-
Hello all. Apologies in advance for the jumbled nature of this…..
Arriving in LA in early November on a Thursday at 2pm and leaving at 10pm on the Monday, so four nights and four full days. Planning on hiring a car for the whole time. First thoughts were that given the time of day we land that we leave LA immediately and head…. somewhere.
Thoughts:
– A night in Malibu or Santa Monica on the way to a night in Santa Barbara, another night somewhere else then one in/near LA (see below)? Or two in SB? Push up Route 1?
– A night in Santa Barbara, a night in Ojai Valley (AI recommendation), drive through Joshua Tree and stay in Palm Springs?
– A night in Palm Springs on the way to Joshua Tree NP for a night then somewhere on the way back to LA?
– A night in Encinitas or Del Mar on the way to San Diego? I assume popping to Tijuana for a few hours would be daft.
For our last full day/night (Sunday), I was thinking we could get back to LA early and spend Sunday and Monday driving (crawling!) around seeing the sights/ticking the boxes – will 36 hours cover this? I know people recommend West Hollywood to stay, but might Santa Monica be better if we haven’t already been? It’d be somewhere else to see and not as central.
I’ve found the previous threads about LA which have helped with certain aspects of my planning, but I’m still not sure what to do. We were burning our last two Virgin upgrade vouchers and were limited in terms of destination – hence no specific plan, other than wanting to see the standard tourist things and drive to/wander around some lovely places. We drove from SF to Las Vegas via Paso Robles and Death Valley earlier this year and really enjoyed that, the scenery was spectacular.
I’m open to just about anything, so I’d be grateful for any thoughts. Thanks!
Palm Springs and Joshua Tree have some spectacular landscapes and hopefully not too hot by November. You’re going to be doing a lot of driving with all that in 4 days though! I’d stop and do a bit of sightseeing or hiking or you’ll miss a lot.
IIRC there wasn’t actually that much to do in LA itself. We did the La Brea tar pits and museum and the famous hand prints and that was about it.
Yes Tijuana would be insane. Crossing into Mexico takes seconds, coming back usually takes several hours and there’s nothing to see.
I would say no to Joshua Tree, it’ll be peak season, rammed with people and parking at trailheads will be almost impossible.
If you think you’d like to see Malibu then go a little further up the coast and get a boat to Channel Islands NP for the day. That’s a fun ride and some good hiking. You need to investigate sailings/pre book in advance. If you want to drive more of 101 then the madness of Hearst Castle is 3 hours further north (timed tickets required). Stop at Morrow Bay and see Haystack Rock.
La Brea Tar Pit as mentioned earlier is fun if you like history, and if you like cars then the Peterson Automotive museum is almost opposite. You can park on the street and walk to both.
Do Venice Boulevard, walk it, bike it, scooter it… have a drink and people watch at the skate parks and beach. Don’t miss the sunset.
I’d do “… A night in Encinitas or Del Mar on the way to San Diego…”
I like the OC coast, perhaps save SD for another trip.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Popular articles this week:
