Need some travel tips for California please.

Stud Muffin

Headin to California for a holiday in September with the gf. Flying into LA and then plan to rent a car and hit San fran and maybe SanDiego.
Any ideas on where to start looking to book hotels and the car? The cheaper the better obviously but we dont want to rough it.
Looking through the net, theres tonnes of websites alright but just wondering if anyone out there has any ideas on where to start.
Cheers

Dr.Feelgood

How long are you going for?

I stayed in a few Radissons & a Travel Lodge or two.

Most cheap motels & hotels have all you need.
I mean if your in California, sleeping is not what you'll want to be doing.

Like Motel 8, thats good.

Visit Santa Barbara man, i'm serious its deadly.
Also Venice Beach & Hollywood very interesting places

Zeppie

Yeh I would be inclined to agree with the Motel 8's. They are cheap enough and convenient!

If your visiting Cali I would recommend seeing Santa Cruz, u can drive down to it from San Fran along a coast road which is just unreal, great views an all that. Theres also a Taco Bell on the beach! (which I thought was pretty cool ....plus I LOVE Taco Bell!!!)

Dr.Feelgood

Taco Bell is good.

But there is better.

California's finest fast food attraction


Carl's Jnr

Its the stuff

windowgazer

I'm also going there, but it'll be in July/August. How much is car rental for , say, a week (small car for two)? Any other advice/recommendations much appreciated!

Stud Muffin

Thanks for the advice. Going for 2 weeks.
I'd have to go for Carl Jnr's over Taco bell but ya cant beat Jack in the box for the late night munchies.
They're quoting €302 for a car for two weeks on ebookers.ie. Seems pretty reasonable. Anyone come across cheaper?
Also, is it better to book the hotels over the net or is it worth chancing my arm and shopping around once I get there?

Dr.Feelgood

It'd suck to leave it and end up going from motel to motel looking for a room, but in all fairness when would that ever happen in the u.s. i'd say you'd be fine booking in on the day. Look out for coupons and stuff on products over there, they always have like money off rooms and stuff.

I also booked rooms over the internet.

That ones up to you, both worked no hassel for me.

€302 is basically what i paid for a car for two weeks over there, i got a Chevrolet, malibu.

Not too bad. Average, like the american equivilent of a ford escort or mondeo/

golfgirl

Hi there, just a bit of advice on Santa Cruz ... got the bus down from San Fran about the 9th September, unawares that everything shuts down after Labour Day (think this is the 6th) ... so there was f all to do. The boardwalk was dead, as was the town. It happened to be 2001 so 9/11 hit, which made things even more subdued, the only thing we could hear were fighter planes manning the skies. We got back up to San Fran, where, altho the atmosphere was weird, atleast there was loads to do. So if you're going after Labour Day, I'd say just stop in Santa Cruz for a night or so if you have to.

Ruu_Old

Wouldnt say Taco Bell as good, i wouldnt even class it as food! stay away from fast food and get into some decent restaurants. have fun and safe travelling.

therecklessone

Avoid LA like the plauge, unless its only to escape from...

Seriously though, do the Pacific Coast Highway (State Hwy 1) either from Frisco to LA, or LA to Frisco.

I did LA northbound. Spent a night in each of the following:

Santa Barbara - well worth a visit, lovely compact town with a Mediteranean feel to it. Stayed here

San Simeon - basically a line of restaurants and motels that service the Hearst Castle state park. Well worth a visit to see Hearst's grandiose vision on top of a hill with a great view of the coastline. Avoid the movie.

Monteray - Nice place to stay, with a great aquarium.

Santa Cruz - wasn't mad about it, too full of hippy types spouting sh*te about the paternalistic nature of modern society. Bad buzz.

If you want a good place to stay in SF, try the Green Tortoise. Its a great hostel, very centrally located (as long as you don't mind the strip joints and sex shops nearby). Its on the edge of Chinatown.

Motel 6 is a good chain of cheap motels, midweek deals for approx $40 a night in most of the out of city places. Clean, and plenty of space in 'em.

http://www.motel6.com/

beezkneez

California is super. Forget Taco Bell - In and Out burger is your only man. Burgers there are amazing and ask around about the special menu that they dont advertise.
Also if your into Chinese food then hit china town in san fran or pretty much any chinese i had over there was fab. Enjoy!

Enii

i have always found Dollar car rental to be the cheapest especially if you reserve in advance on the Internet. www.dollar.com. You are flying into LA are you flying out of there aswell? It is pricier to take a car from one location and then drop it back to another. I woulddn't bother booking any hotel rooms except maybe one close to the airport if you are arriving late at night. As someone said look out for coupons along the way, most are in the back of travel magazines that you find in places like the IHOP - International House of Pancakes - a great place for breakfast. Someone said they think Taco Bell is nice - can't say I agree unless you enjoy dog food - but it is cheap. Deffo take in Santa Monica and Venice Beach and the Coast Road from LA to SF will blow you away, it is fantastic. Last piece of advice is when you get to San Fran don't refer to it as Frisco!