I'm from New York and I'm planning an 11 day trip to California with my girlfriend.

Here's some information about my trip:

Age - We are both in our 20's
Dates - Mid August
Airfare - NYC to Ontario, CA
Renting a car for the whole trip

Here's my Mapquest of the whole trip:
http://mapq.st/jGWiga


1. First of all is this trip doable in 11 days? I love driving but I don't want to be rushing all the time.

2. I've been told I should go from South to North to enjoy the scenic roads from SF to LA. Should I re-route my trip to Yosemite first instead of last? Is it that much of a difference?

3. What would you add or delete from this trip? (11 day-trip)


2 Day in San Diego (within the area)
4 Days in Los Angeles (within the area)
3 Days in San Francisco (within the area)
1-2 Days for Yosemite (Is Yosemite worth it?.. I could always take highway 1 back down to LA which is suppose to be a beautiful drive.)

Any feedback, suggestions, comments are truly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

You may want to consider staying and extra day in SD and shave off a day from LA.
I say that only cause SD is sooo much fun and a lot more laid back and friendly.
I've never seen so many cool bars/restaurants/shops in one city.
And I live in LA.

You'll love driving up PCH (highway 1). Awesome coastal scenery.
I can't really comment on the Death Valley route.
Maybe some of the other members can chime in on this.

The real question is how much do you love driving.
For some 1400+ miles would be a little much, but for others no prob.
Make sure you know what the rental car place will be charging for that many miles on the car.
GL with ur trip

 

Rosarito Mexico..you can legally drink at the age of 18

 

Might wanna stop off in Santa Barbara. Nice beaches there and the downtown area is very nice. It's a nice stop along PCH. About 2 hrs north of LA. If you want to see a super cool view of LA, check out the Griffith Observatory. They're open till 10PM. I'd also say take another day in SD, it's a nice area. Dunno if there really is much in the desert areas to look at. Yosemite is nice. Been there and spent a week.

A cool spot in LA is by UCLA in Westwood. There's a place called Diddy Reese, bomb cookies and ice cream and you make your own ice cream sandwich and it's cheap too. Across the street is a hookah lounge if you're into flavored tobacco, very chill, but I dunno if you wanna spend too much time over there, but it's something relaxing to do in the evening and the hookah (Habibi's) is open till 2, 3, or 4 AM, can't recall. I was there a few weeks ago and saw THE oompa loompa from the most recent Charlie & The Chocolate Factory movie lol.

 

+1 ^ for Santa Barbara. People are very laid back and friendly there too.
There are a bunch of shops to check out during the day if that's ur thing
and plenty of bars too

 

That looks like a awesome trip. But I think you may want to cut out the Yosemite and Death Valley trip. That seems like a lot of driving to do in 11 days while trying to enjoy each place on your list. While ins SD hit up the Gas lamp district. There are plenty of bars, shops etc to hit up.

 

God Dayum, when are you going to sleep or boink your girl? You're going to be like Clark Griswold on Vacation in a challenging quest for fun!

I'm from L.A. and spent half my adult life there. Now I live in San Diego and I know both cities well. Personally, I think San Francisco is the most cosmopolitan city in the West Coast. It's a beautiful city.

L.A. is the largest city though, but it's not really a city like NYC or San Francisco due to its enormous urban sprawl. Most coastal cities revolve around their ports. Not L.A. Downtown L.A. is 20 to 45 minutes away from the beaches depending on traffic. There is a pulse in L.A. that cannot be duplicated, however the facade of phoniness is ever present. L.A. is more diverse and cosmopolitan than San Diego, it also has better overall dining, but . . .

San Diego is friendlier (as someone said before), laid back and generally has a more vacation like atmosphere. It suffers from a little brother complex and attempts to hide (forget) it's a border town, but it is so much easier to get around in San Diego. The beaches communities are a bit more fun - and less expensive - than L.A.

However, there is only one L.A. and everytime I go back, I miss it (minus the stop and go traffic).

California also has immense natural beauty. Yosemite is worth seeing. It's just gorgeous. So is the Sequoia natural reserve, and you have to drive down PCH between San Francisco and Santa Barbara once in your life. It's just gorgeous. I've never been to Death Valley, but it's a desert and who the hell wants to see that?

You have many choices and you might need a vacation from your vacation with your ambitious agenda.

 

2 days in SD, and 3 days in LA....

