Hollywood, beaches, and wineries are mandatory points of the program for tourists visiting California
General information about the state
California, located on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean, is bordered by Oregon to the north, Nevada to the east, and Arizona to the southeast. It is believed that the name "California" comes from the Spanish "hot oven." According to another version, the word "California" owes its origin to the Latin phrase calida fornax, which can be translated as "hot climate." According to a third, romantic legend, California got its name from the legendary island of Amazons led by Queen Califia.
The unique climate, diverse nature, and miles of undeveloped land attracted the first conquerors here in the 16th century. Portuguese João Rodrigues Cabrilho made a Pacific expedition under the Spanish flag and became the first European to land on the shores of California. One of the last battles with local Indian tribes, in which he was mortally wounded, took place near the modern border with Mexico, where San Diego has now grown.
Modern California is the third largest state in the US by area and the most populous. According to last year's statistics, over 36 million people live in the state. Since the 2000 census, the population has grown by 8.5%, mostly due to immigrants. Settlers from other countries continue to arrive in the state. Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean, Armenian, and even Russian quarters are not uncommon here. The influence of different cultures is especially noticeable in ethnic neighborhoods in big cities. In Los Angeles' Chinatown, for example, all signs are duplicated in Chinese characters, the same can be observed in San Francisco's Chinatown, where even bus schedules at stops are in two languages.
Visa and tickets
Contrary to popular belief, getting a US tourist visa is not difficult, although it does require some effort. When filling out the application, plan your itinerary in as much detail as possible and attach addresses for each destination to the documents. A list of required documents, including an electronic form to fill out and fairly detailed instructions in your native language, can be found on the US embassy website.
After all documents are collected, they need to be submitted for review. Within a few business days, you will be notified of the date and time of the interview. Whether you get the visa will be clear at the end of the conversation. Then, if the decision is positive, you will be offered to get a tourist visa not for one year but for two years. This will require an additional payment of about a hundred dollars. Whether to agree or not depends on your plans for the next vacation. After the fingerprinting procedure was modernized, the mechanism for issuing a repeat visa has been significantly simplified: you may not even have to go anywhere and everything can be resolved by phone and mail.
You will have to plan your travel route within the state and book a hotel in advance, but you do not need to buy plane tickets before the visa is issued. You can take care of them once the visa is in your hands.
The average cost of round-trip tickets is a little over $1,000. I note that the earlier you order tickets, the more you can save. In addition, the ticket price also depends on the season. At the height of beach season and during winter holidays, prices are highest and can double.
After sorting out tickets, you should also think about health insurance: anything can happen during a trip, and bills in American hospitals can shock anyone. Even a simple appendectomy without insurance can significantly hit your budget.
Airport transfer
Public transportation in California is poorly developed, so you will almost certainly need to think about a transfer in advance. Buses and trains, it seems to me, are not the best option: in an unfamiliar country after a long flight, and with suitcases, it will be difficult to navigate.
The most economical way to get from the airport to the city you need is to reserve a ride on a group taxi, which are called shuttles here. Well-known carriers are Supershuttle (www.supershuttle.com) and LAX Airport Shuttle (www.laxairportshuttle.com), but other companies, whose logos you will find in abundance at the airport, should be no worse.
A regular shuttle holds about seven passengers with luggage. You can choose a convenient transfer time, reserve seats, and pay for the trip online a few days before departure. The trip usually costs up to $70 per passenger. The price depends on the duration of the trip.
Trains
Traveling by train in California is relatively inexpensive. For example, a trip from Union Station in Los Angeles to the heart of San Francisco, the tourist center Fisherman's Wharf on the Pacific coast, will take 9 hours and 10 minutes and cost $54. Part of this time will be spent on bus transfers between stations, which are already included in the ticket price.
Traveling by train from Los Angeles to San Diego will take only 2 hours and 38 minutes, and you won't need a bus: if you leave at 7:20 AM, you'll be in the center of the old part of the city by 9:58 AM. You can plan your route, calculate travel time and ticket cost on the website of the carrier Amtrak (www.amtrak.com). The only drawback of rail transport in California is that the intervals between trains are quite long.
Car rental
Traveling by car in California is the most convenient. It is simpler, cheaper, and more interesting. Given that waiting for suburban buses and trains can take tens of minutes, sometimes an hour or two, renting a car will undoubtedly give you an extra degree of freedom. Plus, the views from the famous First Highway (Pacific Coast Highway), which connects the north and south of the state, are exceptional.
You can rent a car right at the airport, at a chain office like Enterprise, Budget, or Hertz. You can choose a car and place an order in advance via the Internet, and on the day of arrival just show up at the rental office with a printout – the order confirmation.
Moreover, it is not at all necessary to obtain an international driver's license before your trip. Your domestic license will most likely be accepted as proof of your ability to drive. If not at the first office, then definitely at the second. At Los Angeles LAX airport alone there are about ten such companies. A car will cost you about $150 per week (depending on the age of the driver on whom the contract will be issued, the class of the car, and the duration of the rental). Additionally, the rental price will also depend on what type of insurance you choose. Theoretically, you can return the car to any of the company's offices where you rent it, but you will have to pay extra for that.
