The only drawback to planning a summer vacation to Lake Tahoe is narrowing down your choices for fun and entertainment. Lake Tahoe is simply the name for an all encompassing mountain, lake, and gambling experience. South Lake Tahoe is actually a city on the California side of Lake Tahoe on the border Nevada. Perhaps because of its close proximity to casinos, gambling, and nightlife, South Lake Tahoe is very much a tourist destination. The residential population on the south side is greater, and it is a city more widely known for its tourist attractions than the north side. If one were to travel to Tahoe without a car, the entertainment and lodging of the south side are within walking distance of one another. In addition, the south side offers an abundance of public transportation to get around if you don’t have a car. Both the north and south sides of Lake Tahoe offer such a vast array of summer activities including: entertainment, shopping, and outdoor activities that the only problem you will encounter is enough time to do them all.
The first order of business when planning a vacation to Lake Tahoe is finding lodging. There are a variety of options ranging form a $32/per night motel room to a luxury suite for $400+/per night. In addition to hotels and casinos, there are plenty of campgrounds available whether you are tent camping, or hauling an RV. The south and north sides of Tahoe each offer different entertainment and recreational options, so be sure to choose lodging based on the activities you want to partake in, as the north and south sides are separated by a lake and are fairly far apart from one another. It is possible to go from one side to another, but it isn’t as convenient as choosing one side and its activities and remaining there.
If you want to stay in Lake Tahoe, but away from the glitz and glam of the downtown casinos, campgrounds can be the perfect alternative. There are so many to choose from, it’s only a matter of narrowing down the amenities and location of your choice. As with any other accommodations, book early if possible as Lake Tahoe is a popular summer destination and the campgrounds and RV parks fill up fast.
While at Lake Tahoe in the summer season, (July-September) enjoy a number of summer outdoor events and activities. Over the week of the 4th of July Lake Tahoe boasts three straight nights of firework celebrations. The city is also host to the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, the Concours d’Elegance Wooden Boat Show, and the Lake Tahoe Summer Music Festival.
If you are athletically inclined, Lake Tahoe offers an entire week of marathons in late September. The city offers a three day triple marathon, 72 mile Tahoe Ultra marathon, a triathlon, marathon, marathon relays, Susan G. Komen Race for the cure 5K and 10K.
As Lake Tahoe is such a popular summer destination, it offers huge headlining musical concerts featuring such acts as the Eagles, Alabama, Sammy Haagar, and the Wallflowers for the summer concert series.
If you are an outdoor enthusiast, enjoy an entire mountain full of hiking, fishing, and boating. The mountain offers literally hundreds of trails for mountain biking and hiking on the mountain and around the diameter of the lake. The Tahoe Rim Trail is one of the more popular trails at Lake Tahoe, a 165-mile long trail that circles the lake. The trail ranges in elevation changes from 6,240 feet to 10,338 feet. The Tahoe Rim trail is not for the faint of heart, but for the die-hard hiker and mountain biker, the panoramic views at Relay Peak make the journey well worth the effort.
For those seeking a fishing experience at Lake Tahoe, there are fishing experiences for the novice and expert alike. Several chartered and guided fishing tours are available all summer long on both the California and Nevada sides of Lake Tahoe. Some of the most popular fishing charters include: Blue Ribbon chartered fishing trips, Don Sheetz Fishing Charters, and Tahoe Sport Fishing Co. Day trips on a chartered fishing boat range in price from $85 to $100, for a day trip ranging from four to five hours in length. Most charters guarantee that you will catch a fish, and some offer drinks and lunches as part of the price. In addition, if you are not inclined to fish, but want to tag along on a boat ride with friends or family, some charters will accommodate you for