California over Christmas - Automoblile things to do?
Discussion
Is it a good idea to California over Christmas? My wife and I are both off work for two weeks so we have decided to visit California for 8 to 10 days (there is flexibility).
It would be our first time visiting America and aside from doing the usual tourist things, what car/automobile things are there that we can do? As we will be visiting while its Christmas I'm assuming this may limit our options aswell?
I already have the Petersen Museum on the list but not sure what else there is that we can do? Our 2 yr old will be with us so would need to be family friendly.
We are renting a car and wondering if it is worth driving along the coast to San Francisco and flying back from there?
It would be our first time visiting America and aside from doing the usual tourist things, what car/automobile things are there that we can do? As we will be visiting while its Christmas I'm assuming this may limit our options aswell?
I already have the Petersen Museum on the list but not sure what else there is that we can do? Our 2 yr old will be with us so would need to be family friendly.
We are renting a car and wondering if it is worth driving along the coast to San Francisco and flying back from there?
Edited by EmilA on Monday 5th August 15:42
designforlife said:
We've done LA over christmas two years running as my wife is from there...
-Renting a car is an absolute must, you won't get by without.
-The Petersen is a must-see, it's worth springing extra for the vault tour. My MiL works there, wave if you see her
-There are numerous car meets that go on throughout LA and the valley over christmas, http://www.socalcarculture.com/events.html
-Do drive plenty of the canyon roads, Mulholland and Topanga are great, but there's quite a few more.
Le me know if you want to know more or anything specific.
Thank you for the information, I forgot about the canyon roads!-Renting a car is an absolute must, you won't get by without.
-The Petersen is a must-see, it's worth springing extra for the vault tour. My MiL works there, wave if you see her
-There are numerous car meets that go on throughout LA and the valley over christmas, http://www.socalcarculture.com/events.html
-Do drive plenty of the canyon roads, Mulholland and Topanga are great, but there's quite a few more.
Le me know if you want to know more or anything specific.
Space Shuttle Endeavour would be quite cool to go to aswell so I'll add that to our list. My son will love that.
I've been looking at hotels the last two days and we were thinking of staying towards Downtown LA or Hollywood Boulevard so far as its a few minutes walk to a number of places we want to visit.
Didn't thinking there was much point staying by the beach during December as though its warmer than the UK, it'll still be below 18c most of the time?
Didn't thinking there was much point staying by the beach during December as though its warmer than the UK, it'll still be below 18c most of the time?
Never saw Ice Hockey before, that'll be quite interesting to watch. I don't know if it is engaging enough to keep a 2yr busy though? Same would go for a basketball game. I've been to the BBL finals in Birmingham 4 or 5 times and it has good entertainment but would struggle to keep him engaged for the length of a game. Could consider going alone but might have used that card already since I'm going Tokyo with friends instead of my family next month!
We are only looking at staying in Santa Monica now, came across the Comfort Inn hotel on Santa Monica Boulevard with free parking for a decent price, with good reviews to match on Trip Advisor. Quite tempted to book it but going to check some others out as well. It looks to be about a 10 minute drive to the pier.
Everyone is telling me to avoid downtown LA and Hollywood. I even saw a review off the Petersen Museum where someone had their car broken into while it was parked in their parking area!
We are only looking at staying in Santa Monica now, came across the Comfort Inn hotel on Santa Monica Boulevard with free parking for a decent price, with good reviews to match on Trip Advisor. Quite tempted to book it but going to check some others out as well. It looks to be about a 10 minute drive to the pier.
Everyone is telling me to avoid downtown LA and Hollywood. I even saw a review off the Petersen Museum where someone had their car broken into while it was parked in their parking area!
The trip was initially meant to be touring California visiting a few places but costs & time ruled this out. We've settled on spending 8 days there instead of 14.
All opinions welcome though, never been across the Pacific so getting as much information as possible.
A quick look at our itinerary shows that we'll spend 2.5 days in LA itself when visiting Universal Studios, Petersen Museum & Disneyland Park, and potentially include the walk of fame/Chinese theatre.
