I am headed to California in February, along with my fiance (who will be my husband by then , my cousin, and my cousin's boyfriend. We are flying into LAX and out of SFO. We have 7 nights, but lose both travel days completely because of our flight times, so we will have 6 full days.
We are thinking of splitting the trip into LA for 3 nights and SF for four nights or vice versa. We will spend one day driving between the 2 cities and taking in the scenery -- which route would you recommend? Also, would you spend more time in LA or SF? In LA, we are hoping to do some of the fun touristy stuff like the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Chinese Theatre, maybe a studio tour or tv taping...In SF we want to see Alcatraz, take a drive to wine country, see Fisherman's Wharf and Golden Gate Bridge. We are in our mid-20's to mid-30's and love beaches, beautiful scenery, great food, fun shopping, and anything that we can't do/see at home (Boston area) etc....Thanks in advance!

This is a tough question????
as I live in Northern Cal my opinions are prejudiced.
We "northern people "only go to L.A. to Disneyland and the Getty Museum and Universal Studio--. I know that is very narrow. !!!
LA to SF--you MUST go via Santa Barbara (highway 101) to San Louis Obispo then cross over to Highway one.This drive up the coast --the Big Sur area, is one of the most beautiful drive in all of USA--see I told you I was Prejudiced!!! I am not sure of the time frame required, however if you got as far as Monterey -you could stay overnight and be in SF by noon the next day..
Feb.can be unpredictable weather...
SO--when you get to San Louis Obispo be sure to check road condition on ONE --if lots of rain
would make that highway subject to mud slides.. If so you just continue on up 101 to SF.
Wine country---early start to Sonoma and you can visit wineries and have lunch or early dinner, walk around the Plaza anf drive back to SF in the evening.
I am sure you will get many other opinions so remember I warned you....
Best of luck with your plans..

This is the generic... "You really need to decide what's best for you" reply.
But seriously, each city has it's own experience.
However, if you truly know where to look, LA has much more to offer. SF is just, well, SF. But LA has all that SF offers and more ---Bring on the Flames--!!

What SF does offer though is a good jumping off for more interesting day trips. You leave LA and you're, well, still in LA.

I would do three days in each and one full day in either Santa Barbara or Monterey. Both beautiful beach towns. It may be cold but still nice to see if you are coming to CA. The advantage of Monterey is that it is closer to SF. Santa Barbara is only an 1 1/2 hours out of LA.

You will have fun either way. Both SF and LA are amazing, wonderful cities with tons to see and do.

Enjoy.

As far as I'm concerned, LA is just a very large spread out town. The downtown really has no "heart".

San Francisco is a city in every sense of the word.

Having lived in LA, I wouldn't go back if I had free tickets and hotel rooms.

As you can tell, I'm very partial to Northern California. If you do split your time between LA and SF, as you are driving North take a look at the trees. The further North you get the greener the trees. The trees in LA are pretty brown due to all the smog.

Flame away!!

Curious

Curious: Doesn't "Flame away!" sound like a stage direction for the consultants on "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy"?

Here I go, flame thrower in hand:

-- First of all, for one week, I would personally spend the entire time either in northern CA or southern CA. Since it's February, the weather will be cool wherever you go (yes, we do have an actual winter)-- 50s and 60s. I wouldn't let that deter you, unless you really want a tan. Then, you're SOL. But with only one week, you can't do justice to either part of this huge state.

Although I love southern CA dearly, for your purposes I'd spend it up in the San Francisco Bay Area. Romance, beauty, great food.... Even a winter visit to the Wine Country can be a delight. Save southern CA for another time.

Now, Curious, let's be a bit fair to southern CA. "LA" is not a town, it's over a hundred cities in a several-county, well over 5,000 square mile area. No downtown? You're basically right. It has lots and lots of very different downtowns. Smog? Not as bad as in the past, but yeah, we got smog. For every one person who won't come here, we seem to have a couple hundred who do. And our landscape is NOT brown due to the smog!! It's brown because-- get ready, this is a hard concept-- THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE CALIFORNIA COAST IS TECHNICALLY COASTAL DESERT. And by the way, it gets pretty green in the winter. Which is why right now the pollen is killing me, not the smog....

