California. I'm sure this thread's been done, but hey..

[Howard-]

Hi guys,

A friend and I are planning to head off to California in the summer for a couple of weeks; we've both been bitten by the travel bug and it's a place we'd like to visit. So we need to start planning..

Two questions to start off with:

1. Car hire.. I'm 23 and my friend will be also. Ideally we'd have liked to cruise around in a V8 Mustang or similar but I understand they're a) expensive and b) most places won't hire one to under 25s, not even offering the option of a young driver excess. Is this the case, or do I just need to find a more "specialist" car hire company? Failing the V8 idea, what's the cheapest (in terms of cost and not having to pay a £2195234 excess if it gets dented) way of hiring a standard mid sized Chevrolet Chrysler whatever saloon which will take us around CA in reasonable comfort? I've found prices of around £180 after inputting my details into www.atlaschoice.com for one (they asked for my age but I don't know for sure if this cost includes a young driver surcharge, but it's a starting point )


2. What should we see and do?

Very broad question, I know. And I'm sure you've all got different experiences, but we need to start somewhere and the more information we have to digest and research and plan around, the better I guess some nightlife will be nice but we're not "party animals" so we don't intend to just sit on the beach all day and in nightclubs all night

Should we pop over to las Vegas?


Thanks, I'll add any more questions I may think of

Edited by Howard- on Saturday 6th February 22:28

[Howard-]

Sweet, thanks. Interesting read

It's all a bit daunting at the moment, thinking how we're going to plan the 10 or so days!

[Howard-]

louiebaby said:

I did something similar with a friend when I was 24. Though Alamo you could rent a car under 25, but the surcharge was pretty high, something like an extra $25 a day.

Be wary.
!

Yeah I did this whwen I went to Florida in 2008, prepared to pay it this time too. Worth the extra cost IMO, especially as there's no other way to get around


I've drawn up this rough plan/route to start with... Can anyone see anything wrong with it so far?


http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&a...

[Howard-]

Not 100% decided yet, between 10 and 14. This is why I find threads like this useful, you lot can tell me if it's unfeasible to do x distance in x time whilst not being too rushed

[Howard-]

Thanks. Like I said this is only in the planning stages so far so we can cut bits out etc if we won't have the time. We wanted to go to Bakersfield for the motorsport stuff etc if there's anything going on.

[Howard-]

Hmm, not sure now whether or not we'll be trying to fit too much in :\ I don't mind driving, but I don't want to have only 10 minutes here and there because we're on such a tight schedule I'll try and make a spreadsheet/plan later including times etc to see how it looks


I'm fairly new to this whole sightseeing holiday planning lark, how do you lot manage

Edited by Howard- on Tuesday 9th February 13:10

[Howard-]

louiebaby said:

I was planning something similar to yours over 3 weeks for a honeymoon, and even then thought it might be a bit tight.

It I was you, I'd drop the Mexico run, and spend an extra day on SF to LA down the coast. If you really like somewhere, when you're out and about, you can either stay a bit longer, (if you're winging it on the accomodation,) or come back another time.

If you're under 25, and therefore paying extra to hire a car, do more miles, to make the most of the car you're paying extra for.

Wherever you're going, get some bottles of water in the car, especially in the desert. When you leave a desert town, keep and eye out for the "Last Gas for XXX miles." Saw one that said 150 miles one day I think.

Thanks

When you say drop the Mexico run do you mean drop San Diego? My map is clockwise staring in LA (where we're planning to fly to)

[Howard-]

K50 DEL said:

I did this route

http://tinyurl.com/yhpg3p2

In 3 weeks last spring - although Google Earth says 3665 miles, I actually ended up driving 5,800
It was fine, although there were places where I would have liked to have stayed longer.

Good lord That's a HUGE chunk of America, especially in 3 weeks. Nice

louiebaby said:

Howard- said:

louiebaby said:

Lots, wow I should be working :-)

Thanks

When you say drop the Mexico run do you mean drop San Diego? My map is clockwise staring in LA (where we're planning to fly to)

Sorry, when I zoomed in I saw you weren't actually going into Mexico. I have a bit of a fear of LA, maybe irrationally. (I think Bill Bryson said something like "I'm glad there is a place for all the crazy people in the world, I just don't want to visit it."

