South Lake Tahoe Travel Forum

My wife and I are flying into Sacramento in late January for a week of skiing at Heavenly. I am thinking about trying to avoid renting a car by getting a shuttle from the airport and then utilizing the public transportation system in South Lake Tahoe as well as Heavenly's network of busses to take us to and from the resort. We are staying at Lake Tahoe Vacation Resort (the old Sunterra, now Diamond Resorts facility) at 901 Ski Run Blvd in South Lake Tahoe. We'll need to be able to get to the grocery store and a few restaurants and there will be two days in which we will want to roam the shops and catch a movie, but for the most part, we plan to stay at the resort and on the slopes. Do you think renting a car is necessary, or can I get by without one?

Thanks for the input.

Renting a vehicle is not necessary and with the January weather of snow, I don't like to drive in the area. Heavenly is about a half mile from the resort and the casinos of the Nevada side. Why not fly into Reno and take a shuttle from the Reno airport?

Already booked a flight into Sacramento due to significant savings on plane tickets. Haven't yet checked into a shuttle from Sacramento, but I assume (hope) there will be one.

For shuttle from Sacramento Airport to the Sunterra Lake Tahoe Resort try Super Shuttle out of the airport.

It's 2 hours from Sacramento to South Tahoe. I haven't rented a shuttle, but it sounds like an expensive proposition. Others who have done so may know better, but regarding transportation around the Lake--the public transportation is very good. There are a lot of options--check out this website: http://www.lsctahoe.com/tahoeservices.html. One possible reason to rent a car--there are so many wonderful ski resorts in the area besides Heavenly: Squaw Valley, Northstar, Homewood, Diamond Peak, etc. They are all worth visiting and its easier to lug all your ski equipment in your own car than on public transportation. Have a great time!

If we do rent, I've heard that it is a must to have 4wd and/or tire chains to travel on the roads around tahoe in January. Is this true? Must I have a car that has both 4wd and chains, or just one or the other?

Thanks

They do a pretty good job keeping the roads clear because of all the skiers. Either 4-wheel drive with all-weather tires OR chains would be fine. If it was so bad that a 4-wheel drive needed chains as well, you probably wouldn't want to be out driving and the roads would most likely be closed.