Yes, but as a tailor-made trip arranged on request rather than one of the five packages above. Visit California describes Highway 1 from Los Angeles to the Bay Area as 411 miles, best spread over three to four days. Allow that time rather than treating it as a transfer.
The coast road passes Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Hearst Castle, Big Sur, Carmel and Monterey. Fuel and services are sparse through Big Sur, so fill up in Santa Barbara or San Luis Obispo beforehand. Hearst Castle tours should be booked ahead. Check live road conditions each morning, because landslides and fires close sections at short notice.
A road trip suits travellers who enjoy the journey as much as the cities. It adds small towns, viewpoints and flexible stops. It also adds hire-car costs, parking at city hotels and long days at the wheel. City packages suit shorter trips and first visits.
Is Highway 1 through Big Sur open in 2026?
At the end of September 2026, yes. The Regent’s Slide section reopened on 14 January 2026, giving a continuous drive from Carmel to Cambria for the first time in almost three years. The Timber and Plaskett wildfires closed the road again in August and September. CAL FIRE reported Highway 1 open from Carmel to Cambria on 30 September, with heavy equipment still working. Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park remains closed, along with backcountry trails east of the highway. Winter storms can still cause temporary closures.
For a longer drive heading east rather than along the coast, see our Route 66 holiday packages.
When is the best time for a West Coast USA holiday?
The three cities peak at different times, so the right month depends on the stops you pick. The table sets out what to expect in each season, city by city.
| Months | San Francisco | Los Angeles | Las Vegas |
|---|---|---|---|
| April–June | Fog starts to roll in from the coast | Warm, with grey mornings in early summer | Hot but manageable for sightseeing. |
| July–August | Fog and cool afternoons are common | Warm to hot and busy | Average July high around 40°C. |
| September–October | Usually the warmest months | Warm and settled | Cooling from summer heat. |
| November–March | Cool and wetter | Mild, with most of the year’s rain | Cool evenings, sunny days. |
Compare two or three departure months in the packages table before fixing your dates, because the same route can cost noticeably more in one month than the next.
