California - Going to Lake Tahoe from LA.

I am planning for a 4 night stay in Lake Tahoe / Reno area in march. Since driving is too much from LA I am thinking of flying to Reno.

1) Would you recommend seeing the North Lake Tahoe area or South LH area?
2) Where should we stay ? reno or carson city or in Lake Tahoe area?

Thanks

If you're not there in the middle of a snowstorm, you should be able to drive from North Shore (Tahoe City/Squaw Valley/Northstar) along the east shore over to South Lake Tahoe in less than an hour. The west shore is closed in the winter.

"Where" you want to stay depends on what you want to do. If you're going skiing, South Lake Tahoe puts you close to Heavenly Valley. Tahoe City on the North Shore is closer to Alpine, Squaw, and some smaller resorts (Homewood has gorgeous lake views from up top). Over at Incline Village you have more resorts, and Northstar is off of 267 not far from Tahoe City or Truckee.

If you're not a big skier, I'd probably stay on the South Shore where you have Harrahs, Harveys, Horizon, and Mont Blue as the major resort/casinos, as well as Lake Tahoe.

Reno? Plenty of hotel/casinos there, too, and you could use it as a gateway to the Mt. Rose ski resort. Carson City? There's nothing there except the state capitol buildings. Probably a great place to live, but not a place to base yourself for touring.

I have Tahoe/Reno photos linked below in the USA folder.

The lake is only 72 miles around, so half way is about 36 miles. That's not such a long distance that north or south would prevent you from visiting places on the other side. I've biked around it many times in the past. It definitely makes the lake seem smaller. :)

Stay in Tahoe. Reno is kinda a dump and much further, psychologically, from Tahoe than it looks. Tahoe is very beautiful.

We used to stay at Stateline in California which was a rather charming old family resort area with walking access to the Nevada casinos. But, I hear the area has suffered redevelopment (or dispolation) lately.

Our favorite resort in Tahoe is the Hyatt at Incline Village. If you care about gambling, the casino there is small, relatively uncrowded and unsmokey. The setting is beautiful, crowds are minimal, lots of good restaurants in the area, and easy access to both the North Shore and the South Shore. About 35 min drive from the Reno Airport.

Another option from LA is to fly into Sacramento and rent a car there for Tahoe. It's a nice drive, and you might want to stop off in Nevada City or elsewhere in the Gold Rush area.

The lake is only 72 miles around, so half way is about 36 miles. That's not such a long distance that north or south would prevent you from visiting places on the other side. I've biked around it many times in the past. It definitely makes the lake seem smaller. :)I would so love to do that ride!!!

Tahoe City on the North Shore is closer to Alpine, Squaw, and some smaller resorts (Homewood has gorgeous lake views from up top). Over at Incline Village you have more resorts, and Northstar is off of 267 not far from Tahoe City or Truckee.The other thing about Homewood and Incline Village is that they are relatively cheap resorts. I've been to Incline Village. Though it was smaller than a resort like Heavenly, I really didn't mind.

OTOH, at Heavenly, you can ski or snowboard across the California/Nevada state line. That's pretty cool :cool:. :D

Reno? Plenty of hotel/casinos there, too, and you could use it as a gateway to the Mt. Rose ski resort. Carson City? There's nothing there except the state capitol buildings. Probably a great place to live, but not a place to base yourself for touring.Oooh :eek:, no slight to the residents of the capital of the Silver State, but I'm not about to move to Carson City, Nevada. ;)

Another option from LA is to fly into Sacramento and rent a car there for Tahoe. It's a nice drive, and you might want to stop off in Nevada City or elsewhere in the Gold Rush area.

Just remember that if there is a lot of traffic from the Bay Area to Tahoe every weekend, so I think that it is easier to fly into Reno, so you don't get caught up in that traffic.