California Road Trip
We flew in and out of Los Angeles and our itinerary consisted of two nights in Huntington Beach, two nights in San Diego and one night in Palm Springs. It was a self-drive itinerary and our longest journey was only around three hours. The drives between each destination were very easy to do although I would recommend that you include a sat nav on your car rental.
Our first stop was Huntington Beach just south of LA, a lovely coastal town with a very cool and relaxed vibe. It is a popular area for surfers and I could have spent hours watching the surfers from the pier. There are lots of bars, restaurants and shops in the town centre. On our first morning we hired bikes for half a day. This was great fun and I would highly recommend doing this, the ocean front has a lovely flat paved area suitable for cyclists and it was a great way to get around and explore the town. That afternoon we enjoyed a harbour cruise and, in the evening, we were treated to our own bonfire on the beach which was really enjoyable.
The next day we drove to San Diego, which took us around three hours as we took the scenic coastal route. I would recommend taking this route as opposed to the highway as we saw some amazing views. On arrival we had a quick visit to Sea World and on that evening, we visited a baseball game. The baseball game was not something that I would of chosen to do personally but I absolutely loved it and I would highly recommend going to see a game if you are in San Diego, I had no idea what was going on in the game but the atmosphere was brilliant, the game was the local San Diego team (The Padres) against The New York Mets - we were told the San Diego team were not the best and were unlikely to win but they did which made the locals even more crazy.
Day two in San Diego was spent with a mornings sight visit and breakfast at the beautiful Hotel Del Coronado. This hotel was built in 1887 and it has a lot of history and we were told some great stories by our guide, you may recognize the hotel out of the film 'some like it hot'. We was not lucky enough to stay here but when I return I will definitely be including a few nights here and I would have loved to have spent more time here enjoying this beautiful hotel and stunning beachfront setting (see my photos). Afterwards we visited the USS Midway museum this is located in downtown San Diego. The aircraft carrier served the US Navy between 1945 and 1992 and it is now a museum and you can actually go onboard and experience and see what life was like for the many sailors that lived and served on her. From here you can walk to the Sea Point village which is a lovely area of San Diego to enjoy some time, we also had lunch here as there was many dining options available as well as some lovely shops to browse in. This evening was dinner and site inspection of the Catamaran resort located in Mission Bay. I loved the location here as the property is beach front with the most amazing views, yet you are still only 10 minutes’ drive from downtown San Diego and SeaWorld. There is also a lovely paddle boat that operates from the dock here and goes over to its sister property the Bahia so you can dine or spend time between the two sister hotels.
Our last and final stop was Palm Springs. We only spent one night here so I don't think I had enough time to fully appreciate and take in the area, it is certainly very different to the coastal areas we had been used to and I would recommend a stop here if you want something a little different than the usual coastal places, whilst in Palm springs we visited the Tramway which takes you 5783 feet up into the San Jacinto mountains, the cabin rotates so everyone gets to see the fantastic views and once at the top you can do various trail walks, have a picnic or spend time at the visitors centre, I found it had a lovely tranquil feeling at the top but make sure you take a jumper as the difference is temperature can be as much as 30 degrees from the top to the bottom. After a few cocktails at our hotel this evenings dinner was at The Ritz Carlton Rancho Mirage - wow what a hotel. This would definitely be my choice of hotel if I return to Palm Springs, the hotel had such a lovely feel to it and the views were once again amazing, some of the rooms even have their own fire pit on the terraces.
Day five was time to head home but not before a Jeep Safari, I still cannot quite believe all that we saw and did this day and all of this was before the 2 hour drive back to LA and then the 9.5 hour flight home. We were collected in small Jeeps and taken on the most amazing drive through canyons, across the San Andrea fault and we also fitted in a small hike. I would highly recommend this trip to anyone visiting the area and in my opinion is a total must in order to appreciate the area that you are in, our guide was fantastic and told us all about how the Indian tribes used to live, plus lots of interesting facts and stories, the scenery was amazing and a total contrast to the rest of the trip I was so pleased I got to see this area of California as it is not somewhere I would of necessarily of included in my own holiday itinerary but now I have seen it I would highly recommend it especially for those that don't want to spend all of their time on the coast by the beaches.
If you would like to hear more about my trip to California or you are interested in a trip here yourself, please do get in touch as I would to help you arrange your Californian road trip.