west coast with no car?

[dozy]

we are thinking of doing west coast next year

WITH NO CAR

things we'd like to see/do: (not in any particular order)

san francisco -
alcatraz
fishermans warf

san diago -
zoo/sea world

LA
warner bros tour
universal
santa monica pier and beach

is this possible do you think?

[fleurbie]

Following as I too want to do a similar trip, its mainly LA that I think they recommend a car, but interested to see if its doable without 😆😆

[Colette-S]

Personally I wouldn’t do it without a car but I’m sure it’s doable using public transport. It’s quite a trek from SF to SD. If you are doing it I would suggest flying into one (SF/SD) and then out if the other and fitting LA and Santa Monica in between

[mrsdjh]

I’ve read some trip reports where they didn’t hire cars which would help you. They were by Oh_Darling and a couple by Disney Wishing.

[mickey68]

We did a West Coadt trip last year covering all the areas you are looking at. We hired a car as we wanted to do PCH and spend time stopping off at different places. Luckily DH loves driving! However there were days where the car was parked and we didn't use it. We didn't hire the car in San Francisco as parking is expensive and we didn't need it as we walked everywhere and used the cable cars. We did the Dylan's Tour which gave us a great overview of the city. In LA we stayed in Burbank and the car didn't move! We used uber to Universal less than $10 and Warner Brothers was close by but we didn't go. We did a tour - A Day in LA which again covered all the bits we wanted to see and ended in Santa Monica. We spent the evening in Santa Monica and got an uber back $35. We could have got the train which was cheaper but it was late. In San Diego we did the Trolley Tour to see the main bits and we did use the car to visit the beaches but we also used Uber on the evenings. If you stayed closer to areas you want to visit this would be possible. A car gives you more flexibility and you can see more but if you can't or don't want to drive it is doable as long as you can arrange travel between your locations which with internal flights/trains can be done.

[Guest]

How are you planning to get from San Francisco to San Diego then to LA without a car? It’s over 500 miles just from SF to S.D.

We did it last year a 3 week road trip taking in lots more than that but certainly would not consider it without a car

[disneypars]

I believe AMTRACK has a train leaving from Oakland San Francisco which goes all the way to San Diego via Los Angeles.
It's about 8-9 hours from SF to LA and a further 2 to SD.

[KarenG]

Originally Posted by dotb

How are you planning to get from San Francisco to San Diego then to LA without a car? It’s over 500 miles just from SF to S.D.

We did it last year a 3 week road trip taking in lots more than that but certainly would not consider it without a car

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Also There are many flights between the two and all very cheap.

Personally we prefer a car when ‘touring’ the west coast BUT it’s perfectly possible to do a multiple centre holiday without one.

[dozy]

my goodness lots to think about
i was looking at maybe


fly into SF

stay 3 days
see - fishermans warf, lombard st, alcatraz


fly to LA
stay 3 days
HOHO tour/ dylan's tour
(that LA in a day looks amazing though)
universal
day at santa monica beach


amtrak to san diego

3 days there

zoo
sea world

[dozy]

Originally Posted by mickey68

We did a West Coadt trip last year covering all the areas you are looking at. We hired a car as we wanted to do PCH and spend time stopping off at different places. Luckily DH loves driving! However there were days where the car was parked and we didn't use it. We didn't hire the car in San Francisco as parking is expensive and we didn't need it as we walked everywhere and used the cable cars. We did the Dylan's Tour which gave us a great overview of the city. In LA we stayed in Burbank and the car didn't move! We used uber to Universal less than $10 and Warner Brothers was close by but we didn't go. We did a tour - A Day in LA which again covered all the bits we wanted to see and ended in Santa Monica. We spent the evening in Santa Monica and got an uber back $35. We could have got the train which was cheaper but it was late. In San Diego we did the Trolley Tour to see the main bits and we did use the car to visit the beaches but we also used Uber on the evenings. If you stayed closer to areas you want to visit this would be possible. A car gives you more flexibility and you can see more but if you can't or don't want to drive it is doable as long as you can arrange travel between your locations which with internal flights/trains can be done.

See more...

can you give me ideas of places to stay that are kinda central please?
that day in LA sounds perfect for us