California trip

[Sargeant Orange]

I'm looking for a bit of advice before I go ahead and start booking our Honeymoon in California next July. I've taken some inspiration from a few previous threads and come up with the following itinerary:

Day 1: Fly London-San Fran
Day 2: San Fran (including Alcatraz)
Day 3: Hopefully pick up a convertible Mustang and drive to Monterey
Day 4: Santa Barbara
Day 5: LA (not sure whether to stay downtown or out at Manhattan Beach?)
Day 6: San Diego
Day 7: San Diego
Day 8: Palm Springs
Day 9: Death Valley
Day 10: Las Vegas
Day 11: Las Vegas
Day 12: Drop off car. Fly Las Vegas-London

We had originally intended to make it a round trip by going back up through Yosemite but the OH has injured her back so any kind of trekking is out at the moment.

Couple of additional questions:

1) We're flexible about adding another day or 2 if required, but i'm not sure where or if it's required? Possibly miss the stay over in Monterey and add a night elsewhere?
2) In terms of car hire, from the reading i've done a one way rental shouldn't be a problem? (Dollar seem to be the favourite). Do I need the car in Las Vegas or should I drop it when I get there?
3) Flights - BA is available to book now (£950pp), but is it worth waiting for the dates to become available with Virgin or are they much of a muchness?

Cheers

[matsoc]

Last time I went there was the summer 2011 and I choose a round trip but stretched on 3 weeks (LA-SF-parks-San Diego-LA again) because I saved money on both flights and car hiring but if you are able to find good deals on one way it's ok.

I would probably choose Santa Cruz instead of Monterey to pass the night, using the day to stop a Carmel and enjoy the 17miles drive. The Day After drive along the PCH stopping in the Big Sur.

Manhattan Beach is a good place in LA but it is a bit far from Hollywood and Beverly Hills, I would sleep in Santa Monica, you are still beachfront but you are closer to the rest of the city and Malibu.

Going down to San Diego you can add a night in Laguna Beach maybe, a wonderful small town in OC.

[Roo]

Having been to most of that lot but on different trips my first thought was - that's a hell of a lot of time spent driving and not much time to see anything.

One way rental is easily done. I'm doing a slightly different route next year starting in Vegas and ending in LA and will be getting a car from Avis.

You don't really need a car in Vegas so I would be inclined to get rid of it once you've checked into your hotel.

I'm going in April and booked my flights at the weekend with Virgin.

Personal preference on that one. I suffer from back problems and hate doing long haul in economy so always upgrade. I've always found BA economy to be better than Virgin but feel that Virgin premium is better than BA.

As for where to stay in LA I always head for Newport Beach.

[Flying Toilet]

matsoc said:

Going down to San Diego you can add a night in Laguna Beach maybe, a wonderful small town in OC.

Make sure you stop off at La Jolla as well, beautiful old seaside town and often tons of seals on the beach sunbathing in the day.

We stayed in Burbank when we did the LA bit, was cheaper than Hollywood, was 5 minutes away and was nice and central do most things.

We did California for our honeymoon this year and went from LAX to Long Beach (Queen Mary is a must visit IMO), Anaheim, Huntingdon Beach, Santa Monica, La Jolla, San Diego and then back round again. The drive on the old interstate 5 was amazing, can drive the coastline pretty much the whole way.

Happy to we some pics if interested but our trip was quite heavily influenced by Drag Racing, Hot Rods, Ice Hockey and the usual Tourist traps.

Edited by Flying Toilet on Wednesday 14th August 14:21

[ettore]

Another thumbs up for Laguna Beach from me, lovely relaxed place with good grub great beaches and even better scenery. The car culture in Southern California is also very good with classics, hotrods, muscle cars and exotics left, right and centre.

I would definitely take a couple of days to do Highway 1 from SF otherwise you'll spend the whole time driving (amongst the thousands of rented Mustangs on that particular route!).

I would also firmly recommend spending a bit more time if you can because Wine country (Sonoma and Napa Valley)is just north of San Francisco and is genuinely lovely.

California - top place.

[Sargeant Orange]

Thanks for the comments so far guys, much appreciated.

I guess the message I'm getting so far is not to try and cram too much in, especially given it's a relatively short trip for California.

We've always wanted to visit San Francisco and heard many good things about San Diego, so I may just book up the hotels for those now and see where the wind takes us in between.

I'd overlooked Laguna beach so will take a look at that.