But I'm gonna agree with Curious: This trip, I'd focus on northern CA. I think you'll be back to visit our beautiful, unique state. Again and again.

This is all great advice so thank you very much! However, I am going to be in both LAX and SF as that's how our free flight for the week worked out, so I have to do both!

What I'd do:

-- Arrive LAX, spend three nights at Fairmont Miramar, Santa Monica. Schlepp into Hollywood for a couple of hours of touristy stuff (believe me, it's not all that), hit Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, luxuriate at Miramar (bonus: Aqua Spa is three blocks away). Zip up to Malibu for a dinner at Geoffrey's at some point. If you feel like driving south, Laguna Beach is one of the very prettiest coastal communities in Orange County.

-- Drop rental off at LAX, FLY up to SF Bay Area, spend four days up in Bay Area. One day trip to the Wine Country, but the rest of the time in SF. So much to see/do, lots of great eateries!

I like both SF and LA and would try to spend a little time in each, if you have time. Either city is worthy of a full week but I'm a proponent of seeing a little of each so you can properly plan future trips.

The drive from LA to SF or vice versa is nice via 101, not so nice via I-5. However, it's a lot of driving time in a one week stay!

Hi, beachgirl!

Here are my recommendations. I live in Northern California now, but have worked and lived in Southern California.

Divide your time equally between LA and SF. Take rjw's suggestions on things to do in LA. Don't miss the Getty Museum - it's a wonderful art-cum-architecture visit. You don't have to spend more than a couple of hours up there. The view is wonderful too!

The drive along Interstate 5 between Los Angeles and San Francisco is about 7-8 hours. I would strongly suggest that you miss the coast (Highway 1) in February. Save that for another trip for late spring, summer, or early fall.

Better yet is rjw's suggestion to fly between the two cities. However, the difference in time between flying and driving is minimal, considering that you have to get to airport (minimum 1/2 hour), return car (1/2 hour), wait for flight(1/2 - 1 hour), fly (1 hour), get car (1/2 hour) at other end. You'll spend about 4-5 hours going the flying route vs 7-8 driving. I prefer to drive, as it allows me to load up the car and just go. Others in my family prefer to fly. It's six of one and half a dozen of the other.

If you do decide to drive, get a rental car that will have no/small dropoff fee. That should not be a problem in February.

So, two days LA, one day driving, three days in SF. Enjoy!

I might also add that since you're from Boston, and you mentioned that you wanted to do/see things that you can't do at home, LA maybe better a fit for that bill. SF is probably the closest you'll come to the 'Eastern vibe' on the best, err, west coast.

I think it is wise to split it evenly. SF is actually not really cold or wet in February. It can be, but it is not the norm. We actually get a lot less rain than we would like. I think we had more rain (maybe 3 days) in April than we had in February. I grew up in Southern California, spent many summers with grandparent in Santa Barbara and have lived in Bay Area since 1988. There is a lot to see and do so narrow your interests sharply to avoid being stretched too thin!

I agree with malvado. LA is more of a big city while SF is basically a medium sized city. The LA area has endless possibilities, as already mentioned the Getty Museum, Santa Monica Pier, Hollywood, Farmer's Market, beautiful beaches, etc. Personally with only 6 full days, I'd focus on 4 days in LA and spend the other 3 along the coast enjoying the scenery. One day to drive 400 miles of coast along highway 1 is not nearly enough. Along the way I'd recommend 1 day in Santa Barbara, 1 day in Cambria before a tour of Hearst Castle, and 1 day in the Monterey and Carmel area. The following website lists the most scenic spots along highway 1 from San Simeon to Monterey. From Monterey to the SF airport the quickest way from highway 1 is to take highway 17 north to 101 north. SF is best saved for another trip when you have more time.

Here's the website I was talking about.

http://www.pelicannetwork.net/big.sur.coast.htm