Be sure to get a car with GPS. A navigator in California is indispensable. Even in the remote from major cities southern county of Orange County, which is between Los Angeles and San Diego, with a few main streets crossing the highway, navigator instructions can be very useful. You have to drive far in America: going 20-30 kilometers to work is common. Miss a turn on the highway – and that's it, a U-turn will already be in the neighboring city. It is impossible to stop and ask someone local where a car repair shop is – the suburbs are sparsely populated. Not just sparsely populated, sometimes there are no pedestrians on the street at all. Only cars.
Parking spots
It is worth noting that traffic rules in California differ significantly from those in our country. Traffic here, as in our country, is right-hand, but in California right turns on red are allowed after a full stop: the main thing is to make sure you do not obstruct traffic or interfere with pedestrians.
The markings in parking lots here are also somewhat different. In order not to have to search for your car at the impound lot, remember that parking spaces in the USA are divided into three types. Temporary parking, often up to 30 minutes, with a curb painted green near the parking space. The allowed parking time is usually indicated in white on top of the green paint. Such parking is often found near cafes and restaurants. Sometimes establishments and shops indicate that areas marked with a special sign are for customers only.
Blue markings are for disabled parking. If the parked car does not have a special permit, it will be towed, and the owner will be fined.
At parking spaces with a white curb or unpainted, you can leave your car for a long time, if there is no sign prohibiting parking nearby and you are not blocking someone's driveway into a garage near a house. Red painted curbs are those that must always remain free. They are to ensure access for fire trucks.
Quite often, especially in tourist spots and large cities, there are special payment machines next to parking spaces that accept coins.
Recently, more and more machines are appearing that accept credit cards for parking payment. If you park at the airport, near a hospital or museum, the entrance to a large multi-level parking lot is often blocked by a barrier. At the entrance, there is either a special person who takes money and issues tickets confirming payment, or a machine that does the same automatically.
Along the highways near more or less large cities, there are rest areas for drivers. Along the road, motels and hotels appear frequently. Many American families rent vans and travel along the coast with their whole families, stopping at beaches. For those traveling in such vans, there are also special parking lots where, for a small fee, you can connect your mobile home to the sewage system.
When to go
Autumn and winter in Southern California will remind you of early summer and late spring in Russia. A noticeable drop in temperature here begins only closer to Thanksgiving, which always falls on the last Thursday of November. In late autumn, the difference between the south and north of the state becomes especially noticeable.
The average temperature in Southern California is lowest in December and January – about +14 degrees Celsius. You will only need boots during heavy rains, which happen a couple of times a year, and a light sweater during the day in early winter will be quite sufficient. Snow in winter in the vicinity of Los Angeles and San Diego does not occur at all, except in the mountains.
At the same time, in the vicinity of San Francisco, you will need a jacket, a warm sweater, and a scarf, and maybe even gloves and boots. There, in winter, the average is not lower than –5 Celsius. However, for a person accustomed to the harsh Russian climate, California's 'minus five' is not such a frost. The hottest weeks in California are in June, July, and August.
March, April, and May, as well as early autumn, are ideal for excursions. If you want to spend your vacation on the beach, plan your holidays for mid to late summer. By September, in the south of the state, near the border with Mexico, the ocean reaches its maximum temperature. At this time, the air warms up to at least +30 in the shade. In Northern California at the same time, the thermometer rarely rises above +25, but even there you will tan without effort. Regardless of the temperature outside, it is better to apply a layer of protective cream to your face before going out: under the California sun, unprepared skin can burn in just one day.
Where to stay
A perfectly decent room with a view in Los Angeles currently costs approximately $109-159 per night. The suburbs are invariably cheaper – you can get by for $80. In San Francisco or San Diego, a hotel room with a view will cost about the same, but if you look around, in any of California's major cities you can find rooms for as little as fifty bucks – a bit farther from the main attractions.
You can save the most by looking into local motels. They are usually no more than $70, and with special offers there are even cheaper options. Breakfast at an economy-class hotel, however, is unlikely to impress you, not to mention the interior and service, which here is limited to room cleaning. For this money, you can expect American coffee or espresso, cookies, croissants, jam, a large room with a shower, a nightstand, and a bed in the middle of a small room.
Since breakfasts at motels are modest, and lunch and dinner are usually not provided, you will have to eat in cafes and restaurants. You can budget for food based on where you plan to eat. The average check per person largely depends on the type of establishment and the city, but $30 per person was always enough for my husband and me for a hearty hot lunch, and for $15 you can grab a decent sandwich and coffee at Starbucks. Spending no more than $10, you can buy the same set of products at a grocery store. Check if there is a Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, or Gelson's nearby – these are stores that Californians especially love, and you will understand why.
At first glance, it might seem most reasonable to stay in a big city, as close as possible to the main street and the main attractions. But to see the city, you don't have to stay in the very center. As a rule, the suburbs have a wide selection of budget rooms, and there are still plenty of people willing to arrange excursions.
Also read the related article: WHY GO TO CALIFORNIA
Alexandra ZAKHAROVA.
Photo by the author.
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