southern cali,suggestions on things to do for non first time

[steveo3002]

were off to southern california in october , its not the first time weve been so we have done disney , universal , hollywood blah .

looking for some other places to visit within a daytrip from orange county

any suggestions please

[Mattt]

Possibly a long day trip - but my favourite place in Cali is Hearst Castle - I wasn't expecting much, but it really was the highlight of the trip to visit and learn about the history of the place. Got some stunning photos somewhere.

Queen Mary (or QE2) is there is in Long Beach IIRC - not sure if they do tours etc.

[steveo3002]

yeah thanks

id got hearst down on the maybe list , wasnt sure if its worth the long trip/expense

how many tours did you take ?

[Roo]

Newport, Huntington or Balboa Island.

[steveo3002]

Roo said:

Newport, Huntington or Balboa Island.

been to those places

[SystemParanoia]

arnie ?

[Roo]

San Diego.

[K50 DEL]

steveo3002 said:

yeah thanks

id got hearst down on the maybe list , wasnt sure if its worth the long trip/expense

how many tours did you take ?

Hearst is worth the flight from the UK on its own, it's quite simply the most amazing place you'll ever visit.

Some tips... the tours book up way way in advance, don't do the advanced tours before you do the initial one and whatever you do, watch the video in the welcome centre before doing the tour - it's 20 minutes long or so and will add so much to the tour.

[Arese]

K50 DEL said:

steveo3002 said:

yeah thanks

id got hearst down on the maybe list , wasnt sure if its worth the long trip/expense

how many tours did you take ?

Hearst is worth the flight from the UK on its own, it's quite simply the most amazing place you'll ever visit.

Some tips... the tours book up way way in advance, don't do the advanced tours before you do the initial one and whatever you do, watch the video in the welcome centre before doing the tour - it's 20 minutes long or so and will add so much to the tour.

We're going in September and I'm currently struggling to convince my wife that Hearst Castle is a must. I'm basing that purely on what people have said on PH, so I can understand why she's a little cautious!

[K50 DEL]

Arese said:

K50 DEL said:

steveo3002 said:

yeah thanks

id got hearst down on the maybe list , wasnt sure if its worth the long trip/expense

how many tours did you take ?

Hearst is worth the flight from the UK on its own, it's quite simply the most amazing place you'll ever visit.

Some tips... the tours book up way way in advance, don't do the advanced tours before you do the initial one and whatever you do, watch the video in the welcome centre before doing the tour - it's 20 minutes long or so and will add so much to the tour.

We're going in September and I'm currently struggling to convince my wife that Hearst Castle is a must. I'm basing that purely on what people have said on PH, so I can understand why she's a little cautious!

I'm trying to think what I can say that you can pass on to your other half, given that I'm just some random bloke on the Internet....

Let's put it this way, I went to Hearst Castle on the penultimate day of a 24 day, 6000 mile, 5 state road trip and it was the best thing I did. I've never been to a tourist attraction that pulled at the heartstrings at the same time as being genuinely heartwarming.
To be honest, its attraction is as much the back story as it is the site itself and I will go back to SoCal in the future simply to do the tours that I was unable to do this time.

I have dozens of photos of the place, unfortunately they're all over 2mb and the stupid PH image thing can't resize.

[Arese]

K50 DEL said:

Arese said:

K50 DEL said:

steveo3002 said:

yeah thanks

id got hearst down on the maybe list , wasnt sure if its worth the long trip/expense

how many tours did you take ?

Hearst is worth the flight from the UK on its own, it's quite simply the most amazing place you'll ever visit.

Some tips... the tours book up way way in advance, don't do the advanced tours before you do the initial one and whatever you do, watch the video in the welcome centre before doing the tour - it's 20 minutes long or so and will add so much to the tour.

We're going in September and I'm currently struggling to convince my wife that Hearst Castle is a must. I'm basing that purely on what people have said on PH, so I can understand why she's a little cautious!

I'm trying to think what I can say that you can pass on to your other half, given that I'm just some random bloke on the Internet....

