Palm Springs or Santa Monica for three day stop?

[clpsmum]

Looking at a week in Anaheim and a week in San Diego with a three day stop in between to recharge the batteries. Can't decide between Santa Monica and Palm Springs. All suggestions very greatly appreciated

I'd say it depends on what you like to do and what time of year you're going.

I love Palm Springs and have lived nearby in the Joshua Tree area. If you're going June-August it will easily be 110+. There are things to do like the aerial tramway up the mountain to get you out of the heat but summer is definitely off season. If you want to lounge by the pool, play golf or soak up the mid-century modern vibe, it's the way to go. The desert is really fantastic and you could also go to Joshua Tree and see the San Andreas fault! I'm halfway to convincing DH to retire to Palm Springs.

Santa Monica is great but for different reasons. There's a lot more going on and the beach is fantastic. Depending on where you stay, you don't necessarily need a car and if you're going with kids, they'll love the Pier, shopping and people watching. It's also fairly easy to get to the Getty Museum from there too (you'd want a car for that).

I think Santa Monica is best with children. It is cooler and has the sea!

We've just spent a few days in Santa Monica with our 3 dc's.
Stayed right near the pier, swam in the Pacific and was in a good position to drive to Anaheim, Hollywood etc.
Great fun people watching on the walk up to Venice beach.

Do you like deserts? I do, but many don't. There's the cable car experience up into the mountains which my dad loves.
Santa Monica is a lot more convenient, but I think it's quite boring, the stereotypical California beach place you see in many movies. Meh.

Ive never been to a dessert that was part of the appeal. We are going to Hollywood, Anaheim and San Diego too so was thinking Palm Springs would be something completely different. Not sure if I'm wasting time and travelling though or if it would be a couple of days to recharge en route to San Diego

when, what month?

Avoid PS in the hottest months as it's hard work to be outside. I like it there and nice to visit Idylwylld....Coachella etc.

Santa Monica I wouldn't bother visiting again. Not a great lover of that area of LA....far nicer places to spend 3 days.

There's a nice children's museum in Palm Springs as well as an air museum dedicated to WWII from which you can watch planes take off and land at the airport which is literally a chain link fence away.

There's also a zoo dedicated to desert animals in Palm Desert (20 minute drive) which has a HUGE model railroad (3 miles of track), and some outlet shopping (and crazy big dinosaurs - think Pee Wee's Big Adventure) in Cabazon.

If you opt for Palm Springs, the major street for shopping and restaurants is Palm Canyon Drive. Ruth Hardy Park is nice for the kids to play.

The fancy shmancy shopping is on El Paseo in Palm Desert. Very near the zoo.

I PS.

The zoo is one of the big attractions for us to be honest it looks great. Think we've settled on two nights in Palm Springs and just a day trip to Santa Monica. The latest dilemma is add on San Francisco or not bother?

The only reason I want to go to San Francisco is to see Alcatraz and really not sure it's worth it?

The PS zoo is fab....watch out for rattlers though

SF is fantastic So worth a trip.

Happy trip!

We are currently in California having been first to Vegas, San Francisco , stops on the Big Sur and off to LA today. San Fran was fantastic, all of us, me, DH and DC (17 &15) loved it, we cycled the bridge, saw Alcatraz, rode the trolley car and generally chilled. Would love to go back for a week or more!

SF is fantastic but don't underestimate the distance from San Diego/ Annaheim, you would need an overnight stop on the way before you even get there. You would need an extra 3 days minimum out of your trip.

CA is about the size of the UK, its very easy to underestimate driving distances.

Its not worth going to SF purely and simply to just see Alcatraz (practically all tickets get sold well in advance of visiting the island). Its also over 500 miles between SF and San Diego.

CA is about double the size of UK... but the main bits (only parts most visit) are similar to UK size. I think one needs to buy tickets a year in advance for Alcatraz. I went once, can't remember it being that special. But there are redwoods & sea otters on the way :).

Tickets for Alcatraz only go on sale 90 days in advance but do get sold out at busy times of year. www.alcatrazcruises.com/

There are fabulous bits of CA which are outside the bit most people see.

I liked Palm Springs are - we actually stayed in Palm Dessert, as somewhere to recharge. You can drive through and see the Joshua Trees on the way/way back.

SF is North and well out of your way - I like it, and the coastal route there is scenic, but I'd either want to do it instead of San Diego or add another week on. (If I had to choose I'd probably choose San Francisco over San Diego, especially as you could just visit the latter from Anaheim.)

Sorry I should've explained, we are going to fly from San Francisco to L.A. As I don't want to spend the trip constantly driving!!

The plan is fly to San Francisco and spend 4 nights there. Then fly to San Diego for a week, drive to Palm Springs for 3 nights, Anaheim 5 nights and West Hollywood for 3 nights. Does this sound like a doable plan???

That sounds quite doable. And probably a nice mix. Why West Hollywood? Is that even nice?

West Hollywood for universal studios, Santa Monica etc

Do you need a week in San diego and 5 nights Anaheim? 2 days in both were enough when we went. If not I'd do a 2-3 day trip to Yosemite when you are in San Francisco. San Francisco is not to be missed.

Id toyed with the idea of Yosemite but I'll have my three young children with me one of which has Sen so I think it would be too much like hardwork tbh. Probably don't need so much time in San Diego or Anaheim but I don't want to feel like we are rushing from place to place iykwim

Santa Monica - because basically that includes all of Los Angeles.