Holiday in california

[wideeyes]

hi, I am planning my holiday for next year to california. I am completely stuck. If any one has been who did they book through. I am finding it hard to find a quote online.

Basically what we are thinking about is a 15 night stay at San deigo(3 nights) San fransico(3 nights) and to spend the remeinder days at a beach town outside LA eg, Santa monica, huntingdon beach,and travel for days out from here, as we don't want to change hotels to much as we will have a 5 year old who loves the beach, and we will be near lot's of great shops for my sister and I. My sister is 17 so she will want to vist LA .

we want to fly from manchester via boston or new york. The dates I am thinking about is easter holidays 2007 or the second half of august 2007.

Can any help

 

[Claire L]

We went to California in 2003, with VA flew into San Francisco and drove down to LA stopping off en route. As for LA we stayed at Newport Beach in the Hyatt Regency and it was a lovely place. As for airlines, from Manchester you are a bit more limited with direct flights if you went from Heathrow it would be VA or BA both fly direct to LA and I think BA fly direct to San Diego. Newport Beach has a lovely mall called Fashion Island and the beach is a great place to explore around the Bilboa Island area.
Would you be driving as LA is huge? Although between LA and SF a flight would be better as it is quite a drive otherwise!
Claire

 

[wideeyes]

hi thanks for reply
I was already thinking about flying to san fransico and then fly from san fransico to LA and then rent a car for the rest of the holiday.

Does any one know how long the drive is from LA to San deigo.

The hotel Hyatt Regency sounds pefect for us and I have it short listed.

 

[PigSoldier]

I did a similar holiday last year, LA, Vegas and San Diego. If I remember rightly, the drive from LA to San Diego is about 5 hours. I spent most of the journey sleeping, so I could be wrong , but it's certainly a manageable trip.

We booked with Virgin Atlantic, and it was very easy organising car hire and different hotels.

 

[HarryPotter]

Hi

The drive from LA to San Diego takes no more than 2 hours on the freeway, depending on the traffic and time of day.

American Airlines fly from Manchester to Boston during the summer, so not sure if they will do it next Easter, might be worth having a look. Also, Continental fly from Manchester to New York every day. No airlines fly direct from UK to San Diego anymore. BA used to do it from Gatwick but stopped about 18 months ago.

Also a great place to look for holidays and flights is United Vacations Uk, they have some really good deals and flight routes.

 

[cstraub]

We visit San Diego at least once a year.

You could start in San Fransico (not familiar with area) and drive down the coast through

Santa Barbra http://www.santabarbaraca.com/

Sequoia National Forest (redwoods trees) http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sequoia/

Solvang (tons of shops, eating and wine tasting),
http://www.solvangusa.com/

Disneyland http://disneyland.disney.go.com/disneyland/en_US/home/home?name=HomePage&bhcp=1

LA (Holywood)

San Diego (Coronado Beach) http://www.hoteldel.com/

We did this last year with our 3 children. Hope this helps!

 

[mark&sue]

In 1999 we drove all around California staying a few nights at different hotels and we were really pleased with United Vactions. We flew to LA. They included a free stop over and we stayed in New York for a few days before we went home. We also drove to Las Vegas for six nights and flew to New York.

We also managed a few days at Disneyland

Hope you have a great time and let us know how you get on.



Susan

 

[Claire L]

LA to SD is no moer than a few hours as I went with my Mum from Newport Beach to Seaworld in SD back in 1998 by coach.

Claire

 

[GreatDane]

San Diego – Paradise Point is a great resort for kids. It is right on the water and less than a mile from Sea World.

 

[Tiggernut_jadie]

I would definatly consider driving down from San Francisco to LA along Highway 1 - truly beautiful coastal road and you can do it gradually so that you're not travelling too far each day.

We've booked with BA for November in their January Sale and it's only cost £873 for me DH and DD who'll be just turned 6 when we go. That's direct flights in and out of San Francisco.

 

[wideeyes]

Hi, thanks for all your replys. Having dome some research I really like the idea of flying with VA as there ecomony looks really good and it looks like we would not have to pay for an upgrade. However they fly from Heathrow. I was thinking of booking a connecting flight to Heathrow from manchester on the same day as the flight, Does any one know if this is possible to do with virgin?

TIA

 

[wideeyes]

I have been looking at pictures of the hyatt regency and i now have my heart set on that one. It looks wonderfull, plus they seems to be some great shopping near by, very important for me and my sister.

 

[Claire L]

Yes Virgin Holidays can arrange connecting flgiht from regional UK airports.

Claire

 

[Claire L]

Here is the info from the VH website -

Q. Can I book domestic flights to add onto my holiday?
A. For holidays where an internal UK flight from selected regional airports is required - please note that these flights are not bookable online. Please call 0870 220 2468 to check availability and prices and book. If you have already made your holiday booking online then you can call this number and quote your booking reference to add a domestic flight to your booking. Please note that all domestic flights are subject to availability and cannot be added within 21 days of departure.

Claire

 

[disneyholic family]

I would definatly consider driving down from San Francisco to LA along Highway 1 - truly beautiful coastal road and you can do it gradually so that you're not travelling too far each day.

I agree.

 

[Kristina]

Right away I thought if you haven't already then you should have a look at Kevin Stringers trip report which can be found here at the Dis at

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=943677 or from his homepage at A Very British Disney Webpage

Very interesting with lots of beautiful pictures, I really enjoyed it

I'd also try my best to visit the desert if I were already in S. CA, because I always loved a nice long drive to Vegas, and from there a side trip to the amazing Grand Canyon would be the crowning glory . However when time and funds are an issue, even without those two added destinations you will have a wonderful vacation

 

[cstraub]

I have been looking at pictures of the hyatt regency and i now have my heart set on that one. It looks wonderfull, plus they seems to be some great shopping near by, very important for me and my sister.

Great shopping in San Diego right on the ocean:

Seaport Vilage
http://www.spvillage.com/

Here is a great seafood restraunt right down the street from Seaport Village:

Anthonys Fish Grotto
http://www.gofishanthonys.com/

 

[disneyholic family]

if you're going to Disneyland, you might consider making reservations to view Fantasmic from the balcony of the Gallery. It includes a desert buffet. There are only enough spots for about 20 people and the view is glorious.
That is, assuming they still have Fantasmic at Disneyland. I'm not sure now that they have the 50th anniversary fireworks, "Remember".

If they still have Fantasmic at Disneyland, it's much nicer than Fantasmic at MGM.

If you do make it to SoCal, you definitely should set aside a few days for DL/DCA. Or at least to visit Disneyland, a much prettier park overall than the Magic Kingdom.

------------

i just looked it up and they do still have Fantasmic, as well as Remember.
those two shows alone are worth the price of admission to the park, even if you don't go on any rides at all.

 

[wideeyes]

I have now booked 16 nights at newport beach with virgin holidays. we are flying from manchester to heathrow and then to LA. We decided to give san San Francisco an miss this time and do it on another holiday in the future when dd is a bit older.

 

[Claire L]

I have now booked 16 nights at newport beach with virgin holidays. we are flying from manchester to heathrow and then to LA. We decided to give san San Francisco an miss this time and do it on another holiday in the future when dd is a bit older.

That sounds great, the Hyatt at NB is fab As you say you can always go back when DD is older for SF

Claire