LA plus where? California in October ideas please!

[WhatWouldTheDoctorDo]

DC really want to go to LA, mostly for Disney etc. (we've been to Florida). Originally, before covid hit, we'd planned to fly into SF, visit Yosemite, drive down the coast stopping at a few places, few days in LA.

We can go next year, but exams etc. now mean we are restricted to the summer when it will be crazy hot, or October when we're restricted to around 10 days.

Would be grateful for any suggestions! I've got a notion to spend some time in LA, maybe some time in San Diego, and save SF, Yosemite, Big Sur etc. for a time when we're not restricted to school holidays! Any other suggestions for a trip based around LA & San Diego?

DH and I have done LA up coast to SF via Big Sur, Carmel etc over a week. Was lots of fun. We also did a trip with kids in 2018 - LA - Yosemite-drive through Death Valley to Vegas-Palm Springs-San Diego-Laguna Beach and home. Was great-but yes very hot, esp in Vegas! We were going to spend last few days back in LA but after first few days there we didn’t want to, it’s quite hard work with traffic and sheer size. Probably would skip Palm Springs - loved San Diego and Laguna Beach.

Thanks @sleepwhenidie I think the recent closure of Big Sur, and fires etc. make me a bit loathe to organise a big road trip at the times of year we are able to go. I really want to do big sur and Yosemite, but I'm coming to the conclusion that DH and I do that on a separate trip, and we concentrate on LA and surround for trip with DC
next year. And if we don't have lots of big drives then I think October will be doable. Your trips sound fabulous though! I wish we'd had the freedom to go in covid times as originally planned, before exams etc. got in the way!

Lots to do around LA & San Diego - loved SD.
In LA - Disney, Universal, agree Laguna Beach is very nice. If you're going in October everything will be Halloween themed.
San Diego - Balboa Park, La Jolle, Coronado Island, San Diego Zoo, Aquarium etc.
it's also not too far to get to Vegas - about 6 hours drive from LA if I remember correctly.
But if you only have 10 days maybe just do LA & SD?

Thanks @APurpleSquirrel I'm really edging towards LA & SD in October, rather than a bigger trip in the summer. Did you go with teens at all? Thanks for all your suggestions I will look them up.

Don’t bother with Las Vegas. Not worth it at all. We didn’t like San Diego much either. Underwhelming in several ways. With 10 days you would ideally start in SF snd drive down highway 1. Not doing this is a shame. I get your reasons but I would still do it. It’s not that far either if you split up the journey. We don’t do theme parks. Prefer natural scenery. Which is stunning and memorable.

I'm planning a similar holiday, so am watching with interest! There are so many beachy towns, it's hard to know which ones to visit! And how many days for theme parks etc.

I agree, especially if you are doing parks - LA and SD would be great. Try and get to a baseball game in LA and the observatory was great. USS Midway in SD was a big hit.

I hear you @TizerorFizz , if it was just DH and I, SF and a drive down the coast (via Yosemite) would be top of the list. But I think we will park that until we can go on holiday on our own. This will be our last big spendy pre-uni holiday, and I really don't want to risk fires, landslides etc. which are a feature when we can trav. We will definitely do that trip, but it's maybe not for next year. We've promised DC the theme parks, so that's the starting point for us.

We're big baseball fans @sleepwhenidie bust sadly, if we go in October I think we'll
Be out of season!

Joshua Tree national park? It’s not a patch on Yosemite but it could be a nice detour for your trip. It’s about 2 hours drive from LA. I spent a weekend there recently with my teenage kids and we liked it a lot.

Joshua tree is amazing but don’t go in the summer - even in October it’s still very hot. And Southern California can be very hot in October too. We just came back from living in LA for 10years so happy to give detailed SoCal itinerary if you like, but like PP I highly recommend LA and San Diego and get up to big bear in lieu of Yosemite for nature that’s not as far away

@Citygirlrurallife I've read you can cross over to Mexico fairly easily from San Diego - is that something you have done/would recommended? Thanks!

