9 Days for chill and road trip return to LA

Hi guys, I arrive in LA for 9 days on 21st June and I want to spend about five days in one place, gong out from there (I was thinking San Diego) with a few days travelling. I was thinking of going to the Joshua Tree en route, any other cool places I can check out. I know San Diego isn%26#39;t far but I thought it would be nice to have a car there anyway for beaches etc.

Either this or I could go up Highway 1.

Will it be easy to get accommodation on the spot rather than booking ahead?

also, I%26#39;m coming with loads of luggage as I%26#39;m moving to NZ. does anyone know if it%26#39;s easy to leave luggage at LAX for my whole holiday (9 days).

I presume my car won%26#39;t be big enough for two big suitcases.

Thanks so much.

9 Days for chill and road trip return to LA

First of all I do not know why your car will not be able to hold 2 suitcases. I wouldn%26#39;t leave my suitcases ANYWHERE while I am traveling . Joshua Tree is not en route to SanDiego. It is due east of LA an dSanDiego is due south. Along the coast it would probably be better to have a reservation somewhere(you don%26#39;t have to pay for it until you arrive)because it will be the beginning of prime tourist season. If you go inland towards the desert and Joshua Tree that shouldn%26#39;t be a problem because it is off season there as the temps can be up to 110 plus fahrenheit.

9 Days for chill and road trip return to LA

I agree with Mom. American cars are huge. What you blokes call a intermediate size, we call compact. So, you%26#39;ll have no problem fitting your luggage in the trunk. Also, you can no longer store luggage at LAX. You must call a service which will meet you at the airport, take you luggage from you and charge by the day as well as for ';pickup'; and ';drop off';. It%26#39;s less expensive and more convenient to take your suitacases with you.

Regarding your itinerary, I%26#39;d check out mapquest.com. There you can put in starting and ending points (look for the red and green print) and it will draw a map for you, suggest a route and estimate the driving time. (Add about 10-25% more time depending on the time of day. The slowest times are between 6:00 and 9:00 and 15:00-19:00.

You do not need to put in a complete address. You can simply put in the city and state for the starting and ending points or you can put in the name of a FAMOUS PLACE (on the TOP LINE of the starting and ending locations). FAMOUS PLACES can include:

LAX

JOSHUA TREE

DISNEYLAND

GRAND CANYON

YOSEMITE, etc

Occasionally, when you enter a FAMOUS PLACE, Mapquest will give you a list of places that have such a name. You must click on one of those choices in order for the system to continue making your map and directions.

Good luck!

There is no way to store luggage at LAX because of security/terrorism issues. You have to keep it with you.

I%26#39;m confused - you are in LA for 9 days, but want to spend 5 days in San Diego? Or did you want to spend the whole 9 days in San Diego? The best place for you to use as a base is LA, not San Diego, but you should definitely stay in San Diego for a few days.

Regardless, you must book your hotels ahead of coming here - especially in June! That%26#39;s the busy season!

Thanks everyone for you%26#39;re help. I%26#39;m from the UK and here a compact car (which is probably what I%26#39;ll hire) would no way fit two cases in the trunk - and I want them in there so that I can stop en route to places withough them being in sight. I%26#39;m taking the maximum luggage - two 32 kg suitcases, plus I%26#39;ll have a laptop bag and a small daypack. But if you think it will be OK that%26#39;s really useful to know.

If I take the cases with me it%26#39;s even more important to have a base as I don%26#39;t want to leave one in the car really overnight.

I see what you mean about using LA as a base, I didn%26#39;t think of that, mainly cos it%26#39;s so big and I don%26#39;t want to have city driving plus I%26#39;m more interested in scenery and smaller towns than big city sights on this trip.

Crikey that%26#39;s really hot in the desert. Should I just avoid it then - thought it would be good to see. Is it far from LA? Could I go there, spend one night, then go down to San Diego for the next night?

Thank you

Many people from the UK come here in the summer and want to experience the desert. YOu could easily do a triangle from LA to JOshua Tree(or stay in Palm Springs and take a day tour fromthere to Joshua Tree)and then to SanDiego and back to LA. The trip from LA to Palm Springs is about 4hrs. and from Palm Springs to SanDiego is also about 4 hrs. Palm Springs would have lots of choices for lodging as it is off season.

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