Cal-i-forn-I-A Here We Come

We would like to exchange to San Diego Area for March or early April. We have never been to California and need advice.

On want to see list - Getty Museum, Balboa Park, any other typically California/ San Diego/LA stuff in the area.

We have narrowed the search (Intervals International) but don't know if these areas are too far off the beaten path or will allow us mobility:


Carlsbad
Oceanside - between SD & LA
San Clemente
Capistrano Beach

Appreciation in advice

Those four cities are all very close to each other. They are all about halfway between LA and SD. Carlsbad and Oceanside are neighbor cities; San Clemente and Capistrano Beach are neighbor cities just a bit north of Carlsbad/Oceanside.

You can easily do a day trip to LA to go to the Getty Museum and Balboa Park. Some of the resorts may even have a day trip planned if you didn't want to drive. Or you could take a train.

Carlsbad/Oceanside is more walkable. Carlsbad and San Clemente are more conservative whereas Capistrano Beach and Oceanside are more liberal/ the former two are wealthier and the latter who are less. All these cities are typical California beach towns where you will see lots of people walking around in beach attire going to or coming from the beach. Carlsbad and San Clemente are more "resort" towns with lots of tourists but you're going to find tourists everywhere. San Clemente was actually designed as a tourist destination.

There are a LOT of things to do in southern California. I would suggest stopping by Santa Monica pier, walking along Venice Beach, visiting Disneyland, whale watching, and spending a day enjoying the ocean.

I think most would tell you to pick a city and concentrate on it.

SD or LA has enough to keep you busy.

The problem with your plan is the traffic between the locations and where you want to stay.

That being said all of the areas you mentioned are near the I 5 freeway and make your trip doable. You will be spending plenty of time on the freeway and you will have to plan for traffic.

Marriott NCV is a great place in Newport Beach. Personally I would add it to your list. It may be difficult to get on an exchange. It is very near Laguna Beach one of my favorite cities in the area.

Good luck. I'm sure you will get lots of suggestions here.

Any of the three San Diego Welk locations have a bus tour to the Getty Museum. The other locations on your to-go list will need a car no matter where you stay.

Enjoy!

Take San Clemente and Capistrano off of your list. You will end up having to drive really far to get to any of the stuff you want to see. Southern California traffic can make getting places twice as long as what you expect. There are just about always major jams on the freeway near Capistrano.

It's not as easy as it looks to drive back and forth between San Diego and Los Angeles in a day. It gets very exhausting. Try to choose the area where you think you want to spend the most time/see the most and then just add an extra night where you only want to see stuff for a day or two.

presley said:

Take San Clemente and Capistrano off of your list. You will end up having to drive really far to get to any of the stuff you want to see. Southern California traffic can make getting places twice as long as what you expect. There are just about always major jams on the freeway near Capistrano.

It's not as easy as it looks to drive back and forth between San Diego and Los Angeles in a day. It gets very exhausting. Try to choose the area where you think you want to spend the most time/see the most and then just add an extra night where you only want to see stuff for a day or two.

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Is the major construction work on I-5 still ongoing in the San Juan/San Clemente area? If so, any idea when it is going to be completed?

Last summer it took me almost two hours to drive from SNA/Orange County airport to Dodger Stadium(near downtown LA) for a weekday game that started at 12:15. This was us leaving SNA at 10:15. It took as long to get back leaving the game at 3:00. The driving distance is 47 miles. Weekends can be almost as frustrating traffic wise.

I know plenty of people who love driving and the traffic doesn't bother them. I am not one of those people. I follow the rule stay near/very close to where I want to be so I don't have to spend a lot of time on the road.

DAman said:

Is the major construction work on I-5 still ongoing in the San Juan/San Clemente area? If so, any idea when it is going to be completed?

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It is still going on and I do not know when it will be completed. I was very surprised to not be stuck there this past Monday (2 or 3pm). I drive through there a couple times per month and have grown to expect to be stuck there for a while.

You may want to consider adding the Welk resorts to your target list because they have very good availability at that time of year. In fact, I see a lot of Welk availability in March and April right now. Coming from the East Coast, you are obviously drawn by the lure of being close to the ocean. Also, there are many more restaurants along the coast. However, you need to consider the issue of availability. That is why I'm suggesting Welk.

I live close to the Welk Resorts so I am very familiar with traffic, weather, and restaurants in the area. It is inland from the ocean by about 15 miles (under 1/2 hour away). But it is close to I-15 so it has good freeway access. It is about the same ease/difficulty (compared to Oceanside or Carlsbad) to drive to Balboa Park, Seaport Village, Old Town area, The USS Midway aircraft carrier, the Gaslamp district, and the San Diego zoo. But it is closer to the San Diego Safari park (which is in South-East Escondido). There are a few restaurants in the Welk area, but downtown Escondido and San Marcos have lots of restaurants and are 15-20 minutes away. Going to the Getty Museum is (as others have said) a day trip - - roughly 2 plus hours (depending on traffic) each way from Oceanside/Carlsbad/Escondido.

Weather factors - - Escondido is likely to be about 10 degrees warmer during the day than Oceanside or Carlsbad. At that time of year, it is possible that the coastal areas will have morning fog while the inland areas are warm and sunny. So if you want to hang out by the pool, you'll find the coastal areas may be pretty cool.

Just some thoughts....

Terrific helpful advice, Thank you.

Definitely put FSA, Four Seasons Aviara, on your list of resorts to stay. It's in Carlsbad. Amazing place. I love it there. There was a huge banking a while back, which I posted under sightings/ distressed. Too bad you didn't get something there, but a search might just match it.

we stayed at Welk Escondido July 2015 (due to availability for a 2BR) and loved it. 45 minutes to SD, 30 minutes to Carlsbad. About 2 hrs to LA. Beautiful resort, good pools, fabulous view of the mountains, updated, large unit, excellent resort that we would go back to.

Thank you, a friend mentioned that I needed to know when the "foggy season" is.

In SF, most of the summer is foggy. September and October is great. In southern California, I believe June is gloomy

marijalas said:

Thank you, a friend mentioned that I needed to know when the "foggy season" is.

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In Orange County (Southern California), we call it June Gloom or May gray.

Carlsbad
Oceanside - between SD & LA
San Clemente
Capistrano Beach

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Basically you have chosen two areas since IMHO Carlsbad and Oceanside is the same place and San Clemente and Capistrano beach is also the same place

You can drive between them BUT you'll only want to do it once so choose Oceanside/Carlsbad if you want to visit SD and Capistrano if you want Orange County

Newport and Laguna should be added to your list You can drive from there into LA BUT again once or twice is max

The Getty is great and close to both Griffith park and Universal. What we have done is get a hotel in the Universal area for two days then drive down to Newport to stay at our TS there.

Have a great time.

California vacation

marijalas said:

We would like to exchange to San Diego Area for March or early April. We have never been to California and need advice.

On want to see list - Getty Museum, Balboa Park, any other typically California/ San Diego/LA stuff in the area.

We have narrowed the search (Intervals International) but don't know if these areas are too far off the beaten path or will allow us mobility:


Carlsbad
Oceanside - between SD & LA
San Clemente
Capistrano Beach

Click to expand...

I think you would love the Getty Museum or Balboa park. I agree with the others that I would pick one city for a one week vacation and save the other for another time. I've spent time in San Diego and LA and am biased toward San Diego, because my mother lived there. Besides Balboa Park, they have a great zoo, the gaslight district, and Cornado Island. Both are great cities to visit but I hate the freeways especially when they are under construction and would avoid .wasting vacation time stuck on the road.

Great idea, Thanks. Everyone has been so helpful.

DAman said:

Is the major construction work on I-5 still ongoing in the San Juan/San Clemente area? If so, any idea when it is going to be completed?

Last summer it took me almost two hours to drive from SNA/Orange County airport to Dodger Stadium(near downtown LA) for a weekday game that started at 12:15. This was us leaving SNA at 10:15. It took as long to get back leaving the game at 3:00. The driving distance is 47 miles. Weekends can be almost as frustrating traffic wise.

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Perhaps I don't understand southern California geography as well as I thought I did. But how does construction around San Clemente affect commute time from SNA to downtown LA? You wouldn't have to go anywhere near San Clemente or San Juan.

I ask because we're taking our granddaughter to Disneyland in January. When done, we have to drop her off at SNA (unaccompanied minor) on a Saturday afternoon before driving back to northern California. I wouldn't expect to be affected by the aforementioned construction, would I? I do know that transitioning LA can be a problem any time, including Saturday afternoon/evening.

Thanks. Sorry for the small hijack.

ETA - At that time (around 5pm on a Saturday), would I be better taking 405 or 55 to I-5 north? Starting at SNA, eventually taking I-5 to NorCal. Thanks.

Blues said:

ETA - At that time (around 5pm on a Saturday), would I be better taking 405 or 55 to I-5 north? Starting at SNA, eventually taking I-5 to NorCal. Thanks.

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I think its 6 of 1 half dozen of the other, you never know when or where there will be a traffic incident that ties up your route. Best to use an app like Waze or Google maps at the time. I5 is getting a little better at the LA county line, it used to squeeze down to three lanes but there is a project to widen it to four and revise all the ramps.

The shortest route is 405/605/5, I know, I drove it too many times moving down here from NoCal.

I would take a nice liesurely dinner and a nap and leave about 9 pm



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Blues said:

Perhaps I don't understand southern California geography as well as I thought I did. But how does construction around San Clemente affect commute time from SNA to downtown LA? You wouldn't have to go anywhere near San Clemente or San Juan.

I ask because we're taking our granddaughter to Disneyland in January. When done, we have to drop her off at SNA (unaccompanied minor) on a Saturday afternoon before driving back to northern California. I wouldn't expect to be affected by the aforementioned construction, would I? I do know that transitioning LA can be a problem any time, including Saturday afternoon/evening.

Thanks. Sorry for the small hijack.

ETA - At that time (around 5pm on a Saturday), would I be better taking 405 or 55 to I-5 north? Starting at SNA, eventually taking I-5 to NorCal. Thanks.

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My comment about construction in the San Clemente/San Juan Capistrano area was in response to a question about driving between SD and LA.

My two cents worth in response to your question would be to take the 405. I think it has a carpool lane all the way/most of the way from SNA to the I5. That being said traffic on a Saturday night can be worse than a weekday. You can get stuck between LAX and Wilshire Blvd. on the 405 or anywhere else where there is an incident.

The shortest distance is to go from SNA onto the 55 to the 5(use the carpool lane for the transition). Check your apps and decide.

Thanks Dave and DAman. I'll check Waze before I leave SNA.

SmithOp said:

I would take a nice liesurely dinner and a nap and leave about 9 pm

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Which would get us home sometime after 3am. That doesn't work for me

DAman said:

Is the major construction work on I-5 still ongoing in the San Juan/San Clemente area? If so, any idea when it is going to be completed?

Last summer it took me almost two hours to drive from SNA/Orange County airport to Dodger Stadium(near downtown LA) for a weekday game that started at 12:15. This was us leaving SNA at 10:15. It took as long to get back leaving the game at 3:00. The driving distance is 47 miles. Weekends can be almost as frustrating traffic wise.

I know plenty of people who love driving and the traffic doesn't bother them. I am not one of those people. I follow the rule stay near/very close to where I want to be so I don't have to spend a lot of time on the road.

Click to expand...

I live in Lake Forest and mom lives in San Clemente, on the week end it can take 2 hours going south to get there. We live exactly 18 miles apart. Needless to say we try to avoid this at all costs. I love San Clemente but they have overbuilt too many housing developments between here and there with no increase in the freeway or alternative routes. I second the plan to concentrate on one area. I would stay at the the Marriott NCV if available but not the San Clemente Inn if you were choosing between the two.

turkel said:

I live in Lake Forest and mom lives in San Clemente, on the week end it can take 2 hours going south to get there. We live exactly 18 miles apart. Needless to say we try to avoid this at all costs. I love San Clemente but they have overbuilt too many housing developments between here and there with no increase in the freeway or alternative routes. I second the plan to concentrate on one area. I would stay at the the Marriott NCV if available but not the San Clemente Inn if you were choosing between the two.

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Thank you for the feedback, we have never been to California and all information is helpful.