For a long time now I’ve dreamt of being in California. Napa Valley to be more specific. Sitting in a beautiful vineyard with the warmth of the sun on my skin, a glass of wine in my hand and a view of the rolling hills of the valleys.
In October this year, my dream became a reality and honestly, it was more than I could have ever imagined. You know when you dream about something for such a long time, there’s a worry that you’ve over sold it to yourself? Well that didn’t happen, in fact it was quite the opposite. We had a trip of a lifetime in California and I thought I’d take some time to share it with you all.
For my 30th birthday this year Debs and I decided to tick a few things off our bucket list with a two-week trip to America’s gorgeous west coast. For me, our trip for California allowed me to complete several of my list items including:
- Being in LA with my best friend
- Driving a mustang down highway 1
- Taking a tour in wine country
- Seeing the sunrise from a hot air balloon
- Riding San Fransisco’s historic cable cars
- Driving across the Golden Gate Bridge
Not only did we manage to tick off these adventures from my list, but the trip included some incredible stops along our journey from LA to Napa and I’m incredibly grateful to have been able to experience all these places and sights along the way.
Our tour of the west coast began in Los Angeles, home of the stars, the Hollywood sign and a large portion of the world’s leading TV and movie industries. So many people have such varying opinions of LA that I wasn’t sure what to expect, although having said that I try my hardest not to have any expectations in life, as I find that expectations rarely meet reality, so it’s best to keep an open mind.
We arrived in LA at around 4pm local time and by the time we’d made it to our hotel, unpacked & changed for dinner it was around sunset (7pm-ish). We were staying at the Beverly Hills Marriott, in the heart of the hills and were lucky enough to bag a city view room. Whilst getting ready, I noticed the setting sun and realised not only was our room a city view, but we’d also have a front seat view of the sunrise the next morning.
I’m not sure what it is about this gorgeous city but the sunrises and sets here were some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. I’m a sun chaser and adore the colours of the sky during sunnier days. I’ve seen sunsets in the Caribbean and Balearic Islands, but none seem to compare to the one’s we witnessed throughout our trip to California.
Our first day in Los Angeles was one of my favourites of the whole week we spent there. We were incredibly lucky to be able to spend the first 6 days of our holiday with two of our closest friends, Sydney & James, and thankfully for us, Sydney had already been to LA on a number of occasions: it’s her favourite place in the world. I think this is the first trip in all my travels that I had very limited input on planning the itinerary, Sydney took care of everything.
We spent our first day checking out the traditional tourist hotspots from Beverly Hills to The Walk of Fame and stopping for Lunch at the Beverly Wiltshire (for those of you who aren’t familiar, this is the Pretty Woman hotel). We had the best day seeing the sights and taking in everything that LA has to offer, followed by an amazing dinner at the very exclusive Château Marmont.
Our second day had been planned well in advance as we had a full day at Universal Studios. The park itself was so much bigger than I ever expected, to the point that I think there were some areas that we didn’t manage to explore.
Our first stop in the park was of course, Hogsmead (three out of four of us are potterheads so this seemed like the obvious place to start the day). If you’re into Harry Potter and have had the opportunity to do the London WB Tour, Universal was a bit like that but on steroids and with rides. Also, the butterbeer here was 100000000% better than the stuff they serve at the London tour so make sure to grab a butterbeer whilst you’re wandering through the village.
Day three in LA was a bit more of a chilled day. We had some pool time at the hotel and did a little shopping at Westfields Century City followed by possibly the best dinner we had in LA at The Beverly Hilton’s Sant’olina. If I could give just one restaurant recommendation in LA this would be it. The restaurant has the most glorious location of the rooftop of the hotel. Make your way up to the top floor where you’ll be instantly transported to the most magical rooftop setting in the whole of Los Angeles. Everything about the décor here was enchanting. From the dim lighting to the ceiling of fairy lights this place screams romance. To make things even better, the food matched the surroundings perfectly. The cuisine here is ‘Mediterranean with a southern Californian spin’ and some of the best I’ve eaten in the world. I’ve eaten in several Mediterranean countries in authentic restaurants and none of them compared to the food here. I could honestly go on and on about it but to save you having to read about it, just add it to your LA travel list!
*Click here to find out everywhere we ate in LA and what our favourite 5 were.
On our fourth day we took a trip to Santa Monica, where we wanted to tour the pier and enjoy some time on the beach, however the weather had other plans. Upon arriving in Santa Monica, the fog was so dense that you couldn’t even see where the beach was!
Ever the optimists, we carried on with our day and in true California style, the afternoon arrived with a side of sunshine for the rest of our day in SM.
That evening, we had made dinner reservations at one of Sydney & James’ favourite spots in the city, Rainbow on the infamous Sunset Strip. Rainbow bar & grill was established in the early 70’s and soon became a regular spot for a variety of stars including: Lemmy Kilmister, Alice Cooper, Ringo Star and even Elvis Presley before his passing. To this day it’s still a popular spot with old time rock gods/goddesses. If you’re interested in hearing more about this restaurants history including ties to Marilyn Monroe, click here.
Day five was our last full day with our friends in LA so we decided to have an easy day with brunch at the Beverly Hilton, followed by an afternoon lazing around by the pool.
I just want to say, if you’re a foodie and love a bottomless brunch, make sure to book yourself a Sunday brunch at the Hilton. We had a 5-course feast featuring an entire selection of pastries, cocktails, coffees, a seafood tower, appetizers, entrees AND a trio of desserts per person. Honestly the most food I’ve ever seen at a brunch in my life. We were all insanely full after our meal, but I will say that it was absolutely worth every cent!
For our very last evening together in LA we made the trip up to Griffith Observatory, one of the most visited spots in the city and for good reason.
*TIP: If you’re getting a taxi or uber up and down to the observatory book them in advance. I can’t stress this enough. The car journey from our hotel was only about 10 miles but it took just over an hour due to traffic and we must have waited around 30/35 minutes for an uber for the way down due to demand and bad signal.
The most popular times of day to visit is sunrise and sunset and we chose to head there to see the sun set over the entirety of LA. By the time we arrived, I think we were all agitated from the bumper-to-bumper traffic we’d just sat in for an hour, but it didn’t take long for the stress of the journey to melt away once we’d laid eyes on the view from the top of the hill. You can see for miles and miles in all directions and as the sun disappeared behind the curvature of the earth, we watched as the skies changed from deep oranges to luxurious blues and the lights of the city sparkle in the distance.
The atmosphere was surprisingly peaceful for the amount of people crammed together in one place, a very magical experience especially for those of us who adore skylines, sunsets and great views. It was the perfect finish to our almost week in LA.
After an incredible week in LA it was time to begin the second half of our trip, just the two of us. Who knew that after a week of magic in LA the best was yet to come…
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