Cali Bound...Where to go?

[getbak]

If you go to Newport Beach, stop by Balboa Island and get a frozen banana (sadly, the stand isn't shaped like a giant banana): http://www.yelp.ca/biz/sugar-n-spice-newport-beach-2


If you like roller coasters, Magic Mountain and Knott's Berry Farm have some good ones. If you don't like coasters, I wouldn't go to either park.


For Disneyland, go in the middle of the week to do the rides. Learn how to use the FastPass system. If you want to see the fireworks and Fantasmic, you may have to go on the weekend during the fall, so consider spending at least 3 days to see everything between the two parks.


If you want to see the "Hollywood" stuff. You can go to the Hollywood & Highland complex, which is where the Chinese Theatre (with the hand and foot prints) and the Dolby (formerly Kodak) Theatre (home of the Oscars) are. Jimmy Kimmel tapes his show across the street from Hollywood & Highland every weekday night.

If you want to go to a movie studio, Universal is a working Studio, but it's really more of a theme park with a tram tour around the backlot. Warner Bros has a much better Studio Tour if you want to see actual sets up close (and even walk around on them).

[Cowperson]

Rent a bike at the Santa Monica Pier and cycle over to Venice Beach.

Lots of other things . . . . California is a great place.

Walking the coast between San Clemente and Dana Point . . . .



Cowperson

[macker]

Or a beach cruiser in Santa Barbara...best way to see things......amazing the number of different rodents that will run in front of your bike in the deserty climate. Wild hares, all types of lizzards, snakes all shapes and sizes playing a game of chicken with my beach cruiser. Watch where you are going as you admire the views high and low.....Santa Barbara is where everybody goes to escape LA and relax but head further up the coast to Big Sur to escape Santa Barbara and civilization for that matter. Then shock yourself back to life by hitting Santa Cruz boardwalk which is as Californian as it gets...

[Table 5]

If you're cruising the PCH (and why wouldn't you be?) and you're in Laguna Beach, make sure to hit up Taco Loco. Best fish tacos of all time.

I'm actually headed to LA for the weekend myself. Although it will be for business, I'm really hoping to get a chance to make it down to that spot again. There's lots of great things about LA, but the Mexican food (even if its more California-inspired Mexican) is worth the price of admission alone.

[SeoulFire]

For food, I like to hit up

http://www.flavortownusa.com/

for a DDD location. I love that show and I have not really been disappointed with visiting any of the places that were near where I was going. Unfortunately the videos are now all disabled but some basic information is there.

[TurnedTheCorner]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

The only redeeming quality of LA is In-n-Out.

[TurnedTheCorner]

Drive the Pacific Coast Highway/#1 as much as you can, and enjoy the scenery.

There's cool shopping in downtown Pasadena - not as upscale as Beverly Hills or West Hollywood, but still a lot of stores and restaurants worth checking out.

[macker]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdizL4on-Rc

[gonzo29]

The Santa Ynez Valley, about 45 mins north of Santa Barbara, is a great place to go wine tasting. Beautiful scenery and some excellent vineyards.

[Stay Golden]

Laguna Beach without a doubt one of the most scenic spots JMO on the coast. If you like art there are some Incredible gallery's there.
Newport and Balboa Island are right near each other (short ferry ride across).
Seal and Huntington Beach are nice surfer towns with a laid back vibe.
If you want to see the local street performers and general weirdos Venice Beach is the place. I personally didn't think much of it.

[CASe333]

We just got back from a 4 week California road trip so here is what I recommend from our trip. If your looking for romantic places to eat on the beach or just good beaches in general basically anything south of LA has great places (Huntington Beach, Newport, Laguna, Dana Point and San Clemente were all great). My favourite town was San Clemente hands down but that has to do more with the quality surf found nearby. My girlfriend's favourite place was San Diego and in particular La Jolla. Lots to do around there, in particular I recommend renting a kayak and seeing the sea caves or snorkeling. I can't believe between all the people recommending San Diego that no one has mentioned Black's beach yet. Its definitely worth the hike down especially if you want to get away from the crowds. That said it is a nudist friendly beach so don't say you weren't warned. One of the big reason San Diego kicks ass is the water is quite a bit warmer. Even in LA the water temp is quite cool and up by San Francisco its basically as cold as it is in Tofino.

My driving tips are to avoid rush hour completely and then the freeway is actually pretty fun. Avoid toll roads unless you like paying a few bucks every ~500 meters.

My last tip is by far the most useful though and works through out the US (at least the western states). When buying gas with a credit card at the pump you are asked to input your ZIP code. So for us Canadians this would normally mean you have to go inside to pay. However, if paying by Visa you can use the following trick. Take the 3 # digits from your postal code and then add two zeros to the end for your zip code. For example, my postal code is V6R 2N7 so my ZIP code would be 62700. This only worked with Visa though.