Hannah_reads_for_fun

Hello all!
My cousin will be celebrating her Bat Mitzvah in the LA-area on December 25, 2010 and so I had thought to fly out to California for the entirety of my winter break (~December 17 2010-January 9 2011), since that would give me a good chunk of time to celebrate with them, meet up with friends and enjoy seeing a part of the country I haven't seen much of.

My problem? I'm 20 years old. I can't legally rent a car, and much of the information that I've been discovering talks about driving from one place to another, including beautiful coastal drives. I don't mind missing the wineries and I can manage to find hotels that will rent to 18+, rather than 21+ (you wouldn't think this would be a problem, but it sometimes can be).... but I am wondering how to best enjoy the natural beauty that California has to offer without my own vehicle. (Gosh, I can't wait to turn old enough to rent one!).

I'm not bound by a to-the-penny budget, but I'm a college student trying to save for books and future loan repayments and life in general, so I'm trying to do this pretty darn cheaply.

I guess I sort of feel as though my potential research for this trip keeps dead-ending, without a way to get from one place to another. I'll probably spend about a week of those three with my parents and/or aunt, so that will be a car, but also somewhat more limited in time to sit, and recalibrate and appreciate......

Any words of wisdom you have would be much appreciated!
Thanks,
Hannah

janisj

OK - seeing a lot of the coast between LA and San Francisco will be a problem.

But you can fly from the LA area to the SF area. Multiple airports serve each region so you can usually find cheap fares. Then you can take a guided tour to Monterey/Pebble Beach or an Amtrak bus to Yosemite - things like that. Muir Woods can be done by public transport. And the cities of San Francisco/Berkeley are easier w/o a car than with one.

san Diego is easier w/o a car than LA is - depending on what you want to see.

So you do have some options.

suze

It'll take a bit of research and planning but I think you could make a nice vacation in that time period. Include Los Angeles and San Francisco. SF is easy with public transportation, a snap really! LA is harder but it IS available and you can just plan your itineraries based on bus routes, etc.

During the time you "meet up with friends" do any of them have a car? If someone who lives there could drive you around a couple days in Los Angeles, that would be ideal for sight-seeing.

To get out into nature I think you'll need to book some day tours, like janisj is mentioning above.

So basically yes most people have a car for seeing California, but since that's not an option... I think you can make a fun trip, just you'll have to get a little more creative in planning.

sf7307

You also have a good amount of time available -- I'm usually one who recommends a car, but that's not an option for you -- so if it takes you a little longer to get from place to place, so be it, enjoy the ride! (P.S. My son and his girlfriend have traveled all over the world, and except for getting overseas, they hardly ever take airplanes, because of the expense, and they certainly don't rent cars, even though they are finally old enough to do so. They take buses and other forms of public transport -- it takes longer, but it can be done, and it's always an 'experience').

Hannah_reads_for_fun

I should be able to find someone (or more) to drive with me around LA, so that's somewhat taken care of.

Does it make sense, then, to try to fly into SF to begin with?

I don't mind if the ride takes longer, I just would rather see pretty things than highways. You understand....

janisj

"I don't mind if the ride takes longer, I just would rather see pretty things than highways. You understand...."

The problem on the coast is -- the buses don't take the scenic routes. They are for getting from point A to point B w/ no beaches/scenery in between. Yes - you can get from SF to LA by bus -- but it won't travel the best bits of the coast.

suze

Sure I think flying into San Franciso and spending some time there first would be OK. SF (same as cities like New York or Paris) is very easy to get around without a car. You can use BART, streetcars, busses.

Like mentioned already, I assumed the bus from SF to LA would run using the most direct freeway routes, not particularly scenic. For scenery, I think you need to look into some kind of a touist bus charter or maybe the train (Amtrak)?

clarkgriswold

Amtrak has service up the coast and some of it is pretty scenic before the route turns inland. I know the train stops in Santa Barbara which would be one great place to visit.

Lots of college students travel back and forth at that time of year and you could hook up with rides by searching Craigslist, though I suppose you have to be careful about who you're riding with.

november_moon

If you go up to San Francisco, you can get to Santa Cruz pretty easily. Santa Cruz is a beach town, with a university, known for surfing, has good beaches, sort of a laid-back vibe. It will be winter, so not beach weather, but it is still a nice place to visit. And the Santa Cruz area is well served by public transit.

From SF, you can take the Caltrain to San Jose and then the Hwy 17 express bus into Santa Cruz.

From Santa Cruz, you can also get to the Monterey area fairly easily by bus. This way you could see some of the beautiful coastline without a car.

suze

I think the recommendations for Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara are both good ones!

Hannah_reads_for_fun

I'm starting to firm up details,which means things are getting sent to the cutting board.

If I could have thoughts on the feasiblity of this tentative plan, that would be great!

12/19: BWI to SF. One of my closest friends lives in the Bay Area, so I figured I'd stay with him (yes, he knows about it!) for a few days and see the city, then head out to Yosemite for two days(?) to re-center and experience.

12/24: SF to LA. I'd do this one by plane, since I don't have the patience for such a long train ride, especially on a Friday. I'll be with my family most of the time in LA, so the planning for this one can wait a lot longer....
Does it make sense to return to SF for this leg, or to do it from somewhere closer to Yosemtite? I'm having trouble understanding that schedule...

