Hello,

I'll be in Laguna Beach with my wife Nov.30-to Dec.7.

This will be a trip part-business (3 days) and
part-vacation (the remaining 4 days).

This will be our very first trip to California, we're landing at the Ontario Airport, we rent a car and we'll head to Laguna Beach where we rented a villa.

For 3 days, I'll be working at UC Irvine, so, we'll only have the evenings free (my wife will enjoy the oceanview from the villa, and the beach during the day), so I think we'll visit places near Laguna Beach, or the beaches themselves.

But for the 4 days of "full vacation", I was thinking of driving one day to the Los Angeles/Beverly Hills/Hollywood area, one day to visit either Disneyland in Anaheim or Universal Studios Hollywood . As we already visited Disney in Orlando, FL in 2005, we're tempting to go to Universal. Is the traffic very heavy in the morning close to Universal? How long would be the drive to arrive there early in the morning from Laguna Beach?

What would you suggest for first-time visitors like us, kinda on a budget? Nice places to see, cool places to eat (budget-like, but with good food)? Good shopping?

Thanks a lot.

If you get the chance, I would go to San Diego.

I'd love to go to San Diego, but we'll miss some time I think. As it's close to a 2-hour drive, I'd rather stay in the OC/LA area. I'd need one month instead of one week!!

Eloi, you're actually going to be just about equidistant from San Diego and LA.

I second your instincts about the Hollywood area as your first representation of "California".

I don't care what time you're traveling, park the car and walk around Hollywood looking at the stars on the walk of fame.

If there late on a weekend night the streets will be 'happening' all night long.

San Diego really IS a great option, and once you've covered the "Hollywood" glitz (and seen some of the freeways frequently spotted on "COPS") then L.A. might become more trouble than it is worth.

You could do Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm, etc. in the OC area... and then the drive down I-5 toward San Diego is quite nice with great ocean visuals for much of the way.

San Diego is an awesome tourist city and winter hotel rates can be had... I'd use Priceline, if on a budget.

I stayed at a downtown San Diego Hyatt for 3 consecutive week nights in early August for $277 plus 3 days parking @ $20 per.

If you could land THAT price exactly, on Priceline, it would be a steal.

San Diego:

* Gas Lamp District

* San Diego Zoo

* Ocean beaches

* A very safe & friendly downtown core


I'm sure L.A. is compelling... but I believe that you could burn the candle late on one "work night" and go tour Hollywood and the surrounding names you've read so much about.

A good road map of the area is probably quite enough for the self-guided tour which will 'represent' California (er, at least Hollywood) so much in your mind.

Go there on the first possible night and then see if you feel it is worth a second night.

Then perhaps to Disneyland on the 2nd or 3rd evening, and then drive off to San Diego for the rest.

Of course there is a lot to see in the immediate L.A. area, but I don't know how much of it is more impressive than San Diego, and with San Diego comes a lot less human hassle.

Even the Irvine area will have scores of humanity... but once you set sail toward the south, and hit, say, San Juan Capistrano and beyond, you'll get a strong vibe about San Diego being a better option.

I hope it all works out nicely!

Nov 30 is a Friday, and Dec 7 is a Sat. So I'll assume you will use the first weekend to get aquainted with Laguna Beach. That means if you want to visit Hollywood - you'll have to visit it on a work day. I lived in Laguna Beach for 4 years - but that was over 30 years ago. The drive to Hollywood was horrendous then - I assume it's worse now. That might, however, be a good way to get a "feel" for LA - sitting on the freeway for 5 hrs of the day.

When we lived in Laguna, we often took our bikes to Newport Beach & road along the Boardwalk from Mc Faddens Wharf (20th st) south along the peninsula to Balboa Pier, then some back roads to the end of the peninsula to The Wedge, then back to Balboa Pier on the Bay side, took the ferry over to Balboa Island, road around there, back to McFaddens Wharf and had dinner at Sid's Blue Beet (long gone), but I understand that the Crab Cooker is still there. There are other islands you can explore on the Bay side from Balboa Pier north also. I don't have a map & I have forgotten the names of the islands (I proposed to my wife on one). I'm sure you can rent a bike at Mc Faddens Wharf.