Let's put it this way, I went to Hearst Castle on the penultimate day of a 24 day, 6000 mile, 5 state road trip and it was the best thing I did. I've never been to a tourist attraction that pulled at the heartstrings at the same time as being genuinely heartwarming.
To be honest, its attraction is as much the back story as it is the site itself and I will go back to SoCal in the future simply to do the tours that I was unable to do this time.

I have dozens of photos of the place, unfortunately they're all over 2mb and the stupid PH image thing can't resize.

I'm sure that'll do it. I'll show her this thread later and get the 'Tour 1' booked, which I believe also includes the video you mentioned. $24

[K50 DEL]

Arese said:

K50 DEL said:

Arese said:

K50 DEL said:

steveo3002 said:

yeah thanks

id got hearst down on the maybe list , wasnt sure if its worth the long trip/expense

how many tours did you take ?

Hearst is worth the flight from the UK on its own, it's quite simply the most amazing place you'll ever visit.

Some tips... the tours book up way way in advance, don't do the advanced tours before you do the initial one and whatever you do, watch the video in the welcome centre before doing the tour - it's 20 minutes long or so and will add so much to the tour.

We're going in September and I'm currently struggling to convince my wife that Hearst Castle is a must. I'm basing that purely on what people have said on PH, so I can understand why she's a little cautious!

I'm trying to think what I can say that you can pass on to your other half, given that I'm just some random bloke on the Internet....

Let's put it this way, I went to Hearst Castle on the penultimate day of a 24 day, 6000 mile, 5 state road trip and it was the best thing I did. I've never been to a tourist attraction that pulled at the heartstrings at the same time as being genuinely heartwarming.
To be honest, its attraction is as much the back story as it is the site itself and I will go back to SoCal in the future simply to do the tours that I was unable to do this time.

I have dozens of photos of the place, unfortunately they're all over 2mb and the stupid PH image thing can't resize.

I'm sure that'll do it. I'll show her this thread later and get the 'Tour 1' booked, which I believe also includes the video you mentioned. $24

Tour 1 does indeed include the video.... I was running late so had to watch it after the tour which was OK, however it would definately have added another dimension to tour 1 if I'd watched it beforehand.
You will end tour 1 wanting to do another tour, so if you have the time in the area, book that also!

[Arese]

K50 DEL said:

Arese said:

K50 DEL said:

Arese said:

K50 DEL said:

steveo3002 said:

yeah thanks

id got hearst down on the maybe list , wasnt sure if its worth the long trip/expense

how many tours did you take ?

Hearst is worth the flight from the UK on its own, it's quite simply the most amazing place you'll ever visit.

Some tips... the tours book up way way in advance, don't do the advanced tours before you do the initial one and whatever you do, watch the video in the welcome centre before doing the tour - it's 20 minutes long or so and will add so much to the tour.

We're going in September and I'm currently struggling to convince my wife that Hearst Castle is a must. I'm basing that purely on what people have said on PH, so I can understand why she's a little cautious!

I'm trying to think what I can say that you can pass on to your other half, given that I'm just some random bloke on the Internet....

Let's put it this way, I went to Hearst Castle on the penultimate day of a 24 day, 6000 mile, 5 state road trip and it was the best thing I did. I've never been to a tourist attraction that pulled at the heartstrings at the same time as being genuinely heartwarming.
To be honest, its attraction is as much the back story as it is the site itself and I will go back to SoCal in the future simply to do the tours that I was unable to do this time.

I have dozens of photos of the place, unfortunately they're all over 2mb and the stupid PH image thing can't resize.

I'm sure that'll do it. I'll show her this thread later and get the 'Tour 1' booked, which I believe also includes the video you mentioned. $24

Tour 1 does indeed include the video.... I was running late so had to watch it after the tour which was OK, however it would definately have added another dimension to tour 1 if I'd watched it beforehand.
You will end tour 1 wanting to do another tour, so if you have the time in the area, book that also!

Well, we are flying to LAX and spending 15 days over there. Our route will be south to San Diego, north-east to Las Vegas, north-west to San Francisco, and then back south to LAX. So we might be a bit pushed for time.

