ediemay

We will be arriving in LA from Boston at 12:32PM on Thursday 9/9.Want to go to the Getty and WB on Thurs.then on to Santa Barbara for 9/10, and Solvang 9/11. We want to do the wine trail(Santa Ynez,etc)and the Hearst mansion.Questions: Should we leave LA and go right to San Simeon then stay in SB, and wine it on the next day (Solveng) or vice versa. Will be driving to Carlsbad on Sunday from there, how bad will that be? Time for LA to SS? Solveng to Carlsbad? Really Confused!!!!

tracys2cents

Hmmm..you'd have to head to WB first, and then you'd be heading for the Getty during really heavy traffic and wouldn't have much time to see anything before hopping up to SB. Also, there have been reports that WB turns away a lot of people in the afternoon as the tours fill up, so you might go WAY out of your way for nothing. I think I'd just hit the Getty, then head to SB...though late afternoon/early evening you will still be heavy into traffic.

joesorce

yeah, you really need to choose between WB and the Getty on Thursday, and still most of your afternoon will be spent in traffic, especially if you choose WB.

If I had to fit all that in, I think I would scoot directly up to San Simeon on Thursday, then the first tour on Friday morning followed by a drive to Solvang/Santa Ynez for Friday afternoon. After sunset Friday I'd continue on to Santa Barbara for the night, then into Los Angeles on Saturday . The Getty is open late on Saturdays and I think that WB has Sat. tours in September. (if you want to see famous people, though, they won't be working on Saturday). On Sunday the drive to Carlsbad should be a breeze, as weekend traffic around LA is MUCH easier to handle.

ediemay

I'm afraid I did not clarify that we are staying in Westwood on Thursday night and heading to SB on Friday.Sorry!

joesorce

I still think you'll be hard-pressed to do both on Thursday, since I believe the Getty closes at 6 that night and WB tours about 5. If you're staying in Westwood, you could visit the Getty when it opens Friday morning for a couple of hours and then head on to SB. The Getty is only a few minutes from Westwood. You wouldn't want to trek to WB on Friday morning however, then double-back north to SB.

ediemay

How long a ride is it from Westwood to San Simeon? Solveng to Carlsbad?

tracys2cents

Westwood to San Simeon (as long as you don't hit afternoon weekday traffic on the 101 North) is 4.5 to 5 hours

Solvang to Carlsbad, again...trying to avoid peak traffic times through L.A., would be about 4 hrs.

KathyM

Sorry, don't know what WB is. Just returned from California trip -- Getty was excellent -- forget about Solvang -- felt like we were in a "wanna be" Disneyland. Couldn't even find a place to have a decent beer -- one would think that such a place would have some nice Europeon beers- in the two places we stopped it was not so-- Bud or Bud Light? Or maybe Miller light????

ediemay

Thanks to all of you for your help. I guess we will go to the Getty and forget about Warner Bros. for this trip.
Our Solveng visit is just for an overnight stay while we are doing winery tours,we don't plan to spend any time there other than that. Thanks for the heads-up on the beverage situation. Maybe we'll just open one of our wine purchases there.
We will go right up to San Simeon from LA on Friday to be sure that we get that Hearst tour in,then go to Santa Barbara.

Harriet

Tracy is right on about times/distances. Here are a few more things to consider:

The Santa Ynez Valley wine country is beautiful and you could easily spend several hours touring and tasting. There are some good restaurants there too so you don't have to spend any time in Solvang.

If you took the earliest tour at Hearst Castle, you could have time for a couple wineries in Santa Ynez on your way south toward Santa Barbara.

Alternatively, you could check out one or two wineries on your way north from Santa Barbara to San Simeon, and then perhaps another two on your way back south.

The drive time between Santa Ynez and Santa Barbara is about 45 minutes.

There's a great wine map available through the tourist bureaus and at all of the wineries. THAT's a map worth studying!

Have a great time!

ediemay

Harriet:
Thanks again for your suggestions.I will get one of those maps when we get to the area.I like the "go to a couple of the wineries on the way to
hearst" idea.

joesorce

Highway 154 San Marcos Pass is a scenic route between Santa Ynez and Santa Barbara. Check out Cold springs Tavern for a great place to eat just north of Santa Barbara.

ediemay

Joesorce: Thanks for the suggestion. We (my DH and I have no knowledge of restaurants in the area.