Two weeks in California

Santa Barbara and Palm Springs are both worth visiting, I’d say.

You can’t go wrong with Fresno.

[quote] I have two more weeks of a delicate European budget to char through.

What?

You might like Bakersfield.

Modesto is quite charming. Killer waters nearby if you're a fisherman. Especially in the winter.

I hear the Inland Empire is quite lovely this time of year. Bring a boat.

Seriously, Go north. Stop at the Hearst Castle. Big Sur, Carmel, Monterey and San Francisco

It would be insane to spend weeks vacationing in California and not go to San Francisco. This isn't much of a debate.

OP, ignore the trolls on here. Many of the places they recommend are dumps.

Absolutely NO to Las Vegas. It's a dump.

Santa Barbara is nice. San Fran is a must.

La Jolla

R9 is clearly from Visalia.

Do not go to Palm Springs. It's boring as hell, and it's much too hot this time of year. The only thing to do in Palm Springs is to sit around the pool at your hotel. It's not a "sightseeing" town.

You should not miss San Francisco. Yes, it has had recent problems, but it is one of the state's and the country's great and scenic cities.

Listen to R7. That's a great trip, OP. Not joking. Also listen to R13.Palm Springs is no place to go right now. Ugh. Just go look at a weather report. Terrible in August.

SF for sure! It's a must see. Yes, it's a bit down its luck right now, but the bones of the city are second to none in the entire US.

And I say this as an LA native.

Temecula? Wait til you see Buttonwillow, McKittrrick and Kettleman City.

I understand there is delicious fried chicken to be had in Oxnard.

Thank you, everyone! I guess that’s a yes for San Francisco, and R7 is the current MVP.

Can any of all of that be done without a car? I hate the idea of driving here. I’ve been doing trains, buses, and occasional rides from familiars.

I’d be getting a convertible and pretending I’m Tippi Hedren in The Birds.

There’s mass transit into SF, depends on where you’re coming from. BART runs often, and also watch out for those self driving cars.

Listen to Tennessee Williams

[Quote]America has only three cities: New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans. Everywhere else is Cleveland.

R18. Sure thing. With a good walking stick you could go by foot from San Simeon to San Francisco City Hall in 3 days—easy peasy. And then, you’d die.

From San Francisco, you could go to Napa. Not sure how hot it is, there, though. Some really good places to eat in wine country (which includes Napa), plus wine tasting, of course.

Here's some info re: transportation from SF to Napa.

I've only ever driven from SF to Napa Valley, so can't say what alternate transportation is like.

You’d really want a car to drive up the coast.

Did you feel the earthquake op?

What’s the rush? Stay in SoCal and enjoy the weather

It’s beautiful here in San Francisco today! Gonna be in the low 70s all week. Avoid Union Square and Civic Center and you’ll love it here. Go to North Beach, Pacific Heights, Golden Gate Park, The Ferry Building-maybe a few hours in Sausalito via ferry, and you’ll have a lovely time.

R16, maybe OP heard about Lisa from Temecula and wanted to visit.

Monterey and Carmel are so lovely. then on to San Francisco. Santa Barbara, Montecito all lovely, but I'm afraid the storm may affect them.

IMO, the Ferry Building was crowded and not really worth the time.

Whatever you do, stay along the coast. Palm Springs is hot, inland, boring and out of the way. For a visitor--or anyone for that matter--but especially a visitor, the coast, e.g. Big Sur, Monterey and San Francisco is alive, vital and picturesque. The desert is more of an acquired taste where it takes a while to appreciate it. It's not somewhere that is going to wow you right off the bat especially in the heat of Palm Springs this time of year.

Your time is not endless; it will go by quickly. Don't miss San Francisco. It's expensive, but you'll remember it as one of the highlights of your holiday.

$anta Barbara ain't cheap.

If OP is not interested in getting a car, can he not take the state train to SF?

In most of California, you need a car, but when you get to San Francisco, turn in your car to the rental agency. You don't need it and shouldn't have it other than maybe to drive across the Golden Gate Bridge. While in the heart of the city--walk. SF is a walking city and the subway system, BART, is easily accessible. If you have a car in SF, you will spend all of your time looking for a parking space that you will never find. Subway, taxi, UBER, LYFT and walking should be your modes of transportation while in the city. If you want to be driven around, there are probably bus tours that can take you around and show you the highlights of one of the greatest cities in the U.S.

Yosemite?

