Day 14: Los Angeles & Santa Monica
Fly back to Los Angeles to cap off your trip. Not much time to explore but we decided to hit the beach and do last-minute shopping, because it’s LA.
Highlights
- Visit Santa Monica Pier and Beach. Swim (of course!), enjoy the amusement park, watch the buskers, and so some people-watching.
- Explore the Original Farmers Market and check out the only-in-LA shops, cafes, and restaurants.
- Shop at The Grove, an upscale open-air shopping complex.
- Shop at Target for toys.
- Shop at Trader Joe’s for unique chocolates, cookies, and treats.
- Eat at Japadog at Pacific Park in Santa Monica Pier for their addicting signature hotdog with teriyaki sauce, mayo, and seaweed.
- Eat at Bennett’s Ice Cream for old-fashioned flavors.
- Eat at Bob’s Coffee & Doughnuts, an LA institution.
- Eat at Loteria Grill for their signature tacos.
- Eat at Du-pars, another LA classic for their pies and coffee.
- Eat at Panda Express, a fast-casual American-Chinese chain known for their orange chicken, fried rice, and chow mien.
Conclusion
This itinerary is packed with sights and experiences offering some of the best of SoCal (specifically Los Angeles) and NorCal (particularly San Francisco). If you’re pressed for time, we also wrote about which city should you visit if you were forced to choose: Los Angeles vs. San Francisco.
You can substitute the shopping days on this itinerary with more sightseeing and cultural activities. For instance, we missed the Hollywood spots like the Hollywood sign, Walk of Fame, TCL Chinese Theater, Griffith Observatory, Paramount Studios, Universal Studios, etc. We also could have explored more of San Francisco.
Nevertheless, there is a lot to love about this itinerary. You’ll spend so much time in the Disney parks you’ll have your fill for the next 10 years. You’ll have sightseeing, shopping, and science. You’ll travel by plane, train, ferry, bus, cable car, Uber, and rental car. You’ll explore the wide streets and concrete jungle of Los Angeles and the hilly streets and beautiful architecture of San Francisco. You’ll feel warm, sunny LA and the cool, rainy SF.
You’ll eat burgers, hotdogs, sandwiches, burritos, tacos, fish and chips, clam chowder, sourdough bread, ice cream, chocolates, pastries, cheese, Argentinian empanadas, and Chinese food. You’ll see seals, sea creatures, llamas, and an albino croc. You’ll visit wineries, farmers markets, a beach, a submarine, a redwood forest, picnic grounds, a geyser, and a castle.
There is a lot for your kids to enjoy and just as much for grown-ups to relish for a long time.
