Aussies to West Coast

[Lifemagician]

Remember you will need to return your rental car and check in at the airport, probably at least 2 hours before departure. Maybe more for an international flight. And LA traffic can be quite congested. I'm not local to LA so I have no idea how long it takes to get from Universal to LAX. Please allow yourself ample time.

If you are flying into Sydney, the flight will most likely leave around 23:00 hours. You need to check in (at least) three hours before that. The queues here can be long and arduous.

From my experience, getting the car to the rental place by 18:00, then wait for the shuttle bus to the airport - none of the rental places are actually right at the airport - and deal with the queues and security at the airport, you will not have much time left to even check out the airport shops. And remember, there are two security checks to go through, just as there were in Sydney.

On a week day, I would leave at least 45mins to get from the Hollywood area to LAX, traffic holdups are not rare.

Better to be there early than late.

[Lifemagician]

I guess I'm the only one here who is thinking "only 2 days in Disneyland??!!" .

Judy, I don't think I could take two hours of it.

[CC OZ]

Thanks for the replies.

For some reason I thought there were big trees between San Fran and Monterey???? Must have dreamt it.

We fly in at 6.30am Day 1 and plan to head straight to Disneyland so we will technically be doing 2 1/2 days there. We plan to stay long days into the night as we are staying nearby.

The rental car has to be back by 6pm to LAX. We fly out at 10.30pm. We were planning on leaving Universal studios about 4pm to head to the airport.

[glc]

4 to 6 pm is the absolute worst time to drive in LA. Hopefully 2 hours will be enough.

[CC OZ]

4 to 6 pm is the absolute worst time to drive in LA. Hopefully 2 hours will be enough.

So if we do Universal studios early, then head toward Santa Monica, around 2-3pm will we avoid traffic issues?

By the way...thanks for all the advice...rest assured I will post a full summary including pitfalls for future reference.

And...if anyone wants advice on a east Australia road trip..more than happy to provide advice.

[PNW Judy]

I have always wanted to see Australia!

I look forward to your trip report when you get back.

Wish I could answer your question but I'm unsure when the traffic jams start in the LA area.

[glc]

The traffic is pretty bad all day - what you might want to do is get some local advice when you are there (taxi or limo driver, or hotel concierge?), or hopefully someone who lives there might see this. The 405 freeway is one of the heaviest traveled roads in the world.

[shirohniichan]

Thanks for the replies.

For some reason I thought there were big trees between San Fran and Monterey???? Must have dreamt it.

You weren't dreaming. Big Basin Redwoods State Park is near Santa Cruz.

[shirohniichan]

On Day 14 you may want to stop by Solvang or Santa Barbara on US-101.

Solvang is a Danish-themed town with wonderful touristy kitsch. I love that place. If you go by Santa Barbara it's nice to stop at the pier for lunch. Ventura is not quite as nice a place to stop, but I recently stopped there for lunch on the pier at fish restaurant with a Scandinavian name and enjoyed it. Erik Eriksson's? Olaf Olafssons??

[PNW Judy]

I had no idea there were Redwoods that far south. Good to know.