LA without a car - your comments please.

[Mazzy]

Hi there

I am in the process of making a plan for a long-awaited trip to California in April 2003 (I know it seems a long way off but I can book it in July and need some advice before I go ahead and finalise our itinerary).

The plan so far is:

Fly to San Francisco - stay 3 or 4 nights

Pick up hire car and drive to Monterey - stay 2 or 3 nights

Drive on to Anaheim, drop the car off at Conference Centre (Dollar car rental) and stay at West Coast Anaheim for 7 nights.

Over the 6 days we plan on 3 days Disneyland, 1 day Universal, 1 day Long Beach/Catalina Island and possibly one day Newport Beach.

I know that the WC Anaheim has a shuttle to DL and am I right in thinking there is a bus which goes to Universal Studios which stops outside DL?

What about getting to Long Beach and Newport Beach? Is it viable to use a taxi to get there, would it be very expensive, or would we need a car to get around the beach area? I didn't think it was worth keeping the car for the whole week in LA as the cost would be approx £120 and we wouldn't be using it for 4 of those days.

Any comments on this would be great, and any tips on transportation to the beaches and Universal would be wonderful.

Thanks in advance

 

[Greg K.]

I suspect you can find shuttles or planned excursions to almost all the places you want to see...but at a price.

Though the free shuttles from hotels in and around Anaheim to DL won't cost you, trips elsewhere will. (Though, as I understand it, there IS a complimentary bus to take you to Universal.)

But taxis and/or tour buses to the beach could get pricey. You might look into renting a car for at least part of your stay. If nothing else, it will make your visit more comfortable. Me, I hate having to depend on mass transit for stuff like that. I'd rather come and go as I please. (Heck, I have to contend with the New York subways to get to work every morning! I don't need that on vacation!)

 

[SillyOldBear]

I agree, I would get a car while you are there. Along the way you will undoubtedly see other places you would like to go back to ie. restaurants etc. Taxis are way too expensive and who wants to wait for transportation every time you want to go out. Good Luck.

 

[Floydian]

I agree with the others.

Also, do some research on the prices of tour busses and taxis. I think you'd find that you'll wind up paying almost as much for taxi service to those 2 locations as you might to have a car sitting around mostly unused for a week.

Newport Beach is a good 25+ km from Anaheim, and Long Beach would be about 35 km away! Multiply that by 2 for the round trip, and then by however much they usually charge per km for Taxi service, and it adds up REALLY fast.

 

[Niagara2]

We just did 14 days...any time we did Calif stuff the car was needed and made the trip better as we did what we did at our own pace. Once we were at Disney, no car needed. If you plan to do both go for a car or do off site first with a car.then turn in and then do Disney.

 

[scroot]

If you end up not getting a car, you may want to take the Catalina boat from New Port instead of Long Beach as the cost of the boat is about the same. Also, make sure to take the Catalina Express or Flyer not Catalina Crusies unless you want to spend most of your day crossing instead of enjoying the island.

What about splitting up rental car days. Don't rent a car for your Disney days then get one to go to Universal and to your Catalin boat? You could save some money and still have the car for your longer trips from your hotel. Good luck with it and I hope you enjoy your stay.

 

[poopie]

you must have a car. we do not hace very good public transportation here. all the places you want to visit are very spread out.

Rachael

 

[kazzie]

Hi,I like Mazzy have popped over from the UK DIS board! I am also planning a trip to California ,a bit earlier in October 2002 (I'm booking in August).Planning to go to WDW is a piece of cake compared with California.....so much to do so little time to do it in!!
I think I have to accept I can't do everything I want to,so will do as much as we can!
Can you tell me what is on catalina Island,is it worth a visit?
I have bought a map as we want to drive where we can on Route 66 (legendary over here!) but I can't see it.Do only small streches of it survive?
Forget a Disneyland site on DIS we need a califotnia site! I have noticed how many posters are asking 'general' questions as wellas DL ones.

We are flying to san francisco for 2/3 nights
driving to LA 3 nights off-site,3 on
drive to san diego 4 nights
drive to phoenix 4/5 nights
drive to Las vegas 3 nights,fly home

Even at a minimum that is 19 nights,whivh is a shock.
I will be doing the obvious things at those places.

Any thoughts/advice/help gratefully received.Then if you ever plan a trip tp London,I can pay back the compliment!

Thanks......Karen

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

<font color=navy>Hi Karen,

California has so much to offer, doesn't it. (wish you could visit, Yosemite, too, but you can only stretch it so far....)

When in San Francisco, be sure to also visit Monterey & the aquarium and Cannery Row (it's a pier) there. I just love that city. I think Monterey is a couple of hours away, but not too sure, since we took the scenic route. Other things to visit... drive down Lombard street - most windy street, drive over to the Golden Gate bridge, and visit the park there, then continue on to Berkley, and on to the Oakland Bay Bridge to get back to San Francisco. Before you do so, get a sightseeing book of the city so you know what you're seeing. Also, ride the trolley, visit Ghiradelli Square and Pier 39, if you have time.

Drive down Hwy 1 down the coast to Los Angeles- it's beautiful. If you can make a stop at the Purísima Mission, do so - it's one of the best preserved missions in California. Past San Luis Obispo is the Madonna Inn - stop & give it a look. Visit Santa Barbara (about halfway between San Francisco & Los Angeles). It's a beautiful town, and also has an interesting mission there.

There is a lot to do in Los Angeles, including our museums, Olvera Street, beaches, amusement parks, Hollywood, etc. Catalina Island makes a nice day or overnight trip. They have a glass-bottomed boat tour that allows you to see the California waterlife. My friends just spend a weekend there, and had a great time in Avalon (the one city there), where they hung out in the clubs along the shore at night and toured the island by day. It's not really cheap, though.

San Diego is a mere 1.5 to 2 hour drive from Los Angeles/Orange County. Tink33 is our resident expert on San Diego.

I guess you want to see the desert since you're going to Phoenix. If you have a chance, drive to Sedona - it's about 2 hours away and beautiful.

While in Las Vegas, you might want to take a trip to Hoover Dam - once the largest dam in the world. You can take a tour of it while there. It stops up the Colorado River to make Lake Mead.

Well, these are a few of the things you can do while in California.

 

[kazzie]

Thanks mary Jo,
I have printed your ideas off so I remember them.There were some new ideas there ,thanks.
Yosemite is one of the places I'd love to see but don't think I can fit in,but will try as my DS has seen a programme about it on TV,and would love to see the geyser!
As I have tacked this on the end of Mazzys question I might start a new thread on it soon.

Karen