LA trip

[Rach86]

Originally Posted by zoemoo

We will go to Cali this year and won’t be hiring a car we either bite the bullet and have a taxi/private car or fly the longer bits. We never feel like we’ve missed out in fact the travel for us is part of the experience. We loved San francisco and wouldn’t dream of hiring a car there as transport is so easy. I can see why you might want to if you were going to the vineyards or wanted to drive the coastal route… LA is a spralling city which I couldn’t imaging ever driving in, but plenty to. We usually do a two stop stay in LA and then move to northern. Which brings me to the main difference. Florida for us is a simple arrive u pack and chilled for 2 weeks. California could be like that but you’ll miss loads if you stay in just one place. So you don’t need a car but if packing for you is an issue stick with Florida and have a magical time!

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No we ok with not having a car, just thought it was needed as everything seems miles apart.
So would it be better to fly into san fran maybe?
We dont relax in Florida, so we are good with a busy holiday, just dont know where to start! X

[megaflyer]

Originally Posted by Rach86

Ok so 5 of us 3 kids ages will be 15, 12 and 6.
We want disneyland and universal.
Also want to to do Hollywood, Beverley hills etc all the touristy stuff.
I wanted san fran (.i wana see the doubtfire house lol ) but husband said its 6 hours drive from LA so hes moaning about that.
He never used to moan about driving so im hoping this is just a blip haha!
Budget wise i dont know, i want the cheapest really.
We would have a car as im assuming everything is miles away. Id like to go 6 flags too.
I dont have a clue where to stay or anything.
Thinking October for 14 nights ( 1 week half term ) i think 24th oct to 7th nov should cover the half term.
Is there anything else i need to add? I was looking at hotels and the prices are scary! X

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I think you need to have an idea of your budget - even an upper limit, California can be very expensive and travel is huge . Driving really is a must to do all you want to and its a good 6 hour drive (if you are lucky) - you need to break it once or twice for overnights .

If you haven’t done already I commend you read the very informative trip and pre-trip reports by cornishfrogboy which will give you an honest account of what can be achieved with accommodation ideas - he doesnt guild the Lilly and his trips are somewhat similar to what you have in mind

Once read I am assured you will have a better idea of what you want against time and costs available then we can guide you more

You wont regret California but it may become an expensive habit like many other dibber I feel at home there unlike anywhere else on the planet

[Rach86]

Originally Posted by megaflyer

I think you need to have an idea of your budget - even an upper limit, California can be very expensive and travel is huge . Driving really is a must to do all you want to and its a good 6 hour drive (if you are lucky) - you need to break it once or twice for overnights .

If you haven’t done already I commend you read the very informative trip and pre-trip reports by cornishfrogboy which will give you an honest account of what can be achieved with accommodation ideas - he doesnt guild the Lilly and his trips are somewhat similar to what you have in mind

Once read I am assured you will have a better idea of what you want against time and costs available then we can guide you more

You wont regret California but it may become an expensive habit like many other dibber I feel at home there unlike anywhere else on the planet

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Ok will do. Florida was coming in at 10k for 3 weeks. Am i looking at much more? i know its hard almost impossible to say but if you had to guess? X not including spends.

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by Rach86

Ok so 5 of us 3 kids ages will be 15, 12 and 6.
We want disneyland and universal.
Also want to to do Hollywood, Beverley hills etc all the touristy stuff.
I wanted san fran (.i wana see the doubtfire house lol ) but husband said its 6 hours drive from LA so hes moaning about that.
He never used to moan about driving so im hoping this is just a blip haha!
Budget wise i dont know, i want the cheapest really.
We would have a car as im assuming everything is miles away. Id like to go 6 flags too.
I dont have a clue where to stay or anything.
Thinking October for 14 nights ( 1 week half term ) i think 24th oct to 7th nov should cover the half term.
Is there anything else i need to add? I was looking at hotels and the prices are scary! X

See more...

I don’t think that I can help you a great deal with that.

If you view my 2018, you will see SFO, Monterey, SL Obispo, Simi Valley, 6 Flags, Disney, San Diego, Long Beach, Santa Monica and Hollywood tour covered. We drove 1200 miles and the driving was important.

You will find 3 more cancelled vacations in the California pre trip section with the first word being ‘CANCELLED’. The are all on the first page of the index. The only bit of LA that we were visiting on any of them was Universal/Warner Bros (which are only a walk apart). If you want Disney, then Orlando does it better, crowds, genie plus, in park prices and all.

This Octobers pretrip reveals that whilst doing SFO down as far as SL Obispo as we like that sort of stuff (and the PCH was closed by a mudslide last time), we then cut in via Barstow to Vegas, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Winslow (take it easy by the Eagles), Tucson, Tombstone and then a finish in San Diego. We will drive 1400 miles in 15 days and that is even with an internal flight from Tucson to San Diego.
If you plot that, you will see that we have gone a route that deliberately avoid LA completely. We were utterly and totally underwhelmed with the whole 120 mile by 40 mile urban sprawl and the horrific traffic. I never want to ever go there again!
There is not a single theme park from day one to day ‘fly home’, either.