[K50 DEL]

Arese said:

K50 DEL said:

Arese said:

K50 DEL said:

Arese said:

K50 DEL said:

steveo3002 said:

yeah thanks

id got hearst down on the maybe list , wasnt sure if its worth the long trip/expense

how many tours did you take ?

Hearst is worth the flight from the UK on its own, it's quite simply the most amazing place you'll ever visit.

Some tips... the tours book up way way in advance, don't do the advanced tours before you do the initial one and whatever you do, watch the video in the welcome centre before doing the tour - it's 20 minutes long or so and will add so much to the tour.

We're going in September and I'm currently struggling to convince my wife that Hearst Castle is a must. I'm basing that purely on what people have said on PH, so I can understand why she's a little cautious!

I'm trying to think what I can say that you can pass on to your other half, given that I'm just some random bloke on the Internet....

Let's put it this way, I went to Hearst Castle on the penultimate day of a 24 day, 6000 mile, 5 state road trip and it was the best thing I did. I've never been to a tourist attraction that pulled at the heartstrings at the same time as being genuinely heartwarming.
To be honest, its attraction is as much the back story as it is the site itself and I will go back to SoCal in the future simply to do the tours that I was unable to do this time.

I have dozens of photos of the place, unfortunately they're all over 2mb and the stupid PH image thing can't resize.

I'm sure that'll do it. I'll show her this thread later and get the 'Tour 1' booked, which I believe also includes the video you mentioned. $24

Tour 1 does indeed include the video.... I was running late so had to watch it after the tour which was OK, however it would definately have added another dimension to tour 1 if I'd watched it beforehand.
You will end tour 1 wanting to do another tour, so if you have the time in the area, book that also!

Well, we are flying to LAX and spending 15 days over there. Our route will be south to San Diego, north-east to Las Vegas, north-west to San Francisco, and then back south to LAX. So we might be a bit pushed for time.

Well you're doing a fair amount of the same route that I did, so if you want some suggestions of things to do, and some photos (including Hearst) then take a look at the travel blog I wrote

http://www.roadtripamerica.com/forum/showthread.ph...

[Arese]

K50 DEL said:

Arese said:

K50 DEL said:

Arese said:

K50 DEL said:

Arese said:

K50 DEL said:

steveo3002 said:

yeah thanks

id got hearst down on the maybe list , wasnt sure if its worth the long trip/expense

how many tours did you take ?

Hearst is worth the flight from the UK on its own, it's quite simply the most amazing place you'll ever visit.

Some tips... the tours book up way way in advance, don't do the advanced tours before you do the initial one and whatever you do, watch the video in the welcome centre before doing the tour - it's 20 minutes long or so and will add so much to the tour.

We're going in September and I'm currently struggling to convince my wife that Hearst Castle is a must. I'm basing that purely on what people have said on PH, so I can understand why she's a little cautious!

I'm trying to think what I can say that you can pass on to your other half, given that I'm just some random bloke on the Internet....

Let's put it this way, I went to Hearst Castle on the penultimate day of a 24 day, 6000 mile, 5 state road trip and it was the best thing I did. I've never been to a tourist attraction that pulled at the heartstrings at the same time as being genuinely heartwarming.
To be honest, its attraction is as much the back story as it is the site itself and I will go back to SoCal in the future simply to do the tours that I was unable to do this time.

I have dozens of photos of the place, unfortunately they're all over 2mb and the stupid PH image thing can't resize.

I'm sure that'll do it. I'll show her this thread later and get the 'Tour 1' booked, which I believe also includes the video you mentioned. $24

Tour 1 does indeed include the video.... I was running late so had to watch it after the tour which was OK, however it would definately have added another dimension to tour 1 if I'd watched it beforehand.
You will end tour 1 wanting to do another tour, so if you have the time in the area, book that also!

Well, we are flying to LAX and spending 15 days over there. Our route will be south to San Diego, north-east to Las Vegas, north-west to San Francisco, and then back south to LAX. So we might be a bit pushed for time.

Well you're doing a fair amount of the same route that I did, so if you want some suggestions of things to do, and some photos (including Hearst) then take a look at the travel blog I wrote

http://www.roadtripamerica.com/forum/showthread.ph...

Great stuff. I'll have a read of that when I get home later.