What to pack for California road trip

[foodiefil]

Hellooo

Going to California two weeks today!

Taking in San Fran, Napa, Monterey, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica (LA) and Vegas!

Very excited and sorting our itinerary and what to pack.

What should we take? (Just a couple not a family) and any other tips please

You won't need as much as you think. All accommodations will have excellent laundry facilities.
Shorts and ts during the day with a hoody if chilly. A couple of nice outfits for evening, and maybe jeans. Swimwear.
Vegas will be HOT! Very. And noisy, and trashy, and crazy. Go to see the Bellagio fountains. Oh and when filling up with petrol you have to pay before you can get it.

That's so useful thank you!

I think I need more shorts then.

I'm imagining Vegas can be quite glam? Happy to glam up for a few days!

Is it better to hire a car online now or when we get there?

We went in September and it wasn’t all that warm. A few hoodies and a light waterproof. Comfortable shoes.

LV is full of hot sweaty people wearing vests and shorts or loners gambling. Glam it ain’t!

Ha! I was about to say the same Bubbles! Unless you actually are only going to eat at Nobu and hang out at high roller tables, definitely don’t go glam

Nothing glam about Vegas! But we love it. Going back next month for a cheap getaway. Flights were less than $50 each way. Try and catch one of the shows there. We are going to see Shin Lim (winner of America’s got Talent) - he’s brilliant. Penn and Teller are also there.

Weather should be warm in southern CA. Foggy often in SF.

A jumper, quite a thick one! Even in the summer San Francisco can be rather cold.

Vegas could be very hot.

To be guest throughout California, apart from for evenings out proper perhaps, none has been overly glam or dressed up places. In Vegas most of the tine everyone were in shorts and t shirts.

The Napa wine train was quite glam actually and there were some nice places to eat where you could get dressed up.

The Sardine Factory restaurant in Monterey we were more dressed up too.

Where are you staying in LV? Have you booked a show?

Hit a 99 cents only store and you can get most of your travel needs when you get there.

@Aragog is that worth doing in Napa? Any other tips? In there for my birthday so would like to do something nice.

@zebra22 staying at the Excalibur - haven't booked a show but quite fancy Penn & Teller? Any other recs

Ok message received that Vegas isn't glam damn it 😂

We enjoyed the wine train though it is expensive. The food was fantastic. Be warned though - the only free wine you get is a small glass of fizz. You have to buy the rest. There are also your versions where you can get off and visit wineries for tastings.

Napa was a lovely small town, lovely to wander round.

Just back from a 3 week trip to California.

I would say take casual clothes, comfortable shoes and layers. It can get chilly/windy especially in San Francisco - and at the beach. Saying that take sunscreen too - I got caught out numerous times..

Lots of money - I found it really quite expensive. We were mostly staying with family but eating out a lot and especially given the currency exchange rate at the moment it was pricey.

I always hire a car before we leave UK. My last three times have been Hertz online - Although through a third party. This time I did it via Costco Car Hire. You need to be a Costco member but I do think it worked out cheaper. The car hire was actually the best value part of our trip.

You won;t want the car in San Francisco city centre though. Previous year we flew into SFO but were staying the night in the city so just took the BART into the city and then went back to the airport to pick up the car when we were heading off. A bit of a trek but easy and cheap and way easier than having to drive through San Francisco.

We hired a car in advance but waited until we left San Francisco. We picked it up a short walk from our hotel. You wouldn't need one in Vegas either so if that's you're last stop I'd drop it off as you arrive. Parking at hotels for cars can be quite expensive in California's

Do you know where you're staying in each location and for how long? Which airports are you flying in and out of?