LA and surrounds, cheeky cruise, car hire…
Discussion
Sometimes i feel like Judith Chalmers with ADHD. A vague notion to go away in January somewhere warm has now turned into a plan. 2 weeks over there mid Jan. Premium Economy with SAS for a very decent £600 each.
Current plan is a couple of days near LA. Again with the ADHD Judith, there are some decent 4 night cruises to Baja Mexico (all in price about £400 each) and then a bit of a roadtrip, see some national parks.
Few questions…
-Where’s the best place to get decent prices on RoyalCaribbean cruises? Carnival is the other option but looks a bit…chavvy?
-Car hire. Anyone used Turo? Best deal we can currently find is £500 for 2 weeks in a Focus.
-Any itinerary suggestions? Quite fancy a week, some National Parks and preferably quirky Americana.
Ta!
Current plan is a couple of days near LA. Again with the ADHD Judith, there are some decent 4 night cruises to Baja Mexico (all in price about £400 each) and then a bit of a roadtrip, see some national parks.
Few questions…
-Where’s the best place to get decent prices on RoyalCaribbean cruises? Carnival is the other option but looks a bit…chavvy?
-Car hire. Anyone used Turo? Best deal we can currently find is £500 for 2 weeks in a Focus.
-Any itinerary suggestions? Quite fancy a week, some National Parks and preferably quirky Americana.
Ta!
National Parks? Perfect time of year for Death Valley. Not far away Zion National Park is stunning. Around 9C high temps in January.
https://weatherspark.com/y/150298/Average-Weather-...
https://www.nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/weather.htm
Grand Canyon obviously if you haven't been before.
https://weatherspark.com/y/150298/Average-Weather-...
https://www.nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/weather.htm
Grand Canyon obviously if you haven't been before.
irc said:
National Parks? Perfect time of year for Death Valley. Not far away Zion National Park is stunning. Around 9C high temps in January.
https://weatherspark.com/y/150298/Average-Weather-...
https://www.nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/weather.htm
Grand Canyon obviously if you haven't been before.
Zion is really stunninghttps://weatherspark.com/y/150298/Average-Weather-...
https://www.nps.gov/deva/planyourvisit/weather.htm
Grand Canyon obviously if you haven't been before.
Heartworm said:
Zion is really stunning
And its 'gateway' town of Springdale is worth worth a visit too, but I think the OP wantsto go somewhere warm and Zion doesn't usually breach 20degrees until late April...
Joshua Tree and Death Valley probably. Joshua Tree you could stay in Palm Springs, it’s about an hour to the Cottonwood visitor center [sic] from town.
Zion and Bryce are beautiful but they’re a fair shlep from LA and as already pointed out pretty chilly at that time of year with ice on the ground at both. They’re both very quiet and accommodation is much much cheaper in Springdale at that time of year. I would definitely go back in January, we loved having the place mostly to ourselves vs our previous summer visit.
Zion and Bryce are beautiful but they’re a fair shlep from LA and as already pointed out pretty chilly at that time of year with ice on the ground at both. They’re both very quiet and accommodation is much much cheaper in Springdale at that time of year. I would definitely go back in January, we loved having the place mostly to ourselves vs our previous summer visit.
djc206 said:
Joshua Tree and Death Valley probably. Joshua Tree you could stay in Palm Springs, it’s about an hour to the Cottonwood visitor center [sic] from town.
Zion and Bryce are beautiful but they’re a fair shlep from LA and as already pointed out pretty chilly at that time of year with ice on the ground at both. They’re both very quiet and accommodation is much much cheaper in Springdale at that time of year. I would definitely go back in January, we loved having the place mostly to ourselves vs our previous summer visit.
Yep. I'd just go up the Pacific Coast Highway as that is stunning. You can easily get through Big Sur in a day although id recommend two for stops. If you want to go the whole hog you can go all the way up to San Francisco or Seattle but they're a bit chilly. If you do go to SF you can drive back to LA on the I-5 in 5-6 hours so you don't have to pay a one way hire car fee. Zion and Bryce are beautiful but they’re a fair shlep from LA and as already pointed out pretty chilly at that time of year with ice on the ground at both. They’re both very quiet and accommodation is much much cheaper in Springdale at that time of year. I would definitely go back in January, we loved having the place mostly to ourselves vs our previous summer visit.
Alternatively drive to Vegas as it's about 4-5 hours each way and there is plenty to see around there like Red Rock canyon and Hoover Dam in addition to the just driving through the Mojave itself.
