California Driving Holiday. Budget suggestion/tips/advice!

Ahleckz

Ahleckz

Ahleckz

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I'm thinking about California for my summer holiday next year. The rough plan that I have so far is such:

Fly into LAX, then head south to San Diego, then up to San Fransisco, Napa Valley, Chico, Las Vegas and then back to LA.

Obviously I'd be hiring a car for this, and it seems it would be around £700 for 3 weeks hire in a convertible. Does that sound about right?

I'm really looking for advice, and tips for people who have done a California road trip. Things like where to go/avoid and such like. And most importantly, what budget would people suggest?

Accommodation wise, we're happy to say in motels/3* hotels rather than the big fancy hotels but unsure how much we should budget for hotels. I'd like to think that £6k would be fine for two people all in but not really sure!

As for the destinations, I want to go to San Diego so I can go to Escondido because my favourite beer is made there. Chico, for a similar reason. And Napa Valley is obviously for the wine!

What do people think then?
 
I would make it more of a loop, than LA -> SD -> SF. Go to San Diego then out to LV. On your way back head through Death Valley National Park and Yosemite (MUST SEE!) on Tioga Pass (Awesome road) towards SF (then onto Napa if you like). Then take pacific coast highway back down to LA. You could make stops at Monterey, Carmel, Point Lobos State Park, San Luis Obispo (University town), Pismo Beach and Santa Barbara. Map: http://goo.gl/maps/auEaI

Where are you looking for car hire? Try uscarhire.co.uk or carhire3000 for all inclusive.

I couldn't advise on budget as I've never counted, but you should find plenty of affordable hotels... depending on location they could be as low as $30 (Vegas) up to $150 (SF - very expensive for hotels here).

Go for it, you'll really enjoy it! :)

Edit: for inspiration... here is the route I did just over a month ago: https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?sadd...xNQSg&oq=San+Francisco&mra=ls&via=8,9&t=m&z=7
 
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The only reason to go to LA is if there is a flight significantly cheaper than SF.

California has a lot of amazing places but many people ignore some of the best spots.
The must see places in California are:
SF city and Alcatraz but SF is not mind blowing in any way
Highway 1 to Santa Barbara
Redwood Natiional park and all the redwood state parks around Eureka
Lassen National Park
mount Shasta, hiking around the bunny meadows.
Lava Beds national monument.
Since you are up north anyway then Crater Lake National Park in Orgron is a must see.
Lake Tahoe, especially south shore areas.
Bodie Gold mine and ghost town off the 395
Mono lake
Yosemite NP, and not just the valley but places like Hetch Hetchy and the Marisposa grove.
Kings Canyon/ Sequoia National Park
Driving highway 395 along the eastern sierras. Stop and check out the Alabama hills, Whitney portal, Inyo mountains
The entire coast line north of SF, all the way to Eureka and beyond.


Really, NorCal has so much more to show than SoCal, with less tourists and more variety. You can see rainforests and dessert in the same weekend, ancient Indian artifacts, giant volcanoes, alpine lakes, tallest trees in the world, one of the deepest lakes in the world at Crater Lake etc.
 
I really want to go to San Diego to visit the Stone Brewery so it makes sense to fly to LA. I know many will find it weird that I'm basing a big part of my holiday plans on going to a brewery but that's what I'm into! Plus, I've been led to believe that flights to LA will be cheaper than SF.

We're not really looking to do any sort of hiking, but I must admit I did forget about Yosemite. That's something that I'm very keen on seeing! But, we're not really fans of strapping on backpacks and going hiking. Though a few days in a National Park in a lodge would be awesome!

Some great things to look into there D.P., thanks.

Oh yea, I'm very much hoping to get reservations at French Laundry... mmm.
 
+1 for Death Valley and Yosemite. Both are spectacular, even if you just drive through them and stop off at the most obvious beauty spots. Sunrise in Death Valley is something to behold.

I hated San Francisco. It was foggy and full of hippies.
 
Ahleckz said:
I really want to go to San Diego to visit the Stone Brewery so it makes sense to fly to LA. I know many will find it weird that I'm basing a big part of my holiday plans on going to a brewery but that's what I'm into! Plus, I've been led to believe that flights to LA will be cheaper than SF.

We're not really looking to do any sort of hiking, but I must admit I did forget about Yosemite. That's something that I'm very keen on seeing! But, we're not really fans of strapping on backpacks and going hiking. Though a few days in a National Park in a lodge would be awesome!

Some great things to look into there D.P., thanks.

Oh yea, I'm very much hoping to get reservations at French Laundry... mmm.
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Book early for that! Yosemite valley gets unbearably crowded in the Summer :(
 
700 quid for 3 weeks hire seems a bit OTT, it should be closer to 550-600 for 3 weeks.

LA itself sucks but is a good starting point, cheaper flights and larger rental car facilities, I did LA to San Diego to Las Vegas to Yosemite to San Fran then back to LA in a Mustang convertible n 2010 and until my current trip it was the best trip I had done, IMHO. Great fun.
 
