California Travel
 

Hi,
We are planning to fly San Diego (next month) and stay one day there and drive to LA.We stay LA two days and will drive all the way to San Francisco. Then will fly back home(MN).I never had been travel CA before and traveling with my wife. If any one have a suggestions, Advices about the most beautiful places we can see with this time frame, please reply.
Thanks.

You didn't say how long your total trip is. If you have time, you might want to drive up the entire coast to San Francisco. If this would cut your time in San Francisco then I would not do it. More information, please?

I'm curious too about your total time frame, Having only one day in San Diego and only two days in LA is hardly seeing much of anything. Hopefully you can take three or four days to drive up to San Francisco. Worthwhile stops include Santa Barbara, Cambria (and Hearst Castle), Big Sur, and Carmel/Monteray (you could spend several days in this area alone).

I am sorry.My total trip time frame is 7 night.
1st Night stay SD
2nd Day SD
2nd Night stay LA
3-4 Stay LA
5th Drive LA to SFO
6-7 Stay SFO
I really appreciate your reply. Thank a lot.

I would recommend that you pick a more southern or a more northern visit with only one week. That is a lot of travelling with not much time in any of any of these places.

These are big cities with traffic and considerable travel time between them. You will spend a lot of time drivng and checking in and out of hotels. There is a lot to see and do in each of these areas.

What are some of your interests....then we can make some recommendations based on what you most want to see and do? :-)

For fun, I just dialed in a driving trip from Santa Monica to Union Square in San Francisco. 380.6 miles, according to Yahoo! Maps.

On empty freeways, going up the less-than-picturesque I-5 through the Central Valley: Six hours, no stops.

Going up the lovely coast route should be a treat, and should be spread over at least two days. Three is ideal.

What the other responders are saying about the cities themselves is 100% true: These are large cities with huge amounts of interesting things in them. Any one metro area (SD, LA, SF) could be the subject of a seven-night vacation and you'd still only scratch the surface of everything there.

Seven nights split between LA and SD would be OK. Seven nights in SF (and maybe an overnight in Healdsburg) would be great. But trying to see all three in a week? Not fun.

are the flights already booked? or an you make some changes?
the drive between la and san fransisco is really, really beautiful and should not be missed. but, to enjoy it, you should spend one or two nights part way up. around monterey or carmel is good.
as stated, you are trying to see a lot.
if your flights are already booked, cut out the stay in la and just do san diego, drive up the coast and san fran.

I agree with ltt. If the flights are already booked, then cut out LA and spend that time driving up the coast. Otherwise, get a cheap flight between LA and SF because with only 1 day to travel between the two cities, you will have to drive on the interstate, which is not scenic at all.

I would agree that it's best to take an overnight between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The Monterey area is a good choice, but if you get a late start, somewhere between San Luis Obispo and Cambria. Take Hwy 1 (Big Sur) if the weather is good, or else 101 which is moderately scenic.

Or, stay one night in LA, one in Cambria or San Luis Obispo, and one in Monterey Bay area (I recommend Pacific Grove). Check Asilomar (www.visitasilomar.com) and see if you can reserve a "leisure guest" room.

Where Route 101 heads north from the Santa Barbara Coastline, a scenic detour is to take either Route 1 or Route 246 West through Lompoc. You can continue on 1 up to Pismo Beach where 1 and 101 join up again.

You might wanna stay just two nights Los Angeles, then late after 7:30pm on the third day drive up to Santa Barbara to get a little of your drive behind you and experience a night beachside Santa Barbara. This would put you 90 minutes ahead the next day, not to mention the morning in SB.

Thanks everybody. I really appreciate again for all your reply. You all know better than me, so I change my travel plan. I cancel SD area and will directly fly(I am from Minneapolis) to LA and will Continue to SF. At least I can have more time between LA and SF. (Like to see wine yards) Great help THANKS AGAIN.