I think your plans sound really sensible for 10 days. Could you split it something like this:

Day 1 - LA
Hollywood sign, walk of fame, Beverly Hills, the grove
Day 2 - LA
Universal
Day 3 - LA
Warner Bros tour, Griffith Observatory
Day 4 - LA to Anaheim
Drive to downtown LA to see the sights and then on to Anaheim
Day 5 - Anaheim
Disney
Day 6 - Anaheim
Disney
Day 7 - San Diego
USS Midway, Gaslamp district
Day 8 - San Diego
Balboa park & the zoo
Day 9 - San Diego towards LA
Laguna beach or Newport beach
Day 10 - LA
Santa Monica beach

Get the ferry over to Catalina island and have a look round the main town Avalon. Really pretty and seems a million miles from LA

Done LA & SF one tip we use is to fly from Dublin clear immigration in Ireland and it was significantly cheaper than from UK.

we stayed in West Hollywood did a couple of days at universal and other bits - quite underwhelmed. Get to universal early. Also complain we manger to get loads of fast pass tickets.

SF - spent a few days there on a separate trip kids loved seeing the golden gate and ridding the tram if you’re going make sure you book the likes of Alcatraz. Would like to have done that but was a bit of a last minute trip.

Enjoy

You can but if you’re going for 10 days I wouldn’t bother. It’s a mission getting over the border and back thanks to queues and traffic and Tijuana isn’t the best Mexico has to offer. That part of the border isn’t as dodgy as it is in Arizona and Texas but I’d plan a separate better Mexico holiday personally

i would also avoid Hollywood, it’s a bit of a dump, instead drive Mulholland and go to the Griffith observatory - you can see the sign. Hollywood boulevard in my opinion isn’t worth going to just to see the stars on the grubby and tourist filled pavements!

Universal studios you can do in one day, Disney in 2 (though if you’ve done Florida maybe only do one so you’ve done it but you have time for other things!)

LACMA, the Getty centre and the Getty Villa are all wonderful, as is the Huntingdon gardens and old town Pasadena (though prepare for east LA to be very very hot) and if you’re there on a Sunday go to Smorgasburg in DTLA, epic food market!

the beaches you basically can’t go wrong with, they are all different and have different things to offer but def get the variation of the rough beauty of the smaller Malibu beaches (matador is lovely) and compare to the crazy human side of Venice beach (if you’re DC are into skating it’s awesome watching the skaters down there)

if you want any food or drink recs hit me up. Ugh this is making me very homesick!!!

In 2019 we did a couple of nights at long beach then 3 night San Diego and 5 nights in LA. San Diego was probably my favourite place I’ve been in the US we loved it. We went in October and went to a lakers game which was the highlight of the trip as someone who isn’t into any sport it was amazing! Last august we started in San Fran for 4 nights drove the coast stopping 2 nights at pismo beach then 5 nights in LA and then flew to vegas for the last 3 nights. It was hands down the best holiday we have ever done. The drive down the coast was breathtaking I took so many photos and none of them do it any justice you just have to see it. We did so much in 2 weeks Alcatraz, golden gate, fisherman’s wharf, universal Hollywood, walk of fame, Hollywood sign, rodeo drive, sonata Monica and Venice beach, went whale watching at long beach and seen 2 blue whales🤩, did both zip wires in vegas did the rollercoaster round New York New York. Our kids was 16 and 13 and they loved all of it. In LA we stayed the the garland which I would recommend at night they have a big screen and play movies round the pool. Pismo beach was lovely had a really old fashioned real American vibe we stopped at various places like Monterey and Santa Barbara. Sorry this is so long but I could go on and on about these types of holidays🤣

I would say that Disney and universal are no way near as good as in Orlando. I’m glad we’ve seen them especially Disney being the original park but I wouldn’t go expecting them to be as good as orlando. And the homeless is a massive problem pretty much everywhere we’ve been in California and vegas. We met an English family in LA last year who normally go to orlando and they was really disappointed at how dirty everything was and how bad the homelessness and said they would never go back but we loved it. Orlando is my favourite but it is very touristy very clean almost fake California seems more authentic. Some of the sights are amazing the cute little towns you drive through seeing how people live is really interesting to see. The homeless didn’t seem any bother they are mostly asleep although one homeless man did scream swear words right in my 16 year old daughters face which was scary but we just grabbed her away and moved on. I can’t see what the solution is the their homeless problem it’s quite scary and heartbreaking to see.

