California Road Trip

california road trip

Since last summer, I have had it in my head that I want to do a full-blown road trip across the West Coast of the USA (mostly California).  I have done this trip a couple times in the past, but I wanted Luis to have the opportunity to experience the West Coast too.  Last year, we visited New York, Washington D.C., and the Jersey Shore, so I knew 2018 was the summer to do a California Road Trip.  The only ‘issue’ was that Luis has limited days he can take from work, so we had to figure out a way to fit a whole lot of sites into just 12 days.  Here is our ultimate California road trip, coming to a blog near you (this one lol) September 2018!

Ultimate California Road Trip

 

The Ultimate California Road Trip

Some notes:

  • We will fly into and out of LAX airport.  While this is not ideal when doing a road trip (as you waste a lot of time circling back), this was the most economical option.
  • We will not have the car for the entire trip, so we condensed car-necessary cities into one part of the trip and will rely on public transport and our legs for the other cities.
  • We really wanted a good mix of city and nature in this trip, which you will see.
  • We are 4 people.

ITINERARY:

  • Vegas (2 nights)
  • San Francisco (2 nights)
  • Yosemite (2 nights)
  • Carmel by the Sea (1 night)
  • Santa Barbara (with a stop in Big Sur) (2 nights)
  • Los Angeles (with stops in Malibu, Venice, etc) (2 nights)
  • I will include accomodation pricing based on $0-35 per night (per 4 people) is $, then $35-$50 per night is $$, and above that is $$$

Day 1 (Fly to LAX- 12 hours)

  • We fly to LAX from Madrid, which will take exactly 12 hours (I highly recommend you splurge for the bulk head seat).
  • Arrive in LAX and wait 2 hours during a layover and then fly directly to Las Vegas!
  • PARTYYYYYY in Las Vegas (hopefully drink a lot in the hotel to avoid paying in the clubs)
  • Overnight: Las Vegas (Flamingo Hotel) ($$)

Day 2 (Experience Vegas)

  • Relax by the pool and get rid of hangover
  • Explore Vegas at night
  • Overnight: Vegas (Flamingo Hotel) ($$)

Day 3 (Fly to San Frnacisco)

  • Early(ish) morning flight to San Francisco
  • Explore San Francisco
  • Overnight: San Francisco (Amsterdam Hostel) ($$)

Day 4 (Experience San Fran and visit Alcatraz)

  • Visit Alcatraz (pre-bought tickets online)
  • Explore San Francisco
  • Overnight: San Francisco (Amsterdam Hostel) ($$)

Day 5 (Rent car and drive to Yosemite-4 hours)

  • Pick-up car around 12 pm and drive to Yosemite National Park
  • Get settled in, maybe go for a short hike, make smores (very excited for this!)
  • Overnight: Yosemite (Housekeeping Camp) ($)

Day 6 (Hiking in Yosemite)

Day 7 (Drive to Carmel by the Sea -3.5 hours)

  • Morning drive to Carmel by the Sea
  • Explore Carmel in the afternoon/ evening
  • Overnight: Carmel by the Sea (Carmel Resort Inn) ($$)

Day 8 (Drive to Santa Barbara with a stop in Big Sur – 5 hours total)

  • Early morning: leave Carmel and drive 1 hour to Big Sur
  • Go hiking and have lunch in Big Sur
  • Continue drive to Santa Barbara (4 ish hours)
  • Overnight: Santa Barbara (Oasis Inn and Suites) ($$)

Day 9 (Explore Santa Barbara and Other Beaches)

  • Explore Santa Barbara and maybe Malibu or Venice
  • Overnight:  Santa Barbara (Oasis Inn and Suites) ($$)

Day 10 (Head to LA)

  • Spend the day visiting beaches (Venice, Santa Monica, Malibu)
  • In the evening, drive to LAX and return the car
  • Head into LA and explore
  • Overnight: LA (AirBNB) ($$)

Day 11 (Explore LA)

  • Explore LA
  • Overnight: LA (AirBNB) ($$)

Day 12 (Explore LA and head home)

  • Explore LA in the morning
  • Head to airport around 1 pm
  • Flights around 6 pm
  • SO SAD!

