Since we will have a car for our October 10th - 17th week stay in Las Vegas we are considering a day trip to Los Angeles.
Mapquest tells me it is about a four hour drive. Has anyone here ever done this trip and/or have any recommendations (attractions or interesting sites on the way) for a trip like this? I am thinking it would be best to go on a Monday or Tuesday and what time would be best to leave? Any information is appreciated.

Ruk, I'm made that LV to LA drive hundreds of times so here is some info for ya.

Figure 4 and 1/2 to 5 hours with a stop for snacks/lunch.

Here's the usual routine I follow which avoids a lot of traffic.

Depart LV around 10:00 AM.
90 miles down the road - stop in Baker, California and buy a Lotto ticket at the little store across from the Greek Gyro store. Get a bag of peanuts and a Coke and head on out of town and down the road.to Barstow.
Go past the main part of town and stop in the big shopping center on the west side and have lunch at In and Out Burger.
Then back in the car and head on down the road to Victorville and on your way into LA. Just make sure you take the 10 a bit past Victorville once you go down the big long hill which some claim is actually right over the San Andreas Faultline.

As an aside you could take what I call the "shortcut" and turn west frrom Victorville towards Palmdale along the Pearblossom Highway, but that's a possibility for a second trip. By doing so you'd avoid all that traffic you'll be finding along Highway 10 but it's probably best this first time out to follow the directions given on MapQuest.

All in all, it's best to plan your arrival in LA before 3:00 PM, but don't be surprised if your find the city busy upon your arrival.

Have a good time. It's a nice drive.

I've never made the drive all the way to LA. I've taken I15 to Primm NV several times and driven into California a few times.

I have done this when it seemed like over 75% of the drive was in construction zones. When there is an accident, traffic backs up with no place to go since they don't have the typical access roads on most of the NV part. I have made a 30 mile drive that took 2 1/2 hours.

There are Californians that we affectionately call Weekend Warriors that drive in on Fridays and leave on Sundays. You don't want to be on the roads with them.

For some reason, the traffic going towards LA has seemed much worse than the traffic coming into Las Vegas.

If I had to go to LA for a day trip, I'd probably try to leave Vegas at 4am on a Tuesday morning.

I assume you know why you're going to LA and fuel costs are justified.

You could stop at the "resort" at Zzzyxx (or however you spell it) and have a nice mud bath, or explore the old ghost town of Calico, just outside of Barstow. It always takes us, with a stop, like Will, in Baker and Barstow, about five hours. It would be a long day trip just to drive over and back, without seeing anything when you get there. An overnight there would give you time to go to the beach, or see Hollywood, or Disneyland, or whatever............it's also about the same time to go to San Diego for the attractions there. We always try to leave Las Vegas around 6am, and rarely is there much traffic going TO L.A., but there is almost always traffic coming back to Las Vegas. If you go, don't count on the rest area to be open...........restroom stops are Primm, Baker, Barstow, Victorville, and into the L.A.Basin. Cajon Pass has a place you COULD stop, but we try not to.

Yep on all of the above comments, but do AVOID driving from LA in to LV on Thursday evenings and all day on Fridays. That's when the good LA folks all seem to leave the city and take their chances in LV (or at least that's how is seemed to be when the gas prices were much lower). And never drive from LV to LA on a Sunday.

Thanks to all for your suggestions and tips. We did want to go to a ghost town so taters idea of Calico sounds interesting. We really had no specific destination in mind just travel around the area maybe see Malibu, Rodeo drive etc. but it looks like we would be wise to stay overnight if we do go.

We have been going to Seneca Niagara this month and every Wednesday when you accumulate 10 slot points they give you a $50 visa card that we have been saving up to pay for gas while we are on vacation. We have three cards and will get another next wednesday.

Definitely stay overnite. It's too long of a ride back and forth in one day! Even two days is pushing it a bit.

You COULD do Calico and back in one day.
Also, if you are not particular, and just want to see a ghost town, Oatman, Arizona is not too far. It's across the river and up the mountain from Laughlin.
The best part (to me) of going to either of those places is the drive through the wide open spaces, with mountains in the distance. As my son in law described it when he came to visit us in the west "it's like an ocean of land". The spaces and colors of the desert are awesome!

Well, I guess there is no such thing as a quick sidetrip to L.A.
I suppose if we really want to see California we should make it a separate trip.

I am thinking of the trip to Calico though.
Any idea of the best ghost town to visit? One that has a history and perhaps a guide or something like that?

I vote for Oatman.