The wife and I will be in Reno/Tahoe mid October for her veterinary conference. My days will be free, and hers were will be full. Any recs for things to do … me, solo, during the day … and, us at night? Looking for good restaraunts, shows, touristy type things. We also want to do a little hiking and whatnot at Tahoe. Also, any suggestions for a good hotel that allows doggies, as we will be traveling avec chien? Also, also, should I bring the road or mtn bike? I’ve already learned there is no early season snow, so the board will stay at home.
We always stay in South Lake. (Have a place there)
Ride around the lake. 72 miles. I prefer the road bike, but if you do take a mt. bike, be careful to stick to well travelled trails if you’re riding alone, there are miles upon miles of singletrack, very easy to get lost.
The Cabaret at Harvey’s is always entertaining, the magic show isn’t bad either.
I recommend a pizza from the brewery. It’s on South Lake Tahoe drive, California side, a few miles from the border. Great, great gourmet pizza, and serious brew. Be cautious with the bad ass ale. I don’t drink beer, but have hear it’s brutal.
If you have a kayak, take it, the area around emerald bay is awesome.
Do the stream profile hike. Go north of the Y a few miles, along the lake you will see signs on the right park and walk. It’s great, they have a cutout of the stream and tons of bits about the area’s wildlife.
There’s a restaurant at the and of tahoe keys, don’t recall the name, but has great fish and chips, and decent chowder.
Gondola ride to the top of Heavenly. Take a picnic dinner.
Gamble, gamble, gamble, gamble. I really recommend Bill’s casino. It’s a bit more laid back, and, NO SMOKING ALLOWED.
Hi guys,
I am a triathlete from Germany and I will stay in the Tahoe-area from December 25 - January 5.
I would like to do xc-skiing and downhill.
Do you have ideas, where the best places are and where to rent a cabin.Are there good trails for xc-skiing?
Sorry for my bad english and greetings from Germany
Diddi
I prefer the North Shore. If I want to gamble in cheesy casinos I’ll go to Vegas. Tahoe is for mountain biking (Flume rail, Rim Trail), swimming (obvious), hiking (5 Lakes, tons of others). I highly recommend the margaritas at the Blue Agave, the food’s good too.
You can always drive to other side to gamble, without staying dead in the middle of it.
Having spent many, many years visiting the Tahoe area, I’d have to say that the Flume Trail is a not-to-be-missed mountain bike ride http://www.theflumetrail.com/. There are number of options, including shuttle bus rides, MB rental, etc. that make this very accessible.
If you’re taking a road bike and want to do some real climbing an interesting option would be to ride (or drive) to the small town of Markleeville, located somewhat south of the lake, and tackle one or more of the mountain passes traversed by the infamous ‘Death Ride’ http://www.deathride.com/ and http://www.deathride.com/course/map.php. Grover Hot Springs, just outside of Markleeville and the restaurant at the old hotel in the center of town are good post ride options.
October is a fantastic time to be visiting the Tahoe area.
Cabins are nice due to the seclusion, but in the wintertime I prefer a lodge/hotel. No shoveling snow, long snowy drives etc. The Sunterra Lake Tahoe ( http://travel.yahoo.com/p-hotel-349509-embassy_vacation_resort-i ) resort is nice. We usually stay there because we own timeshare, but it is a really nice resort. (used to be Embassy, until this past year) It’s really nice because the goBlue system will pick up at the resort and take you to where you’re skiing. (For me, always Heavenly or Kirkwood)
For a cabin, I’ve used http://www.tahoevacationguide.com/ twice and they’ve been great each time. This is the cabin we stayed in this July http://66.77.168.67/LTRB/1485P.html . there is actually meadow access that would be perfect for xc skiing.
BTW xc-skiing takes too much effort! lol. For XC there are pretty much endless trails you could ski. Just stop in at one of the shops and pick up a map.
Cabins are nice due to the seclusion, but in the wintertime I prefer a lodge/hotel. No shoveling snow, long snowy drives etc. The Sunterra Lake Tahoe ( http://travel.yahoo.com/...sy_vacation_resort-i ) resort is nice. We usually stay there because we own timeshare, but it is a really nice resort. (used to be Embassy, until this past year) It’s really nice because the goBlue system will pick up at the resort and take you to where you’re skiing. (For me, always Heavenly or Kirkwood)
For a cabin, I’ve used http://www.tahoevacationguide.com/ twice and they’ve been great each time. This is the cabin we stayed in this July http://66.77.168.67/LTRB/148expensive5P.html . there is actually meadow access that would be perfect for xc skiing.
