Home Destinations USA California Itinerary: Southern California Dreaming

Itinerary: Southern California Dreaming

Los Angeles, Palm Springs & San Diego

Day 1: Arrival/Los Angeles

As soon as you land at LAX, make like a local and get on the freeway. Downtown's hodgepodge of art-deco, beaux-arts, and futuristic architecture begs at least a drive-by, if the top-notch art, history, and science museums don't tempt you. Headed west, Wilshire Boulevard cuts through a historical and cultural cross-section of the city. Two stellar sights on its Miracle Mile are the encyclopedic Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the fossil-filled La Brea Tar Pits; parking requires tenacity. Come dinner time, the open-air Farmers Market and its many eateries hum. Your Beverly Hills or West Hollywood hotel beckons only a few minutes away.

Day 2: Hollywood & the Movie Studios

Every L.A. tourist must devote at least one day to the movies and take at least one studio tour. For thrills and laughs choose the special-effects theme park at Universal Studios Hollywood; for the nitty-gritty choose Warner Bros. Studios. Nostalgic musts in half-seedy, half-preening Hollywood include the star-studded Walk of Fame along Hollywood Boulevard, the celebrity concrete footprints outside Grauman's Chinese Theater, and a glimpse of the Hollywood sign. West Hollywood's restaurants sizzle, and the Sunset Strip club scene could not get any hotter—the parking nightmare proves it.

Day 3: Beverly Hills & Santa Monica

Even without its extensive art collection, the hilltop Getty Center dazzles with its pavilion architecture, gardens, and views of L.A. Descend to the sea via Sunset Boulevard for lunch along Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade, followed by some cheap amusement on the pier. The buff and the bizarre meet on the boardwalk at Venice Beach; strap on some Rollerblades if you dare. Rodeo Drive specializes in exhibitionism with a heftier price tag, voyeurs welcome.

Day 4: Los Angeles to Palm Springs

Freeway traffic permitting, you can make it from the middle of L.A. to the middle of the desert in a couple of hours. Somehow in harmony with the harsh land, midcentury modern homes and businesses with clean, low-slung lines define the Palm Springs style. The city seems far away when you go hiking in hushed Tahquitz or Indian canyons, where cliffs and palm trees shelter rock art, irrigation works, and other remnants of Agua Caliente culture. Words cannot do justice to the very senior, very limber showgirls who sell out 10 shows a week at the Fabulous Palm Springs Follies.

Day 5: The Desert

If riding a tram to the top of an 8,516-foot mountain for a hike or even a snowball fight above a desert panorama sounds like fun to you, show up at the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway before the first morning tram leaves: the line can get discouragingly long. Along trails through naturalistic habitats, Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Desert provides an up-close view of flora and fauna from wolves to warthogs. Everywhere, championship golf courses and plush spas sing their Siren song.

Day 6: Palm Springs to San Diego

South through desert and mountains on your way to San Diego, you might pause in the Temecula Valley for lunch at a winery. Go straight for San Diego's nautical heart in the waterfront downtown, with an exploration of the restored ships at the Maritime Museum and a boat tour of the harbor. Victorian-era buildings—and plenty of other tourists—surround you on a stroll through the Gaslamp Quarter, but the 21st century is in full swing at the leviathan Horton Plaza retail and entertainment complex. Plant yourself at a downtown hotel and graze the neighborhood's many restaurants and nightspots.

Day 7: San Diego Zoo & Coronado

Malayan tapirs in a simulated Asian rain forest, Siberian reindeer in an imitation Arctic: the San Diego Zoo maintains a vast and varied collection of creatures in a world-renowned complex of painstakingly designed habitats. Come early, wear comfy shoes, and stay as long as you can stand the droves of children. Grown-up, boutiquey Coronado, anchored by the grand Victorian Hotel Del Coronado, offers an antidote. Tea, cocktails, or perhaps dinner at the Del makes a civilized end to an untamed day.

Day 8: SeaWorld & Old Town

Resistance is futile: you're going to SeaWorld. So what if it screams "commercial" and "touristy": this humongous theme park of walk-through shark tanks and peppy killer-whale shows also screams "fun." Surrender to the experience and try not to sit in anything sticky. Also touristy, but with genuine historical significance, Old Town drips with Spanish and Mexican heritage. Soak it up in the plaza at Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, then browse the stalls and shops of Bazaar del Mundo and San Diego Avenue.

Day 9: La Jolla to Laguna Beach

Above a jewel of a cove, posh La Jolla invites lingering along its shop-lined streets, on its sheltered beaches, and at cultural institutions such as the huge Birch Aquarium at Scripps and the well-curated Museum of Contemporary Art. At Mission San Luis Rey, in Oceanside, and Mission San Juan Capistrano you can glimpse life as it was during California's Spanish colonial days. Once a haven for artists, Laguna Beach still abounds with galleries; its strollable downtown streets would abut always-busy Main Beach Park if the Pacific Coast Highway didn't run through the middle of town.

Day 10: Disneyland

With your advance-purchased ticket in hand, skirt the lines at the box office and storm the gates of the Magic Kingdom at opening time. Whatever your fancy, from Adventureland to Fantasyland, from Mickey's Toontown to New Orleans Square, hitting it all in one day will be impossible. Map out a strategy before you arrive.

Day 11: Departure/Los Angeles

Pack up your mouse gear and give yourself an ample head start for the airport. Without traffic the 35-mi drive from Anaheim to LAX would take 45 minutes, but by now you know all about Southern California's traffic.

Tips

If you don't have 11 days of vacation, or if really hot weather bothers you, cut this itinerary down to 9 days. Skip the Palm Springs segment and head directly to San Diego from Los Angeles; it's a 120-mi drive on Interstate 5.

Don't get shut out of any of the sights you really want to see, and don't waste precious vacation time standing in line: for all the big attractions, museums, tours, and rides that offer them, make reservations and purchase tickets in advance.

No matter how carefully you plan your movements to avoid busy routes at peak hours—and you should do so—you will inevitably encounter heavy traffic in L.A. and San Diego. Relax, remain alert, and go with the flow, whether fast or slow.

On departure day, allow yourself twice as much time as you think you need to negotiate LAX. At this sprawling, high-volume, tightly controlled airport, returning your rental car, making your way to the terminal, checking in, and passing through the heavy layers of security will take time—lots of time.