First Trip to California Tips Please

[Pumba75]

Nothing much to add to what's already been said here OP - if you're determined to stay in the property in Palm Springs then you'll need to accept that you'll have to ditch a number of your other plans. It took us 4 hours to get from Burbank/Universal area to the Palm Springs area last Friday, and that was leaving at 2pm in the afternoon. It's a 2.5 hour drive from there to San Diego, assuming the traffic is ok.

When you're driving in LA you're either barely moving, or having to have all your wits about you because the standard of driving is pretty poor. I'm someone who drives a lot and enjoys driving, but there is absolutely nothing "fun" about it in LA.

Using Palm Springs as base to go to the other attractions/areas is a bad idea.

[daytonababe]

Originally Posted by delcarpediem

Thanks for all your advice it’s appreciated, I understand where you’re all coming from totally about traffic etc...
I had this kind of plan in my head.
Fly to LAX
Stay overnight and do universal all day, maybe a few other Hollywood sights then drive to cathedral city.
Then spend a few days chilling and then head over to San Diego zoo and sea world.
Then try a few beaches like Laguna, Malibu, Huntington etc... then rest of time just relaxing in Palm Springs.

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I can’t see your logic in stopping in Palm Springs .. when there’s nothing there too want to do ?

By the time you left universal at say 5 it would be peak rush hour traffic you wouldn’t see many sights because you wouldn’t be moving

I left Avis car rental this year at LAX at 5pm I pulled into the hotel 65 miles away in Fontana at 10pm .
If you want to do that kind of thing twice a day crack on but you’ll regret it .


My husband drives a lot both here and in America .. we drive between 1000 & 2000 miles each trip ( 3/4 time a year ) and LA traffic drives him nuts ..
It’s nothing like anything you’ll find in Florida .

[delcarpediem]

Update: we are now staying at universal for 3 days after landing in LAX, do universal and Hollywood for a couple of days then head over to cathedral city for some quiet time.
hows that sound? better?

[cornishfrogboy]

I took advice from Aims and used San Diego as a 5 night venue on her advice. Her 'sticky' is also very good reading... and good advice it was. Best US city that I have visited, laid back, pleasant and very, very pretty. In comparison, LA is an absolute hole.
With the attractions of Balboa Park, the USS Midway, Harbour cruises, Whale watches, Horse riding in the sea at Ponyland, Mexican border fence where it meets the sea, The beaches on North Island, Kansas City Grill (Top gun bar), Seaworld, Flying leathernecks museum, Seaport.. There is simply so much to do. A Gosandiego 5 or 7 covers nearly all of that on a single pass.
Then, with minimal inconvenience and using decent roads, you have Legoland at Carlsbad, Scripps Institute, Oceanside and even the Queen Mary at Long Beach (bit of a stretch to that one).

If I was looking for a suitable base on a next trip, then San Diego (other than Mission Beach) would be that base... but only for a part of any Southern California vacation. Easily worth 7 days, though and it gives good access to the East.

[delcarpediem]

Well.. i thought id give a bit of an update on the trip i had. So.. yep you were all right traffic is horrific in L.A, we arrived in LAX and stayed at the sheraton gateway the first night. Then picked up the car from alamo and drove into L.A to do some shopping and see some sites before going to universal studios. After a day in universal studios we went back to hotel for a while to freshen up then we got an uber to dodgers stadium to see baseball.
After the game it was horrific waiting for ubers and trying to get out of the parking lots, and even at 11pm at night L.A traffic is at a stand still also, we got a good driver tho so it was ok. Next day we headed in an uber to Venice beach which was awesome i loved it there it was pretty hip and cool with some good little shops for souvenirs and also muscle beach. The following morning we headed off to palm springs which was a nice drive although it took 4-5 hours.
rest of the trip was spent in and around the palm valley area which is really nice actually, nice little towns scattered around with decent shopping.
One day we had a trip to san diego which took around 3-4 hours we visited the big shopping mall there ( cant remember the name i think its international plaza ) then we headed off to the zoo. It took us 5-6 hours to get back to palm springs but we went the scenic way around the mountains which was a great site but really tough and long i was absolutely spent when we got back with driving, but it was ok.
All in all a great trip and an experience, im booked already for next year but back to the familiar surroundings of Fl.

[Sew109]

I actually like Palm Springs would not spent too long there but I like. It has a nice slow relaxing feel, decent golf, good shopping just outside and good casinos.

Our friend who lives in Vegas is liv8ng there for a bit sorting out a few projects for the casinos and we did consider going there for Xmas.

[tinytots]

Originally Posted by delcarpediem

im staying in palm springs yeah, its a couple of hours drive to LA universal etc but i dont mind its a nice drive

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Until you get stuck in the LA traffic 😀