In preparation for this California road trip, I reached out to Instagram and Facebook to ask for recommendations, so I wanted to include them here:

Vegas

  • Valley of Fire! Best state park I’ve ever been to, just an hour or so outside of Vegas
  • Toast Society Cafe

San Francisco

  • Ideas for interesting experiences: 
    1. https://www.gocartours.com/locations/san-francisco/
    2. Do a picnic in Dolores Park – grab food nearby at Whole Foods or BiRite Market — on a Sat or Sunday if sunny. Worth the few hours to see how SF people live it up on a weekend. Good SF view from top corner of park
    3. Tacos in the Mission neighborhood at a taqueria (or do a taco crawl for dinner). Or for a one stop, the line is worth it, head to La Taqueria
    3.5 Walk around Mission to see street art / murals
    4. We have wineries in the city if you’re hoping to get a taste of the Napa thing but not travelling to Napa
    5. The Exploratorium is the original hands-on science museum. Recently re-opened in a new space. Pretty awesome, even for adults. 
    6. Rent bikes and ride from SF across Golden Gate to Sausalito, then take the ferry back to the SF Ferry Building (avoids the crazy uphill parts)
    7. $1 Oyster Happy Hour every day at Water Bar before 6pm with killer view of bay
    8. If you want SF foods, cioppino is a well known tomato based seafood stew. It’s available (and without wait) at MIssion Oyster Bar (19th / Mission)
    9. Hop around Dim Sum bakeries in Chinatown for bfast / lunch (or if you’re feeling adventurous, go to the ones in the Richmond neighborhood)
    10. Eat Tea Leaf salad at a burmese place. Specifically, people are obsessed with Burma Superstar (and related, BStart & Burma Love)
    (I’m noticing a lot of these are food)
    11. Climb the stairs up to Coit Tower
    12. Go to Tank Hill park in the afternoon to be in the fog as it pours over the hill top (also, sick view of SF here)
    13. New: Check out the “Salesforce Transit Center Park” — haven’t been yet myself. Just opened this past weekend. It’s actually 12 parks in one, and you can ride one of the shortest gondalas in the world from street level to the top 
    14. If you’re willing to wait in line starting at 4p, the dinner at State Bird Provisions is worth it (but fancy). You have to get there at that time to get one of the few “walk in” tables for that day. You can do right at opening, or they have a few tables later. If you need a place to chill till your reservation, there is a cool bar called Fat Angel around the corner. This State Bird place is one of the hardest places to get a table in the whole city.
  • Ideas from another friend:

1. Hang out in Dolores Park. You’ll see all walks of life here (e.g., a man selling edible truffles from small cauldrons or a man selling a coconut-rum drink from an actual coconut that he cuts in front of you). If you venture to the southwestern corner of the park, you’ll get a view of the city skyline. Within walking distance of the park, there’s the famous Bi-Rite Creamery. Be prepared to wait in line for the ice cream, but it’s delicious and offers some fun/eccentric flavors. There’s also Pizzeria Delfina in the area if you want to take some pizza to the park with you.

2. Walk around The Mission. It’s a gentrifying neighborhood with the northern part being much more gentrified than the southern part. You’ll find loads of great food in this area and lots of boutiques. I’d recommend walking down Valencia Street from 16th Street all the way down to 24th Street. 

3. Visit the Ferry Building (especially if you happen to be around on a Saturday morning). Every Saturday morning there’s a huge farmer’s market at the Ferry Building. It’s a bit touristy, but it’s worth checking out, especially since there are lots of free fruit samples to be found. From the Ferry Building, you also get a nice view of the Oakland Bridge. Also, there’s a place called Gott’s attached to the Ferry Building that sells awesome burgers, fries, and shakes. I’d recommend the garlic fries, if you enjoy garlic. So tasty!

4. Visit Hayes Valley. It’s a quaint neighborhood with many boutiques and several good places to eat. Two of my favorite places in this neighborhood are Smitten Ice Cream and Chantal Guillon.

5. Eat ice cream at Smitten. I don’t know if you remember, but I used to work for Smitten on the business side. The ice cream is amazing, especially the texture. It’s made to order – using liquid-nitrogen machines to freeze the ice cream – so only natural ingredients are used. Regarding flavors, I’d highly recommend chocolate and mint chocolate chip. The original location is in Hayes Valley (an old revitalized storage car), but there are also shops in The Mission (on Valencia Street), Pacific Heights, and The Marina.

6. Eat macarons at Chantal Guillon. This is probably my favorite thing in SF, no joke. I loooove the macarons here, and I actually believe they’re better or at least on par with those found in Paris. My favorite flavors are red velvet, salted caramel, and pistachio, but you can’t go wrong with any of them.

