Need ideas for a trip

[pravi333]

I am planning to take my parents to California during the last week of January 2008 for 3 days.

I have never been to California before, so i was wondering should i book my tickets to San Fransisco or Los Angeles? which city has more attractions?

I would like to see Hollywood and Disney world while i am there.

Can you help me out here? as to which city i should fly in? some of my preferences

1) Need to see Hollywood
2) Need to go to Disney World
3) Need to see golden gate bridge
4) i can rent a car
5) Can be extended to a 4 day trip as well

Thanks

 

[112]

doing an LA and SF trip in 3 days is gonna be really hard. depending on what you consider "attractions" i would say you pick one or the other.

the drive to SF from LA is about 4-600 hours depending on how fast you drive and how much traffic there is. its about 350-400 miles away so i dont know if you wanna waste half your day getting there. it would probably be better to take a plane. its about an hour.

since 2 of your preferences include an LA destination, i say you just stay in LA for 3 days or if you extend to 4, just fly into the city that has the cheaper flight. either way you have to drive one way or the other.

 

[Glavinsolo]

IMO if they are anything like my parents they would get a blast at winery hopping through Napa Valley and then a quick trip to see the redwoods. So San Fran is your best bet for that.

 

[pravi333]

Originally posted by: Glavinsolo
I have a wild idea why not ask what your parents are interested in. You have been there before and should know whats what.

IMO if they are anything like my parents they would get a blast at winery hopping through Napa Valley and then a quick trip to see the redwoods. So San Fran is your best bet for that.

I have never been to California before.

I would probably fly into LA stay there for 2 days & fly to SFA and be there for 2 days and fly out of SFA.

Thanks for the suggestions

 

[LS21]

LA the city is not an attraction

real attraction is the coast-line drive, or the regions in between like napa valley, monterrey, pebble beach, gilroy (garlic capital of the world!), redwoods north of san francisco.. etc

 

[Descartes]

I would also suggest maybe staying away from LA (or at least visiting temporarily) and heading to areas like Monterrey, Carmel, Big Sur, etc. It's beautiful around there, and it's not that crowded this time of year. If you're looking for the typical Cali tourist attractions though, then I guess it's hard to pass up LA and SF.

 

[Drako]

3 days does not really give you much time.

I would pick one city or the other, and stay there.

This time of year I would go to LA, as it is cool and can be rainy here in the Bay area this time of year. If you are going to Disney Land, that will pretty much spend one day. Hope that helps.

 

[pravi333]

My parents dont drink. And mostly they'll be interested in the usual tourist spots since they are from out of country. So the famous attractions is what they're interested in.

Also i dont think they'll be interested in nice scenic drives.

 

[qaa541]

There is no way you will enjoyably get to do San Francisco and LA done in 3 or even 4 days. Don't even try it. Pick one or the other.

I am from Southern California and live in the San Francisco Area now..

You will/should spend a whole day at Disneyland(from park open to park close). If you dont, you are getting ripped off by the $75 tickets.
Disneyland is around 30+ minutes from LAX (worse if there is traffic). Buying tickets at the park could mean long lines in the morning.

There isnt really much to do/see in Hollywood. There is the walk of fame and stuff but that gets old pretty fast. You may get to see the security gates of Hollywood studios(which are mainly in surrounding cities) but that is about it. I guess you can go to Universal Studios (the theme park/movie studio), but there again is a daylong trip to get your money's worth.

Helpful hints for non-Californians:
Southern California:
Nothing is close to anything else worth seeing (e.g. everything is spread way out)
You have never ever seen traffic like in LA, it is congested at all hours and a parking lot during rush hour
Orange County has some of the widest freeways that I have seen in the world where the 405 freeway is I think 10-12 or so lanes in some points (and these congest into 6-8 lanes when you enter LA county)
You must drive everywhere worth going
Parking is horrible in Los Angeles, especially in touristy places. Expect to pay and circle for spots.
Public transportation is worthless, dont bother trying to use it in Southern California. Everyone there uses cars so you should too
LAX is a nightmare to get to in traffic. It is also busy almost all hours of the day and night
If you want a smaller, less congested airport closer to Disneyland, try Orange County/Santa Ana/John Wayne (Airport code: SNA)
It is extremely easy to get lost in Los Angeles -- Try to stay on major streets and BUY A MAP/use a GPS
The LA metro area is this gigantic suburbia that I have never seen anywhere else in the world. I have flown all around the United States and you know you arrive in Southern California when you see lights in all directions that extend as far as you can see at altitude
Weather is better as there usually are only two seasons, warm and hot in the year.


Bay Area:
If you want to see nature and natural beauty, come here (redwoods, coastlines, bridges over the bay, cleaner air)
You can still see big city life in San Francisco
The rest of the bay area is suburban, but it is not nearly as large as Southern California
Public transportation in San Francisco is pretty good for reaching most touristy places (parking is horrible in SF) - Use BART and/or MUNI and ditch your car at an outlying station
Great concentrations of museums in San Francisco
Weather is colder at this time of year

 

[pravi333]

qaa541 thats a good write up. Thanks for the time and effort. Actually my trip is almost 10 days long, i planned in California for only 4 days because i thought theres not much to see in those 2 cities.

LA
I was thinking Disney for a day ( as qaa541 mentions) and the other day for probably the walk of fame & other small stuffs.

SF
Golden gate bridge, may be Alcatraz and another day for miscellaneous stuffs. Not very keen in visiting museums.

But one thing i am interested is that mountainous drive along the beach coast that they show in movies, but dont know what it is called or where it is.