Lake Tahoe Vacation advice needed (Reno, Sparks: rentals, condo, hotel)

[ecsdude]

My family is looking to go to Lake Tahoe around Aug 7-14.
We usually go to South Lake Tahoe near the state line. Last time we rode the Ferry across Emerald Bay, hung out at the beach, went to a buffet for dinner. I have to bring my dog so a pet friendly place is important. i wound up staying at
Harvey's. Our stay was for 3 days and we found 2 was enough
to do those things, so we canceled our third night's hotel reservation.

This time, we are going with my nephews and their parents, and are looking at swimming in a pool, playing some air hockey, mini golf, paved path bicycling preferably along the lake, enjoy good food, attend a music festival, maybe visit a beach, and maybe see a kid's movie.

With 4 adults and 2 kids, we really would need a 1bdrm hotel suite or
a 2bdrm condo airbnb. Or 2 hotel rooms. Hotel rooms will cost about $280-350/night. A 2bdrm condo for 6 would be about $200/night in North Lake Tahoe.

With that said, I have several questions and could use some advice from Tahoe locals or frequent visitors:

1. is 7 days overkill? obviously each extra night of stay is costly.
2. is there enough to do in north lake tahoe near northstar
vs south lake tahoe? i see a shopping village, bike rentals,
cinema, paved bike path in the area. the condo rental
i found there has a game room, pool, tennis court,
etc.
3. would it be better to spend a max of 3 full days there
and use the other 4 days elsewhere doing something
else? i am not sure what else there is except Reno,
which is mostly casinos.

Thanks in advance!

[Hemlock140]

We go every year, and have since I was a kid in the 1960s. We have always preferred north, and now stay at a VRBO condo at Incline, normally for 5-7 days. Northstar is in Truckee, and is 20 minutes from the lake. Not having stayed there I don't know what there is to do at Northstar. There is a fantastic 36 hole mini-golf in Carnelian Bay, a great public beach at King's Beach, several places to rent a ski boat or jet ski. If the kids are young, say under 10, there is a great Discovery Museum which our grandkids don't want to leave even after spending all day there. Another really fun day trip that we often do is Virginia City, and often we take the train ride.



https://nvdm.org/


https://visitvirginiacitynv.com/

[Vic Romano]

Hot August Nights is happening during the first part of your visit, so you may want to book a day or two in Reno or Sparks. Or just make the drive to Reno for the day. The bad part is the motel rooms may be full and/or more expensive than usual.

https://hotaugustnights.net/

[Gatopescado]

A lifetime is not enough of Lake Tahoe.