west coast fly drive?

franklally

debs66 wrote: »

we were going to do a similar loop last year, and planned to fly into SF first to aclimatise and get into the time zone before picking up a car and heading out. the kids then decided they didn't want to live out of a suitcase so we changed our plans and hired a beach house as a 2 week base.


Any suggestions on where I can look for hiring a beach house for 1 week at the beginning of August?

mitchg

I had a beach house in Oceanside thats north of San Diego but only by maybe 30minutes and south of LA by about an hour and a quater a good location for both. But not so good for SF Vegas and so on but great forn the lower end of California and its beaches Islands and Mexico we used this after flying into LA and doing 10 days travelling so we then settled down here for a week. There was a very good restaurant bar here that on the Sunday done an all U can eat and drink Champagne brunch.. some were still having bottles to their table of 4 about 4pm a bargain and really good too we just missed out on it i think last orders was about 1 or 1:30 darn i could of easily sipped champagne over looking the harbour but had to do with beers for the guys and cocktails for the ladies.

franklally

Have you any booking details for this?

mitchg

Franklally if you mean me do i have any details for this then yes, this was the site we stayed on North Coast Village i do however have the contact details for the lady who we rented off. We actually rented 3 condos 2x2 bed suitable for 4 persons and 1x3bed suitable for 6 persons. The site is quite nice outside pool, gym, pitch and putt, snooker and pool room, outside bbq area with use of free grills. And its situated right on the beach which is what we were specifically looking for to cut down any driving. Is within walking distance to the harbour which has a fantastic chip shop and brother in laws states best fish and chips he has ever had, a couple of bars/restaurants. A couple of gift shops but the main shops are about 10minute drive for the large supermarketWalmart and another one named Ralphs i think it was and this was the better one. All the condos came fully equiped with tv video dvd players and dvd's some pool games bats and ball beach toys chairs etc, all you'd need really for a few quiet days by the sea.

debs66_2

Hi, we stayed 8 miles south of Oceanside, in a place called Encinitas. we had looked at North Coast Village but reports said it was the apartment complex and pretty much that, apart from a naval base.

we rented via www.vrbo.com

the home we rented was this one http://www.vrbo.com/92206

there are quite a lot of private rental sites in the US. just type in a search for 'vacation rentals' and take your pick. as we would have wanted 2 rooms in a hotel, with 2 teen girls and my partner and I, it worked out on average pretty much the same, and we ended up with loads more - garage, 2 bathrooms, lounge, kitchen, internet and PC, TVs in every room etc etc. a real home from home. so much so we are already rebooked!

arealhighlander

Funnily enough wife and I have just booked a flight to San Francisco for mid May going for 17 days. Got a good deal with BA, I used 50k BA miles to upgrade us to Club World, so got 2 returns in Club World (full flat beds!) for £900 each Flying LHR-SFO.

Spent a while now looking at maps of California and have decided there is no way you can see everything in one trip. We are doing 3D/4N in San Francisco, down to Carmel for a night, across to Yosemite for 3D/4N then up to Napa and the wine valleys for 5 days or so, across to the Coast to stay at Inverness (as we live near there in Scotland we fancy going there!) before a final day in San Francisco before heading home.

I decided against LA, Las Vegas etc. and will save Southern California for a future visit

I dont want to spend my whole holiday driving about staying in a different bed every night :rotfl:

Unfortunately I have discovered why accommodation was difficult for the end of May until I read about Memorial day

franklally

Thanks mitchg and debs66 - you've certainly given me something to think about:beer:

mitchg

Franklally its the way to go to be honest especially with kids do the dives the visits for 10 days then do a nice chill out let the kids have the pool and beach etc and just do a couple of half days, San Diego zoo, Meixco Tiajuana although not a great place its nice for a day out to see the shocking difference between the US and the Mexicans sides of life, San Diego harbour to see the old Naval aircraft carrier other boats across the bridge to the Coronada, old town San Diego. Yes lots to do and can all be done leisurely in a little over half days either from Oceanside or Encinitas. And as a bonus from these places you can even get a train so leave the car behind we didnt as car is more convienient. They arent cheap though i will add but is worth settling down for a period to rest up and chill out, we did enjoy bbq'ing a couple of evenings by the pool side our kids enjoyed the facilities that were on offer too. Everything we needed was supplied in our apartments for the beach bbq pool and games areas.
You will enjoy.

sicoe_2

Hi All

this july i am looking at doing the below route

12th July fly into LA with virgin, i was going to do 5 nights in la but was wondering if anyone could give me advice, my next destination is san francisco and was wondering if i cut a night off la and drove down to san francisco and stayed somewhere on the way, ive heard it is about 7 or 8 hours via highway 1 (scenic route) to san fran which is fine if i had somewhere to stay in a hotel inbetween, i fancy san diego so can anyone tell me if it is on the way, if not is there anywhere nice on the way.

my destination is then off to las vegas from san fran but have heard it will take a whole day to drive there so if this is correct i will get an internal flight and then spend 6 or 7 nights in vegas and then fly home with virgin

any help would be most greatful

thanks simon

Murphy_The_Cat

sicoe wrote: »

Hi All

this july i am looking at doing the below route

12th July fly into LA with virgin, i was going to do 5 nights in la but was wondering if anyone could give me advice, my next destination is san francisco and was wondering if i cut a night off la and drove down to san francisco and stayed somewhere on the way, ive heard it is about 7 or 8 hours via highway 1 (scenic route) to san fran which is fine if i had somewhere to stay in a hotel inbetween, i fancy san diego so can anyone tell me if it is on the way, if not is there anywhere nice on the way.

my destination is then off to las vegas from san fran but have heard it will take a whole day to drive there so if this is correct i will get an internal flight and then spend 6 or 7 nights in vegas and then fly home with virgin

any help would be most greatful

thanks simon

Hi Simon

the first thing that will help your planning is looking on a mapping website like Mapquest that will give you a real feel for the geographic position of places, plus, if you use the directions function, you'll get a surprisingly accurate time estimate of each leg.

For a suitable place to break your LA - SFO leg, have a look at Santa Barbara or San Luis Obispo - both are nice 'small town America type places'.

Personally, I'd knock 4 days off your LA stay and spend it elsewhere :rotfl:

good luck and happy planning. :beer: