West coast road trip!

[carolyngrace]

DH and I are going on a kid-free trip to California in December for a wedding.

We're thinking about flying into Portland and driving to LA (where the wedding is).

So... Has anyone done a similar trip? How long would we need to take to make it worth it? I'm thinking 3 nights on the road, two in LA. But that would be like 4-6 hours of driving a day.

Any other thoughts or things I should consider?

Thanks for any help

[carolyngrace]

Aug 26, 2016 19:55:56 GMT -5 @jemomma said:

Portland to LA is a crazy long drive. Is there a reason you are flying into portland instead of somewhere closer to LA?

Not really. It was my husbands idea and he got weird when I pushed back. But I kind of agree. I think I'd just want 2-3 hours of driving a day... I'll look at other airports.

[tjanca22]

DH and I did a west coast trip as a baby moon. Flew into San Fran, drove north, stopped in Portland and Seattle, flew home. That alone took us a week and felt like a lot of driving. We took the coastal highway and did not plan for just how windy the road was and took much longer than we expected. California is a big state!!

[Deleted]

Portland to LA In the winter aka the 5 freeway could be a sketchy drive due to weather conditions. It sounds fun in the spring summer.

[Deleted]

Where in Los Angeles is the wedding? I would just go there and do fun outings everyday. There is so much to do there. Los Angeles can be hot in December so you could just stay at a chill hotel and explore Venice Beach for a few days. It's walkable with great restaurants and bars. If you want a beautiful winter road trip fly into Los Angeles and drive down to San Diego. The beaches are beautiful. La jolla. Laguna beach.

[carolyngrace]

Aug 26, 2016 21:43:53 GMT -5 @poppyc8 said:

Where in Los Angeles is the wedding? I would just go there and do fun outings everyday. There is so much to do there. Los Angeles can be hot in December so you could just stay at a chill hotel and explore Venice Beach for a few days. It's walkable with great restaurants and bars. If you want a beautiful winter road trip fly into Los Angeles and drive down to San Diego. The beaches are beautiful. La jolla. Laguna beach.

Would it b safe to say flying into San Diego and driving to LA would be the same then?

DH has no interest in exploring La and both of us have dreamed about road tripping along the coast. I had thought weather would still be pretty warm at that point but I definitely don't want a cold windy trip.

[Deleted]

Aug 27, 2016 8:11:02 GMT -5 carolyngrace said:

Aug 26, 2016 21:43:53 GMT -5 @poppyc8 said:

Where in Los Angeles is the wedding? I would just go there and do fun outings everyday. There is so much to do there. Los Angeles can be hot in December so you could just stay at a chill hotel and explore Venice Beach for a few days. It's walkable with great restaurants and bars. If you want a beautiful winter road trip fly into Los Angeles and drive down to San Diego. The beaches are beautiful. La jolla. Laguna beach.

Would it b safe to say flying into San Diego and driving to LA would be the same then?

DH has no interest in exploring La and both of us have dreamed about road tripping along the coast. I had thought weather would still be pretty warm at that point but I definitely don't want a cold windy trip.

What are his interests? What does he want to see? Then I can steer you in the right direction.

Yes you can fly into San Diego. Stay in San Diego for 1 night and explore the area. then take the pacific coast highway route through the coastal areas. Once you hit LA county it's less scenic and not worth the coastal route.

If your H isn't interested in San Diego then I recommend flying into SFO or Oakland airport and taking the pacific coast route to Los Angeles. The trip will take about 7-10 hours. Or split it up into 2 days.You could stay the night in big sur if you are into nature/trees, cambria for a mellow beach vibe or Santa Barbara for a city vibe. Then continue on the pacific coast route to Los Angeles.

[Deleted]

Aug 27, 2016 8:11:02 GMT -5 carolyngrace said:

Aug 26, 2016 21:43:53 GMT -5 @poppyc8 said:

Where in Los Angeles is the wedding? I would just go there and do fun outings everyday. There is so much to do there. Los Angeles can be hot in December so you could just stay at a chill hotel and explore Venice Beach for a few days. It's walkable with great restaurants and bars. If you want a beautiful winter road trip fly into Los Angeles and drive down to San Diego. The beaches are beautiful. La jolla. Laguna beach.

Would it b safe to say flying into San Diego and driving to LA would be the same then?

DH has no interest in exploring La and both of us have dreamed about road tripping along the coast. I had thought weather would still be pretty warm at that point but I definitely don't want a cold windy trip.

In regard to the weather it's more like the double factor of a lot of driving from Portland to LA like @jemomma said since it's so far and you have limited time and also the unpredictable weather factor. It can be 90 degrees in December or it could be 30 degrees and snowing and they close the 5 freeway due to ice and winds. California is a rugged,large state with different weather conditions that change frequently in winter.