I did this on my most recent trip to San Francisco, OP:

BART to Oakland, grab lunch on that side (some cool diners), check out UC Berkeley, walk back to where the ferries leave for the city and head back, under the Bay Bridge and ending up at the Embarcadero.

Killing a few birds with one stone, especially if it’s a nice day.

Just choose your BART carriage carefully as some unhinged homeless set up house on the subway trains.

[quote]SF is a walking city and the subway system, BART, is easily accessible. Subway, taxi, UBER, LYFT and walking should be your modes of transportation while in the city

BART is best thought about as a regional rail for getting to different cities in the bay area. You won't really use BART to get around San Francisco like you would the subway in Manhattan.

But yes if you can walk and don't mind hopping on some Muni buses if it is very easy get anywhere you want in San Francisco without a car. San Francisco is definitely the easiest place to survive without a car in California.

Ah yes, Yosemite. I hear I should. How intense is it? I’m a smoker and I sweat a lot.

Thank you, tasteful friends. After the storm washes away all our sins, I think I’ll head to the coast, and from there Amtrak my way to ultimatelly Seattle, from where I’m flying back to Europe, chicly.

I’ll make sure to save enough days for SF.

What about theme parks? Wholesome and exciting, or grotesque displays of corporate power?

Yeah, BART has maybe 3 stops in SF - all on Market Street, IIRC. It's not a method for getting around within San Francisco. It's a way to get out of San Francisco.

Disneyland is Magic! Still.

Apologies OP, I got muni metro confused with BART. I stay south of the city with friends when I’m visiting and the quickest way to get downtown for me is BART. Sorry for the confusion.

R18, take the Amtrak Pacific Starlight from LA Union Station and maybe plan to hop off and spend a day in Santa Barbara, which si the city all other cities want to be when they die and go to city heaven. Continue via that train the next day to San Francisco.

The coastal views from that ride are magnificent. Be aware the train veers into the central valley north of Santa Barbara, but that's almost as picturesque.

Rancho Cucamunga is worth stopping by, but only to say you've been to Rancho Cucamunga.

OP R42 didn’t tell you, but I will: the train does not go to San Francisco.

To quote Christie Hynde:

…my city was gone—There was no train station —There was no downtown…

Correction: Chrissie ^

OP where are you from? And excuse me if you already stated in the thread; haven’t read all the comments yet.

Also—it does NOT veer into the Central Valley. The earth has yet to shift so much that SLO and Salinas have moved so far east.

R44, the train goes to Oakland. Take the bus etc, to SF

If you survived LA, you'll surely survive San Francisco. It's beautiful here, ignore Fox News.

The bus from Jack London?—or walk from Emeryville over the Bay Bridge.

The goal is to help Op not send him off yonder.

OP here, I’m from Croatia, of beaches unmatched, or so we believe.

I’ve seen a lot of sand and not many going into water here, but I’m open to observing more. I liked the atmosphere on and around the beach, so I think I do coastal well, with outfits to match.

What about interesting accommodation along the coast? Sleazy motels? Whimsical inns? Glamping, never camping? Youth and youthful hostels?

Don't forget West Covina.

Check out our new world-famous hurricanes!

OP we don’t have hostels here in America. However many whores will gladly take you home the first night especially in Long Beach.

Yes, there are, indeed, youth hostels in the United States.

Barstow, if you freaky!

Probably best head for Missouri - there might be rain, but not nearly so much…

If OP took the Coast Starlight train to Oakland r50, he is half a mile from the Lake Merritt BART station which can take him to San Francisco or anywhere else in the bay area. It's not that complicated.

There are hostels in San Francisco, here is one I've heard good things. America does actually have hostels in many cities r54.

Croatia!!!! How wonderful!! OP, just locate an address for David Benioff or D.B. Weiss, go to their home or their office, and tell them you worked on Game of Thrones with them, " Remember that night in that bar in Croatia, when you told me if I ever make it to California, I should look you up if I need a place to stay?"

R59 o wow did not know this. I feel so uncultured.

Hope the ferry to Catalina for a day or two. Then Santa Barbara area. It's too hot to mess around too much inland and certainly not Palm Springs. Summer in the desert is silly.

Hop not hope

Sequoia National Park

Visit the OJ murder house. They say it brings good luck.

There have been landslides on the train routes, so OP check to see if any affected- a few months ago, the route from Solana Beach to LA was impacted and you had to take an hour train to Springfield (? I don't remember), then and hourish bus ride to another train station, then another 20 minute train ride to Solana. Usually the non stop is 2ish hours.

