jdmlove

ok.. bumping the thread again.. need advises on where (which area) to stay:

San Francisco: i wont have a car. so where better to stay? Union Square? or Fishermen's Wharf? somewhere with reasonable price and i can go walking to allot of attractions... i will stay there for 4 nights. my budget is 150 USD/night

LA: am having a rental car but i also would like to stay somewhere safe were i can wakeup in the morning have a walk to a breakfast places, i dont require something near universal and Disney but at least i can reach them with maximum 15 minutes driving. my budget 130 USD/night

Las Vegas: hmm maybe somewhere in the center strip where all attractions are there.. am not gambler or drinker!! so perhaps somewhere near restaurants, Outlets, shows.. etc.. only 3 nights. (i will be having a car). budget 110 USD/night

name of areas and name of hotels plz..

armagebedar

Disneyland and Universal Studios are 40 minutes away from each other under the best of circumstances, so you might want to rethink your conditions.

jdmlove

^^ ouch! my mistake! let say somewhere that make both reachable easy..

TWA884

I suggest that you ask those questions separately in the San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas forums.

darthbimmer

Both those areas are fine for walkability. Finding a comfortable hotel at your price range could be an challenge, though. Check a basic OTA site to understand prices and consider using a bidding site to get something at your price range. For more specific suggestions I recommend searching in the San Francisco forum (there are extensive discussions on Fisherman's Wharf vs. Union Square vs. other neighborhoods, for example) and following up there.

VickiSoCal

Break LA/OC in to two stays in my opinion. Also, you budget is a bit low.

zippy the pinhead

I'll go with you on that.

OP, traffic and congestion is a fact of life here on the left coast. Certain places (e.g., Disneyland) are best avoided on weekends as a result. I may have missed it if you provided precise dates, but you said you're coming in March, which is when some schools have Spring Break. This means certain places (family-friendly, and/or attractive to college-students) may be crowded. For example, Vegas is popular with college students. Disneyland will be packed with families. I'd encourage you to keep that in mind as your plans evolve.

Everyone is throwing in their $0.02 here, so while I am at it, I'll second the sentiments contributed by abmj-jr, Doc Savage, and Vacationmile.

I live in the great LA basin, and while it can be quite nice here, I really like to visit the central coast. Isn't it true that you see one big city, and to a certain extent, you've seen them all? Do they really differ tremendously? OTOH, the central coast of California is mighty fine, and I would also encourage you to take your time there. Too, consider the smaller towns, like Los Osos/Morro Bay, Cayucos, etc., and stay for a day or two in one of those places. You can hear people refer to "the SLO life," (pronounced "slow" life) a pun meaning the San Luis Obispo life, which is exemplified by a leisurely day, maybe involving any one or all of the following: a nice breakfast, some wine tasting, a nice lunch, take a stroll around town or along the beach, maybe an activity (golf, cycling, a hike), a nap, a nice dinner. You get the idea, I'm sure.

The central coast should be savored, especially if you're coming a long way to get here.

But traffic can be hairy when the people from the Bay Area and Southern California converge on the central coast on the weekend. So coming into the LA area from points north can be unpleasant on a Sunday afternoon/evening, and likewise returning to LA from Vegas at the same time.

So if I was in your shoes, knowing what I know, I would do my southward trip from SF to LA trying to avoid said traffic, like leave SF on a Sunday afternoon, and enjoy Monday through Friday in the central coast, then head into LA when everyone else is fighting through the traffic at Santa Barbara.

Regarding Vegas, many colleges and universities start doing spring break in mid-March. I would avoid Vegas like the plague at that time, unless I was staying in a nice hotel.

jdmlove

i will avoid weekend days when i hit highway 1...
Am planing to hit the roads super early morning, to avoid traffic.

Here is my final trip plan:
25 FEB To 1 MARCH = San Francisco
1 March to 3 March = Monterey
3 March to 4 March = Morro Bay
4 March to 12 March = LA
12 March to 16 March – Las Vegas


hopefully the above dates are not very cold / heavy rains!!

darthbimmer

Cold is a relative term. In SF and the Central Coast at that time of year anything below 68F (20C) as a daily high is cold. If it's raining adjust those numbers down by several degrees. Oh, and it seems likely it will be raining. Meteorologists are predicting a strong El Niņo weather pattern this winter, meaning a long rainy season. Pack for 15C temperatures with rain-proof jackets and boots and you'll be fine.

jdmlove

are you serious!! 15C and rain? you sure in the end of feb??

what about Los Angeles weather?

zippy the pinhead

Take it with a grain of salt-- no one bats an eye when the weather forecast is off by several degrees on a given day-- but some folks over here seem to be getting pretty worked up over the forecast for Winter 2015-2016 here in CA.

ajGoes

Not sure whether that temperature seems surprisingly high or low at that time of year, but that is indeed typical weather for northern California at the end of February.

March is the end of the rainy season in southern California. That description is relative, though; "rainy" means "rain is possible" rather than "there's virtually no chance of rain" (the rest of the year). When rain does fall, it's usually light, but there are exceptions and, if El Niņo hits as forecast, there could be extremely heavy and lengthy showers in the upcoming season. Rainy days tend to have persistent, light, steady showers. Thunderstorms are rare but not unknown.

The southern California climate changes significantly as you get further from the immediate coastal area (within four or five miles of the shore). It could be 60° F (15.5 C) at the beach and 80° (26.5 C) in Hollywood (just 15 miles away) at the same time.

darthbimmer

I honestly cannot tell whether you are trying to be funny or, if so, how. I assure you I am making no jokes.

My advice to prepare for 15 C weather is not to say it will be that cool but that it merely might be. It's better to pack a light jacket and not need it than to come expecting beach weather and be shivering.

L.A. will be warmer than the Central Coast and San Francisco. In L.A. I would expect daytime temperatures at the end of February to range from highs of about 20 C right along the coast to 30 C well inland. Rain is much less likely than further north.

Again, I am being completely candid about this.

abmj-jr

The fact is that your dates are 6 months away, we are in the middle of historic weather disruptions and an El Nino year is a "possibility," or so say the forecasters. We just don't know yet what the weather will be like in February, which is winter here. All that said, the responses you have gotten are quite possible. Temps along the PCH in February could be anything from 40's F to 70's F, depending on local conditions at the time. We are hoping mightily for a super wet winter to begin to offset the 4-going-on-5 years of record drought but no one knows yet.

I hope you get good weather for your visit but what we NEED is rain over the entire state, and lots of it.

TWA884

We've been known to have cold spells Los Angeles, especially in the valleys, i.e., Universal City, between November and March when the daily highs were around 10 - 12 C and it got right down to freezing temperatures at night.