What are the best times to be on the road?

[JenLoy]

The morning we leave DL we're heading to San Diego so see the Hotel Del Coronado and spend some time on the beach. After that we were going to head up to Costa Mesa for some shopping and dinner and then finally to Hollywood for our hotel check-in.

I've heard how busy the traffic can be. I was hoping some of you So Cal locals could help us out. What time of day should we set out? What are the busiest Rush Hour times?

Also I wanted to verify my internet directions for getting to DL from our Hollywood Hotel in the first place. We're staying at the Renaissance and our directions say to take US-101 to I-5. Is this the best way comming from Hollywood?

Thanks for everyone's help. I can't believe I only have a week to go

 

[Tink33]

The best time to be on the road - 2:00 am to 4:00 am. Hey, you asked.

You have a very long day planned. If you leave Anaheim after 9:00 am you should miss most of the traffic. I would plan for at least 2 hours for the first leg of your trip.

I would try to be back on the road by 1:30 pm so that you can get to Costa Mesa around 3:00 pm. In my experience, Orange County traffic starts getting busy around that time. Are you planning on shopping/eating at South Coast Plaza?

Orange County to Los Angeles is always busy. I would stay as late as possible and check in to Hollywood at night. With no traffic, plan for a 75 minute drive.

 

[Tink33]

If you are travelling on a Saturday, get down to San Diego as early as possible. The later in the day, you will be looking at a 3+ hour drive.

 

[JenLoy]

We were planning on eating at the Clubhouse in Costa Mesa. I think that is at or near the South Coast Plaza. My DH is a huge golf fan so I thought it would be a nice place for him. Thank you for the information. I was worried about sitting on the road all day.

 

[Another Voice]

The Clubhouse Restaurant is in the main South Coast Plaza Mall, but the enterance is outside. If you take the 405 and exit at Bristol you'll see it from the parking lot (South Coast Plaza is huge and contains two malls). It's a nice place, but nothing all that special.

If you're really a golf fan I think eating at the Lodge at Torrey Pines might be more interesting. The Lodge overlooks the 18th hole at the famous golf course. The hotel itself is done in the California Craftsmand style and is many times more stunning than Disney's Grand California. The city of Torrey Pines itself is beautful - it's set on cliffs right over the ocean. It's located just north of San Diego and La Jolla. And the best thing about Torrey Pines is that it's a municpal golf course.

As for traffic - anytime between 7:00am - 9:30am and 4:30 - 6:30 pm through Orange County is going to be bad. And that goes for both directions - to L.A. and/or San Diego.

The directions from Disneyland to Hollywood are actually backwards. You'll need to take I-5 North to Los Angeles; in Anaheim it's called the Santa Ana Freeway. You'll take this road about 25 miles toward Los Angeles to the 101 Hollywood Freeway. WATCH THE SIGNS CLOSELY. Many freeway come together near this location. The connector is on the left - just a little trick to confuse everyone. You'll drive right through downtown. A little bit later on exit on Hollywood Blvd. and head east to the Hollywood and Highland complex (the Renaissance is off Highland on your right). Also note that I-5 is also the road you'll take down to San Diego from Anaheim.

As with any directions in Los Angeles - ask at the hotel's front desk just in case and also ask them to recommend a good radio station with traffic updates. At any time of the day or night things happen around here and a forty minute drive can become a three hour trek.

 

[almacdonald]

We just drove from San Diego to Anaheim on an tuesday. We left San Diego at about 7:15 and were notice that the traffic going in the other direction was attrocious! As we got withing about 20 miles of Anaheim the traffic in our direction was also congested, thank goodness for carpool lanes! Our return trip was much nicer, we left Anaheim close to 11pm and had absolutely no problems, same was true for traffic going in the opposite direction.

 

[WatchinCaptKangaroo]

Coming north from San Diego you can take the 73 toll road. During rush hour it's $4.75 and you pay at a toll booth about half way through. But, it will save you some time, and sanity rather than dealing with traffic on the 405 north during rush hour.

The toll road dumps into the 405 north, but you can exit Bear St, go right and the main South Coast Plaza will be on your right.

 

[fenfur]

How was your trip? How did you manage?