How to Get Around South Lake Tahoe: Is A Rental Car Needed?

The big question I had before visiting South Lake Tahoe for the first time was: will we need a rental car?

When we visited Lake Tahoe in late March, we thought the area would still be covered in snow, so we were hesitant to rent a car and deal with snow tires, chains, and icy roads.

Plus, if you are staying near Stateline and Heavenly Village, you may be able to walk or take a shuttle to every restaurant and activity you plan to visit (depending on your itinerary).

We personally decided to rent a car for the second half of our trip so we could easily explore other parts of Lake Tahoe without relying on public transportation. But this might not be the right answer for you!

This guide will help you decide whether or not you need to rent a car for your trip to Lake Tahoe depending on where you are staying, the time of year you are visiting, and your planned activities.

Do You Need A Rental Car in Lake Tahoe? My Thoughts

Do you really need a rental car when visiting South Lake Tahoe?

If you are visiting Lake Tahoe in the summer to enjoy the different parts of the lake, I definitely think you should rent a car.

But if you are visiting Lake Tahoe in the winter to ski or snowboard, a rental car is probably not necessary.

And if you are visiting in spring or fall, it really depends on where you are staying and what you have planned for your trip.

In South Lake Tahoe, there are other options besides a rental car, including walking, Lake Link, free hotel shuttles, and more, all of which I will break down below!

P.S. If you decide to rent a car while in Lake Tahoe, I recommend using DiscoverCars.com to compare prices across the different rental companies! 🚙

Where You Are Staying in Lake Tahoe & Your Planned Itinerary

If you’ve never visited Lake Tahoe before, it’s important to understand the overall layout of the area before deciding whether a rental car is needed.

This post is specifically focused on the South Lake Tahoe area, which is the coastline at the bottom of the lake. This area includes top spots like Heavenly Village, Emerald Bay, Zephyr Cove, and the many casinos of the Stateline area – see map below!

There is also the north side of Lake Tahoe, which includes famous spots like Incline Village, Sand Harbor, and Crystal Bay. For these areas, you will definitely want a rental car to explore.

But for the South Lake Tahoe area, you may or may not need a rental car, depending on where exactly you stay (and what activities you have planned).

➡️ Read Next: My Full Breakdown of Where to Stay in South Lake Tahoe for First-Timers! 🛏️

Stateline & Heavenly Village

Our first 2 nights in Lake Tahoe were at The Landing Resort and Spa, right on the lake and the Stateline, and a 15-minute walk from Heavenly Village. This area of South Lake Tahoe is extremely walkable and has plenty of shops, restaurants, casinos, breweries, and activities to keep you occupied.

Our itinerary for the first 2 days included a spa day at our hotel, riding the Heavenly Gondola, the Lam Watah Nature Trail, and a scenic cruise out of Zephyr Cove.

None of these spots required a rental car because we could either walk, take the Lake Link, or use the Landing shuttle, so we picked up our rental car at the end of day 2 to save some money!

West Side of South Lake Tahoe

The last two days of our trip, however, we wanted to explore other areas like Fallen Leaf Lake, Emerald Bay, Eagle Falls, and Cave Rock and didn’t want to be limited to public transportation.

We stayed at the Tahoe Mountain Inn on the west side of South Lake Tahoe for these 2 days, and very much appreciated having a set of wheels since this area is a little less walkable than Heavenly Village and Stateline.

So, if you are staying between the west side of South Lake Tahoe and to the Stateline area on the east side, and don’t want to venture beyond that area, you may not need a rental car. However, if you want freedom to explore other areas, a rental car is recommended.

When You are Visiting Lake Tahoe

Besides where you stay and your planned activities, I think when you are visiting Lake Tahoe plays a huge role in whether or not a rental car is required.

Winter

If you are visiting Lake Tahoe in winter (November – March), you may experience snow, sleet, and ice during your trip. For those who are not used to driving in these conditions, renting a car may not be preferred.

This was our primary concern when visiting South Lake Tahoe in late March; however, it ended up being unseasonably warm and sunny on our trip!

Plus, if you are staying in the Heavenly Village area and your main plans are to ski or snowboard at Heavenly, a rental car really isn’t needed.

You can either walk, take the Lake Link, or a hotel shuttle around town with your gear and have access to plenty of restaurants, shops, and the mountain!

Spring, Summer, and Fall

On the other hand, if you are visiting Lake Tahoe in late spring, summer, or early fall (outside of ski season), I do believe a rental car is necessary.

There are so many beautiful spots around the lake to see in the warmer months outside of the Heavenly area, like hiking the Fallen Leaf Lake Trail or paddle boarding at Secret Cove.

And while there is a new seasonal shuttle that goes from South Lake Tahoe out to Emerald Bay/Eagle Falls, it only runs from mid-June to early September and the stops are very limited.

The second half of our trip in March was more of a spring trip, including lots of hiking and driving to scenic viewpoints. If it was a little warmer, we definitely would’ve gotten in the water!

And a lot of the best swim spots are on the northeastern side of the lake, which you’ll need a car to reach from South Lake Tahoe.

Getting to South Lake Tahoe

From Reno Airport

Reno-Tahoe Airport (RNO) is the closest major airport to Lake Tahoe, located about 60 miles north of South Lake Tahoe.

This is where we personally flew into for our 4 days in Lake Tahoe, and where I recommend flying in and out of since it is the closest option.

