My boyfriend and I are going to CA for a little over a week. We are splitting our time between the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas. I am looking for suggestions on must see places and suggestions of where to stay in LA. Thanks!

Try to hit LA on a weekend, the traffic is much lighter, usually.

www.getty.edu
The LA Zoo
Zuma Beach/Malibu
Venice Boardwalk/Marina
Universal CityWalk/Hollywood Walk of Fame (subway ride between the two)

Places to stay:
Best Western Sunset Plaza if you're into the nightclubbing scene/comedyclubs etc

Renaissance Hollywood Hotel
or
choose a Santa Monica Hotel if you'd like to be near the shore (search Fodors for recommendations)

To clarify travel: We will fly into San Jose and then rent a car to travel to the other cities. Thanks for the advice so far!

We went to SF in November and stayed at the Villa Florence in Union Square. It is a nice hotel and the price is right. The cable car is right out front the hotel which is very convenient.

The hotel is not fancy but nice. They have a complimentary wine reception at night which is nice. The rooms are small but have Aveda products in the bathrooms...BONUS!!!

Enjoy

If you're leaning toward romantic places in LA, Santa Monica is a good bet, with the pier, the promenade, and the strip of restaurants along Ocean Ave. These are packed with locals as well as tourists; if you want a quiet deal, try Santa Monica Bistro on SM Blvd. During the day? check out the Huntington in San Marino, drive along CA 1 through Malibu, stroll Westwood Village, have lunch in Laguna Beach (leave between 10 and 2; return after 7). If possible, see Venice Beach on a Sunday--not very romantic, but nothing like it anywhere.

Hi-
Not sure of your price range or special requirments, but here are my suggestions: S.F.the Petite Auberge www.foursisters.com ph# 800 365 3004
Hote Boheme( in N. Beach)www.hotelboheme.com & the Orchard.
I use this web site a lot for booking in S.F. www.expressreservations.com- I think several of my recommendations are listed on that site at discounted rates.

In L.A. there are a group of hotels in the small boutique catagory: website www.maison140.com you can view all hotels on that web site, several were having summer specials.
You can read reviews on most of the hotels I mentioned on either Fodors.com or Frommers.com

If you are driving from S.F. to L.A. I highly recommend a stop in Santa Barbara(my home town) there's a great place called Brophy Brother's overlooking the harbor, with good sea food & a full bar, its alot of fun... a very local scene.
Best of luck
Fluffy

In Sf my recommendation would be to stay at the Columbus Motor Inn since parking is included with the room. It's in a great neighborhood also.

http://www.columbusmotorinn.com/

On the way to LA from SF some of the must sees along the way should include the Filoli Estate off of the scenic 280 freeway in Woodside, San Jose (the Tech and Rosicrucian Egytptian Museums as well as the Winchester Mystery House are very popular) Big Basin for the coastal redwoods, Monterey (Aquarium, 17 Mile Drive, and Fisherman's Wharf), Carmel, and of course Big Sur. If you have time I'd also advise a tour of Hearst Castle. Do make reservations for bith Hearst Castle and Filoli.

http://filoli.org/

http://sanjose.org/


http://hearst-castle.org/
http://monterey.com/