I’m sure that I am not the only person alive who since their teens has harboured the dream of an American roadtrip. “Let’s just buy an old heap of a car and drive it across America…”
I was planing stuff like this before I even had a driving license. Times change and dreams fade but this idea always sat there in the back of my mind until one day when discussing holiday plans with my girlfriend Lizzie we decided that this dream should be ticked off the bucket list. Armed with a convertible Mustang, a guide to California and the Hotel Tonight App we set off along the Pacific Coastal Highway for a two week (largely unplanned) American Adventure that would take in San Diego, Palm Springs, L.A and San Francisco.
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Vegas Baby!
Now, the eagle eyed amongst you will have already spotted that the Mustang chosen for our Californian cruise wears a Nevada license plate and the reason behind this was a holiday make or break decision. Originally the plan was to start South in San Diego (check the map on slide 2 folks) and then work north on The Pacific Coastal Highway (PCH) all the way up to San Francisco. However, it costs considerably more to fly in to one airport and leave from another and it’s the same story with car hire, it was going to cost the best part of a grand to start in San Diego and finish in San Fran. The solution was to fly in and out of Vegas… We felt that was not too much of a compromise!
Due South
Our trip started in March so we planned to go south from Vegas, leaving the north a vital week or so to warm up. California is basically a dessert and the south stays pretty hot most of the time – the north is a little more green and a little more windy. The trip from Vegas to San Diego is over 300 miles so we broke the journey with a stop off in Palm Springs. Think 1960’s Kitsch, Palm trees, Spring Break and a great big statue of Marilyn (check out that pigeon for scale).
San Diego was a fascinating place, we stayed 2 nights but could easily have spent the whole holiday there. The Gaslamp district was super cool, Balboa park was tranquil and the Pizza grotto in Little Italy with a queue outside that stretched for over a block served up one of the best meals of the holiday. If you visit San Diego you must make the trip out to Coronado Island (accessible across a massive road bridge, this is America remember). The whole place is stunning, the beach was like something off Baywatch.
Laguna Beach & L.A
Our next destination was L.A and we broke the journey with a stop off in Laguna Beach, famous for its affluence, it’s all year round perfect climate and of course a certain reality TV show. We sat on a bench and drank a Starbucks as we watched dolphins play just off the shore. It’s the American dream.
We decided to spend two nights in Los Angeles as there was so much to see and do and after driving in to L.A (which was an experience I will never forget… 8 lanes of traffic in each direction, a bridge above you full of cars and another bridge below you full of cars… And you are on a bridge full of cars) we decided to park and ride. I can completely recommend the jump-on jump-off bus tours that operate in LA. They run most of the day so we just used them like a taxi service – to get to places we wanted to go to with the added bonus of running commentary whilst onboard. We had a two day bus pass so did half the tour on day one and hoped off at Santa Monica for the night (where we saw the actual beach off Baywatch) knowing we could continue the tour after a well earned sleep. On L.A day two we worked around the rest of the sites and then arrived back at the car. I wouldn’t usually be the bus tour type but it was such a great move, LA is a vast place and I think without the constraints of the bus route we’d have been a bit lost.
Heading North
The next few days were real road trip territory. Lots of Mustang driving with a stop in Santa Barbara and then north to Carmel. Driving the PCH is unlike any other road I have ever seen, except in movies. We covered 300 miles of twisty turning coastal track in 48 hours, sometimes wide and flat but more often than not narrow and undulating. We enjoyed staggering views of the ocean, beaches with bathing sea lions and birds of prey flying through perfect Californian skies (definitely get a drop top car).
Every day at around about noon we’d stop at a cafe, jump on the wifi and plan where we needed or wanted to be that night. We’d book a room using the Hotel Tonight App . This App is exclusively for late room deals, really late deals! it comes online at 12pm wherever you happen to be in the world (it works in the UK too) and lists reduced price accommodation for that evening only, ranging from cheap hostels to boutique hotels. This allowed us to be free spirits – the only accommodation pre-booked was our first night in Vegas. The really great thing about Hotel Tonight is that once registered (which is free) you can reserve and pay for hotels directly through the App – meaning that all prices are displayed and paid for in Pounds Sterling. Sounds like a small detail but when in the U.S you are likely to be charged for all cash withdrawals and credit card transactions so it really helps keep your accommodation costs from spiralling.
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The PCH Top 5
There was so much variety and so many WOW moments as we toured the Pacific Coastal Highway that I thought I’d better give my write up some structure… And what better way than to come up with a top 5! I asked myself the question: What made this Road Trip Unforgettable?
- Renting a convertible Mustang
- The beach on Coronado Island
- Driving into LA
- Visiting Carmel
- The Food In San Francisco
Hotel Tonight
This App was an absolute godsend. It took all of the pressure out of finding a place to stay each night. Over lunch we would get on some wifi, discuss where we wanted to be that evening and then see what the App had to offer us. It never let us down and on occasion changed our travel plans for the better when we spotted a good deal or a hotel that took our fancy. The App is easy to use and looks beautiful too, with most places having nice large image galleries to scroll through.