The journey from Reno airport to South Lake Tahoe takes around 1 hour and 15 minutes, depending on traffic.

If you decide to rent a car for the entire portion of your trip, you can pick up and drop off your car right at the airport. Most of the major rental car companies operate out of the airport, including Hertz, Avis, Budget, Enterprise, etc.

I prefer using DiscoverCars.com to compare costs and cars across all of these brands and more to get the best rate!

If you don’t want to rent a car, there is also the South Tahoe Airporter, a shuttle bus that runs between the airport and South Lake Tahoe. This is what we personally did!

The shuttle runs 365 days per year from 7am to 9pm (and 11pm on weekends), stopping at a few different resorts in the Stateline area of South Lake Tahoe. (We got dropped off at Caesars Republic stop and then had the Landing Shuttle pick us up from there!).

The cost of the shuttle is $32.75 for one way tickets or $59.50 for round trip tickets.

You can check shuttle times and book tickets on the South Tahoe Airporter website here!

Lastly, you can also take an Uber from the airport; however, this option can be very pricey ($200+) and availability of drivers is not always guaranteed.

From Sacramento Airport

If flying into Reno airport doesn’t work for you, another option is the Sacramento International Airport (SMF). SMF is significantly larger than RNO, so flight availability and costs are usually much better.

However, this airport is 112 miles away from South Lake Tahoe, so it will take over 2 hours to get between the two, which isn’t ideal!

For this reason, I do not recommend Ubering for this journey. Instead, the best option is to rent a car directly from the airport and drive yourself.

There is also the El Dorado Transit Bus that runs from the Amtrak Sacramento Valley Station to the Stateline Transit Station in South Lake Tahoe. However, this Amtrak station in Sacramento is not near the airport, so that will require another leg to get there from the airport.

Getting Around South Lake Tahoe

Once you arrive in South Lake Tahoe, you have several options for getting around: rental car, hotel shuttles, the Lake Link, Uber, or walking.

Rental Car

As mentioned above, you can pick up and drop off your rental car directly at the Reno-Tahoe Airport so you already have your rental car when you arrive in Tahoe.

We decided not to do this because we didn’t need a rental car for the first 2 days of our trip.

Instead, we decided to pick up our rental car from the Enterprise booth inside the Caesars Republic hotel, which was down the road from where we were staying at The Landing Resort.

Then, at the end of our trip, we dropped off the rental car here and boarded the South Tahoe Airporter back to the Reno airport. So convenient!

Besides this booth, there is an Avis booth inside the Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino, and an actual Enterprise location on the west side of South Lake Tahoe as well.

So, if you decide you don’t need a rental car for your whole trip, or you don’t want to drive to/from the airport, picking up your rental car directly in South Lake Tahoe is a great option.

This was actually cheaper and had more availability than picking up from the airport somehow!

Again, I highly recommend booking your rental car through DiscoverCars.com so you can compare different companies and prices in one search! 🚙

Lake Link

Another great option for getting around the South Lake Tahoe area is the Lake Link, a complimentary shuttle bus service!!

This shuttle service is a new collaboration of public and private partnerships to alleviate traffic and congestion in the South Lake area, and it’s completely free!

They have several vans and buses that run as part of the on-demand service, 365 days per year, 7am to 9pm Sunday through Thursday and until 11pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

The shuttle area runs from Zephyr Cove on the northeast side down to the Lake Valley area (see map below for the full coverage area!).

We didn’t personally need to use the Lake Link during the first half of our trip thanks to our hotel’s shuttle service (more on that below). For the second half of our trip, we stayed on the western side of South Lake Tahoe which was outside of the Lake Link’s range.

However, the one time we almost used it, there was a long wait for the requested ride (around 45 minutes), so it works best if you can plan ahead and request your ride in advance, especially during peak times and on weekends.

To request a ride, you’ll need to download the Lake Link app. It works very similar to Uber – just put in where you are starting and going, and it will show you how long you will have to wait to be picked up!

Hotel Shuttles

In addition to the Lake Link, some hotels in the South Lake Tahoe area run their own free shuttle services around town, which is worth inquiring about before deciding if you need to rent a car.

This was one of the best parts about staying at The Landing Resort (besides the dreamy views of the lake, of course!). They offer a complimentary shuttle bus service to anywhere within a 2-mile radius from the resort on a first-come, first-serve basis.

All we had to do was call the resort or visit the front desk and tell them where we wanted to go! Not to mention the shuttle bus was very nice, a souped up Mercedes van with plenty of space (we didn’t have to share it once).

I would definitely consider this as an option before choosing a hotel!

Uber

If you don’t rent a car while in Lake Tahoe, you can always use Uber as a last resort for getting between places. However, the cost of Ubering several times per day can add up quickly, depending on how far you are going.

In addition, availability is not the best in a place like South Lake Tahoe, especially in between peak seasons.

Personally, I wouldn’t plan to use Uber unless you are in a pinch!

Walking

Again, depending on where you are staying and what time of year you are visiting, walking is a great option when visiting South Lake Tahoe.

Even though we had the option of using the Lake Link or the Landing shuttle service, we found ourselves walking a lot during our first 2 days in town.

The Landing Resort was only a 15-minute walk to the shops and restaurants at Heavenly Village, where we enjoyed dinner at Base Camp Pizza and lunch at California Burger Company.

Plus, South of North Brewing was on our walk home back to the hotel, a lovely perk our first night in town!