Advice please California

[Ireland's Call Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ireland's Call]

We plan to visit in late Jan /Feb and possibly take a tour LA ,SF ,Monument Valley , Vegas etc .To finish we plan to use a timehsare week to relax .We will be trading a June 2011 week at Marriott Beach Resort Marbella Spain so because its good trader we hope to pick up a nice location .
A couple of questions
1 Is a 7/10 day bus tour a bit too much that time of the year?
2 Tours can be booked from London or Dublin but would it be better to do our own thing and make a booking with say a LA travel agent?(any recommendations?)
Will weather be poor? Any TS locations I we should try for?
Thanks
G

[philsfan Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close philsfan]

The weather will be on the cool side with highs in the 60F to 70F and lows at 40F, depending on the day and the location. Timeshare recommendations really depend on where you will be at the end of your trip.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

If u could do late Feb, your weather would be better..... Mar Newport Coast is a fabulous resort - you could end the trip 'down there' - starting further north.

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

February is typically the worst month for California. That is our wettest month with March second. However the weather could be nice. It varies a great deal which is why I call the winter months iffy.

You are not going to find many tours at that time of the year.

You are planning on covering a lot of territory. How long are you planning for the trip? You could easily spend 2 weeks just in Southern California. Where are you going to arrive at and leave from?

Timeshare exchanges in California will be quite easy as that is off season. Arizona will be much tougher. Las Vegas is always easy to get a good exchange.

I can help you quite a bit as I am very familiar with all the areas you are planning on visiting. However, I need more specific information.

[Ireland's Call Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ireland's Call]

[QUOTE=JWC;400013]February is typically the worst month for California. That is our wettest month with March second. However the weather could be nice. It varies a great deal which is why I call the winter months iffy.

You are not going to find many tours at that time of the year.

You are planning on covering a lot of territory. How long are you planning for the trip? You could easily spend 2 weeks just in Southern California. Where are you going to arrive at and leave from?

Timeshare exchanges in California will be quite easy as that is off season. Arizona will be much tougher. Las Vegas is always easy to get a good exchange.
Thanks John . 3 weeks or so ..inc the TS week ....maybe a few days in LA a few in SF and La ..but maybe thats too much..would like to inc Grand Canyon and others . Too much ?Regards Garry

[Carlos Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Carlos]

West Coast Travel

[QUOTE=Ireland's Call;400061]

February is typically the worst month for California. That is our wettest month with March second. However the weather could be nice. It varies a great deal which is why I call the winter months iffy.

You are not going to find many tours at that time of the year.

You are planning on covering a lot of territory. How long are you planning for the trip? You could easily spend 2 weeks just in Southern California. Where are you going to arrive at and leave from?

Timeshare exchanges in California will be quite easy as that is off season. Arizona will be much tougher. Las Vegas is always easy to get a good exchange.
Thanks John . 3 weeks or so ..inc the TS week ....maybe a few days in LA a few in SF and La ..but maybe thats too much..would like to inc Grand Canyon and others . Too much ?Regards Garry

You could do three weeks. You would be busy. L.A. should be a minimum of 4 full days make it a week if you include San Diego. San Francisco is at least 4 days and make it a week with extensions to Napa country. Las Vegas you can do in a couple of days and if you add Sedona and the Grand Canyon make it 5 days.

The weather out here in California is not that bad. We have not had much rain the last couple of years. The weather is usually comfortable during the day in the high 60's to mid 70's.

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

That is pretty ambitious but can be done. First, I would definitely include San Diego. It has a lot more to offer than Los Angeles. I would try to arrange it in a loop. The thing you have to decide first is where you want to spend your TS week so you can request it. The rest of it can be worked out over the next few months. You also need to decide where you want to start and end your trip. Weather can be a definite problem in Northern Arizona.

What are your top priorities? To me, the top priorities would be San Francisco, San Diego, and Las Vegas. You could do a Grand Canyon tour from Las Vegas. I would spend my timeshare week in Southern California as that is the area which has the most attractions.

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

[QUOTE=Carlos;400066]

The weather out here in California is not that bad. We have not had much rain the last couple of years. The weather is usually comfortable during the day in the high 60's to mid 70's.

You are generally correct but if you remember, we had a lot of rain and some pretty bad weather this past winter. For us that live here it is no big deal because the rain, etc. doesn't last long so we know it will change for the better. However if you are visiting and happen to hit a bad week then it won't be very nice.

[eal Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close eal]

We go to southern California - Palm Springs, San Diego, etc. every year for the month of February. The weather is fine for the most part. Last year it was very stormy in San Diego for a couple of days but it was also amazing and entertaining! We are Canadian so a bad winter day in California is still a good day for us.

[Ireland's Call Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ireland's Call]

Thanks all...we have a choice of arriving in SF or LA .So far it looks like LA and then inland after a few days .
We might finish the travel by spending a few days in SF and down towards SD for a TS week .
But the more I read the less we are inclined to cut back on travel and just do Southern California...hmmm but its hard to resist San Fran
Thanks again
G

[4ARedOctober Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close 4ARedOctober]

G...you will want to do both. San Francisco is absolutely beautiful as well as all coastal California. San Diego also great. Why don't you just extend your trip????

[Ireland's Call Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ireland's Call]

G...you will want to do both. San Francisco is absolutely beautiful as well as all coastal California. San Diego also great. Why don't you just extend your trip????

Thanks ,,,indeed we need to look at the plan again .West coast is far too big for 3 weeks ...but that's probably the max I can be away. Hmmm..
G

[Ireland's Call Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Ireland's Call]

We had a long chat about this and have decided to defer our trip until Autumn(Instead ..we will go to South Africa for a 2 week safari and hopefully pick up a TS in Cape Town at the end )
Many thanks for all your help and advice
Garry

[philsfan Administrator Find all posts View Profile Close philsfan]

Shoot for October, in my opinion the weather in all of the places you mentioned is excellent in October.

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

I agree that October is one of the better months for all of California. I would shoot for early to mid-October. The weather is generally clear and sunny. You can very easily spend 3 weeks just in California. I would include Yosemite in my trip and possibly Lake Tahoe as well as San Francisco to San Diego,