Check out the Hotel Tonight website for more info.
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Carmel to San Francisco
Carmel is a tiny place… It’s not on my map but if you find Monterey it’s pretty much right there. It’s full name is Carmel-by-the-Sea but that makes it sound like a second rate english seaside resort which it most certainly is not. Carmel is known for its natural scenery and rich artistic history and it is a little bit ‘crazy’ when it comes to keeping its self looking pretty. No one has a post box (too ugly) and every house has a name rather than a number. If you live there (and only a very select 3000 or so people do) you have to go to the town hall to collect your post. You are not allowed to dig up trees in order to build a home and they are currently looking at each square kilometre of Carmel and planting new trees if it is deemed to contain too few. A bit mad but it makes for a truly idyllic environment. A good friend of mine recommended we visit Carmel and it was a top suggestion and one that I pass on to you.
San Francisco was everything I dreamed it would be. Architecturally stunning with people so friendly that they stop you in the street. The food was exquisite. Apparently San Franciso is famous for its cuisine and every tour guide recounts how if you eat out for breakfast, lunch and dinner it will take you three years before you’ve eaten at every restaurant in SF. We spent three days there soaking it all in before heading back through the desert to Las Vegas. It wasn’t enough time. We found an amazing Jazz Cafe on our first evening that served pizza (second best pizza of the holiday) and the atmosphere was amazing. It was hard not to go back the next night and do it the same again, like some kind of San Franciscan Groundhog Day… I think that goes for the whole holiday actually. I could revisit California and drive the PCH and have an entirely different experience because there are so many places to see and so many things to do. We didn’t see any of the Giant Reds, we didn’t go wine tasting in the Napa Valley, we didn’t see Joshua Trees and we didn’t go to Yosemite Park. However, we covered 1,865 miles and we had the holiday of a lifetime.
And we can always go back…
We want to do this! Wanted to for our honeymoon but didn’t have the budget sadly. How much would you say you need to budget for this trip Adam, all in?
Kitty, That is a very good question… Flights are around £750 each – the car rental was about £450 after all the various taxes and insurance they load on to you (beware!) and petrol for the 2000 miles was only a few hundred pounds – try doing that in the UK in a 4 litre V6 engined car! Accommodation using the Hotel Tonight App ranged from £60 to £100 per night. The £60.00 rooms tended to be great but sometimes they’d get snapped up too quickly. So I guess the budget for your travel and accommodation came in at the 3k mark total cost for two people. Phew…. £1500 each sounds much better 😉
Of course then you do have to ‘live’ whilst there and you can find budget places to eat and a lot of the things (that we wanted to do anyway) were free – the towns and places and the coastal road are the attractions. Cities like L.A and San Francisco were considerably more expensive than the smaller places but I reckon you could budget £20 to £25 a day per person on average and not have to scrimp too much. that takes the total to about £1800 per person.
Worth every single penny 🙂
Love this post! This is what my fiancé and I are doing for our honeymoon. We get married on 12 April and fly to LA on 24 April for a three week road trip. We’re doing a circle so LA, San Diego, Las Vegas, Yosemite, South Lake Tahoe, Napa Valley, San Francisco, Carmel, Cambria, Santa Barbara and back to LA! We cannot wait to get some sunshine!
The tip about the buses in LA is great because I hate the idea of driving around there. We’re staying in West Hollywood and are thinking of hitting up Chateau Marmont one night. Unless you have any other tips of places we should check out in LA?
I’m really excited to go to Carmel. We’re staying in Rustic Cabin Like a Treehouse. Which is, you guessed it, a treehouse in someone’s garden overlooking the beach! Did you know it’s illegal for women to wear high heels in Carmel? Health and safety law passed years ago apparently!
Anyway, probably enough rambling but this post has just got me mega excited for the honeymoon now! Loving the tips!
Jen Xx
Jen you are going to have the best time… I think you’re plans in LA sound perfect. We spent one night in a motel on the outskirts (budget conscious!) and then one night on the coast in Santa Monica (budget ruined!) Santa Monica had loads going on – late night shopping and lots of bars stretching out on to the pier. Great for a night out! The two day bus tour will cost you less than getting cabs everywhere too… and you can interchange between 3 different routes so it pretty much covers anywhere you might need to go.
Carmel was the most relaxing part of the Holiday – I’d say it’s an ideal Honeymoon location… The trees are unbelievable – like something out of Tolkien…. And you are staying in one. Wow! you have to hit the beach one evening and watch the sun set – you won’t be disappointed.
Oh, and make sure you go to Filippis Pizza Grotto in San Diego… I promise you won’t be disappointed. Amazing atmosphere, superb italian/american food and there is this amazing deli there too.
