California Coast and LA

n57602000

I am heading over to San Francisco for 2 weeks end of the month i want to travel down the coast to LA and maybe San Diego i have 7 to 8 days to travel from San Francisco and then return again.

Just wanting some advice and help and guidance to where i should go on the coast and stay and visit and the same in LA and whether i should carry on down to San Deigo.

Cheaper the better i dont mind good located motels and hostels as i am staying in the Hilton and Hyatt in San Francisco at the beginning and end of the trip :money:

Many thanks in advance anythin to help out would be wonderful

tingtong

n57602000 wrote: »

I am heading over to San Francisco for 2 weeks end of the month i want to travel down the coast to LA and maybe San Diego i have 7 to 8 days to travel from San Francisco and then return again.

Just wanting some advice and help and guidance to where i should go on the coast and stay and visit and the same in LA and whether i should carry on down to San Deigo.

Cheaper the better i dont mind good located motels and hostels as i am staying in the Hilton and Hyatt in San Francisco at the beginning and end of the trip :money:

Many thanks in advance anythin to help out would be wonderful

I can't really advise on where to stay (between SF and SD) but one thing I would suggest you consider is to drive one way, then fly back. That way, you'll not be covering the same ground and you will get more time in the places you choose to stay. Just a thought !

Virgin America do one-way flights for around $60 each (really nice aircraft). If you do go down this route, have a look on https://www.kayak.co.uk to check for flight prices.

Hope this helps.

merlinormartin

I agree with TingTong; drive one-way and fly back?

Road Trip America has some great ideas and road planning advice.

Enjoy your trip!

HGLTsuperstar

LA is a dump = one-big sprawl and a huge disappointment.
San Diego is another story - GO GO GO!!!
If you want to go to Disneyland (Universal is way better) then Anaheim is acutally closer to SD than LA and can do in a day.
San Diego = must do the day-trip to Tiajuna, mad but a real experience.
LA is good for one thing - the flight home

JAZ63

Hi ,
cant really help you with places to visit ,as it has been a long time since I visited LA ,however a good chain of hotels to use that I can recomend is the BEST WESTERN hotel chain. we have used them when travelling in USA and CANADA and found them to be great value ,clean and good convenient locations .we have booked online and even changed bookings when on holiday i(in order to stay longer at a location) with no probs at all
hope you have a great holiday
regards Jaz

Alan_Bowen

So long as you are travelling in March and not straying into the Easter period, book as you go along. You must see Carmel, but its very expensive to stay there, Hearst Castle, Solvang( why build Denmark in California, but they did) Santa Barbara(maybe stay in Ventura which is a lot cheaper) then hit a southern california beach, see Venice but definately don't stay there, maybe Newport Beach(think OC) and if you have time take the Newport Flyer out to Catalina Island for a complete contrast, and then spend as long as you can in San Diego, perfection. If you are there on a Sunday spend it in Balboa Park, entertainment, the zoo, lots of museums, just a perfect day if the weather is good, explore La Jolla but don't spend too much and drive along the coast past Pacific, Mission and Ocean beaches and choose where you would like to retire to. I have to say you will find it all a lot nicer than San Francisco which I really dislike, staying downtown I found walking outside a real eye openeer, the homeless are very aggressive and I hated the place.

n57602000

I dont mind driving back as there is two of us sharing the car me and my partner, as we will probably be taking the coastal road down and the main highway back up as it will costs $120 for both us with a flight when car hire is only $20 a day so i dont mind the 5/6 hour drive back up.

Def going to go to Hearst Castle and Solvang (as partner is Danish) and Santa Barbara so with these places how long do you think in each place? Where to stay?

Want to go to LA to say i been there and seen the sights as well might as well as its on the way and also San Diego any recommendations to where to stay/visit?

I like to go over the border as well to experience it.

I have got the Hilton booked for 3 nights in San Francisco and then the Hyatt in Fishermans Wharf for 7th and 8th. So just needing a plan for 30th to the 6th now with places to visit, stay, see, experience........

trets77

The Monterey Peninsula should definatly be on your list of places to visit . Monterey is great place to eat and have fun .