There is Sea World, San Diego zoo, and the gas lamp district in san Diego that make it very fun

In LA you can do the Hollywood walk of Fame and go to Beverly Hills and do some shopping and take tours of the museums downtown LA...

San Fransisco, go ahead and go to Fisherman's Warf and get some bomb food, Pier 39 for some fun, make sure you go to Alcatraz and check it out....
Eat down in China Town for some bomb azz food.... San Fransisco is so nice but expensive. I recommend driving the 101 all the way up to San Fran. It is the prettiest drive ever....

I think you will have some fun and it will be a memorable trip for you and the lady!

 

Word lol

 

You can come to disneyland with us LOL..

jk umm if you and your GF are interested in going clubbing in Hollywood I can take care of you on that. PM or text me.

We do the following clubs right now: ExchangeLA, La Vida, MyHouse.

- Eric
626-592-3103 <--text friendy

 

Oooh, hit up Pismo Beach on your drive up PCH for some Splash Cafe Clam Chowder!!

And maybe go wine tasting at Solvang!

 

Thanks for all the feedback!

I've updated my initial post. I deleted Death Valley from the list and I'm still thinking if Yosemite is worth the trip... I think I'd rather drive the PCH twice and visit different areas each way..

Thanks for all the suggestions.. I've added them to my list..

Eric - Expect a text from me in August! I have some connects here in NYC for clubs too! lol

Keep the suggestions/feedback coming!

 

Sounds good =P

death valley? whats in death valley? ._. skip that

Yosemite is pretty awesome especially if you can do a good hike..


Half Dome Summit...

 

^^^I've always wanted to scale that. I have to do that while I'm able bodied. It's a beautiful summit from what I hear.

 

Sea World and the San Diego Zoo are both worthwhile. Fawck Beverly Hills and Rodeo drive. I've driven through, gazed and have never gone back. Now Melrose Avenue, on a Saturday or Sunday when the sun is shining . . . that's worth it. They have some cool shops, and plenty of hot chicks. They also have some freak shows, but hey, it's L.A. Same goes for the walk on the Venice boardwalk. You have to do that.

Also consider the Farmers Market on 3rd and Beverly adjacent to the Grove. The Grove is eh, the Farmers Market though rules. Bring your appetite. Check out Amoeba music while you're in California. There is no better music store than them. They're only located in San Francisco, Berkeley, and on Sunset blvd in L.A. If you go to the one in L.A., might as well check out a movie at the Arclight. It's a legend of a movie theatre. You know how you go to NYC and check out a show on broadway? Well in L.A., you go watch a movie. Arclight, Mann's Chinese Theatre or if you're a local, the Vista (old hollywood glamour) on Sunset and Virgil.

You're a tourist, so check out Universal Studios. It's cool for what it is. If you want to shop, and I mean shop like your in some sort of bazaar in Istanbul, go to downtown L.A.'s fashion/jewelry district. Bring cash and haggle, haggle, haggle. Cash rules there. But don't stay in the fashion district past dark, for a skid row metamorphosis takes place. While you're in downtown, eat at Clifton's cafeteria (an old school L.A. place that is like Disneyland for locals), Phillipi's, or the Grand Central Market on Broadway and 4th. All of those aforementioned places are old school and truly represent what Los Angeles is about.

Also worth seeing in L.A.: Griffith Obsevatory, the Getty Museum, MOCA, Olvera Street, 3rd Street Promenade, Chinatown, Elysian Park, catching a Dodger Game (since no one else is watching it since everyone is pissed off at the management), and the Huntington Gardens.

What you must eat?: Aside from the stuff I mentioned two paragraphs above - Tommy's on Rampart (there's more than one Tommy's now, but I only go to the one on Rampart because it's the first one), Pink's on La Brea, a Shackburger in Playa del Rey, In-N-Out (all of their chains are good), the Pantry in downtown for breakfast, King Taco if you're in East L.A. or El Taurino if you're in the mid-City area, Manna Korean all you can eat BBQ in the mid-city area (but I heard they don't let you cook your meat anymore ), and I've heard really good things of Baby Blues BBQ in Venice.

Now that's just L.A. I know San Diego well too, but the eateries and shopping just don't compare. Tijuana - and I'm serious - has better eateries and shopping than San Diego unless you like buying the expensive Prada/Coach/DK stuff. In which case, it's your money.

San Diego doesn't need the eateries though when it has beautiful weather, very predictable traffic, easy way to navigate the city, and affable people.

Enjoy!