Are you considering a vacation along the California Riviera? This would include anywhere on the coastline and beaches of Laguna Beach, Dana Point and San Clemente, located between Los Angeles and San Diego. This is a beautiful area with so many options for how to spend your time that you will definitely want to do some careful planning to make sure you can fit everything in.
Regardless of what your interests are, you will want to see and do as much as possible, and you don’t want to come back from your vacation feeling like you need another vacation, right?
Work through the following questions and you will have the foundation for planning a vacation that is fun and enjoyable and not full of hassles and stress.
How Will You Handle The Logistics? How much of your traveling will be spontaneous versus planned? Will you do it all yourself or work with a travel agent? Will you travel with people you know or with an organized group of people that you don’t know? How will you travel to your destination? How will you get around once you are there? You can easily use the internet and even mobile travel applications on your phone to quickly get cost estimates on most of these options.
What specifically do you want to accomplish with your vacation? Are you interested in visiting nearby attractions (like Disneyland, Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, Knott’s Berry Farm or Universal Studios)? Or would you rather spend time at beaches and parks or doing outdoor sports (like hiking, windsurfing, etc.)? Are you looking for adult-only or family-friendly activities? Do you want to take advantage of the cultural activities that the area is known for? Do you want to do a variety of these activities?
How Active Do You Want to Be? Do you want to lounge on the beach every day? Or, would you rather be more physically activity with hiking or adventure sports? Or is a visit to theatres, museums and galleries preferred? Or maybe more local activities like painting by the beach, or joining a Meet-Up with local artists is more what you are looking for?
Can You Do It all? Do you have the time and money to do everything that you envision? Can you afford to stay at a luxury resort or should you consider something like Laguna beach houses instead? Choose a place to stay that minimizes travel time between everything you want to do; and be sure to account for dining and shopping needs, too.
What Time of Year Should You Go? In California, the weather is nice all year round. The summer months can get crowded during tourist season. The winter months may be less crowded. If you want to attend any of the popular arts festivals, during the summer months, there is the Festival of Arts and Pageant of the Masters, or the Sawdust Festival ; in mid-May is the Doheny Blues Festival, or in September is the Tall Ships Festival.
As you consider the questions above you may even find that other possibilities come to mind that you did not think of before. Either way, know what you want. Always prioritize the most important things first. There should be no doubt that planning ahead will help you save time and money and insure that you avoid as much of the typical vacation stress and hassles as possible.
Helen Hoefele is a professional writer who works with a team that writes on a variety of topics including travel.
How To Plan Your Laguna Beach Vacation
