California Trip-Critque my itenerary
 

Hi,
2 Years ago took a trip up PCH, Dana Point up to Carmel, I LOVE California and want to go back.
Here's what I'm thinking...
-Fly into San Diego, spend 2 nights in either Coronado or LaJolla.
Which is better of the 2 locations to do some exploring around the area?
Hotel recommendations?
-Head up to Laguana Beach, spend 2 nights, any hotel suggestions on the water?
Is there anything to see or do in Newport Beach, Huntington Beach?
-Then fly out of LAX up to San Francisco, stay 2 or 3 nights (have NO idea where to stay) reccomendations REALLY appreciated.
-Do another night in Napa.
I could do the reverse also.
Is this doable? I guess we could drive up to San Francisco but seems far..
Thanks in advance for your help

Hotel Beresford in San Francisco is very nice. http://www.beresford.com Well located in Union Square, walking distance to many points. Nice White Horse Tavern attached for meals. Very popular, so need to reserve in advance.

We are going to Laguna Beach in August and are staying at By the Sea Inn - very good reviews on tripadvisor.com and good rates. Recently renovated. http://www.bytheseainn.com/

Instead of going to Napa..where all the tourists go, why not try the little town of Healdsburg? Its straight up Hwy #101..over the Golden Gate bridge... about 1.5 hrs North of SF. You can Google it for more info, or check the California page here. Plenty of places to stay and great things to see and do.
As for SF... stay around Union Sq. Much more choice of places to visit. If you are in SF on a Wed. night..check out the live music at the Top of the Mark Hopkins hotel. Its usually LaVay Smith and her Red Hot Skillet Lickers. A jazz/swing band with a lot of "groupies" who show up in period dress and dance..very fun.

You might check into flying out of Long Beach or another of the small LA airports, also, because LAX is a bear. However, Southwest has very good fares LAX to Oakland, then you can easily take BART into S.F. I'm currently buying that one-way fare for just $53.

Newport Beach is very nice. Adjoining Balboa Island is a cute place to walk around, with beautiful homes and nice little restaurants and shops. Try The Crab Cooker in Newport for great, inexpensive grilled fish. It gets really crowded, so get there early or late. Huntington is a nice beach, too, just about a half-mile north from Newport. Laguna, too, is a great little upscale artist colony-type place.

In San Francisco, The Hotel Rex is a very nice boutique hotel that's reasonably priced and near Union Square. It's a Joie de Vivre property. We stayed at the Beresford years ago, too.

If I were you, I'd trim down the number of cities. Staying two nights, then flying and re-settling sounds too hectic, especially in busy California. You've got some driving to do, airports to deal with, etc.
:)>-

You can fly Jet Blue from Long Beach to Oakland, for about the same fare, the airport is closer to OC and the planes are nicer than SWA.

I like La Jolla but it is quite similar in feel to Laguna Beach. If you stay in Laguna there really isn't much reason to go to Huntington Beach, or even Newport Beach.

Another idea is to drive to SF and do your wine tating along the way. Stop around Solvang or Santa Barbara. The Santa Ynez Valley area was featured in Sideways. There is a wine trail map and lots of Fodors postings on this.

We drove up the coast 2 years agom stayed in Santa Barbara and then Cambria up to Carmel.
Isn't it a very long drive from Laguna to San Francisco even if you don't drive the coastal route?

It's about 7 hours. If you use a smaller airport like LGB, its about 5 hours door to door allowing for local transportation and check in. Sort of a toss up when you consider the airport hassle.

Actually, from Laguna you probably need to add an hour to each estimate.

In San Francisco we like the Chancellor Hotel, which is on Union Square. The staff is very heloful and friendly and the location is excellent, with easy access to all the kinds of public transportation in the city, including cable cars.

We have ideas of what we'd like to see everywhere except San Francisco.
Any must see's beside Alcatraz and Fishermans wharf?

San Francisco has such a variety of sights! We were there last summer and enjoyed our stay in Union Sq. area (Adante - inexpensive boutique hotel with complimentary Cont'l b'fast and cheap parking next door - a rare find in SF!)

If staying in that area, do take the cable car to Fisherman's Wharf (Pier 39 and Ghiradelli Sq are all in close proximity)

Palace of Fine Arts has beautiful grounds/architecture (as does the surrounding residential neighborhood.)

Painted Ladies - a S.F. vacation photo album wouldn't be complete without a shot of these lovely Victorian homes.

Japanese Tea Garden is lovely and very tranquil for a change of pace from the bustling city.

Lombard Street (the crooked street) - for a real challenge, walk up the steep street opposite steps and descend via stairs (a great work-out!)

Chinatown - great food (only wish I rembered where we ate..)

If flying out of SF, take a quick side trip to Twin Peaks (on the way to aiport) for beautiful views of SF and the bay from high above - recommended to us by hotel staff, and a surprise ending to our trip we wouldn't have found on our own.

Have a great trip!

Golden Gate Park: The conservatory has been restored, Japanese Tea Garden, and the recently reopened de Young museum. I was just at the latter. Amazing collections from New Guinea, Oceana, Africa and Central/South America.

Coronado and La Jolla are both very convenient to San Diego sightseeing and both are lovely communities. You can't go wrong either way.

In Laguna Beach, I've stayed at the Hotel Laguna and liked it. It's right in the center of town, on the beach and is historic and charming (and reasonably priced for the area).

So, you're going to skip the L.A. area entirely? Are you not going to at least spend a day there before going north?! Unless you've already spent quality time in L.A. on previous trips, I'd encourage you to find a little time for it in your itinerary.

After you've been to (the more charming) Laguna Beach, there's really no need to go to either Newport or Huntington. Not much of interest either place except pretty coastline.

Driving from L.A. to San Francisco (via the 5 freeway, not the scenic coastal route) takes about 6 hours, depending on traffic.

hmmmmmm, maybe I should stop in LA or do the bevery hill thing... Just to check it out....
My husband and I were just discussing that maybe were trying to cram to much into a week.
Maybe we should just stick to souther California and do San Fran at another time. I do want to also relax a little on this trip!! LOL