Driving on the West Coast

[Ils]

We're looking at booking a 3 week trip next August around California ( San Fran, Anaheim, San Diego and places in between) and after reading the trip reports on here, clearly a hire car is the best mode of transport to achieve this.

Having never driven abroad, how easy is it to adjust to driving on the other side of the road and what challenges did you face the first time you did it?

There is something about the thought that makes me nervous, so any tips or recommendations in respect of size of car etc would also be helpful for a family of four.

Thanks in advance.

[cornishfrogboy]

You may well have read the trip report in my signature. I am hopeful of a further such jaunt on Aug 19. If I fail, then I will simply defer it off.. as I did in March.

Driving.
With your plan, you really do not need a car in compact San Francisco. This will save you plenty in both hire and parking. We picked ours up on the day that we left.. and had no regrets at all.

SFO has lots of ‘all way’ junctions. I didn’t even like them on a bike.. and there were hundreds.

Once out of the city, and we picked up right next to the Bay Bridge, it was absolutely fine. You just keep your witts about you and rely heavily on your satnav. Ours is a split screen Garmin and nothing could conceivably be simpler.

[Bella Girl]

A friend and I did a road trip last October. We had a few days in SF and then went down the PCH to LA.

I did all the driving and my friend was navigator.

We had booked a compact car but was given a SUV and the driving was really easy and super fun!

As Cornishfrogboy says, you need a SatNav and keep your wits about you.

Driving in and out of SF was quite an experience with those incredible hills. You would get to a point where the road would drop and it would suddenly disappear from your vision. We did not drive whilst there as it is easy to walk everywhere.

For SF, parking is really expensive so either plan your trip so you don’t have a car at that point or stay at a hotel with free parking.

LA is very congested and I found that you did need to be vigilant. If you need to turn off at a junction, other drivers don’t like to Let you into a lane and they will suddenly pull in front of you. But I saw worse driving last summer in Florida.

[Ils]

Originally Posted by Bella Girl

A friend and I did a road trip last October. We had a few days in SF and then went down the PCH to LA.

I did all the driving and my friend was navigator.

We had booked a compact car but was given a SUV and the driving was really easy and super fun!

As Cornishfrogboy says, you need a SatNav and keep your wits about you.

Driving in and out of SF was quite an experience with those incredible hills. You would get to a point where the road would drop and it would suddenly disappear from your vision. We did not drive whilst there as it is easy to walk everywhere.

For SF, parking is really expensive so either plan your trip so you don’t have a car at that point or stay at a hotel with free parking.

LA is very congested and I found that you did need to be vigilant. If you need to turn off at a junction, other drivers don’t like to Let you into a lane and they will suddenly pull in front of you. But I saw worse driving last summer in Florida.

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Your last comment is pretty much what sort put me off. When we were in Orlando last Feb we decided to Uber everywhere as it was really convenient, however it allowed me the opportunity to study the driving and it put me right off. But maybe it is was just the standard of driving on the I4, however having driven on the M25 at rush hour many times it appeared to be the same level of madness.

Good to hear both your thoughts on San Fran so will definitely bear that in mind when finalising the plan.

How did you find adjusting to turning right on a red?

[KarenG]

Driving in most parts of California is a joy - two lane highways, little traffic.

LA we find very stressful and San Francisco was interesting...!

[KarenG]

Originally Posted by Ils

Your last comment is pretty much what sort put me off. When we were in Orlando last Feb we decided to Uber everywhere as it was really convenient, however it allowed me the opportunity to study the driving and it put me right off. But maybe it is was just the standard of driving on the I4, however having driven on the M25 at rush hour many times it appeared to be the same level of madness.

Good to hear both your thoughts on San Fran so will definitely bear that in mind when finalising the plan.

How did you find adjusting to turning right on a red?

See more...

We find LA significantly worse than the I4 in Orlando.

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by Ils

Your last comment is pretty much what sort put me off. When we were in Orlando last Feb we decided to Uber everywhere as it was really convenient, however it allowed me the opportunity to study the driving and it put me right off. But maybe it is was just the standard of driving on the I4, however having driven on the M25 at rush hour many times it appeared to be the same level of madness.

Good to hear both your thoughts on San Fran so will definitely bear that in mind when finalising the plan.

How did you find adjusting to turning right on a red?

See more...

I wouldn’t really describe LA traffic+as difficult, merely inconsiderate, time consuming and frustrating. It can move very slowly. The major difference between it and the I4 is that it consists mainly of locals who know where they are going. On the i4 there are thousands upon thousands of tourists. I would sooner drive either than ever venture in Central London.

The turning right on a red thing is no big deal and makes perfect sense when you think about it. Why on earth must you wait, when you can see with certainty that there is nothing coming? After a couple of times, it becomes no deal at all.

[jdouds]

Hi overall the driving is easy. As others have said there can be parking charges in San Fran depending where you stay. We have used the same air bnb twice with free of st parking. How many in your party. There is lots of Airbnb or home away as this is where it really all started.
LA is a bit crazy but depending where you start or what your plan is you could start LA by doing Disney car not needed and then pick a car up when leaving .

[berneslai]

I think I find the driving the most enjoyable part of the holiday! It's a world away from UK driving.

You'll find it pretty easy once you are five minutes out of the airport (expect to get beeped the first time you forget to turn right on a red light). Car size doesn't particularly matter - roads, lanes and car parking spaces are all designed for the biggest SUV/truck so go for whatever you can afford.

As others have said:
- LA traffic is pretty horrific but perfectly OK if you manage the times of your journeys. If you are moving between hotels, you'll notice that traffic is pretty light between check-out and check-in times. Just stay away from peak commuting times.
- Some city parking charges are extortionate (San Diego, San Francisco) so factor these in or pick up the hire car after you've visited.
- Get a car with sat-nav or use your phone. It will help massively with any lane changes. Sometimes you don't get much notice if driving by signs only, it's difficult to get across 5 lanes of LA traffic when there's a junction in half a mile.

Enjoy it, and do it, you won't regret it.

[pinkandfluffy]

I always do the driving abroad and the US is probably the easiest place to drive. That said, I really did not enjoy driving in San Francisco - we parked up at the hotel and just used Uber’s to get around but driving to the hotel and again out of the city was an experience. The gradient of some of the streets, a car with four adults and four heavy cases made for some hairy moments and some colourful language. Everywhere else in California was easy enough and LA was just busy and slow rather than tricky. It’s the only way to do it though and it was the best holiday we have had - its a really beautiful state with so much to see, just don’t underestimate the distance between places, its huge.