hey everyone Amy and drops here from
California through my lens calm and I
hope everyone is staying safe during
this quarantine we just wanted to make
this video to share some of our top
California travel tips that you can use
when planning your adventures in the
state let's jump into it for our first
tip California is absolutely huge it
could easily take 12 to 13 hours to
drive north to south across the state
and that's without stopping just the LA
area is massive and you can spend a week
exploring it by itself I recommend that
you don't try to do too much on your
trip unless you're good with long drives
and rushed adventures maybe consider a
week in the northern part of the state
with San Francisco Napa Yosemite things
like that and then another week in the
southern portion with LA San Diego
Joshua Tree and that area also people
often think that they can drive Pacific
Coast Highway in one day from LA to San
Francisco and while that's technically
possible you wouldn't be able to really
stop and see anything I would recommend
that you take at least two to three days
for that drive as it's beautiful and you
don't want to rush through it let me
know if you want any more information on
suggested itineraries in California or
anything like that that I can cover in
another video for our next
recommendation it's probably best to
rent a car while in California because
California is so big it's hard to see
much without renting a car especially in
the LA area since public transportation
is not that great and we'll say but in
San Francisco you can get by without a
car if you just want to stay in the city
the BART is easy to use from the airport
and public transportation with cable
cars and buses were pretty good in the
city if you don't plan to rent a car be
sure to download the uber and lyft apps
as many people use those to get around
the big cities our next tip is to
prepare for many different climates
while in California if you stay in the
LA San Diego area then the climate is
relatively the same especially during
the summer if you go up to the Eastern
Sierras yosemite tahoe any of those
places it can be cold and rainy even in
the summer so you want to prepare for
that the same is true for San Francisco
you
prepare for the heat and cold wall in
the city the climate can be cold in the
morning and warm in the afternoon so
definitely bring a jacket and be ready
for any type of weather when you visit
our next recommendation is plan more
time for a trip than you would think
traffic is pretty bad in Los Angeles and
it could take a good hour to get to a
destination that's only 5 to 10 miles
away depending on what time of day you
go the same can be said for a rush hour
in San Francisco swell if you're trying
to get out of the city or back into it
also Pacific Coast Highway is very windy
with many two-lane roads so that Drive
often takes a lot longer than people
think it would tip number five is to buy
a national parks Pass if you plan to go
to a couple different national parks
yosemite itself cost $35 to enter and
many of the other parks are at least $30
if you plan to go to more than two then
it's cheaper to buy the year pass for
$80 and to pay for each of them
individually California has nine
national parks and many national
monuments plus other places that accept
the pass for discounted entry you can
get more information on the pass in the
description our next tip is that
California can be expensive and to know
that going in there's a state tax on
both food and items that you purchase
and tipping is customary if you come
from a place where there is no tipping
also parking can be expensive in tourist
areas in San Francisco at 30 to 40
dollars a day and gas is often pretty
expensive around the state as well if
you're looking to visit multiple places
in a city you may be able to get a
discount online checkout go city passes
or some of the other discount tour
attraction sites for our next tip we
just wanted to talk a little bit about
food honestly California has everything
you could want in terms of food in big
cities you can get most cuisines and
dietary restrictions without trying too
hard in the smaller cities this is not
always the case but there's usually at
least a couple options at most places
Amy's a vegetarian and it's never that
hard for her to find something to eat
when we travel in California
here are a few things you have to try
while on the state first in-and-out
burger which is a quintessential
California restaurant second the
California burrito which is a
combination of car
asada salsa cheese and french fries in a
burrito you can find them in a lot of
Mexican restaurants near San Diego third
clam chowder in a bread bowl I recommend
boudin in San Francisco or splash cafe
in San Luis Obispo if you're driving
Pacific Coast Highway forth grab some
fish tacos along the coast they can be
found all over and they're usually
pretty great wherever you get them
lastly find a new doughnut shop I love
doughnuts so I had to recommend them in
California especially in the big cities
that often have lots of fun unique
doughnut shops I have a video on my
favorites in the description next up
book your campsites and hotels in
advance especially in popular national
parks or big cities places like Yosemite
have set dates often six months in
advance when they release their
campground reservations if you're
planning a trip note these dates so you
can be online and ready to try and get a
spot while big cities like LA and San
Francisco often have rooms available
close to when you visit I always
recommend booking online in advance so
that you have peace of mind when you're
going on your trip our second to last
tip is to visit popular attractions
during the weekdays if at all possible
places like Disneyland will be packed
during the weekends and often on the
weekdays during the summer as well
however if you can travel during the
week this is your best chance to visit
the popular spots without a lot of
crowds also for places like Disneyland
there crowd calendars online that can
help you pick the best time to go and
are helpful in planning your trip
just remember the weekday is always your
best time to travel all in California
our last tip is just reiterating that
you don't want to try and do too much on
your trip to California the main
question we get asked via email is how
to fit it all in into that we would
recommend that you don't try to fit it
all in one trip take a trip to Northern
California and go to San Francisco Napa
and Yosemite over a week come back and
take another trip to los
angeles-hollywood
San Diego and Joshua Tree you could even
take a trip where you drive Pacific
Coast Highway over
three to four days and then head over to
Las Vegas there are a lot of great one
the two-week options so don't try to
cram it all into one trip that's it for
a California Travel Tips let us know
what we left off or if you have any
suggestions in the comments and we'll
see you on the next video