pgh1974

I live on the east coast. I never been on the west coast. What is a good city to visit for a vacation in the summertime? Just asking suggestions. I am curious. I thought maybe LA.

andrews98682

That's a pretty broad question. There are lots of good places for vacation on the West Coast. What are you looking to do?

LoveItaly

Hi pgh, yes what would interest you? Big cities, hiking, the ocean, etc. Since you mentioned a good city I assume that big cities would be what you are looking for. San Diego, LA, SF, Portland, Seattle would be good cities for you to check out and to see what appeals to you. If you will have enough time you could visit more than one of our beautiful westcoast cities. Will you rent a car? Alaska Airlines and Southwest has flights up and down the coast if not.

pgh1974

I like a blue water beach. I reseached San Diego and San Fran. I thought about seeing that prison. In San Fran. and the golden gate bridge.. I love big cities.. I thought LA for my mom. The only thing I would like to really see is Hollywood Drive. And even Arizona.(spelling)

lennyba

Seattle is gorgeous in the summertime, but you won't find blue water beaches (there are beaches, but they mostly aren't the sandy type). If you also want to go to Arizona, I'd suggest starting in San Diego.

tovarich

San Francisco and Santa Barbara.Paul

clarkgriswold

Fly into one city and fly home from another. You should still be able to get a good roundtrip airfare and depending on how many days you have to travel, you can see a lot more if you rent a car and do a one-way drive up or down the coast of California.

L.A. and San Fran are a bit easier to handle (traffic) on Sat and Sun, so you might fly into L.A. on a Friday night, spend the weekend and Monday seeing the city, drive north to Santa Barbara on Monday night, and explore the coast during the week, ending in San Fran the following weekend. It's a very popular trip and if you search fodors forums for "California Coast", you'll find tons of information and trip reports from people who have done this. June or September you'll probably find better flight and room rates, as July and August are awfully popular.

suze

San Francisco or Los Angeles would be my choices.

I love living in Seattle, but for a vacation trip I'd pick one of the others (I think they're more exciting).

Bobmrg

Suze is so right. We have blue water on the Washington Coast, but it is to look at, not swim in. I'd be looking at San Diego if I were you.

trippinkpj

I'd fly into San Diego and out of San Francisco. Enjoy LA, Santa Barbara, Pismo Beach, San Simeon/ Cambria, Big Sur and Monterey/ Carmel on your slow drive up the coast. I would take 2 weeks myself if possible. Summer would be very hot in most parts of AZ. I'd stay coastal.

pgh1974

Thanks for the advice. San Francisco seems really nice. I would rather try that over LA. I never thought of see a few different cities at once.

Kerry392

I would suggest driving up the California coast from San Diego to San Francisco. You will get to see a variety of different places. It is a beautiful trip!
Here is a link to my trip report:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34860247

If you don't want to do the California thing, I would also highly recommend Seattle and Vancouver.

jallard

Dana Point, California is beautiful. The St. Regis in the most relaxing, breathtaking hotel for a wonderful beach vacation.