Best trip ever! Me and the hubby did it for our honeymoon in September with the same car (I think everyone you see driving one is a tourist!). We did LA, Santa Barbara, Morrow Bay, Monterrey, Santa Cruz, San Fran, Napa, South Lake Tahoe, Bakersfield, Vegas, Grand Canyon & Vegas. The day we arrived was the day the Government shut down started so we were slightly freaked out as we had to change our plans – we couldn’t go to the Alcatraz which was pretty disappointing and also the national parks – Yosemite and Death Valley – were closed where we had planned to stay. However it meant that we ended up going to South Lake Tahoe which we loved and had an additional night in Vegas where the check in lady took pity on us and upgraded us to a penthouse suite and we won $500 on the slots – so worked out for the best! Plus now we have an excuse to go back to see Yosemite and Death Valley! I would really recommend using Airbnb on a trip like this – we stayed in them in LA, San Fran and Monterrey and they were incredible!
Sounds great… Gotta love a Vegas upgrade. We were given a suite at The Bellagio – it was mental!
I’m yet to use Airbnb – I wash;t aware of it last year when we went – but Miranda had great experience in Paris using them and she wrote about it for Rock My Style here.
Thanks Adam! It’s good to have an idea, but I guess we won’t be going in the next year or so as this year we’re taking our dream trip to Japan (courtesy of some free Virgin flights as compensation from a bad honeymoon experience!) for 19 days! We’re going to be travelling all over on the bullet trains – highlights are going to be spending the night up a mountain in a Buddhist monastery and 2 nights in a traditional Japanese ryokan inn! Can’t wait! 😀
My Brother got married in Japan a few years back so I went out to Tokyo for the ceremony and then toured about a bit on the bullets… You are going to love it.
Favourite holiday ever!!
I’ve done at least 4 Californian road trips and I LOVE them! I do have the luxury of a sister who lives in the hollywood hills which makes LA accommodation a bit cheaper 🙂
Hidden gem recommendation – San Luis Obispo – cute little town a little inland which some great bars and restaurants and a really cool market (I think once a week), with every kind of food stand, music, clothes etc. Well worth a visit.
Claire, thanks for sharing… Love a good Cali travel tip. I’m definitely going to go back – so much was left unseen. I’ve got a few other locations that need to be ticked off the bucket list first though 😉
OMG, this is crazy popular! Me and my husband are doing this for our honeymoon too! We got married in November but decided we needed time to save up and for the States to warm up, so we’re going in June this year and starting in San Fran and finishing in Vegas baby! We’ve hired a convertible mustang…it’s a must! And I can’t remember the last time I was so excited about a holiday!! Our plans are:- 4 nights San Fran, 2 night Yosemite, 1 night Santa Cruz, 2 nights Big Sur, 2 nights Santa Barbara, 1 night LA, 1 night Vegas, 2 nights Grand Canyon, 2 nights Vegas! So we’ve got just over 2 weeks to explore California 😀 any places/restaurants you would recommend where we’re going?
Thanks, Annie x
PS. love the image of your Mustang!
Hi Annie… If you like Pizza (proper freshly cooked italian style pizza) and if you like Jazz (even if you don’t like jazz but you love a great atmosphere) then you have to visit Club Deluxe – click here for more info. It’s in the Haight district of San Fran and it serves late so it is an ideal start or end to a lively night in one of the most bustling and cosmopolitan area’s of the city.
Hi Adam,
I was well up for visiting you Jazzy Pizza place, but alas….they no longer to the aforementioned pizza!! Sacre bleu!!! Something about a disagreement between the venue and the chefs! Oh well, my Jazzy Pizza dream shall remain just that…a dream 🙁
Hi Adam, great article on the Californian Road Trip. We did something very similar last year and got engaged in Yosemite NP… however one small comment, it shouldn’t normally cost you more to fly into one airport and out of the other, as long as you do it as one ticket rather than two (I am a travel agent, I specialize in American Road trips, so I should know lots of tricks of the trade). We are off on honeymoon to do Las Vegas, Bryce and Zion national parks then heading to Mexico for some R&R time. Bring on September.
Annie – your trip sounds great, although I would recommend spending some time in Monterey – one of my fav places on the coast!
Hi Heather,
Thanks for the tip – it’s good to have a bit of insider information! It’s probably worth checking as much flight info as you can prior to purchase… Particularly if your plans are adaptable. We found Las Vegas to be by far the cheapest way to get near the West coast.
This article is so fab!! We are doing something very similar this summer & I know my hubby would LOVE to rent a Mustang….can you remember who you hired from and how you booked?? Seems like a great price you got.
Thanks.
Hi Cate – thanks very much, glad to be of service! I used Fox Rent A Car although we went in late March so had the benefit of off-peak prices. I booked it all on line. I was warned that you have to be careful booking as many hire car places add lots of additional taxes on you when you collect the car that you didn’t necessarily expect to pay.
The only additional with Fox was for insurance… It actually is optional but it is a risk to go without as you will be 100% liable for any damage to the car. It added a few hundred dollars to the total price if memory serves.
Late to the party (as ever) but a wonderful article, Adam 🙂
The husband and I did this for our honeymoon 18months ago. San Fran, Tahoe, Laguna Beach, Carmel, S L Obispo, *so* many other places, all wonderful. We rented a 1969 T2 Bay Window VW campervan called Eddie for 3 weeks. Honestly that is a trip I still daydream about. Thank you for bringing it all back! X