My teens loved San Diego.
We did a much longer trip that included

Vegas - Grand Canyon - across the desert to Palm Springs - San Diego - LA.

Teens really enjoyed San Diego. An attraction pass can be good value. We all loved Knotts Berry farm (between SD and LA)

We’re flying into San Francisco then doing Yosemite, Napa, Carmel / Monterey, Big Sur, Disney and finishing in LA. That’s a 20 day itinerary with 2 or 3 nights in each place.

@Citygirlrurallife
We did all the things you mention in LA. Great minds etc!!!

We found the touristy things grubby. A bit like the touristy bits of San Diego. The Getty Centre is a truly wonderful building. We also went to Malibu and the Getty Villa. We stayed in Santa Monica though and avoided theme parks.

Do you know if the Costume Museum is still open in the former Max Factor factory? We enjoyed that. Also Huntington is a good shout. We loved the cactus garden and the gallery. All better than fast food outlets and chewing gum strewn streets.

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate you sharing your tips and recommendations. Still toying with whether we can do SF-Yosemite-Big Sur LA in October break or whether we'd be better sticking with LA & SD but add in some nature at Joshua Tree or Big Bear. I think I am pretty much set on October rather than the summer, even though it restricts how long we have. I could probably stretch to 12 days then if I time the flights right.

I might absolutely hit you up for itinerary ideas @Citygirlrurallife ! And thanks @Vanillalime for taking the time to post detailed itinerary. Don't apologise @Youneverknowwhatyourgonnaget I love getting ideas from other people's trips!! Totally appreciate that Disney and Universal won't be anything like Florida, but I think there's a specific ride or two that DS wants to do, and we gave him the option of choosing the next 'big' holiday after having to miss out on his first choice in the covid years which isn't now really feasible because the best time to go would interfere with exam prep. What did your teens enjoy about SD @Greengrassgone ?

My teens like the vibe - the waterfront, swimming at la Jolla, going to the baseball. We've done quite a few road trips in CA and found doing mountains or coast not both made more logistics sense - so on one trip went to Sequioa and Yosemite and another time Monteray ( teens can scuba in the big rock pool).

Have you ruled out the East Coast - we did NYC and DC ( into one out of the other and train between) in October in 10 days. It was the perfect trip length and no driving. Now that really made and impression on the teens!!!

My personal favourite is a few days in Laguna, up to Santa Monica, few days in LA/ Santa Monica/Venice, up to Santa Barbara for 3 or 4 days (love Santa Barbara) then up to SF over next 3 days staying in monterrey and Carmel, few days in SF - but then I don't like theme parks

i would also avoid Hollywood, it’s a bit of a dump, instead drive Mulholland and go to the Griffith observatory - you can see the sign. Hollywood boulevard in my opinion isn’t worth going to just to see the stars on the grubby and tourist filled pavements! I completely agree with this. Hollywood Boulevard is the biggest disappointment in LA - absolutely nothing at all to recommend it. Griffith Park and the Observatory are wonderful, likewise Santa Monica, Venice beach and Beverley Hills for actually feeling like you are in a movie - so much feels familiar even if you have never been there before. I hate theme parks, but I loved Universal. I'd also second the Getty Villa - and Hearst Castle if you want to go a bit further along the PCH. What the Americans are so great at is organising tours that help you get the most out of these places so that even if you think you won't be interested you end up being hooked. Palm Springs (do the Aerial Tramway) and Joshua Tree are great for a short trip out of the city.