I worked in Carlsbad - which is north of San Diego. It took me a good 45 mins to get to work - and there was no commute traffic then. Check commute hour travel times to San Diego before you go.

For just a week and with "business" consuming some time, I would just play in the Dana Point, Laguna Beach, Newport Beach area.

Don't expect summer weather.

Stu Dudley

Well, I thought SD was farther than this. Mapquest tells that it's a 1H17 drive from my Laguna Beach villa to the San Diego Zoo. I'll try to find time to go to SD. Too bad I'm only in CA for 1 week...

So, the traffic is less heavy in the SD area than in LA or OC?

There's plenty of traffic in San Diego, but NOTHING is like traffic on LA freeways. It once took us 1-1/4 hours to go from just south of LAX to Hollywood - 20 miles - on a Saturday night at 6:00. No accidents, no construction, but an unbelievable number of cars!

I would disregard any time estimates that mapquest gives you. It all depends on the day of the week and the time of the day.

Stu Dudley

Mr. Dudley,

You say to disregard Mapquest's time estiates. Could you give me tips about when avoiding to be on the highways (if it's possible)? Would it be on weekdays from 6AM to 9AM and 3PM to 6PM? What about the weekend days too?

Thanks.

Google Maps maps.google.com will give you 2 time estimates in the LA area when you ask for directions between 2 points. Try it. One estimate with traffic and one without. It is hard for me to guess when the upper estimate might be valid. Besides rush hour, there are sometimes problems that erupt during the day that send the crowded freeways to a standstill.

I have not lived in the area for 32 years. My first 28 was spent there (LA & Newport/Laguna), but I don't have any recent experiences.

You are not getting a lot of responses from locals. I think that's because you posted your message incorrectly. You should have posted it to the "California" topics. When I go to the Fodors message board, I go to the US messages, bring them up, and then immediatly access the "California" topics. I only saw your post because it happened to be in the top 5 that display on my screen. Normally, I would not have noticed your post.

I suggest that you do another post, and post it to the "California" topics. Change the title to something like "traffic between Laguna Beach and LA & San Diego".

I've visited the area a few times recently for High School reunions, visiting friends, relatives, and business. A lot has changed since I lived there. There really are not any more freeways (except for a new one accessing Laguna Beach from the north) but there are commute lanes now, which may help you.

Get the skinny fromn locals - not mapquest or perhaps Google (I have not used Google). I commuted to the San Diego area every work day for 4 years, so I could tell you what it was like 32 years ago - but like I said - a lot has changed. I think the commute to San Diego would be a little more predictable than the drive to LA. In SD you will spent a lot of time driving by Camp Pendelton Marine Base - which has is a straight shot with no/few other streets or commerces near it. To LA - you're going through a "mess" for the entire trip. Also, the drive to SD is more scenic.

Stu Dudley

You are indeed about equidistant between Hollywood and San Diego. Travel times depend on traffic, but I'll average a guess of about an hour each way, perhaps slightly longer to Hollywood. Traffic is bad most of the time, less so on a weekend.

In downtown Los Angeles, Little Tokyo's traditional block on First Street, Japanese American Museum, the ugly Caltrans building, inside of LA City Hall (lots of movies and films have been shot inside the rotunda, it even substituted for the Vatican in the Thornbirds), Disney Concert Hall, new Cathedral (inside is spectacular), Central Library, Broadway, Grand Central Market, Bradbury Building. Check the Downtown News Guide online for further details. Chinatown has a few good moderately priced places for dimsum lunch (served everyday), either Empress Pavillion or CBS seafood. There is also a good pizza restaurant near City Hall, Pitfire.

http://www.downtownnews.com/downtown_guide/

Actually, I should have cautioned that you probably want to go to San Diego during the work week. Weekend traffic to the south is really bad. Thursday and Firday afternoons also bad. The weekends and Friday are better for Los Angeles traffic.

Doubt very much if you can make it from Laguna Beach to Hollywood in 1 hr during commute times. It took us 1 1/2 hrs to get to Laker games in '72 - in a reverse commute just after commute hours.

Be careful - you certaily don't want to spend 5 hrs on the freeways, and in Dec it may be dark when you return from Hollywood.

Stu Dudley