Los Angeles to Vancouver!! Need Tips on where to go!

[katieh104]

My husband and I are going to take a road trip up the west coast next summer and we can't wait! It seems like there is so much to do So i'm not sure all the things we should see and where we should make stops to rest. We will flying to LA and renting a car, then we have 9 days to drive up the coast and then fly out of Vancouver on the last day. Some of things we want to do are:
- Go to Hollywood and scope out the LA stuff, and probably visit a beach or two (which are some good places to stay outside of LA to avoid bad areas and heavy traffic?)
- See some great woodsy/beach scenery along the coast
- Drive over the Golden Gate bridge
- I am a huge Twilight fan so I can't wait to go to Forks, WA and La Push Beach/Port Angeles etc.

If anyone has any suggestions that would be great! We would like a good mix of city/country/lots of animals/volcanoes/etc. Basically landmark things. We are from Wisconsin so we would love to see things that we don't normally see in the Midwest.

Thank you in advance for any input!!!

[glc]

I do not believe you will be able to rent a car in the US and return it in Canada. I would recommend terminating in Seattle instead.

[Midwest Michael]

Welcome to the RTA Forum!

I agree that you probably will not be able to rent in the US and return a car in Canada. I'd also expect that you would end up paying significantly more in airfare trying to do a one way flight back from Canada. You could still visit Vancouver, but I think you'll find its much easier and cheaper to fly home from SeaTac.

As far as what to do, there's no shortage of things, and narrowing it down will likely be the toughest part. Deciding how much of the trip you'll spend on the coast vs. in the mountains or in cities will be the tough part. To help get you started I'd look around at other threads, like this one, this one, and these ones too.

[katieh104]

Hi Everyone!

My husband and I are flying into San Diego on May 29th and have until June 6th to get to Seattle. We already have lodging booked for May 29th-30th just north of San Diego, and then around Forks, WA and Seattle. We have 4 full days in between where ideally we would like to just stop where we stop, and not have to make hotel reservations. Considering this would be a Monday - Thursday thing I didn't think it was that unrealisitic, but I just realized that Monday is Memorial Day.

What do you guys think? Lose randomness and make the reservations to be on the safe side, or just wing it and hope for the best?

Where do you recommend to stay along Hwy 1 throughout California and Oregon?

Any input would be greatly appreciated!!!

[Midwest Michael]

I think you'd be fine going without reservations for most of your trip, but to be on the safe side, I'd probably try to book something for Memorial Day itself.

Out of curiosity, are you only giving yourself 4 days to drive the coast from San Diego to Washington? That really is not very much time at all, considering how much there is to see, and how slow going the route is. We recommend at least 2 days from LA to SF along along the coast alone, and I'd want at least 3 days to make from San Francisco to Washington -and that could even be on the low side. If you're starting by spending 2 days in San Diego, and 2 more in Washington, the rest of your trip will likely feel quite rushed.

[AZBuck]

I agree with Michael that you'll perforce be shortchanging the drive northward along the coast where there is so much to see, but each place worth visiting takes time to visit. A case in point: You'll be driving within stopping distance of one of the iconic Twilight filming locations, but may not have time to visit and enjoy it. My wife and I stumbled upon it last summer when we were wandering up the Columbia River gorge, taking time to make short hikes up into see a number of waterfalls when we came across the View Point Inn where the prom scene in Twilight. We had a lovely lunch out on there lawn overlooking the Columbia River, but the time it would take you to make the 50 mile round trip detour and have a relaxed lunch or dinner is probably not available to you. You'll have to be very thrifty with your time and pick just a small number of places to visit.

AZBuck

[katieh104]

Yeah, we realize it's not the ideal time line to see lots, but that's all our vacation time and budgets will allow. Our first 2 nights are in Point Loma, CA and then we are just going to venture north and stumble upon whatever we may. In this situation, ignorance is bliss because we won't know ALL of the things we missed along the way, and we can always come back of course. (PS - we were actually thinking of staying at the View Point Inn one night!) Given that philosophy, what and where are DEFINITE must sees?

[katieh104]

One more question!!!
Since we are short on time, are there certain stretches of Hwy 1 that can be skipped? We want to stay on it for all of the beautiful scenery, but if there are some boring or especially slow stretches where would they be? That would maybe be our time to play catch up on driving.

[katieh104]

Also, we actually have full days Monday through Friday to eventually get to Forks, WA on that Friday night