Santa Cruz is worth a visit IMO . The town itself isn't much , but the Boardwalk and Pier are pleasant stops . if you do go near to Santa Cruz , make sure you visit this place http://www.mysteryspot.com/

it is not that well signposted from the Town , but is well worth searching out .

Do drive the Pacific coast highway , unless you are nervous driver .

Solvang is a very curious place what with it's fake windmills and chain hotels . we had lunch there at a great pancake house

amcluesent

I'd consider going north over the Golden Gate into the redwood forrest and see the volcanic black sand on the beaches, then go through the vineyards of Marin County and then along the east shore of SF Bay through Berkeley and back across the Bay Bridge to SF, before starting south on the Pacific Highway and travel down via Big Sur with a detour to San Jose.

IMHO, that's a more interesting place set of visits than Los Angeles which isn't so nice, appart from the museums and concert hall.

That occupied me for 1 week, getting to San Diego would be a thrash.

I reckon that there will still be freezing sea fogs in the Bay at the time you travel.

socks_uk

My sister lives in San Diego and we have visited her a couple of times travelling as far north as Eureka and as far south as Tjuana over the Mexico border. I agree.. Everything is spread far and wide in CA.

You don't mention children so I would give Disneyland a miss unless you think you 'should' go because you are in CA. Disneyworld in Florida is far better. Universal Studios is good as is San Diego Wild Animal Park. There is also San Diego Zoo but I've not been there.

My sister tells me that Tjuana isn't a safe place at the moment, not that it was a particularly nice place when I went there in 1998. You have to be prepared for the children begging on the side of the streets and also watch your personal belongings.

Most people's reaction of 'the handprints' and 'the stars' in Hollywood is "oh, was that it?". Don't think that you would be able to get close to the famous 'Hollywood sign'. You can't without climbing up a hill. If you see photos of anyone with it close up behind them then they are actually posing for the photo at Universal Studios!

I didn't see that much between Hollywood and San Francisco. Alcatraz is an experience not to miss but you may find you have to book a couple of days in advance. Pier 39 is worth a look, especially if you go to the end of the pier and look at the noisy seals. Lombard street is the 'zig-zag' street that you see card winding down, but you can walk down the footpath as well although it it straight if I remember right. We also visited the Ghiridelli Chocolate Factory but, as I don't really like any American chocolate, I wouldn't reccommend going.

If your not going north of San Francisco then this won't be of any interest to you but for anyone else planning to go I would say to definately go up to where the Giant Redwood Trees are. We literally drove through one! (google chanelier tree or drive-thru tree) I would also say that that we had a fantastic experience at the Samoa Cookhouse in Humboldt County near Eureka. It is a restaurant where you sit at long tables and pass plates of food around and help yourself 'Waltons style'! Great place.
Eureks have some fantastic wooden 'spooky looking' architecture. I wish I had my photos handy!

Hope this is all of some help to someone.


Oh yeah, when travelling on the east coast we used Econolodge for cheap rooms. Not sure if they are on west coast too.

realised

We are doing the drive from san francisco to LA this summer too... We're doing a one way flight, arriving at sfo and leaving from lax.

I would definately recommend going to the Big sur its in between SF and LA, we are staying at a place called san simeon, half way between san francisco and LA. It's also very close to hearst castle. (there are some cheapish hotels in san simeon).

The scenic route (on hwy 1) is the best route to take scenery-wise, but it takes longer.

In LA, We always stay in Culver City. This is because it is a safe area, not packed with tourists and relatively cheap for hotels (try hotwire). It's also quite central so not too far to drive to any places you may want to go. Culver city is also very close to Venice beach and Santa Monica

With regards to stuff to do in LA- There are the usual things like Universal Studios.. I agree it is a better visit than Disneyland for adults, the beaches and of course shopping! Rodeo drive is nice and there are a few shopping centres I would recommend such as The Grove and Westfields Century City.