I'd quite like to see San Diego though. I just thought it was an easier chop to gain a couple of days.

Personally, I'd fly to SF, as it's probably a bit shorter flight, and go clockwise so I had the LA to SF coast road to look forward too. (I wouldn't fancy the LV to LA road as the last drive.)

I'd have a couple of days in LA to see what it's like, and if I liked it go back to do the studios etc on another trip, and hit San Diego and Mexico on that trip.

It's up to you though, you know your likes and dislikes better than I do!

Thanks. Sorry.. I'm an idiot. When I said clockwise, I meant anti-clockwise.

The plan was to start in LA and go round - LV, Grand Canyon, Death valley etc etc, although your advise about flying into SF is tempting.. I'll have a think! You're saying the same route but start in SF instead of LA?

I've read other negative opinions of LA too, but we'd like to at least see for ourselves

Edited by Howard- on Tuesday 9th February 13:45

Edited by Howard- on Tuesday 9th February 14:04

[Howard-]

louiebaby said:

Howard- said:

I've read other negative opinions of LA too, but we'd like to at least see for ourselves

Exactly the right attitude!

You'll have a great time! We flew into SF, had a couple of days, bought tickets for Alcatraz, went touring for 2 weeks to Yosemite and Lake Tahoe, and came back to SF, did Alcatraz, and flew home.

The second trip was from SF to Vegas, through Yosemite, with a couple of days at the Grand Canyon.

Sounds great

I think we'll enjoy ourselves whatever we do, it's just the initial planning that's daunting at first! Should we book hotels where possible, if we're 100% sure we'll be somewhere on a certain date? There don't seem to be ANY vacancies in the Yosemite area

[Howard-]

Good point on the immigration front, will book somewhere in LA. As for the rest, yeah I'm sure there's no shortage!

[Howard-]

Was thinking of staying somewhere in or near LA on the first night (shortly after we land), and picking up the hire car from the airport the next morning, saves paying for an extra day of hire

Edited by Howard- on Wednesday 10th February 08:24

[Howard-]

That little Sea Shore Motel place looks great, in a nice area to explore, and cheap, so I think you might be right

I'm glad I made this thread

[Howard-]

K50 DEL said:

Howard- said:

That little Sea Shore Motel place looks great, in a nice area to explore, and cheap, so I think you might be right

I'm glad I made this thread

It was a cracking little place, several good bars and restaraunts within walking distance and easy enough to get to from LAX as well - I have a US Sat Nav, but even with just maps it'll be pretty straightforward.
I found it through a recommendation on another site, and I certainly didn't regret my choice.

If you end up in Santa Barbara on the last night, there's a similar place there called the Presidio Motel that was a great way to end my trip!

I like trying to stay in non-chain places, they're invariably nicer than a generic days inn

I have a US map for my TomTom too, so no problems in that regard

Re your last paragraph, I found that in Florida too

[Howard-]

Well the flights are booked, it's actually happening

Now for the planning!

I'm thinking that Sea Shore Motel place looks like a nice place for the first night in Santa Monica in a nice area for exploring, unless anyone else has any other suggestions?


I wish car hire wasn't so expensive but needs must... Around £400 with the young driver surcharge

[Howard-]

K50 DEL said:

Howard- said:

I wish car hire wasn't so expensive but needs must... Around £400 with the young driver surcharge

I'm assuming you're flying into LAX... what dates are you hiring the car from/to?

29th May till 11th June

[Howard-]

Yeah the prices I've been getting do include the CDW

[Howard-]

Hertz, it's about £430 with the young driver charge, seems to be similar in most places like carhire3000 etc (by the time I add on the $15-$25/day they don't include)

[Howard-]

Thought I'd bump this seeing as we're going on Saturday

Any more info anyone wants to share? What to see, etc? Our route consists pretty much of LA > San Bernardino > Mojave > Las Gegas > Death Valley > Yosemite > San Fran > Monterey > Down the coast back to LAX

[Howard-]

So you're saying that code waives the right for them to charge you when you arrive? As that's when you pay the underage surcharge, not when you book..

[Howard-]

Son of a...