If you're still in the SD area, you can stop here, the nadir of tackiness:

Ah sorry that should have been a 2 hour train ride out of L.A. to mysterious bus destination.

San Fran has the climate and the setting. The ferries and and bike rentals are a great combo. One can take a bike on the ferry and have a great day out. You can ride. A bike over the GG bridge to Sausalito then ferry back to the city. Very cool view of the bay and plenty of great sightseeing.

R66 if still in SD?…the Madonna Inn is 300 miles north in SLO.

I've heard that the ferry ride from SF to Larkspur is really nice. I don't know how interesting Larkspur would be, though. I've been to Sausalito and Tiburon, which were OK. Sausalito and Lahaina (place of recent fires) have a similar vibe, IMO. Nobody else has really agreed with me on that one, yet, though.

Thank you, DL! Wonderful ideas!

I am now thinking 4+ days in SF and the area.

And Madonna Inn is right up my alley. The challenge now being which room to choose.

R60, I love it. And convince them to come back to Croatia, with something fresh and irreverent.

Go for it

The best thing about the Madonna Inn: the urinals. That’s it!

My bus to LA never showed up, so I’m heading back to San Diego. I’ll start Amtraking there.

What’s a good final squeeze to get from SD? I’ve done Balboa Park, many a haunted house, the Maritime Museum, a Padres game, bar hopping on University Ave, a drive through UCSD premises, a lot of Gaslamp Quarter, and Seaport Village. I loved all of it.

La Jolla - fab upscale beach town. Coronado Beach, including the Hotel Del Coronado, where they filmed Some Like It Hot, a fave of some us eldergays. Have you been to the SD Zoo? It's supposed to be the best one in the US. Also, more Mexican food.

OP, go to the Hillcrest gay neighborhood in San Diego and have dinner there. I like Urban MO's Bar and Grill on University Avenue. Very friendly, strong drinks, reasonable food, and it has a smoking section. Unless you can rent a car and drive north to see Carmel and Monterey, and then to SF, use Google to find a cheap flight directly to San Francisco. Take BART from the airport into San Francisco, and then use SF's MUNI system to get around The City.

For hotels or AirBNB's, avoid anything on or near Market Street, Civic Center, Union Square, or Powell Street to avoid homeless people. Avoid Fisherman's Warf (it's too touristy). Walk along The Embarcadero or take the F Street Car for great views of the Bay and our bridges. Visit Castro Street and do not make eye contact with crazy homeless people. Take the ferry to Sausalito - the one that leaves from The Ferry Building and not Pier 39. Walk around Sausalito for an hour or two, then return to SF. Spectacular views. Have a drink at Spinnaker restaurant. There is so much to do in SF. But you don't have a lot of time.

OP: You must visit La Jolla. Go to La Jolla Cove, it's right in the center of La Jolla. By the way, La Jolla is part of the city of San Diego. The residents there like to think it is its own town, but it's not. Prospect Street in La Jolla has some good restaurants--go to 'George's at the Cove' for lunch or dinner. Visit Coronado and the Hotel Del Coronado, commonly called the "Hotel Del." Visit Cabrillo Monument in Point Loma--spectacular view of the city, bay, mountains and beyond. Skip the SD Zoo. It's a zoo, and it's too big and tiring to walk around.

And yes, Hillcrest is the gay section of San Diego. Worth a walk around.

If the weather clears (it's been kind of cloudy lately and raining with the recent storm), visit nude Black's Beach in La Jolla (Torrey Pines) area. It's hike down and up the cliff, but it's the best nude beach there is and there is a gay section. The trail down to the beach is just north of the hang glider port. You can also go down the trail near the glider port, but it's a bit of a longer walk to get to the gay section, which is why the trail further north in the parking lot is closer to the gays. It's not crowded at all during the week, but more so on the weekend. Check out the pic...

Whine country was lovely. I visited Berenger’s and actually saw the famous actor Tom’s parked car! I stopped by the Falcon Crest distillery. The pool where Lance emerges in the titles is teensy! You must visit Yosemite. The animals have no fear of queer. The roiling surf of Big Sur needs to be experienced, as does the stark, craggy Joshua Tree national park. Frisco was full of snotty residents but the scenery was beautiful. The unpretentious sea lions made up for the judgmental citizens and the sad sight of an AIDS ravaged homeless population. I skipped across the span of the Golden Gate Bridge humming the “Too Close For Comfort” theme. Malibu was serene, everyone so welcoming.

So how was the rest of your vacation OP?