Road trip itinerary from LA

[TopGolfer]

Hi my DH and I have flights booked into and out of LA next February for a 9 night duration. We were originally going to go on a cruise but are now thinking of mixing things up and travelling to a few different places for perhaps three nights in each place. Any suggestions for itinerary, ideally I’d like some chill time but this could consist of half a day at a spa or hotel pool every few days or of one of the places to be an R&R destination.
We have a budget of 3-4K for accommodation, prices are crazy over there at the moment and we’ll need a lot of spending money.

I’d do two nights in LA, a night in Monterey, four nights in San Francisco, one night in Big Sur State Park and another night in LA before your flight home.

Thanks for that I forgot to say I’ve already stayed in LA so don’t mind not staying there again.

Could you poss fly into LA and out of SF on an openjaw ticket? ExH and i drove the length of the Pacific Highway from LA to SF in a rental car for our honeymoon and stayed in v cheap motels in sweet little non-touristy towns. Morro Bay being one of them where we ate at a crab shack/ lobster roll place and played pool with the locals in a bar who all drove massive monster trucks it seemed. We went to the Aquarium in Monterey and the oldest cinema in Cali there too (we saw HI Fidelity there), We had bugger all money and it was great tbh.

We did LA , then San Diego / la jolla and then Palm Springs / Joshua tree National park. Finished by driving back to LA but you could add on Las Vegas

Spectacular driving and can highly recommend the Waldorf Astoria La Quinta resort for spa and many relaxing pools

Then in that case: one night in Monterey, three nights in San Francisco, three nights in Yosemite and two nights in the Kern Valley or near Lake Isabella.

Do San Luis Opisbo and stay at Madonna Inn - they have a spa and restaurant and the place itself is amazing. Near there (about 20 miles) is Hearst Castle which is well with a visit

i would also head further up to San franscisco -

if you go the other way visit San Diego -

Yosemite

Thank you, lots of great suggestions.

Did a similar trip to this but added Palm Springs and Santa Barbara. Think i'd miss Palm Springs if there isn't event on (I went for Coachella) and fit in San Diego. Have fun OP!

What are people’s thought on added my on Vegas? Its sort of on my bucket list, more out of curiosity and I’m thinking while we are nearish whether to go.

Check the weather, OP !

A few things spring to mind given it's February - if you are driving the coast check for landslide blockages; check national park openings and seasonal snow road closures; general temps (Vegas can be really cold at night in winter) etc.

Some parts of California and Nevada are pleasant over the winter but some can be cold and/or inaccessible.

Have fun - US road trips are some of my best memories !

I love Vegas , in small doses , surreal place but also can be a chill out as there are hotel pools , spas etc

Seconding the previous suggestion from @rubyslippers for the Madonna Inn and Hearst Castle.

What time do you arrive in LA OP? I'm just thinking that with the flights and the 8-hour time difference you're likely to be feeling pretty tired, so I'd stay somewhere not too far from the airport that first night. Maybe Santa Monica? Then, if you don't want to stay in LA, head south to San Diego for 3 nights, then up to Palm Springs for a night, through the desert to Las Vegas for 3 nights, then maybe have a night in Big Bear to ski a few runs before heading back to LA to catch your flight home.

I think I will arrive tea time there which will be like the early hours of the morning UK time.
I would do internal flights to cut some driving time but don’t want to miss out on a lot of scenery.

Okay, well you could fly between San Diego and Las Vegas and between Las Vegas and LA, if you'd prefer? It's really up to you how much driving you want to do and how much you want to see between the cities. I like driving, because you get a real feel for the geography of a place, but maybe you could drive one way and then fly the other? So drive LA-San-Diego-Las Vegas, then fly Las Vegas to LA and home.

Thanks everyone, this is all really helpful.

Santa Barbara is gorgeous. Also San Louis Obispo as PP have said, if the Madonna Inn is full, Apple Farm Inn is also lovely.

Don't count on driving in the mountains in February. Some routes may be closed due to snow. The Tioga pass is closed for sure in January but 395 can also be closed as weather conditions indicate in February. You will need to rent a 4x4 or AWD and in Yosemite you will need chains for your tires. Unless you or DH feel confident driving in snow I would be wary.

Yosemite is out although we do love the snow I think it will be better to save it for another trip.

We just returned from California, my advice ... fly to Vegas from Burbank or Oakland (smaller airports, LAX is a vast pain in the you know where) ...I would say Santa Monica for first 2 nights as it is near LAX, hire bikes and head to Venice/Marina del Rey, then drive up the coast to Santa Barbara (so beautiful) for a couple of nights but it will not be pool weather in February, maybe a night in Malibu on way back, then fly to Vegas for 5 nights (so much to see and do, including day trip to Grand Canyon) and plenty of time to relax/Spa days etc then internal flight to LAX and connect to your flight home, saving travel time!

Any suggestions of where to stay at the beginning of the trip that aren’t Santa Monica as I visited there when I last went to LA?

You could stay at the Magic Castle hotel in LA as that gives you access to the Magic Castle. Very difficult to get in there otherwise. Food is nice and the magic amazing (even if you don't like magic), it's a very interesting place to visit. The hotel itself is very basic but the service is amazing. You need to get them to book you in to the Magic Castle, it gets booked up though as you'd imagine and you can only do this if you book directly, not via a booking site.

We have done this trip a few times up to San Francisco and down to SanDiego also into the Joshua tree national park.
Agree with pp suggestions can I add a stay in the pioneer motel next to pappy and harriets bar fantastic live music wonderful food, star gazing coyotes howling so fun!,,

If you're interested in Joshua Tree don't go from Palm Springs but look at the north end. The 29 Palms Inn is a lovely slightly funky place with pool and lots of little cabins - went there a couple of times when I was living in the Bay Area.