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 love Palm Springs although when we lived in CA we'd go there in the autumn, winter and spring and give it a wide berth in the summer. The Living Desert (the zoo) is fab but if you want to do any of the hikes that start there you'll need literally gallons of water. It's so different to both LA and San Diego that it would make a fantastic contrast. Such an amazing landscape. As pps have mentioned, the aerial tramway is great and much cooler at the top too, think there's a 30 degree F temperature difference from top to bottom. There are some nice walks around Whitewater too. Also yes, the cabazon outlets and the nearby dinosaurs are good, although if you want outlet shopping then if you were to stay in Santa Monica you could drive up to Camarillo which was my favourite outlet.

If you want any more info on Palm Springs, Santa Monica, LA, San Diego etc then please ask as we used to live in LA and traveled extensively in Southern California.

Great thread! I booked our flights for mid June 2016 last week and have three weeks to plan - with the added complication of the DC not quite knowing what they'll be doing, and if they'll be joining us at any point.

For those who know the area (mrsmilkymoo?), is it sensible/possible to include San Fransisco (flying into and out of), Yosemite, Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, San Diego/Santa Monica, coast road drive back from LA to SF in three weeks - or would we get home knackered?!

Literally nothing planned at the minute - I'm loving having that blank sheet to start working on.

Thanks clpsmum for starting the thread!

I can advise how to spend 7 full days in San Diego with kids. pm me if interested :)

Grand Canyon is back end of nowhere, why people try to drive there & back only to just look at it is unfathomable to me. Unless you love sitting in car all the time, it would be almost 4 full days just to drive there, look at it for a few hours & get back to SoCal. And you better have great Aircon in that car in June. You can look at it on Youtube.

Better to plan a proper tour of the Great parks without including SoCal but can maybe include Vegas, by flying & and out of Salt Lake, then you see Arches, Zion, etc.

aj I would say it's doable but you'd be spending so much time in the car and personally I'd prefer to spend longer in fewer places. There is just so much to do in most of the locations you mentioned and I think it might become more of a ticking places off kind of trip if you tried to cram everything in. You could take days just driving down the coast.

TROUT - I would love to know more about San Diego but can't seem to figure out how to send a PM! The zoo and Legoland are the only must do on the list at the moment. We were also planning a day trip to Dana point to do a whale watch and dolphin cruise, any other suggestions would be greatly welcome definitely don't want to rush the time we spend there.

In San Francisco we were planning on a trip to Alcatraz and possibly cycling the golden gate bridge also think the Japanese Tea garden look beautiful anything else we shouldn't miss out we have three small children with us who need to be entertained constantly!!

Can I run my first draft itinerary by you? It's open to change/suggestions.

Five nights in San Francisco. Visiting Alcatraz golden gate bridge painted ladies Japanese Teagarden.

Fly from San Francisco to San Diego. Four nights in San Diego.

Three nights in Carlsbad staying at the Legoland hotel.

Three nights in Palmsprings visiting the living desert and the aerial Tramway.

Five nights in Anaheim with the park hopper ticket spending three or four days at Disneyland.

Three nights in West Hollywood visiting the walk of fame Hollywood sign top of the stars home universal studios and Santa Monica.

Does this sound doable without killing us all!!! Also is this the order you would do it in?

This is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime holiday so if there's anything you think I'm missing out on should say please tell me. Thank you so much for your help

omg, I actually forgot about Legoland, ok, will come back to this soon.

ps: when are you going, what dates?

pps: how old are your DC?

Unfortunately not for ages yet! Planning for October 2016. DC will be 5, 7 & 10 when we go

Cool. Good time of yr to go, too. Suitable with kids, and In no particular order but *s on ones we like best:

Could spend 2 full days at each location: Legoland & Sea World.

1 full day:
SD Zoo or Reuben H. Fleet Space Centre

• Trip to Anza Borrego state park, you want the main visitor centre & palm canyon walk (this is a long driving day trip, but well worth it)
• Walking around Balboa park & little museums like model railway, Aerospace museum, Merry-go-round near the zoo / botanical gardens Wild Animal Park (north county)

1/2 day _ :
** USS Midway, honestly, my fave thing in SD nowadays.
Birch/Scripps Aquarium with * Torrey Pines Park
Whale Watching (check local conditions)
Kayaking in mission bay might be possible
(Baseball game if right dates & you have a local host to explain it to you)

1-3 hours each:
Natural History Museum (Balboa Park),

• Cabrillo National Monument: walk, tidepools, exhibit (Sunset Cliffs)
• Go up to Mt. Soledad Old Town & Heritage (county) Park Whaley House (said to be haunted...) Boat Tour on Mission Bay (see the other aircraft carriers up close) Star of India (sailing ship)
• Belmont Park (esp if you like classic roller coasters), my kids could spend 2 solid days here! meal out in the Gaslamp Quarter Might be able to hire skates and go up & down the boardwalk in Mission beach

We've just come back from 3.5 week road trip covering your itinary, plus Vegas and Lassen National Park (3000 miles, starting and finishing in San Diego). I can recommend:

San Diego:

USS Midway
Mission Beach- ride the old style roller coaster
Zoo (there is also a safari park to the north of SD)
Birch Aquarium and La Jolla beach
Cabrillo
Coronado Island - for a mooch around to look at fab houses, beaches and the famous hotel

If anyone likes good beer then the Stone Brewery in Escondido is worth a stop - they have a great restaurant with fabulous food.

