California N to South at Easter live,one thread,with pictures. SFO,LA and San Diego

[tocpe321]

Great way to capture the memories CFB.

Good organisation.

If it was me our vacation would still be going.

[liz-paul]

Really enjoyed this trip report, some great info about San Diego. Am tempted to get the go san diet cards when we're there next year now...

Also, love your picture frames 😍

[mrmoo123]

Great Report, thanks for sharing... you have me thinking about a trip to the Mexican border now! Is it 'safe' to cross? I mean an official crossing, i'm not planning on scaling the fence!

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by mrmoo123

Great Report, thanks for sharing... you have me thinking about a trip to the Mexican border now! Is it 'safe' to cross? I mean an official crossing, i'm not planning on scaling the fence!

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The Mexican border bit was an afterthought and time filler as Mandie (originally from Lyndhurst), loves Horses but had never ridden on a beach. We had 4 hours to kill (I have boys of 11 and 15).

The gist of it is that you drive about a mile on from Ponyland towards Mexico and when you hit a 'T', turn right. Mexico is above you on your left.

You reach a point where it is very clear that you are not meant to drive further and then walk along a track for a mile or so to the Sea. If you look right, San Diego is around 8 miles away in the distance. If you look left, the Fence and Tijuana is around 500 yds away.

The area is truly unspoilt with all that this entails and also a wildlife preserve. The beach was deserted (as far as the fence). This was the only time on the whole vacation that we didn't have people all around us and it was glorious.

If you want to tie in something else, there is a huge Premium Outlets about 3 miles from where we left the car. This also marks the end of the rather awful I5.

As for crossing the border, others will have to advise. I do know that Tijuana is regarded as a very dangerous place and I would certainly not simply go there 'ad hoc'. I preferred to just see it in the distance.

I highly reccomend visiting the border area as we did. For me, it was a highlight of the vacation.

[Mickie]

Thanks for a great read. The “northern” part brought back great memories of our trips. The bit South of LA is fantastic for planning our next trip. Thanks

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by Mickie

Thanks for a great read. The “northern” part brought bavk great memories of our trips. The bit South of LA is fantastic for planning our next trip. Thanks

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You are very welcome.

[mrmoo123]

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

The Mexican border bit was an afterthought and time filler as Mandie (originally from Lyndhurst), loves Horses but had never ridden on a beach. We had 4 hours to kill (I have boys of 11 and 15).

The gist of it is that you drive about a mile on from Ponyland towards Mexico and when you hit a 'T', turn right. Mexico is above you on your left.

You reach a point where it is very clear that you are not meant to drive further and then walk along a track for a mile or so to the Sea. If you look right, San Diego is around 8 miles away in the distance. If you look left, the Fence and Tijuana is around 500 yes away.

The area is truly unspoilt with all that this entails and also a wildlife preserve. The beach was deserted (as far as the fence). This was the only time on the whole vacation that we didn't have people all around us and it was glorious.

If you want to tie in something else, there is a huge Premium Outlets about 3 miles from where we left the car. This also marks the end of the rather awful I5.

As for crossing the border, others will have to advise. I do know that Tijuana is regarded as a very dangerous place and I would certainly not simply go there 'ad hoc'. I preferred to just see it in the distance.

I highly reccomend visiting the border area as we did. For me, it was a highlight of the vacation.

See more...

Thank you for this... I think we are going to do a day trip to San Diego and may do this on the way back if we have time. 🙂

[shalligan64]

thanks for a great trip report, really enjoyed reading it and iv noted down loads of things for my own trip next year.

would you recommend your hollywood tour and who did you book with?

iv booked the dylans famous tour for san francisco but also want to bike over the bridge, so now thinking your tour sounds better?

thanks again very informative

[shalligan64]

just read back surf city tours for hollywood, i will look them up.

thanks again for lots of information

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by shalligan64

thanks for a great trip report, really enjoyed reading it and iv noted down loads of things for my own trip next year.

would you recommend your hollywood tour and who did you book with?

iv booked the dylans famous tour for san francisco but also want to bike over the bridge, so now thinking your tour sounds better?

thanks again very informative

See more...

You are very welcome.

Re the Hollywood Tour, we would highly reccomend surfcitytours and we booked with them direct, on reccomend from a DIBBER and after reading reviews. The key points for us were as follows:
1. We knew we would not be liking the LA traffic. It is horrible. We wanted a start point that was very easy to find and also a good 'extra' photo opportunity. The tickets for the four of us came to $325, or around £60 each.
2. The ticket includes free parking at Santa Monica pier. Parking in LA is very expensive. This was fantastically convenient.
3. Santa Monica Pier is iconic, the end of Route 66 (so they say) and we even witnessed a drug bust!
4. The start point, Poseidon surf shop was just 2 blocks from the pier and very easy to find. Eat before you get there, though!
5. The trip, in an open sided Ford transit sized vehicle was very, very good with a comic as a guide who couldn't stop talking. He was superb. We got to tick every box in the Hollywood area and it was great value. They stop at a market area with loads of food options and at good prices
6. We knew that we were flying out of LAX around 3.5 hrs after the tour ended. It was only around 8? Miles to the airport, so I was near enough that I knew with certainty that I could make my flight.

All in all, Surfcitytours worked out just perfect!

Re Dylan's. I feel absolutely sure that Dylan's will amend to what you want. They are very friendly and helpful. A highlight of the tour was dumping the bikes in Sausalito and knowing we didn't have the long, anticlimactic ride back. Our minibus tour guide, Adam was really interesting.

Hope it helps.