Trip from Allentown, PA to Las Vegas, NV (Pittsburgh, Mexico: area, distance)

[Rosanne]

Has anyone done the drive from Allentown, PA to Las Vegas, NV? We have two different routes from AAA and we're not sure which one would be the better route. One is route 70 to route 40, and the other is route 81 to route 40. Both are the southern routes since we will be going in the middle of November, but one route is a little bit more southern than the other. We're just wondering if one route is better than the other when it comes to the roads taken, i.e. better road conditions, more lanes, staying on highways as opposed to going through small towns. We will probably drive 8-9 hours a day, so it will take around 5 days no matter which route we take.

I am also going to post this in the Travel and Nevada forums.

Thanks for any suggestions you can provide.

[Gerania]

No. I, we, have driven from NC to CA on Rt. 40.

[John F S]

What about 80? That goes all the way to San Francisco so you would have to go south at some point.

[jjs65]

I've taken this exact roadtrip from Pittsburgh to Vegas in March a few years back. I took the southern path out and the northern path back. Note that the northern path can easily have a lot of snow and give you headaches. There's more towns and stops on the southern path as well but I'd consider the northern path a bit more scenic.

[Wells5]

Why drive? Round trip air fares from ABE to LAS can be purchased for about $250.

[Rosanne]

Thank you all for the many suggestions.

[PacoMartin]

Originally Posted by Rosanne

We will probably drive 8-9 hours a day, so it will take around 5 days no matter which route we take.

Google maps shows a mere 2 miles difference in distance

(2,593 miles) I70W to I15S
(2,591 miles) I81S to I40W

The road down I81 is very scenic and at the end when you drive from Phoenix to Las Vegas you must cross the Hoover Dam. It is a bit more scenic than coming into Vegas via Interstate 15.

We did this drive many years ago and first stop was the tourist area on I40 and route 66 (roughly 600 miles). Then we went to Fort Smith (700 miles), then Albuquerque, New Mexico (725 miles), then Flagstaff AZ (323 miles) and then Las Vegas (254 miles).

We found that it is better to keep the first three days longer when you have more energy, and slow down near the end. I think there is a tendency to say the trip is 2600 miles so let's try to get as close to 520 miles per day. But the last few days really drag on you.