Okay, so I know I wont find someone who has a huge mansion to house swap (my teeny tiny London studio apt isnt available anyway...) nor an aging film producer and a cute music writer! BUT I have wanted to go to California for a while and when I saw the film 'The Holiday' wanted to do even more.
I have been to California as a child (my uncle used to live in San Fran, and then in Long Beach) but this is 20 yrs ago now.
Were I to go now, I'd be travelling solo. I'd skip Disneyland this time around too! I like art, the movies and also the outdoors. I've looked into organised art trips (I'd like to visit the Gerry Museum and Villa) but there arent so many. Id like to do some outdoor stuff, eg hiking (where is the nearest national park?) and wouldnt mind if I had to hire a car. If I had weeks to spare Id drive up to SF and also visit Napa Valley but Ive recently been found to have a lot of allergies and wine doesnt agree so well although I still love it and would love to go anyway!
I dont have a particular time frame for when Id like to do this (id go next week if I knew where, when and how!) and I know year round the weather is pleasant. I may sound hesitant as Im not sure how safe it is in LA area driving alone, and also I know from before that its so vast with so many neighbourhoods, its difficult to narrow it down to where id want to stay.
Any ideas on the kinds of holidays available, or what I might think of doing?
Thanks in advance!
Don't laugh - but I want an LA trip like Kate Winslett in 'The Holiday'
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Too bad your apt isn't available for a swap. I just saw a news story about doing this and London would be a prime location. I just spent a week in CA (live on the east coast). Hubby had a work trip and we went a few days early. Our son also attends a small college in LA, but he was pretty busy with summer courses. We spent a 3-day weekend in Santa Barbara and it was beautiful! Mountains, palm trees and ocean. Very nice and about 2 hours from LA. In LA we stayed south of LAX in Torrence due to Hubby's work. It wasn't the most convenient location but I drove solo into Hollywood one day and did a hop on hop off bus tour. It was very hot so not as enjoyable as it could have been, but I felt safe and with GPS it was easy to navigate. I also visited Santa Monica and the beach/pier with my son. This might be a good home base for someone not needing to be in Hollywood. I also checked out Redondo and Manhattan beach, all nice communities. Bottom line is that you could do Santa Barbara/LA/San Diego in one trip and see a lot. There are hiking areas close to LA with beautiful ocean views, but another outdoor option is to rent a bike and cruise the bike path that runs for 20 miles along the beaches I mentioned.
As for season, I would avoid summer and choose April/May or Sept/Oct. Less crowded and cooler, I think. Cheers!
lasightseeing.net
carrentals.com out of LAX cheap
stay centrally or up towards Malibu for the Getty
betterbidding.com for cheap hotels at great prices
Westin Bonaventure Bidding Priceline $65 for me last
head up the coast to Santa Barbara nepenthebigsur.com
ventanainn.com carmelcalifornia.com would be awesome for you
Very Winsletian...
love the bike idea - thank you!
Nepenthe is in Big Sur, not Santa Barbara.
Did you take the trip? (Watching the movie now)
Thoroughly enjoyable escape movie, the reality of which is you'd never, ever find a single widowed father who looks like Jude Law on a house exchange in Surrey, anymore than you'd get the Brentwood California dream house, the exterior of which was actually filmed in San Marino, with a sweetheart of a guy like Jack Black helping you get over the complete jerk you left behind in England.
Now, I remember questioning the location of the Brentwood (CA, that is == there's also a Brentwood in northern California and in Essex, England) mansion because anyone coming from LAX to a house in Brentwood would NOT be taking Pacific Coast Highway unless it was some crazy side trip to show how darned pretty Los Angeles can be in certain areas.
I can say that most of us with Single Family Homes in L.A. have the kind that look more like the surrey cottage, but less quaint and certainly not that old.
What we DO have are a lot of swimming pools or jacuzzi's (or both) and pretty decent weather.
But the question here is do you really have something to swap, or are you looking for a place to rent and if so when?
We could alway collect a bunch of us for a quick GTG to say hello because, after all, the biggest complaint about LA (well, one of them) is how hard it is to get to know people.
Hi, surfergirl. I doubt traceller2007 is still looking for ideas - the thread is from a year ago (apparently the OP is now planning a trip to China)