I will be travelling to CA the week of May 18th - 25th, starting in SFO and ending in LA. I need help with affordable but nice places to stay in the following areas:

1. San Francisco - 2 Nights
2. Sonoma Area - 1 Night (spa?)
3. Carmel Area - 1 Night
5. Between Carmel and Santa Barbara - 1 Night
6. Near Los Angeles - 1 Night
7. Los Angeles - 1 Night

Honeymoon Trip and First Timer. If anyone has taken any organized tours, especially in San Fran/Sonoma, let me know!

I would suggest a few less stops (as far as your hotels) so you don't have to pack up your room every single day.

Carmel, to Santa Barbara, to Los Angeles is not that great a distance. Perhaps pick 1-2 places to actually overnight, instead of 4?

Agreed. I plan on staying in Carmel then only one overnight on the way down. Once near L.A., we would want to wake up in or near the city for a day of tourism then fly out Sunday morning. Thanks.

In San Francisco, we've liked the Hotel Rex, near Union Square. A nice boutique hotel, with a parking garage nearby. Part of the Joie de Vivre group, and all of them look very nice.

In Santa Barbara, the Fess Parker Doubletree is good, especially if you get an ocean view room.

Can you stay at the same place in L.A., without moving? Marina del Rey is close to the airport. It has a Marriott Courtyard for inexpensive lodging, and a Ritz Carlton for a splurge.
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Congratulations on your marriage!

Your plan does fall apart a bit from day 4 on. One night stands so close together really don't make sense. Plus you will run into a bit of a problem on the last couple of days being Memorial Day weekend ands most nice places requiring a 2 night (or maybe even 3 night) minimum. What time is your flight out of LAX? And what is your budget?

I would consider:
2 nights SF
1 night Sonoma
1 night Carmel area
2 nights Santa Barbara area (I'd really prefer 2 nights in Carmel but because of the dates/holiday, 2 nights in SB probably will work better)
1 night LA

If you can work it out and find a 1-night booking in Santa Barbara for that weekend, then I'd definitely do 2 night Carmel and 1 night SB.

Wow - I would strongly suggest that you slow down a bit. It's supposed to be a honeymoon, not a road race.

Most of the day you spend getting from Sonoma to Carmel will be spent in traffic jams on a freeway - unless you take the coast from SF to Carmel. Anyway, that's a 5-6 hr drive if you want to get to carmel with anytime left to enjoy Carmel, Monterey, etc.

I would urge you to skip sightseeing in LA. It would be fine to depart from there, but because of it's size and the horrendous traffic there - getting to places you might want to visit will consume too much of your short time there. Also, I would not want my last experience in California to be a LA freeway.

I would do it this way.

1. San Francisco - 2 nights
2. Healdsburg in Sonoma County (Healdsburg Hotel Spa or Madrona Manor Victorian Mansion) 1 night
3. Leave Healdsburg around noon, to slip between morning & evening commute - Probably 4 hr drive to Carmel - 2 nights
4. Visit Pt Lobos, then slow drive down Hwy 1 to San Simeon. Visit Hearst Castle - 1 night in San Simeon
5. Drive to Santa Barbara - 1 night
6. Depart from Santa Barbara.


If this was my honeymoon, I would do
1. 3 nights in SF
2. 2 nights in Healdsburg
3. 2 nights in Carmel with a drive down & back to Big Sur
4. Get an afternoon flight out of San Jose .

Stu Dudley

Stu is right about skipping the flight out of LAX and using San Jose, or even SFO - but I just assumed you've already bought your tickets and are probably stuck w/ this . . . . .

That would be a good plan. No need to go to L.A. just to catch a plane. Santa Barbara's airport is small and very convenient. I also suggest you slow down the trip from your posted plan.

Stu gives you a good alternative itinerary. Have you purchased airfare yet?
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I have not yet purchased my airfare. I am in the planning stages. EVERYTHING is an open book. I am liking the "avoid L.A." approach. I wish I could rack Stu Dudley's brain about the west coast!

Go ahead and rack....

As long as you have not purchased tickets, I would really recommend that you try to return from either San Jose or SFO if you only have 7 nights.

Any reason you can't fly out on the 17th and return on the 26th?? If so, then a return from Santa Barbara would be possible.

Stu Dudley

Then you are in great shape - no need to use LAX and no need to go much farther south than Big Sur unless you want to see Hearst Castle.

a lot of time/headaches since you can spend the whole time in Northern CA and the mid-coast.

2 nights SF, 2 nights Sonoma, 3 nights in/near Carmel (to include a day trip along Big Sur and the beach state parks) - fly out of San Jose. This would be MUCH more restful and a better pace for a honeymoon.

Good! Glad to hear you haven't booked the ticket yet. I would really strongly suggest you follow Stu's itinerary. Carmel inns/hotels would also require a two night stay - at least they always have the few times we came to visit. The only other thing I would suggest is this because you are in your honeymoon. There is a place called Treebones Resort in the outer edges of big sur that is pretty fantastic and different to boot. You stay in yurts. I suggest this instead of San Simeon. The resort is about an hour from Cambria and right off Hwy 1. www.treebonesresort.com

Definitely fly out of San Jose and try to catch a later flight out.

We did Napa 2 night, Carmel 2nights, and Big Sur 2 nights on our honeymoon this past August/September. Married life is good! Congratulations!

Skipping Los Angeles entirely is a great idea for your honeymoon itinerary. That will smooth things out considerably.

(I love LA as a city -born there- but it doesn't really fit in with your timing or plans for this trip. Also not exactly the most "romantic" place I've ever been!)

All those one-nighters mean that yo have to unpack and then repack in less than 24 hours. Not the way to spend a honeymoon.

I agree, skip LA. Spend more time in SF, Healdsburg, Carmel. Maybe consider the Post Ranch Inn. I would love that place.

Stu - reason I can not fly out on the 17th is because I am getting married that day. That may anger her.

So the thought is fly into San Francisco for 3 nights, then up to Sonoma for 2 nights and down to Carmel for the next few?

In SF, I was going to do the San Francisco Tours day trip which included a morning excursion around SF and afternoon trip to the Muir Woods with a stop in Sausalito. Good idea? Anyone ever done Hot Air Balooning up north of SF?

If you're heading to Healdsburg (make reservations NOW) the next day, you'll drive right past Sausalito, and Muir Woods isn't far away. Do you have my write-up on "North of San Francisco" that I've posted a few times here. It has more detail about a trip up north.

Oh yea - forgot about a wedding someplace there in the schedule.

Be Careful. You're doing almost the same itinerary we did 36 1/2 years ago when we got married in Southern Calif. Within 4 years, we moved up to San Francisco. You may never want to leave.

Stu Dudley

DKS

You need to secure hotel reservations ASAP - like today. Carmel is very popular on a weekend in late May, because the locals know that the fog starts to enguf the coast around early June. That's also Memorial day weekend - so you may have to dig quite a bit to find anything available.

Stu Dudley

You might want to consider Pacific Grove instead of Carmel if minimum night stays get tricky. We will be there Sun. and Mon. of Memorial Day weekend. You may not find luxury accomodations, but the location seemed ideal for us.

I would also prefer a Pacific Grove location over a Monterey location if there are problems securing a room in Carmel.

Stu Dudley

Stu,

Read your write up and used my "wine road" map to mark it up. Any other good places to stay that you know of in Carmel or Healdsburg?

I'm getting mixed responses from family and friends for accomodations. We are not $$$$, so Hotel Healdsburg is out. We also do not want to stay in tiny B&Bs or low grade spots.

Help!