7. Eat at Patxi’s Pizza. I believe it’s a California chain, but the pizza is still soo good. I never really enjoyed deep dish until I had the pizza here. I always order the Matt Cain pizza which has a variety of meats. There’s a location in Hayes Valley, so it wasn’t unusual for me to do pizza at Patxi’s, then ice cream at Smitten, and then macarons at Chantal Guillon. Glutton, I know. 

8. Grab a burger at Roam Artisan Burger (a CA or northern CA chain). The food is spectacular here. Seriously, everything is so good from the burgers to the fries to the milkshakes. Splurge and get everything you can. Haha. My favorites are the Tejano burger and the truffle fries. There are locations in Pacific Heights and The Marina. Conveniently, there are also Smittens in the same neighborhoods only blocks away. Haha.

9. Eat an almond croissant at Thorough Bakery. If you happen to pass by the bakery, you should grab said croissant. It’s soo tasty. The sandwiches are also pretty good.

10. Hike up Corona Height Park for a view of the city. It’s not really so much of a hike as it is a walk up a hilly neighborhood.

11. Head to Beretta for Italian food. It’s located on Valencia street in The Mission and I’ve always had great dishes here. 

12. I don’t like coffee, but my friends who do always recommend Blue Bottle and Philz.

Well, I’ll stop with the SF suggestions now! Haha. There are seriously some many good restaurants, though, so try to eat as much as you can. I’d also recommend walking the city as much as possible. The weather will be terrific and the architecture is incredible. Just stay out of The Tenderloin / Lower Nob Hill neighborhood, if you can. The area is a bit seedy, so if you end up approaching it, just walk north or south of it.

Yosemite:

  • Majestic Yosemite Lodge for breakfast on the last morning.  Has amazing views.

Big Sur:

  • Stop for lunch at Nepenthe- has amazing views.
  • Stop at Hearst castle on the way to Santa Barbara to see big castle

Beach Towns Near LA:

  • If you have time, you should spend an afternoon biking along The Strand which starts around Redondo Beach and goes past a bunch of the other beach towns! It’s so beautiful and you can easily stop for lunch or a beach trip along the way.
  • Laguna: south of nicks, carmelitas, nicks, lumberyard, rumari
  • Laguna: Zinc cafe has good lunch and dinner and a cute patio, active culture for lunch/forzen yogurt/ acai bowls.  Marine room and Hennessy Tavern for going out and nex to each other.  Woods cove is the best beach.  Crescent bay is nice too.  Main beach is nice to walk to, but touristy and full.
  • Venice: rose cafe, felix, tasting kitchen, butchers daughter, c&o trattoria
  • Malibu: neptune’s net, malibu farm

Los Angeles:

  • You have to get ice cream at Salt & Straw. Best ice cream I’ve ever had. 
  • titos tacos (best tacos in the world), tsujuta or tatsu for ramen, sushistop (cheap and good sushi), elephante (reserve in advance- it’s a brand new terrace bar in samo), nomad
  • Things to do: drive mulholland drive around sunset, shop on 3rd st promenade or recently renovated century city mall (with upscale food court), ocean park is the best/ less-crowded beach, stop at Manhattan Beach Pier on the way to Venice
  • Griffith Observatory, Santa Monica Pier, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Runyon Canyon Park, Rodeo Drive, Los Angeles Museum of Art, Korea Town
  • In Korea Town: Honey Pig, Road to Souel (all you can eat Korean), Gaam (fun Korean bar), Little Tokyo (another great- great for Ramen)
  • Color Camp- nails, Erehwon Market for food, Honey Hi for brunch, Guidado’s Tacos, Griffith Park for great hiking 
  • As for LA, I haven’t lived there but have visited many times. Here are a few quick recommendations.1. Check out the Venice canals, if you happen to be in the Venice neighborhood. They’re man-made canals that weave among expensive houses. Really beautiful area.2. Grab some donuts at Blue Star Donuts, if you happen to be in the Venice area. This is by far my favorite donut shop ever! You’ll find a fun variety of flavors here. The shop is located on Abbot Kinney, and the street is worth walking.3. Eat Korean food in the Sawtelle neighborhood, if you happen to be around. This is a great neighborhood with so many Korean restaurants, places to buy shaved ice, and boba-tea shops.4. Visit Santa Monica and walk around the pier and surrounding beaches.5. Visit Grand Central Market in downtown LA. I’m not a huge fan of downtown LA, but if you happen to be around, check out this market which has lots of food stalls. In particular, I recommend the breakfast sandwich at Eggslut. Soooo good.