BTW xc-skiing takes too much effort! lol. For XC there are pretty much endless trails you could ski. Just stop in at one of the shops and pick up a map.
The cabin looks great, do you know how expensive it is.
i think tahoe is really expensive. i have to pay the same for two nights as i pay for the flight from europe to san francisco.
i have done th flume trail in summer and i loved it, so i must come back in winter.
if anyone has more ideas for lodging or wants to rent a cabin i would be happy
greetings from germany
d
I think it was 315/night (last week in July), but for october they have it listed at 250. They, of course, tack some fees on, but they weren’t over the top. I’d call to check.
The Chateau Inn at http://chateauinnandsuit.tripod.com/ - nothing fancy, in fact the rooms have green carpeting and 70’s wood paneling, but they suffice. If you let them know you have a dog, they give you a ground floor room with an enclosed patio area (gravel and dirt) for your dog to have a bathroom. Also, this is about the cheapest place in Tahoe, and right close to the casinos (2 blocks away).
The Inn at Heavenly at http://innatheavenly.com/ - a nice boutique hotel and cabin, dogs are welcome, they have a large enclosed yard for the dogs, complimentary bike usage (1-speed city cruisers), kayaks, breakfast, snacks, and wine/cheese social. The staff is super-friendly. It’s about 1.5 miles from the casinos (about a $6 taxi), and 3 blocks to Heavenly. It costs more, but it is worth it.
On the other side, stay away from the 3 Peaks Resort. They look nice on their website, but the rooms are hit or miss. Also, they will routinely turn away people with reservations if they think they can get more money from someone else. They did that to me recently - I had a prepaid guaranteed reservation and they flat out refused it because it was a big concert weekend and they felt they could raise rates and charge someone else more. Left me on vacation without a place to stay. They suck.
As for taking your dog places - Tahoe is incredibly dog-centric, yet it still seems there are few places to really take them. One of my favorite places is Fallen Leaf Lakehttp://www.fs.fed.us/r5/ltbmu/recreation/camping/flcamp.shtml. It’s right next to Tahoe, and would be alot more popular if Tahoe weren’t overshadowing it. It’s a short easy hike, and Fido can run and swim without bothering anyone. I’d avoid Kiva Beach (the official dog beach) - too unsanitary.
I live 20 minutes from the lake and have loads of recommendations. Feel free to PM me if you want to bounce ideas off of me.
BTW, I don’t recommend the ride around the lake. It’s a great, and beautiful ride, but not terribly safe. No bike lanes, and cars that scream by at 45 mph or more. The lake area is better for MTB. My training buddies and I joke that there’s 3 good road rides in the Tahoe area, but about 100 great, epic MTB rides, Flume trail included.
Awesome. Thank you. The Chateau Inn and the Inn at Heavenly sound perfect. I will call them tomorrow. Cost isn’t a big concern as the Mrs.'s place of employment is footing the bill.
Still undecided as to whether I should bring the road or mtn bike. Both won’t fit in the Element (at least along with all of our other stuff, dogs included).
Ok … error on my part. I double checked with wifey and the conference site is The Nugget in Reno (actually the address for the Nugget is Sparks, NV ??). So, after Mapquesting it, it looks like those hotels are quite a long ways from Reno. So … any recs for Reno/Sparks? Thanks a bunch.
Well, the Nugget is reasonably priced, has nice rooms, and pours strong drinks.
No real reason to stay at another hotel/casino if the conference is at the Nugget. Not sure about their pet policy.
Tons of good restaurants here. What kind of food you like?
Regarding the bike choice…I can start from anywhere in Reno on my road bike and ride wherever I want. Plenty of good road rides around, especially if you want some long climbs. If I go MTB, I load up and drive somewhere. Our MTB rides are awesome, especially in Oct., but if you’re after convenience, bring the road bike.
Dogs are not welcome at The Nugget, otherwise we would stay there. As far as restaurants go, we like all sorts of places (we use to live in Vegas … and one of the few things we miss about Vegas are the restaurants). We currently live on the front range in northern Colorado, so I suspect the riding (both mtn and road) is similar… I’m used to riding at altitude and longs climbs.