Whatever you do, you must plan very carefully indeed as driving and budget can get out of hand, as Megaflyer has already stated.
Whilst flights, driving and seeing things is much cheaper than Florida, eating, drinking, hotels and multi theme park groupings to purchase are not.
You are on the West Coast and you pay for it!. To me, comparing average Orlando with average West Coast is like comparing Benidorm with the South of France, Monaco, Saint Tropez, Antibes and all that.

When you add it all up, to do things decently will cost the same as a direct flights to Orlando, 3 star Hotel vacation with a full set of all 3 types of ticket!

You all need imho, to sit down, work out what you want from the West Coast and have a structure to your plan. If you go.. and get out from LA, then I believe that it may change the structure of your future vacations for ever. It certainly did for us. ‘The Mouse’ is no more than a small curiosity in the context of what in my opinion, the West Coast is all about. It is about Iconic places, an amazing culture and legendary places to visit… real places, rather than imaginary.

For me, the West Coast is Alternative Culture, Haight Ashbury, Summer of Love, Mamas and Papas, Byrds,Summer of Love, the PCH, some of 66, Coastal Towns and Cities, Alcatraz, Ventura Highway, Laurel Canyon, Big Yellow Taxi, stunning Coastal and other Scenery, etc etc, not a Mouse, Frozen and Star Wars.

Others of course, have a contrary view and go there for theme parks.. or a mix of the two visions

Hotel prices, I got in early. I then cancel and rebook Hotels frequently as price change for the better. Even disregarding exchange rates, I have changed none as prices are on average up around 40% since time of booking!

[megaflyer]

Originally Posted by Rach86

Ok will do. Florida was coming in at 10k for 3 weeks. Am i looking at much more? i know its hard almost impossible to say but if you had to guess? X not including spends.

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With 5 people the air fares will be a huge chunk so avoid domestic flights - hiring a car and driving will save a lot and its an easy drive down PCH from San Francisco. Again getting an Uber/Lyft for you all will cost more - in LA they can soon rack up the $ due to congestion - driving is OK really. I sometimes drive in LA sometimes done but on our next trip we are driving - we have hired a mustang convertible for over 2 weeks for £700 so I think you could get a SUV to fit you all for muchness than that - you dont need a car in San Francisco the but drive down PCH is stunning and you will want to take your time stopping off, £10k seems a healthy budget but unsure how much air fares will take out of that; for 3 weeks you may need a wee but more (I find eating out more expensive, generally, than Florida like for like and hotels are certainly a lot more - but, for example, you could stay in Embassy suites that one room (suite) has a king size bed and in the living room a sofa plus a roll away ?

Airbnb are risky in Cal and not recommended (as are other short term lets - city prone to close them down at short notice)

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by megaflyer

With 5 people the air fares will be a huge chunk so avoid domestic flights - hiring a car and driving will save a lot and its an easy drive down PCH from San Francisco. Again getting an Uber/Lyft for you all will cost more - in LA they can soon rack up the $ due to congestion - driving is OK really. I sometimes drive in LA sometimes done but on our next trip we are driving - we have hired a mustang convertible for over 2 weeks for £700 so I think you could get a SUV to fit you all for muchness than that - you dont need a car in San Francisco the but drive down PCH is stunning and you will want to take your time stopping off, £10k seems a healthy budget but unsure how much air fares will take out of that; for 3 weeks you may need a wee but more (I find eating out more expensive, generally, than Florida like for like and hotels are certainly a lot more - but, for example, you could stay in Embassy suites that one room (suite) has a king size bed and in the living room a sofa plus a roll away ?

Airbnb are risky in Cal and not recommended (as are other short term lets - city prone to close them down at short notice)

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Likewise, we have a Mustang Convertible. It is clearly not an option for the threadstarter with 5 travelling. Again, for me, that is the ‘open roads’ bit.

[cornishfrogboy]

10k seems a very reasonable budget for what I do. Obviously attractions rack it up, though. Particularly if sampling several different, disparate offerings.

To fly into SFO and out of SAN.. or LAX.. or any combination of the 3 should cost around £500- £550pp with APD being zero if the children are below age. .. £500 hand luggage only.. which we do! Hand luggage is fun.

21 nights accommodation. You say cheap.. well that depends where you are and how early you get it booked. I reckon that you can average £200 a night, but you are somewhat restricted by there being 5 of you. SFO is never cheap and neither is Monterey or San Diego. You will be seeking roll out beds.. or doubling your budget by having 2 rooms. Say you get very lucky, then £4200 for 21 nights. We are already up to £6700.

