Planing a trip in uncharted territories!

[ioanna]

I might have exaggerated a little bit with the uncharted territories part

In a few months i will be visiting my SO in Los Angeles, and I'd love to plan a surprise weekend trip to San Francisco for us. we wanted to go last time i visited, so i'm sure my SO will love it.

here is where i need your help. i have no idea how to plan this. how can we get from LA to SF? my SO was planing on driving, but from what i've seen, it will be anywhere from 8 to 12 hours on the road, and i don't know how to drive. i wouldn't want him to drive that distance twice in a short amount of time.

is there any high speed railway routes?
would flying be a good option?
is there any important thing i should be aware of when making reservations for transportation and hotels?

thanks everyone!

[snow_girl]

We drove that in the summer last year, it really isn't so bad. There are no railways as far as I know and the flights would probably be outrageous. If you take the day to drive there are lots of things to see along the way that you could stop at and make the journey seem not so long.

[Minerva]

It's probably a very pretty drive. Think of it as a road trip. (I've been to LA, but I don't know how transportation is from LA to SF). If you can get a sale with Southwest Airlines, it can be a good deal. But keep in mind that just because the flight is short, there's still all the time you'd spend in the airport, and you're slaves to any delays.

The coast of California is so beautiful, I'd just drive it were I you (unless there's a good rail service -- Check out Amtrak).

[ioanna]

thank you ladies!

i will try my best to squeeze an extra two day sfor the trip, because the scenery is endeed worth the ride

[mllebamako]

I've done LAX-SFO flying and I didn't think the prices were so bad. I think it was $150 round trip. But a scenic road trip sounds nice too!

[Haley53]

Flying wouldn't be so bad, but I think you would have to consider the fact you'd need transportation once you landed, not only within the city but to the city. If you chose to fly, I'd see about where the airport in San Jose is located in relation to the Caltrans station. The Caltrans station in San Francisco is close enough to Union Square (which could be a fun day trip) that you could probably take some time walking it, but depending on what you'll want to do, and how much time you're planning on spending there, you will have to factor in the costs of taking taxis places.

I would avoid Amtrak. I haven't heard great things about the train rides down south (yes, I'm aware you'd be going north. I've only ever looked into a trip from the bay area to LA via Amtrak), not to mention that from what I've seen/looked into, you won't spend any less time on the railway than you would driving, not counting delays, and it's not cheap either. I'm not sure if there'd be transfers from Amtrak to Caltrans, either, as all I know is that I use Caltrans when I train it up to SF.

But when it comes down to it, I think I'd drive. As opposed to splurging money on flights and taxis, I'd consider even booking a night at a Motel 6. You can usually rent out a room for less than 50.00 a night, and considering air and train fare can easily equate to 150.00pp, you can cut that in half and have three nights in the city. That way, you'll also have a car, so that you can spend time seeing the city, taking in the sights, and actually depending on more than public transportation (though I do recommend taking a cable car ride!), and he'll have time to rest between driving there and home again.

[lucybelle]

I'd go with the drive. Though if you want to stay closer, check out San Luis Obispo. I could grow old there. It's so gorgeous!!! And the Hearst Mansion is about an hour drive away.

[ioanna]

Thank you all for your replies i'm having so much fun just thinking about this sorry i took so long to reply....

[ioanna]

i'm super excited at the moment i just bought my flights for the US i'll be visiting in three months

thank you all so much for your input! it looks like we'll be driving, spending a night in asilomar and two or three days in SF
this will be a very special trip! i'll finally be meeting a good friend (coucou Rach ) and it will be a dream come true to do this with my SO.
when i was a kid i went on a trip to the US with my aunt and cousin. we landed in SF and spent over a month on a road trip going from SF down the coast to LA, from there to LV, and circled national parks to end up back in SF. it was a wonderful trip during which i fell in love with the natural wealth of the US. since then it has always been a dream to relive this with my SO and then as a family
so so so excited! i'm going to have a hard time shaking that smile away

[rsvpnj]

If you still need help... private message me... My SO lives in Los Angeles and we travel to SF often. (we have friends up there and he used to live there)

[ioanna]

If you still need help... private message me... My SO lives in Los Angeles and we travel to SF often. (we have friends up there and he used to live there)

thank you i might take you up on that offer

[ChibiFelicia]

i might have to too! My man lives in LA and we wanna go travelling. Was thinking about going up the PAcific coast highway during the summer but i wasnt having a good time in the heat : ( Going over again in just over 2 weeks so we might do something then. I would love to see more of america