1/3 (1/4?): LA to SD via Amtrak (Pacific Surfliner). I've heard that this is a pretty scenic route. Is that true?

I don't have a plan for SD yet, since I wanted to get a better grasp on how much time I had there before creating a more detailed itinerary.

1/9: SD to BWI. It seems to make the most sense to fly open-jaw back to BWI from SD, as opposed to having to return to LAX to fly, is that right?

Obviously, this is a really vague concept, but does it seem possible? Is there a lot that I've left out without needing to? How easy is SD to navigate by bus?

(Also, a quick web search turned up a $515 fare for the BWI-SF-LAX-SD trip. Is that a "snag-it" fare or a "wait-tight" fare? I haven't flown to Cali since I was a little girl, maybe 7 or 8.....)

Thanks so much!

SOCALOC

A couple of thoughts:

(12/24: SF to LA. I'd do this one by plane, since I don't have the patience for such a long train ride, especially on a Friday. I'll be with my family most of the time in LA, so the planning for this one can wait a lot longer....
Does it make sense to return to SF for this leg, or to do it from somewhere closer to Yosemtite? I'm having trouble understanding that schedule...)

1. Assuming you are in Yosemite on or near the 24th I wouldn't return to SF or fly. Flights are going to be $$$, airports will be crowded and you are backtracking wasting your precious time. The easiest, cost/time efficient, along with boring route is to catch Amtrak in Merced and take the train to Bakersfield. From there, Amtrak will bus you into LA Union or Westwood Station. If you really don't want to take the above option- I would definitely fly on Christmas morning vs. Christmas eve day. But you're in your 20's and might enjoy the chaos.


(1/3 (1/4?): LA to SD via Amtrak (Pacific Surfliner). I've heard that this is a pretty scenic route. Is that true?)

2. From LA it is an inland route until you reach San Clemente and THEN it will be coastal scenic until about La Jolla. And that part of the route is very enjoyable.


(1/9: SD to BWI. It seems to make the most sense to fly open-jaw back to BWI from SD, as opposed to having to return to LAX to fly, is that right?)

3. Absolutely, return from SD.

SOCALOC

hannah- hope you don't mind me asking a quick question here...

SD locals or anyone else who might know...
Do you know why Amtrak slows down to about 10 mph through what I perceive as Torrey Pines en route SD? There are no crossings, people, cars etc in sight for safety reasons. It's the only place on the route that almost comes to a halt.

Barbara

Maybe because there are often people walking on the track.

SOCALOC

Thanks Barbara. It just never made sense to me. Nothing in sight, but scrub bushes and trees, yet it always go the slowest there. Maybe there has been fatalities there before?

mlgb

If you take the Amtrak to SD, a nice stop en route is San Juan Capistrano. You can easily walk to the Mission and the little town has a lot of historic buildings, galleries, etc.
I did a trip report
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...via-amtrak.cfm

I do hate to fly on that day, but look into flying from Fresno ie FAT (If you can get there easily). The flights from Merced don't work well (you have to go to Las Vegas!) I would not go back to San Francisco, often weather problems create total chaos that day. If you wind up not going to Yosemite I would suggest flying out of Oakland rather than SFO if it's not too hard to get there from your friend's house. Tends to be less crazy and weather-impacted. BTW wouldn't your SF friend like to drive you to Yosemite for gas money & expenses??

For flights Expedia works pretty well as a search engine.

november_moon

For the SF portion of your trip, make sure that your friend lives in an area well-served by public transportation to SF.

Barbara

SOCALOC, I'm not really sure exactly where you mean, but if it's through Del Mar-after the old station and before Torrey Pines beach, then, yes, there have been fatalities there.

Hannah_reads_for_fun

hmm.. lots of good stuff to work from. I'm glad that the basic buidling blocks seem to be okay, for the most part. That makes research easier, since I can check the actual times of things.

That's interesting that you recommend not using SF airport to fly because of weather. I absolutely can't risk the plane not taking off.... What airports will be less of a problem?

I don't have a choice about the 12/24 thing. Not only am I Sabbath-observant and so I don't travel on Saturday, but I need to be in Simi Valley that afternoon for the Bat Mitzvah, and want to maximize my time up north too. I thought that maybe if I flew super-duper early it would be less of a problem. Is that not true?

Joe (aka SF friend) and I haven't really talked about plans, but it sounds like Yosemite is less convinient than I thought. He doesn't live in SF proper, but I can't remember the name of his town, so that is going to take some mapping out.We may fly the same flight BWI-SF, since that would make it way easier.

(Is Yosemite even possible without a car? That just occured to me. Maybe something else would be better...)

Clearly Joe and I have some travelling to plan. I thiiiink he'll have access to a car at home, but his brother will be back too, so I should probably check that.

I'll look up the train thing, though. I'm not *opposed* to boring train rides if they are easier and cheaper than flying, but it just sounds like such a short flight.... I'll be honest, though; I sort of forgot about Christmas.

mlgb- thanks! I'll look into that travel report right now.

P.S. SOCALOC- no problem

Dayenu

OAK airport is less risky, but we were 3 hours late in January due to the ice, so give yourself some time to take off. Check out Southwest airlines - they are not on Orbitz or Kayak or Expedia.

Yosemite is possible without a car, you can either take one of the tour buses, or take Amtrak.