Best time of year to visit California?

[Rigstig]

Originally posted by Mazzy

What year were you thinking of going?

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Mazzy,to be honest we are not completely sure,but hopefully by 2008 or before.There are one or two thing in the pipeline that could possibly give us the means to go within the next 18 months,but its only a slim possibility.
I think though if California is going to be too much of a hassle to organise,and If we end up in Florida again ,then I think we would do a split holiday,one week in Orlando but away from the parks and the other on the Gulf coast,probably way down in Naples or Marco Island

Suzie has been offered a place at Bradford Uni for this September as a mature student studying Biomedical Sciences and we have our eldest 2 DDs about to start their 3 years of GCSE work.

We cant afford to go in the most popular times i.e school holidays and like yourself I cant be doing with going on damp dreary weather holidays [although we dont have too much of a choice here in the UK],I dont see the point in spending thousands on a holiday just to be cold,I can stay here in England and do that.So timing is going to be critical as I dont want to have the girls getting behind with their work.
Although I have no qualms about taking the girls out of school in term time.I always promised myself that I would never jeopardise their GCSE work once they got to that stage.

Good luck with the planning

Stuart

[donna100]

I can let you know what the weather is like as i am off to Santa Monica on Saturday

Will certainly fill you in when i get back...
Unless of course I marry a film star while I am there
and don't come back


xxxxx

[loopydiamond]

Hi Mazzy...I havent been to all of the places that you are planning but hope this may be of some help... Iv been to San Diego in June and September... both times the weather was beautiful, my niece lives there and she says that some times June can be dodgy as in very wet and unsettled... she says that May is a beautiful month there, they have always had glorious weather in May... when we were there in June we flew to phoenix and drove to the grand canyon... it was very very hot, 112 degrees in phoenix! hotter at the grand canyon, In september we flew to Los Angeles and the weather was great there too, we went to Disneyland in the middle of our stay and that day the weather was glorious, we went further up to Hollywood and again perfect weather...sorry I havent been to Las Vegas or San Francisco but my niece says that the earlier the better for Vegas, as from June onwards its very very hot there... too hot for comfort... hope this is of some help to you... enjoy whatever you decide to do..

[Guest]

We went to Anaheim in November the first time for Thanksgiving and the first week was 90 degrees, but that was a freak heatwave and the second week was 60 degrees, but night times were very cold, we had to buy a fleece.
Last year we went in August which was lovely, though I did ind Las vegas very hot and humid, but Anaheim was lovely, but again, the nights were quite chilly, I had to buy a sweatshirt.
I have a friend who lives in Anaheim if you want me to ask her about any specific month.
Love Rio

[Guest]

We did California in October 1997 and the weather was warm/hot in LA, hot in Las Vegas, very hot in Death Valley (104 degrees F) pleasantly warm in Yosemite, and cooler but not cold in San Francisco/Monterey (in the 60s). We're thinking of going again next year and its still a toss up between going again in October or maybe late May/early June.

Hope this helps

Kitty

[Mazzy]

Thanks everyone for your great advice.

I think we will just have to wait a bit now, and see how the school hoidays pan out, and also any exams. DS will be in year 8 so he won't be taking any SATS tests, but DD will be in year 12, so not too sure when any test will be held yet.

May does look a good month to go though, and if we fly to Vegas first and do the Canyon at the start of the trip, the weather shouldn't be too hot hopefully.

I've been looking at the various Canyon tours - has anyone done a helicopter trip? There's a great one which includes a 'plane to the Canyon, then heli round the canyon then landing on the canyon floor, where you get into a boat, cruise the river, then heli again - sounds great - anyone done this tour at all? What did you think?

[Guest]

Hi Mazzy

We did a similar tour in July/August 2003. We started in San Fran- very cold, we bought fleeces and still were frozen on the boat over to Alcatraz. None the less fantastic city and really enjoyed it. We travelled down the coast staying at Monteray, Santa Barbara, Las Vegas, Anaheim and San Diego. Weather beautiful from Monteray onwards, we didn't find it too hot, maybe 75- 85ish?
In San Diego don't bother doing the trip to Tiuana, it was awful. The area is so deprived and the people are so poor, there very little you can do and it makes you feel so guilty - not exactly adding to your holiday cheer!
We then travelled accross the dessert to Las Vegas. It was unbearably hot there but everywhere is beautifully air conditioned so providing you didn't want to sunbathe you were fine. We arranged a helicoper tour to the Grand canyon, landing in the canyon for breakfast. This was spectacular, we were picked up and returned in a limo and the whole trip was fantastic from beginning to end. The scenery will take your breath away. We then travelled back to San Fran via stays in Death Valley and Yosemite. death valley very hot and dry, Yosemite absolutely beautiful and perfect temperatures. We finished our trip with 3 days in New York. Bliss!
You will absolutely love it. We all love Disney but we all agree this was are best family holiday so far.

[Guest]

I was in Malibu a little over a year ago. Here are some nice pics, and some amusing pics.

[DisneySarah]

I was there in June last year, Las Vegas was very hot (110 degrees) Yosemite was lovely, clear blue skies and in the 80's but cold at night! San Francisco was probably in the high 60's but lovely weather! In LA and Anaheim we had funny weather, it was cool and cloudy (We even had some rain) but sometimes the sun broke through in the early afternoon and it was in the high 70's/80's then, but from speaking to people who lived there that was pretty unusual weather for mid June

Forgot to add: We went on a bus tour the Grand Canyon from Vegas (I wouldn't recommend that it was soooo long, probably 7 hours each way) but my mum and dad did the helicopter/boat tour when they were there and thought it was great! They had a brekkie picnic by the edge of the canyon included too!

[Mazzy]

Sharon - thanks for telling me about your trip, sounds fantastic. You're giving me ideas about adding New York on now! How old were your children? I'm just wondering if Las Vegas is going to be OK, you know, it's not too adult-orientated, if you get my drift? DD would be nearly 15 and DS would be 13 so I guess they will be old enough by then to handle it.

Sleepy - thanks so much for the pics, and those signs are so funny, especially the second one

Thanks for the info on the weather Sarah, sorry you had funny weather in LA, hope you still enjoyed your trip. Yes the coach trip does sound a bit too much for us, so DH will just have to grit his teeth and fly, hopefully he will be ok! ;D