A RAV4 or similar, I would guess at £600 if you get a good deal, probably with Andy at DFCH would be a good start point. You would not need it in SFO or San Diego, so this will shorten the days and thus the price. We are now up to £7300

Tickets. Now this is where your group and myself will differ. You can research that yourself!

Food. Think $125 for an evening meal, entrees and soda on average should you go cheap.. plus tips. Breakfast and Lunch? It all adds up.

£10k for 21 nights? You won’t achieve it ‘all in’ I don’t know if your Orlando 10k included food and tickets. In honesty, I would be surprised if Disney £2500, Universal £1500, flights £3500 and car £700, very cheap accommodation £2100 were involved as that is £10300 without food, Discovery Cove or anything else.

My solution to go sub 10k would be to cut to 15 or so nights. 6 days accommodation, car hire, food will save you around £2000.

Scary numbers, whichever option you take!

Have a look at my 2018 California N to South, which I believe might suit you and which I believe was 15 days... then research what it would cost if you booked it today.
I would work on Rui plaza in SFO
Springhill suites in Monterey
Apple Farm in SL Obispo.
Same hotel in Valencia.
No idea in Anaheim
Springhill or similar in San Diego
Leave from San Diego, rather than cutting back up to Queen Mary (closed) or Santa Monica.
That may come in sun £10k

Hoping this helps. Research is fun.. and if you are looking to San Diego, then consult with ‘AIMS’.. she knows everything about that area as she lives there.

[Woody252506]

I'd echo what everyone has said about not needing a car in San Francisco. Parking is really expensive.

Pickup the car on your day of leaving, there are plenty of car rental pickup points in the city. Using public transport and walking was one of the most fun parts of been in SF when we went as part of our honeymoon. There is the iconic tram that takes you from union square down to fishermans wharf and the buses are frequent and cheap. We took a bus down through chinatown which was a great experience.

[Rach86]

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

10k seems a very reasonable budget for what I do. Obviously attractions rack it up, though. Particularly if sampling several different, disparate offerings.

To fly into SFO and out of SAN.. or LAX.. or any combination of the 3 should cost around £500- £550pp with APD being zero if the children are below age. .. £500 hand luggage only.. which we do! Hand luggage is fun.

21 nights accommodation. You say cheap.. well that depends where you are and how early you get it booked. I reckon that you can average £200 a night, but you are somewhat restricted by there being 5 of you. SFO is never cheap and neither is Monterey or San Diego. You will be seeking roll out beds.. or doubling your budget by having 2 rooms. Say you get very lucky, then £4200 for 21 nights. We are already up to £6700.

A RAV4 or similar, I would guess at £600 if you get a good deal, probably with Andy at DFCH would be a good start point. You would not need it in SFO or San Diego, so this will shorten the days and thus the price. We are now up to £7300

Tickets. Now this is where your group and myself will differ. You can research that yourself!

Food. Think $125 for an evening meal, entrees and soda on average should you go cheap.. plus tips. Breakfast and Lunch? It all adds up.

£10k for 21 nights? You won’t achieve it ‘all in’ I don’t know if your Orlando 10k included food and tickets. In honesty, I would be surprised if Disney £2500, Universal £1500, flights £3500 and car £700, very cheap accommodation £2100 were involved as that is £10300 without food, Discovery Cove or anything else.

My solution to go sub 10k would be to cut to 15 or so nights. 6 days accommodation, car hire, food will save you around £2000.

Scary numbers, whichever option you take!

Have a look at my 2018 California N to South, which I believe might suit you and which I believe was 15 days... then research what it would cost if you booked it today.
I would work on Rui plaza in SFO
Springhill suites in Monterey
Apple Farm in SL Obispo.
Same hotel in Valencia.
No idea in Anaheim
Springhill or similar in San Diego
Leave from San Diego, rather than cutting back up to Queen Mary (closed) or Santa Monica.
That may come in sun £10k

Hoping this helps. Research is fun.. and if you are looking to San Diego, then consult with ‘AIMS’.. she knows everything about that area as she lives there.

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Yes sorry florida is 3 weeks ( everything included except spending money which would include food )
LA would be 2 weeks.
Ok thank you, i will defo continue with the research including reading your trip reports xx

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by Rach86

Yes sorry florida is 3 weeks ( everything included except spending money which would include food )
LA would be 2 weeks.
Ok thank you, i will defo continue with the research including reading your trip reports xx

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Now that I understand you are looking at 2 weeks on the West Coast and that food is not included, I very much think that you can do sub £10k.
A big part of my sketch budget is the Hotel costs at £200/night and thus £1400 saved and also the car hire. 7 days saved on both is a lot.

When we work out the price of a vacation, we also subtract our ‘at home costs’, Petrol, Parking, Food, Heating etc etc .. as we won’t be paying them whilst away. This covers the cost of our eating.