[carolyngrace]

Aug 27, 2016 8:27:48 GMT -5 @poppyc8 said:

Aug 27, 2016 8:11:02 GMT -5 carolyngrace said:

Would it b safe to say flying into San Diego and driving to LA would be the same then?

DH has no interest in exploring La and both of us have dreamed about road tripping along the coast. I had thought weather would still be pretty warm at that point but I definitely don't want a cold windy trip.

What are his interests? What does he want to see? Then I can steer you in the right direction.

Yes you can fly into San Diego. Stay in San Diego for 1 night and explore the area. then take the pacific coast highway route through the coastal areas. Once you hit LA county it's less scenic and not worth the coastal route.

If your H isn't interested in San Diego then I recommend flying into SFO or Oakland airport and taking the pacific coast route to Los Angeles. The trip will take about 7-10 hours. Or split it up into 2 days.You could stay the night in big sur if you are into nature/trees, cambria for a mellow beach vibe or Santa Barbara for a city vibe. Then continue on the pacific coast route to Los Angeles.

I should have said, nature is both of our primary interest. I think the redwoods were a big draw for him up north so I'll have to see if he's ok letting that go. Big sur and the trip you described from Oakland sound pretty great. Thanks for giving me more to consider! I've never been west of the Dakotas!

[Deleted]

Aug 27, 2016 8:35:52 GMT -5 carolyngrace said:

Aug 27, 2016 8:27:48 GMT -5 @poppyc8 said:

What are his interests? What does he want to see? Then I can steer you in the right direction.

Yes you can fly into San Diego. Stay in San Diego for 1 night and explore the area. then take the pacific coast highway route through the coastal areas. Once you hit LA county it's less scenic and not worth the coastal route.

If your H isn't interested in San Diego then I recommend flying into SFO or Oakland airport and taking the pacific coast route to Los Angeles. The trip will take about 7-10 hours. Or split it up into 2 days.You could stay the night in big sur if you are into nature/trees, cambria for a mellow beach vibe or Santa Barbara for a city vibe. Then continue on the pacific coast route to Los Angeles.

I should have said, nature is both of our primary interest. I think the redwoods were a big draw for him up north so I'll have to see if he's ok letting that go. Big sur and the trip you described from Oakland sound pretty great. Thanks for giving me more to consider! I've never been west of the Dakotas!

In that case I would not do San diego. I would do SFO or Oakland airport to Los Angeles via the coast and stay in or explore big sur to see the redwoods there.

www.bigsur-coastline.com/redwoods.html

Then continue along the coastal route to Los Angeles.

.

[jessila]

billyhorrible might have some ideas for you, too.

[bookninja]

Portland to LA is a very long drive... I second the fly into SFO or OAK and take the coast route... Although it can be pretty curvy if you or your DH get motion sickness... You can make stops at lots of places depending on your interest level. Monterey Bay Aquarium and Hearst Castle are both things you could do that don't depend on weather being agreeable. The redwoods are amazing, make time for that if you can!

[baytosa2013]

Aug 27, 2016 8:27:48 GMT -5 @poppyc8 said:

Aug 27, 2016 8:11:02 GMT -5 carolyngrace said:

Would it b safe to say flying into San Diego and driving to LA would be the same then?

DH has no interest in exploring La and both of us have dreamed about road tripping along the coast. I had thought weather would still be pretty warm at that point but I definitely don't want a cold windy trip.

What are his interests? What does he want to see? Then I can steer you in the right direction.

Yes you can fly into San Diego. Stay in San Diego for 1 night and explore the area. then take the pacific coast highway route through the coastal areas. Once you hit LA county it's less scenic and not worth the coastal route.

If your H isn't interested in San Diego then I recommend flying into SFO or Oakland airport and taking the pacific coast route to Los Angeles. The trip will take about 7-10 hours. Or split it up into 2 days.You could stay the night in big sur if you are into nature/trees, cambria for a mellow beach vibe or Santa Barbara for a city vibe. Then continue on the pacific coast route to Los Angeles.

I second this if you really want a coast trip. I'd fly in to OAK or even San Jose and then drive down the coast. Stop in Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, Pismo Beach is a quick stop, Big Sur, LA beach towns I love are either Manhattan Beach or Redondo. SO many wineries and breweries on the way down PCH.

[belle0720]

We've done SF Bay Area up the coast through Portland to Seattle and back down. And we've also done many trips from the Bay down to LA. Portland down to LA would be a long trip. I third flying into Oakland or San Francisco, coming to see me, and driving down the coast to LA. I'd also stop in Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo/Pismo Area, then Santa Barbara before hitting LA.

[carolyngrace]

Thanks for the additional info baytosa2013 and belle0720! I'm going to look at flights tonight!