We did a couple of nights in Palm Desert, but could have stayed longer - stayed in a great apartment on one of the golf courses, and went out to the Coachella Reserve to see the San Andreas fault, as well as the water park (make sure you have flip flops, the concrete paths get super hot).

Not sure I would spend 5 nights in San Francisco - time better spent elsewhere! Alcatraz is a half day trip, and you can easily combine with doing the touristy stuff at Fisherman's Wharf to make a full day. Marin County to the north of the bridge makes a good day out, with visits to Sausalito and the redwoods and Muir Beach.

Too long in SF imo.
Apart from Golden Gate park (Japanese garden was lovely), Alcatraz, viewing the bridge and a mooch around Fishermans wharf it doesn't have quite the same vibe as other places. A bit stressy almost.
Maybe just me though, I think I'm a So-Cal lover at heart

I think too long in SF.

I agree Marin County is lovely and I wish I'd spent more time there, do go to Muir Woods if you can.

Re painted ladies, my DH had researched and come up with this area. When we got there I roared laughing as tbh there are cuter streets in our home town! Along the road was an area with a nice US independent shop and cafe vibe but in all honesty I thought it was a destination remarkable only to a 20 something used to v. modern cities.

Would you have time to go to Carmel it's busy but lovely, we also loved the beaches at nearby Los Lobos nature reserve. Maybe too cold in October though!

Thanks so much for all the info I'm reading up on all the different places you've mentioned.

How many nights in San Francisco would you recommend ? Also how many nights in Palm Springs/desert I was thinking two or three? Is this enough?

Plant suggestions where to stay in Palm Springs?

any not plant!

We stayed at the Marriott Desert Springs Villas II in Palm Desert - a 2 bedroom apartment (2 king beds and a good sized sofa bed) was huge and had a washer/drier (always a bonus), and the pool was good. We booked it through Hotels.com but it's worth checking the Marriott website as you can sometimes get better rates by booking direct.

2-3 nights in Palm Springs is perfect, and we've always done air bnb with the children as then you get a private pool etc

I would personally just do 2 nights in Carlsbad (legoland can be done in a day if you go on a weekday) and not that long at Disney - it will drive you MENTAL. 2 full days is enough. I'd then spend the extra nights in LA proper but if you're not bothered about staying in WeHo to spend any time in WeHo then you may as well stay in Santa Monica as WeHo isn't actually that well placed for freeways so getting to Univerrsl Studios and the Valley is easier from the Westside and my way of getting to Hollywood would be to drive the length of Mullhooland Drive then drop down.

I live in LA with children so can give you ideas of stuff to do - as mentioned the Getty Museum is fab and close to Santa Monica, go to SM for the pier but then head literally 5-10mins south to Ocean Park beach for a nicer beach experience, bit further to take in Venice. Pasadena is great to visit too and also (because of the freeways) quicker and easier to access from Santa Monica than WeHo even though the latter is closer. The South Bay is great too, and various great museums and art galleries like LACMA in mid city. I'm a big fan of downtown too.

I love WeHo but then most of my friends are gay men! It's all cafes and restaurants and bars, although the west Hollywood park is great and there are plenty of families around, it's not as accessible as it seems

I like SMonica for a few days R&R.

Lowes or Shutters are both right on the beach and serve great breakfasts.

The pier is nice for dinner. Lots of reasonably priced restaurants and a cool vibe ( and temperature).

The Getty museum is well worth a visit ( and a short drive). The architecture is stunning.

LA I can take it leave, but I guess everyone should visit the Chinese theatre.

FWIW our last road trip went like this;

LAX. Stayed at Loewes Santa Monica.

Then to Moro Bay.

Then Big Sur.

Then Yodemite.

Finally San Fran.

I agree you don't need to stay as long in either San Francisco or Carlsbad, if you're already staying in San Diego. For Palm Springs, we've stayed in Rancho Mirage at the Rancho Las Palmas. It was beautiful, and had a lazy river/waterslide/pool for kids. There are lots of places to eat nearby too for all budgets.

Personally I wouldn't stay in West Hollywood either....if it was up to me I'd stay in Pasadena and make that my base for a while, as it's pretty easy to get from there to so many places. You can obviously see the main Pasadena attractions such as the gorgeous Huntington Botanic Gardens and art galleries but it's a quick drive down to Santa Monica, or Hollywood, or even somewhere like Long Beach if you're interested in the aquarium or the Queen Mary. You can also take the gold line metro to somewhere like Chinatown, or Olvera Street (right by Union Station), or Little Tokyo.

Hollywood itself I find a bit tacky...I don't think there's much to do there really - I've taken friends on the open top bus tours a few times and that can be fun, but I don't think you'd want to spend too long there.

Have you considered going to places like Laguna Beach, Newport Beach etc? Or up the coast to Santa Barbara? (beautiful there, but the hotels are expensive). If you do stay in Santa Monica then definitely drive up to Malibu - you might even get to see dolphins as you're driving along.

Anza Borrego state park is another very cool place to visit if you're interested in the desert.

Oh and as for museums/galleries - my favourites are the Getty (cool tram ride up there too!), the Getty Villa (but maybe not a must do if you've travelled in Europe), LACMA, and the Norton Simon (Pasadena).

This advice is so helpful thank you so much.

How many days in San Francisco, Palm Springs and Carlsbad would everybody recommend?

We spent four days in SF, and that was more than enough.

It's quite small really. A day for the piers and chilling. A day to Alcatraz. A day for a city tour and a cycle ride across the GG.