California Dreamin'
We flew from Heathrow with American Airlines into Los Angeles airport and from there we hired a car with Alamo and drove to Huntington Beach. It was very easy to get to the car hire office from the airport, however I would try to avoid arriving in rush hour if possible, as the roads get gridlocked and it takes a long time to get anywhere at that time of day. I would also recommend having a Sat nav as it proved to be essential for us.
Huntington Beach was our first stop where we spent 2 nights. We stayed at the Hilton Waterfront Beach Resort hotel, which is a fantastic choice with great facilities and literally across the road from the beach. Huntington Beach is known for Surf City. You can spend ages just watching the surfers from the pier. The area has a very relaxed and chilled out feel and the beach here stretches for 11 miles. I loved Huntington Beach and could have easily spent longer here. The location is ideal as a base for anyone looking to visit Disneyland as well. On our first morning we hired bikes. This was great fun. The area alongside the beach is all flat and paved, so felt very safe and easy to cycle around. There are lots of shops and restaurants to have a meander around and there was even a craft market as well.
Next stop was San Diego. We drove down the coastal road and it took approximately 3 hours to get there, but well worth travelling this route to admire all the lovely views and towns along the way. We visited Sea World first although we had very limited time there and too experience the park properly, I would recommend arriving first thing. San Diego was a beautiful city with so much to see and do. I just got to see a taster of it! During our trip we also visited the USS Midway – Aircraft carrier museum which was used during the Korean, Vietnam and Falkland wars. This is a must visit whilst in San Diego. After visiting the USS Midway, we enjoyed lunch at the Seaport Village which is only a 10 minute stroll away and a really pleasant area to eat and watch the world go by. We also had a site visit and breakfast at the Hotel Del Coronado – The most famous hotel in San Diego and just minutes from downtown. The Hotel is Beautiful and has the wow factor. It was where Marilyn Monroe’s film some like it hot was filmed and where author L. Frank Baum wrote at least three books in the OZ book series. It is overlooking the most gorgeous beach with views of Mexico in the distance.
Our last and final stop on our itinerary was Palm Springs. It took approx. 2 hours to drive from San Diego to Palm Springs and when we arrived we got to experience the Palm Springs Ariel tramway. You get to ride on the world’s largest rotating tram car which travels up for over two and half miles along breath-taking cliffs of Chino Canyon. Once at the top we were able to explore Mt. San Jacinto State Park with its many walking trails and stunning scenery. The views were magnificent. Palm Springs has lots of Hollywood history - with stars such as Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley both having homes here in the 1950’s and 60’s. It was popular with celebrities due to the close distance to Hollywood and the sunny climate. The highlight of my stay in Palm Springs was the jeep tour excursion we did on our last morning. We were picked up by jeeps and taken into the Dessert. We then had a guided walking tour of the canyons and leant all about the native American Indians and how they lived. The scenery was stunning although we did have to watch out for rattlesnakes along the way.
I thoroughly enjoyed visiting all these locations in California and if you would like to find out more about my trip or would like some help to tailor make your own Californian Adventure then please get in touch.