First time to California

[flossycandy]

We are tentatively planning a California road trip and I am totally out of my comfort zone. We enjoy going away the beginning of May so is this a good time of year for California?

Our sort of plan that we have come up with is:

Flying into LAX (these seem to be the better prices although we have zero interest in LA itself)
1 night at Santa Monica
1 night at Madonna Inn
2/3 nights at San Francisco
Long drive back down to Disneyland for 3/4 nights (not sure how much time we will need here)
1 night at Universal area then maybe a couple of nights at a beach front type hotel.

Do you tend to book all your hotels upfront or have a bit more spur of the moment approach?

Any advice gratefully received.

[fiona88]

The thing to bear in mind is that staying 1 night somewhere means you don't get a full day in that place, you're driving in one day and out the next.
It depends on how much you want to see in these places, but for my first time I'm going with 2-3 nights in each place so I get at least a full day, especially for somewhere like Universal where LA traffic could massively affect drive time.
For room booking I like to have somewhere booked ahead of time with a cancellation option, gives both security and flexibility.

[grant_w]

The first time we went we only went to 3 places, San Fran, Vegas and Anaheim and stayed there for 4, 4 and 6 nights respectively.
Last time we were more confident and stopped at some places in between like Monterey and also added San Diego.
On our way down the PCH, we had a night stop-off in Santa Barbara, but we literally arrived at sunset, went for a meal, slept then left the next morning, we saw nothing of it at all. That's the danger with 1 night stays.

I'd also be tempted to fly into one place, like SF, and only travel between SF and LA once, and then fly back from LAX. It really is a long trip.

[flossycandy]

I get what you mean about the 1 night thing but it is really tricky trying to juggle time. Our top places that we really want to visit are Disneyland, San Fran and the Madonna Inn but unfortunately they are so far apart! I can only have 14 days off work so it has to be in that time frame.

I did look at flying into one city and out of another but it came up mega expensive.

[pompeyboy]

Originally Posted by flossycandy

I did look at flying into one city and out of another but it came up mega expensive.

See more...

Keep looking we done a BA flight/car booking into SF and back from LAX for around £500pp. Got the train from the airport in SF and picked the car up when we left, drove down to Anaheim only had 10 nights in total, 3 in Sf 1 on the way down and then 6 in Anaheim, worked really well for us.

Just had a look, 3-16th may, Lon-SF return from LAX inc decent sized SUV around £600pp

[flossycandy]

Originally Posted by pompeyboy

Keep looking we done a BA flight/car booking into SF and back from LAX for around £500pp. Got the train from the airport in SF and picked the car up when we left, drove down to Anaheim only had 10 nights in total, 3 in Sf 1 on the way down and then 6 in Anaheim, worked really well for us.

Just had a look, 3-16th may, Lon-SF return from LAX inc decent sized SUV around £600pp

See more...

Wow, that's really good. It was all silly prices when I looked.

[jdouds]

Hi would agree with other peoples thoughts. Into San Fran and out of LA , how many nights have you in total.
Would suggest at least 3 San Fran , 2 Monterey and go whale watching ,slow drive down the coast with 2 n Santa Barbara and possibly a 1 n stop between. Followed by Disney etc, if you must ! If you have done Florida as we all have there's so much to see in CA you could possibly give it a miss

[kingofhonour]

Hi,we're off next May ,flights from Manchester to San Fran and return from lax to Manchester total price £700 for two adults,seats luggage all included,two different airlines thomas cook outbound and virgin inbound,might be worth a look at similar.

[400ixl]

Santa Monica isn't really worth a nights stop, its a place to visit for a couple of hours. As you drive north in early may it will get fairly chilly, so be prepared for some cold periods around San Francisco area.

Flying into San Fran would make a big difference, even if indirect flights in.

3 nights in San Fran if flying in from the UK
1 night Monterrey
1 night in the Madonna Inn if that is a must.
On the way down to LA from there you could visit Santa Monica
2 nights in the Hollywood areas for Universal and other things around there.
3-4 nights Anaheim for Disney
2 nights Redondo Beach

Leaves you one night spare, another night in Monterrey if you wish, or maybe Santa Barbara.

[cornishfrogboy]

Like the others, I would try for into 1 location and out of another.

We did this at Easter this year, flying in to San Francisco and out of Los Angeles and travelling all the way down to San Diego before coming back up.

We paid £575 pp for our flights (Delta codeshare flying Virgin) and thought this really good for the Easter school hols. We looked also at in and out of LA, but the savings were marginal.

Advantages of driving a ribbon route to your plan as it exists are as follows.
1. You would halve the driving miles from 900 plus to 450.
2. You would not need a car for your first 3 days in SFO, thus saving both car hire fees and also parking charges ($75 a night in our 3 star hotel). The main bits are all walkable or cable car-able from Union Sq and are even more convenient from the Fishermens Wharf area.
3. You could pick up a hire car from Budget or Avis, close to Union Sq and then it is just one block before you are on the Bay Bridge and heading out of town.

As for the rest, everybody has different ideas, priorities etc.
The Madonna Inn was very much a highlight for us.
San Diego is simply the best, most relaxed US city that I have ever visited and has the lot, beaches, charm, attractions, whale trips etc etc.

Have you read trip reports? Mine is a single thread ' California N to South at Easter'. There are many others. They may assist you in formulating your plan.

Hope it helps you.