[matsoc]

Yes, often having a little more time helps to get a more relaxed trip. I managed a route similar to the one you planned with friends in just 10 days some years ago, but it wasn't exactly a comfortable trip, with late night driving and some alternate sleeping...when I came back with the girlfriend in 2011 (cutting out Vegas and adding Palm Spring) indulging more in some places over a three weeks period and overall the trip felt much better!

[GaryGlitter]

Alcatraz - book direct online and go for an early morning to get there before the crowds. I managed to get some great photos of Broadway and the cells without getting a single person in frame.

[Matt..]

Another point would be that even without trekking anywhere Yosemite NP is worth a look. In the valley you can literally park right next to most of the well known sites and either not have to walk more than a few metres, or have a very short walk that's a few minutes long.


Tunnel view...

Valley View, Glacier Point, Yosemite Falls, etc... these are all things you can see with extremely minimal walking.

I've been to a lot of US national parks, so if you do end up thinking about it and have questions then i should be able to help

If you go to Palm Springs then you should at least drive through Joshua Tree NP.

I was in Laguna Beach earlier this year and would say that's definitely a good place to stop on the coast. Carmel is a good alternative to Monterrey that's worth a look.

You should be ok with one way rental in the same state (though do check for drop-off fees).

I would suggest putting the route into Google maps and seeing how much time it says each route takes, then putting something together that shows you how much time you will actually have in each location. I always do this and put it into the Calendar app on my computer to see what it all looks like.

I go on about national parks of the US a lot, but i would highlight them as a good option for you, even if walking is difficult. I would also say it's a good idea to decide on what you want out of the trip. You've mentioned a lot of big cities so far, is that what you're most interested in? There are so many different options in California that it's easy to make up a route that can suit most requirements

Edited by Matt.. on Wednesday 14th August 17:50

[audidoody]

Shutters on the Beach, Santa Monica is worth a look if you want some luxury

[Roo]

When booking Alcatraz make sure you book the audio tour.

[matts4]

Did a similar trip last year at this time with my wife and 2 kids. We all loved it, proper loved it.

San Fran
Monterrey/Carmel (and went to Laguna Seca)
Santa Barbara
San Diego
Los Angeles

Will go back again next year, but off to Cuba this year for a friends wedding.

[susanq]

Hubby and I are doing a California road trip in a few weeks time. We're spending a couple of days in SanFran, picking up a Corvette, and then driving south. We'll be staying in Monterey, Santa Barbara, Palm Springs before meeting up with a couple of friends in Las Vegas for a couple of days. We'll all then drive to Sequoia and stay in the park before driving up to Lake Tahoe for a few days. Our last day we'll be taking a hot air balloon over Lake Tahoe. Can't wait

[Roo]

Love South Lake Tahoe.

Enjoy your trip.

[LooneyTunes]

Sargeant Orange said:

2) In terms of car hire, from the reading i've done a one way rental shouldn't be a problem? (Dollar seem to be the favourite). Do I need the car in Las Vegas or should I drop it when I get there?

I've used Thrifty/Dollar last time I was in the US. Most unimpressed.

Will be back to Avis, Hertz, or Budget next time.

Gun Store is a short drive from the Strip, so if that's on your Vegas "to do" list, it might be easier to go there before handing the car back?

[Flying Toilet]

I've always used Alamo, good cars and decent company I feel.

[engineer21]

ive just come back from a very similar trip, hired a Camero SS from Hertz at LAX

did LA - lowes hollywood hotel 2 nts
Las Vegas - Belligio for 2 nts
San Francisco - South san fran 3 nts
Pismo beach 1 nts
Santa Monica - wyndham hotel 2 nts

i have to say we had a blast!! its an awesome trip!
Vegas was a huge highlight (helicopter to grand canyon, american shelby museam, ricks restorations, pawn stars, plus the vegas stuff itself!)

Pismo beach and santa monica were really nice beach locations and wish we had longer here.

did find that we had to do alot of early starts to get places, which ment gf was getting tired etc so i would say it takes longer to do stuff than you think, 3 nts in san fran really was only 2 days as we arrived late and left kinda early this was really too short, still did alcatraz, golden gate (walked it) peir 39, and a city bus tour

2 nts in hollywood was plenty for me (im not into the famous person stuff though she is) griffith park observatory is well worth a look, stunning views!

and the pacific coast highway was amazing esp around big sur! wish we had longer there was such stunning secenry!

so much to see we want to go back already

[buzzer]

watching this thread... we may do similar next year

[Kenty]

swerni said:

Book Alcatraz well in advance and try and book an evening tour.

Personally I'd spend a couple of days in SF

Or the first one over in the morning as the island is empty, you get a better feel of the place.