Otherwise we'll be visiting Griffin Park and its surrounding areas, Exposition Park etc. A good thing about staying in Santa Monica is being able to walk down to Venice Beach aswell.
We have been to Thailand, driven most of western Europe, gone Dubai, Bangladesh etc so America can't be as bad, can it?
All opinions welcome though, never been across the Pacific so getting as much information as possible.
A quick look at our itinerary shows that we'll spend 2.5 days in LA itself when visiting Universal Studios, Petersen Museum & Disneyland Park, and potentially include the walk of fame/Chinese theatre.
Otherwise we'll be visiting Griffin Park and its surrounding areas, Exposition Park etc. A good thing about staying in Santa Monica is being able to walk down to Venice Beach aswell.
We have been to Thailand, driven most of western Europe, gone Dubai, Bangladesh etc so America can't be as bad, can it?
Noted regarding the aquarium. He loves visiting them! I'll also try my best to avoid stumbling into a live action re-make of Breaking Bad ha.
Also given it some more thought, I might just drive into Hollywood, the walk of fame etc and simply drive past it instead of parking up and walking around, least then I have laid my eyes upon those areas and can move on to something else.
Also given it some more thought, I might just drive into Hollywood, the walk of fame etc and simply drive past it instead of parking up and walking around, least then I have laid my eyes upon those areas and can move on to something else.
Taken if off topic myself but a studio room at a beach front hotel has been booked in Santa Monica. Thanks to all for the suggestions.
Also saw the Marconi Museum isn't to far away so will try and go there. Petersen Museum also confirmed that they are open during Christmas with the exception of Christmas Day.
Also saw the Marconi Museum isn't to far away so will try and go there. Petersen Museum also confirmed that they are open during Christmas with the exception of Christmas Day.
NNH said:
Welcome to SoCal. I'm an ex-Londoner, and I've lived here on and off since 2003. Right now we're in Pasadena, which is a bit warm in summer but very peaceful.
You've got a great location in Santa Monica. You can drive north to Malibu and Santa Barbara, or cut inland on Topanga Canyon Blvd to get some amazing views - I commuted along there for a while, and it always cheered me up! You're also close to the Getty Villa, which is free but needs to be booked online.
If you can take a day to hit Orange County, then I recommend renting a classic Mustang from www.classicmustangrentals.com in Newport Beach. I rented one for my wife's birthday last February and she loved it. Even in winter, the weather is great for a top-down drive along the coast. While you're in OC, check if AutoKennel have any events planned on www.autokennel.com/events/
Paul at Autokennel is a great guy, and they usually have some gorgeous cars for sale and to gawp at.
Finally, if you're any kind of aviation geek, I recommend spending an hour at the In-N-Out burger next to LAX, watching the runway as you eat America's best burger (yes, Five Guys is OK, but this is better).
That's a helpful post, thank you.You've got a great location in Santa Monica. You can drive north to Malibu and Santa Barbara, or cut inland on Topanga Canyon Blvd to get some amazing views - I commuted along there for a while, and it always cheered me up! You're also close to the Getty Villa, which is free but needs to be booked online.
If you can take a day to hit Orange County, then I recommend renting a classic Mustang from www.classicmustangrentals.com in Newport Beach. I rented one for my wife's birthday last February and she loved it. Even in winter, the weather is great for a top-down drive along the coast. While you're in OC, check if AutoKennel have any events planned on www.autokennel.com/events/
Paul at Autokennel is a great guy, and they usually have some gorgeous cars for sale and to gawp at.
Finally, if you're any kind of aviation geek, I recommend spending an hour at the In-N-Out burger next to LAX, watching the runway as you eat America's best burger (yes, Five Guys is OK, but this is better).
I will look into the classic mustang, we have rented out a Mazda 2 while we are there, might be the wrong choice but though as it's December it isn't convertible weather. Might have to reassess our choice.
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