Roadtrip to West coast, what to see?

[mlackke]

So, i've been planning todo about 3-4k miles roadtrip on west coast with couple of my friends, and of course we are visiting all usual places what you can find from travel-guide.

Just wondering if any recommendations for things to see beyond the typical tourist attractions?..eg anything within a 600-mile radius of Los Angeles.

Example scenic routes for drive, recommend places to eat attractions best enjoyed at specific times of the day....etc?

Also any good websites where I can find information about car-related events happening on the West Coast during the summer?

 

[Klaus]

Joshua Tree

Road trip California Missions e.g. San Juan Capistrano

Sonoma County

Marin County

As a car guy you should check out a lowrider show in east LA. Chicano low rider culture is wild.

It looks like there is a big lowrider show at the LA convention center end of April

LA Original Lowrider Super Show | Los Angeles Convention Center

www.lacclink.com

 

[98 svt]

Went to CA last year. Wanted to go home about 4 hours after I landed.

 

[TAF]

As for car related activities...

For Southern Cal Car Culture at it's BEST...

South OC Cars and Coffee

South OC Cars and Coffee is California's largest weekly car meet that attracts a mix of 500-600 hypercars, supercars, exotics, vintage, classic, muscle and sports cars, hot rods, rat rods, pickups, 4x4's and motor cycles.

www.southoccarsandcoffee.com

Drive either North or South on the PCH even in a rental car is AMAZING...in something cool...it's UNFORGETABLE...

The Ultimate Pacific Coast Highway Road Trip

Get ready to enjoy a scenic Highway 1 road trip. Our Pacific Coast Highway itinerary highlights the best places to stop along the way.

www.california.com

For a fun car to tool around...

Exotic Car Rental Los Angeles - Rent An Exotic Car LAX

LA's #1 Exotic Car Rental Agency - Falcon Car Rental in Los Angeles offers an exclusive fleet of super exotic and super sports vehicles such as Lamborghini, Ferrari, McLaren, Rolls Royce and Bentley. Designed to exceed your expectations, we deliver a first-class service for your lifestyle...

www.falconcarrental.com

 

[Fat Boss]

HWY 1 up the Pacific coast is a must, especially north of SF. Then head over HWY 299 to the Mt Lassen area, and down through Lake Tahoe and if you can get into Yosemite, it's spectacular. I'd avoid anything near LA unless you absolutely have to go to Disneyland. Driving the Highway 1 North of San Francisco

Shasta Caverns is pretty cool. Lake Shasta Caverns | Tourist Attraction | Lakehead, CA You might enjoy renting a houseboat on Lake Shasta for a few days. The water level is very high this year, standing at 94% right now- well above average.

Yosemite is a national treasure. It can get crowded though. Yosemite National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

 

[VegasMichael]

HWY 1 up the Pacific coast is a must, especially north of SF. Then head over HWY 299 to the Mt Lassen area, and down through Lake Tahoe and if you can get into Yosemite, it's spectacular. I'd avoid anything near LA unless you absolutely have to go to Disneyland. Driving the Highway 1 North of San Francisco

Shasta Caverns is pretty cool. Lake Shasta Caverns | Tourist Attraction | Lakehead, CA You might enjoy renting a houseboat on Lake Shasta for a few days. The water level is very high this year, standing at 94% right now- well above average.

Yosemite is a national treasure. It can get crowded though. Yosemite National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

I'll second Highway 299. Great scenery. Noticed a lot of hitch hikers along there too.
Yosemite is pretty. I stayed on Mammoth Mountain for a few days in July one year and it was snowing.

 

[MDShelby]

Illegals
Homeless
Traffic
Taxes

 

[Fox-4]

HWY 1 is closed at Big Sur, part of the road fell into the ocean.



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[03cobra#694]

I've been up the Oregon coast to Washington, really nice and interesting.

 

[01yellercobra]

If you're going to do south OC cars and coffee let me know. It's a good meet and I'd make the drive.

I enjoy driving PCH and if you're a fast and furious fan you can visit the restaurant where Brian could afford his own shrimp.