I'd avoid Turo as insurance will be an absolute nightmare and you can get way better than a dumpy Ford Focus for £500 form a proper car rental company.
I've hired a Chrysler 300 for under £500 to do LA to Chicago Route 66 end Sept. Blown away by the price - had originally booked for £676 but found it cheaper later with Dollar and re-booked. Top tip - keep searching using the portals like Discovery Cars after booking as the prices are dynamic... Did that with Greece earlier this year too - ensure you can cancel...
Just for info. Big Sur Highway is closed due to a landslide. May not open this year. January? Hopefully but keep an eye on it.
https://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/highway_condition...
https://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/highway_condition...
carreauchompeur said:
Thanks all…
I think with regards to cars I’m maybe looking a bit far in advance…best price at the moment with any mainline car hire place is £500 for a fortnight in a Focus! That does include 2 drivers but even still!
My recent experience is that the price falls quite a bit up until 30 days before. I’ve been cancelling and rebooking or upgrading the car on my September bookings for a few months now. I think with regards to cars I’m maybe looking a bit far in advance…best price at the moment with any mainline car hire place is £500 for a fortnight in a Focus! That does include 2 drivers but even still!
I’ve also got a booking for January that works out at about £55 per day for a Yukon. I suspect that one is closer to the final price. Don’t write off the prospect of a pickup truck, sometimes on the hertz website it’ll offer the model but not a price with “click for a quote” underneath, try it and it may well come out cheaper than a small hatchback, it’s worked for me a couple of times and for the same January booking one of the Hertz subsidiaries are currently quoting about £35 per day for a Ram 1500 or similar.
In that time frame, assuming you need to return back to LA to take the cruise (from Long Beach).. Depending on your appetive for driving and / some / all of this combo would be fun:
- Up PCH and divert inland to see Solvang, San Luis Obispo and win country (Paso Robles)
- Cross over the state to get to Sequioa National Park (Up to Yosemite if you get the time)
- Head back down the 5 but join the 15 and visit Temecula, then on to San Diego
- Up to Orange County drive PCH up from San Clemente to Long Beach stopping along the way (Say Hi to me if you like
)
- Join your cruise at Long beach
- Crash out and sleep as you'll be knackered from all that driving
- Up PCH and divert inland to see Solvang, San Luis Obispo and win country (Paso Robles)
- Cross over the state to get to Sequioa National Park (Up to Yosemite if you get the time)
- Head back down the 5 but join the 15 and visit Temecula, then on to San Diego
- Up to Orange County drive PCH up from San Clemente to Long Beach stopping along the way (Say Hi to me if you like
)- Join your cruise at Long beach
- Crash out and sleep as you'll be knackered from all that driving
irc said:
Just for info. Big Sur Highway is closed due to a landslide. May not open this year. January? Hopefully but keep an eye on it.
https://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/highway_condition...
Concur with this - closure is about half way between Morro Bay and Monterey...but if you want to do Monterey / Carmel, the detour via 101 isn't that much longer.https://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/highway_condition...
Turo - is a gamble. Some great deals on there, quite a lot of bait-and-switch apparently, some variable responses when cars break / break down.
Most of the big names will allow you to effectively 'reserve a price' now, as you get free cancellation up to (IIRC) 24hrs before. So nothing to stop you booking something now, then as per above checking the prices every couple of weeks. Not an expert, so may need to book direct with e.g. Hertz/Enterprise/National.
One interesting thing that I'm trying to get clarity on - google National's "Emerald Aisle" policy for Emerald Club members. Only exists at a number of the big hire centres/airports, but looks like it could be a cheap route to an upgrade.
Itinerary:-
- Whale watching out of San Diego or Monterey (there's also somewhere just south of SD which is a great spot, apparently) - I'm told there's whales all year round, just varies as to which ones you'll see. Jan may see rough seas though...so if you do go, book a morning slot.
- PCH-1, although check which bits are the prettiest...I know the area around Big Sur is, unfortunately for your logistics
- Death Valley as above.
- LA car scene - if you're in that area at a weekend, bound to be a big cars-and-coffee meet, even in winter.
- Laguna Seca? It's just inland from Monterey, but may be the off-season in Jan.
- Griffith Observatory in LA is supposed to be pretty cool.
- Sequoia Park is a small detour from Death Valley, if it's open in Jan (Yosemite I think gets largely snowed-in - the through-road certainly does). As are Mammoth Lakes, but they'll probably be a ski destination in Jan.
PS - if you're in the SLO area, there's a small but apparently cool aircraft and car museum just inland - begins with an E.
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