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Ahleckz said:
I really want to go to San Diego to visit the Stone Brewery so it makes sense to fly to LA. I know many will find it weird that I'm basing a big part of my holiday plans on going to a brewery but that's what I'm into! Plus, I've been led to believe that flights to LA will be cheaper than SF.

We're not really looking to do any sort of hiking, but I must admit I did forget about Yosemite. That's something that I'm very keen on seeing! But, we're not really fans of strapping on backpacks and going hiking. Though a few days in a National Park in a lodge would be awesome!

Some great things to look into there D.P., thanks.

Oh yea, I'm very much hoping to get reservations at French Laundry... mmm.
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I don't know abou the Stone Brewery but in general the best breweries in the US are in the PNW, pretty much from S Bay Area north to Seattle. Oregon and Washington have hundreds of microbreweries.


Nothing I listed requires much hiking, most you can see from your car or 10-40 minute walks.
 
The SF-LA-SD-PS-LV-SF loop is a great trip. I did it the same year as Fox, minus San Diego/Palm Springs and it is the best holiday I have ever had. Yosemite is a must, as is Pebble Beach/Carmel/Monteray.

Where have you gone this year Fox? Always looking for a new USA road trip but we have settled on a two week unplug in Orlando for next summer.
 
Tunney said:
I would do everything in my power to avoid LAX. :p Worst airport I've ever been to.
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Comments like this i never understand. Its an airport, you land, you pass through generic security and baggage reclaim, and go off to get your car. It has good road links with freeways connected right to it. What is there to like or not like? :confused:
 
Fantastic trip and fantastic part of the US. I did it a few years ago, one suggestion, if you're driving from LA to SF or vice versa, give yourself time and take the coastal highway (not the I5 or I101, I think its the I1), I did it for a short time and it was amazing. Unfortunately I was hurried for time so I had to rejoin the I5, which is quicker, but nowhere near as scenic.

On hotels, look for the hotels on the outskirts of the cities you are visiting, they are usually much cheaper. For example, if I recall, I stayed at a Best Western which was about a 30 minute drive into LA, it was around $50 per night. Vegas and SF are a big tougher, my only advice is to watch out for parking costs, I stayed in a hotel in SF central and the parking opposite the hotel was around £45 per day!

In LA, must do Universal Studios and Warner Bros studio tours!

On LAX comment above, I agree no problems with it, fly in, get taken to the car rental in a bus, drive out, done! Only problem might be the TSA...I have a personal hatred for them.
 
lhw455 said:
On hotels, look for the hotels on the outskirts of the cities you are visiting, they are usually much cheaper. For example, if I recall, I stayed at a Best Western which was about a 30 minute drive into LA, it was around $50 per night. Vegas and SF are a big tougher, my only advice is to watch out for parking costs, I stayed in a hotel in SF central and the parking opposite the hotel was around £45 per day!
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Eek. I've never seen any quite as high was that. $40-45 is normal but if you look around (loads of parking phone apps available) you can get it cheaper.

If you don't mind a walk you could even find some residential area and get the muni to your destination - I often did this. Parking is pretty insane - some people even advertise their spots for rent on AirBNB!
 
I will post up my trip that I go on in October shortly.

Don't hate that we're in LA for 3 days, we're off to Disney and some other things that actually fill up our time there!
 
Youstolemyname said:
Where have you gone this year Fox? Always looking for a new USA road trip but we have settled on a two week unplug in Orlando for next summer.
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Currently in Montana having started in Seattle and gone up to Vancouver, across the Canadian Rockies to Banff and Calgary and then today down through Glacier National Park. Incredible scenery, really enjoying it. Week left now, heading over to Portland then up the coast.
 
[TW]Fox;24950340 said:
Currently in Montana having started in Seattle and gone up to Vancouver, across the Canadian Rockies to Banff and Calgary and then today down through Glacier National Park. Incredible scenery, really enjoying it. Week left now, heading over to Portland then up the coast.
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You putting up some pics when you get back Fox :)
 
[TW]Fox;24950340 said:
Currently in Montana having started in Seattle and gone up to Vancouver, across the Canadian Rockies to Banff and Calgary and then today down through Glacier National Park. Incredible scenery, really enjoying it. Week left now, heading over to Portland then up the coast.
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I Did a similar trip in 2009, amazing scenery.
 
Spook187 said:
[TW]Fox;24950340 said:
Currently in Montana having started in Seattle and gone up to Vancouver, across the Canadian Rockies to Banff and Calgary and then today down through Glacier National Park. Incredible scenery, really enjoying it. Week left now, heading over to Portland then up the coast.
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You putting up some pics when you get back Fox :)
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This. ^ Sounds great. Always wanted to visit Glacier National Park... did Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Moab, Canyonlands and Arches in one trip back in May.
 
Hope you don't mind me jumping in on your thread but I am doing a road trip in may just like this and wanted to see what people think about the amount of time needed in each location, this is what we planed so far

LA - get there late, stay the night and leave in the morning
San Diego - 3nights
Las Vegas - 3 nights
Death Valley 1 night
San Francisco - 3 nights
1 over night stop between san fran and LA
and then 1 night in LA before leaving.

That brings us to 13 nights so have about 5 extra nights on top.
 
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