 

[HEMIHUNTER]

Stay out of the cities


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[B7BlownSnake]

PCH is always a nice drive. In Orange County, South OC C&C in San Clemente is an amazing show every Saturday morning.
"Downtown" San Juan Capistrano (by the San Juan Mission) is a nice little area, and the Mission is definitely something to check out.
Laguna Beach is cool to walk through.
Crystal Cove has some nice hiking and Beachcomber there is one of my favorite breakfast spots.
Newport Beach has a bunch of bars and Balboa Island is cool to check out. Same with Corona del Mar.
Trabuco Oaks Steakhouse (in my backyard in Rancho Santa Margarita) is a cool place to see and I always loved the food there.
Hit up Catalina Island.

Up in LA, Angeles Crest Highway and Mulholland DR are good drives if you can avoid the traffic.
Getty Center if you like art.
Peterson Auto Musuem if you like cars.
Griffith Park has nice trails and great views from the Observatory.
The Grove has some good food.
Santa Monica Pier and Venice Boardwalk if you like beach action.
Can hit Bob's Market on Bellevue and Neptune's Net on PCH in Malibu if you want to get some Fast and the Furious photoshoots.

 

[specracer]

+1 on the Peterson

 

[MG0h3]

There’s more than enough to do along the PCH.

I rented a house on the coast in Carlsbad last summer and it was awesome.

I used to live in SoCal and it really is some of the most beautiful coastline.

San Diego was great. Check out Coronado and the Hotel Coronado.

Zero. And I mean ZERO junkies in Carlsbad along the coast.

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[offroadkarter]

I enjoy driving PCH and if you're a fast and furious fan you can visit the restaurant where Brian could afford his own shrimp.

Neptunes Net, I've been there twice now. Place is always packed since its right across from an area where people will park to go surfing.

 

[01yellercobra]

Neptunes Net, I've been there twice now. Place is always packed since its right across from an area where people will park to go surfing.

We've only there once. It wasn't too bad, but it was also during the week.

 

[svtfocus2cobra]

Hated California for the most part, but Huntington Beach and Laguna Beach were always nice and fun to go lay out and swim. Malibu is a cool place to visit as well. You'll see stupid amounts of money and nice cars driving through there. Downtown San Diego was nice and clean when I was stationed there, but turned into a dump when I visited 2 years ago. It's always reminded me of downtown Seattle and it seems to have followed the same trend that Seattle has with garbage and homeless everywhere. Still not as bad as LA though.

 

[mlackke]

Big thanks for all suggestions, keep them coming

I get that LA/Cities might be bad, garbage, traffic, but you know (almost) everything what is different than back home, is worth to see ..atleast once. I'm sure visiting Starbucks will be spectacular

I forgot to mention that we're totally open to meeting up with any SVTP member for coffee, beer..or whatever is your poison. We can talk about anything from Baltimore bridge to women lingerie

 

[CobraBob]

Visit the Trump National Golf Club in Rancho Palos Verdes (near Redondo Beach). Great food and the ocean views are awesome.

Maybe visit Manhattan Beach/Redondo Beach while you're in the Rancho Palos Verdes area. There's a boardwalk that connects the two. Not uncommon to see some beach volleyball tourneys going on.

When you're in Newport Beach, take the small bridge onto Balboa Island. Park your car and walk around the area. There are some awesome homes there on the water and the owners are really friendly. At least they were when my wife and I last visited.

La Jolla (just north of San Diego) is awesome. Very clean and upscale. Parking can be a challenge depending on the time of day. The La Jolla Cove is cool (get within mere feet of the sea lions). Lots of nice restaurants, including Duke's, George's At The Cove, Cove House.

 

[Kevins89notch]

Petersen Automotive Museum. Pay the extra and visit the Vault.

Yosemite is a MUST! I understand you'll be limited on time, so here's the best use:

Panorama Trail Yosemite | Discover Yosemite National Park

Panorama Trail Yosemite offers incredible views of Yosemite Valley, with two of the most popular hikes serving as book ends, Glacier Point and Mist Trail.

www.yosemite.com

Stay just outside the park and drive in with the sun barely up. Park in the valley at one of the hotels that has a shuttle and take the very first AM shuttle up to Glacier Point. The views are amazing there alone. There's a small convenient store up there. Buy a couple liters of water, some snacks and hit the Panorama Trail. It's like 13 miles and takes you all the way back down to the valley. At this point there's a free shuttle in the valley. Hope that over to Curry Village and they have a patio deck setup with a little pizza restaurant that last time I was there, legit had some damn good Pizza. Next door is a general store, so you can buy your Yosemite t-shirt or magnet if you wish, and then take the free shuttle again, back to your car, and you're off.