My husband and I are traveling to San Diego (leaving this Friday!) and Coronado Island, for five days. We currently live in Baltimore. I am putting together our itinerary after spending hours reading posts from this forum (which, of course, have been extremely helpful).

Call me geographically ignorant, but I have just discovered that San Diego is only 125 miles from Los Angeles!

Would it be unreasonable to plan a day trip there? I really hate to miss it, since this will probably be my one and only trip to the West Coast in this lifetime. We have reservations at the Mariott on Coronado Island Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and then go to San Diego for my husband's business meeting on Monday and Tuesday. He will be pretty tied up those two days, so I guess we would have to drive to L.A. on Saturday or Sunday.
Not sure if we should pursue this....
Advice?
Vicki

What do you think you'll want to do in LA? "LA" is a HUGE area - sort of like asking does it make sense to do a day trip to New Hampshire.

LA itself is not a day trip destination - there are MANY destinations w/i what is loosely called LA. If it is beaches you want - the beaches in San Diego County are just as good - better really. If it is the Getty - well the Getty is on the far side of LA from SD so would be a very long drive.

So - what do you want to see/do in "LA" - then we can tell you if it makes sense . . . . .

I would not bother with LA. It is not worth it.Make small trips to La Jolla and the monastery of San Juan Capistrano and in S. Diego take the trolley.Paul

was in san diego a while back at a conference. my friend met me there and also decided to do a day drive to LA to see a friend. the drive took almost 3 hours. one way. she was on the road 5 to 6 hours that day for a day trip. i don't think it's worth it. you'll have plenty going on in san diego.IMO LA should be a whole different trip. hope this helps

I like L.A., but I agree that it would be not be a good idea for you to spend a day going there and back. The traffic alone could drive you nuts. Especially since you're situated at the wonderful Hotel Coronado. If you want to leave San Diego, there are wineries a bit inland from the city that are fun, and the historic missions are beautiful and interesting.
I've forgotten the name of the spread that President Nixon had, north of San Diego. I remember that area was pretty, too. Is it near San Juan Capistrano? Anyway, so much to see and do in and near San Diego.

MaureenB-The area you are talking about is San Clemente and yes it's pretty close to San Juan Capistrano. Didn't know they had much about Nixon in San Clemente as Nixon's Library is in Yorba Linda. San Clemente, though, is a beautiful town and the Mission in SJC is worth a visit.

I am another San Diego area resident who likes LA but since you are only in San Diego for 5 days, it wouldn't be worth the drive for one day. While traffic on a Sat or Sun might be lighter you will still spend hours in the car. Then since LA is so big, you would have to decide what you want to see in the little time you have, Beverly Hills, Venice Beach, the Hollywood sign? It wouldn't be worth it when you are so many things to do in the San Diego area.

I have to agree with the others. With only five days, stick with S.D. I live in L.A. County and have had visitors on those whirlwind trips who only allow one day for the entire L.A. area. They want to see Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Venice Beach, etc. and spend most of their time in traffic and miserable. They usually go away with a terrible memory of their L.A. visit.

If you really, truly believe that this will be your only west coast visit ever, and you really have a burning desire to see the Hollywood sign, then you might still consider it. Otherwise, just enjoy your time in beautiful San Diego.

Yes-- San Clemente is what I was thinking of. Didn't Nixon live there periodically, while he was President? It's pretty country around there, non?

Not sure how long Nixon owned a house in San Clemente but I know that while he was President his home there was called the "Western White House". He also moved there when he resigned from the Presidency but I think he moved to the East Coast in later years.

San Clemente is a very nice beach town-wish I could afford to live there!!