California Hotels

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Top California hotels

San Francisco Hotels: 9084 Reviews - 19094 Photos
Los Angeles Hotels: 4343 Reviews - 8598 Photos
San Diego Hotels: 3052 Reviews - 6672 Photos
Anaheim Hotels: 703 Reviews - 1934 Photos
Santa Barbara Hotels: 647 Reviews - 1200 Photos
Monterey Hotels: 909 Reviews - 2715 Photos
Palm Springs Hotels: 339 Reviews - 753 Photos
Marina del Rey Hotels: 97 Reviews - 176 Photos
Santa Monica Hotels: 476 Reviews - 1051 Photos
Cambria Hotels: 77 Reviews - 202 Photos
Napa Hotels: 419 Reviews - 1142 Photos
Yosemite National Park Hotels: 1492 Reviews - 3398 Photos
Santa Cruz Hotels: 284 Reviews - 635 Photos
Oakland Hotels: 244 Reviews - 492 Photos
South Lake Tahoe Hotels: 354 Reviews - 752 Photos

California Tourist Traps

Crabs who gave their all

by califdweller

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Crabs who gave their all
by califdweller
Yosemite Gift Shop
by atufft
Massive Photography at Base of Yosemite...
by atufft
Lousy pic of me and Beli taken by...
by atufft
Is this a Ghost Town or What?
by lmkluque

Most Viewed Tourist Traps in California

Fisherman's Wharf San Francisco

77 Reviews I maintain there are two kinds of tourists: those who want a unique experience and seek to immerse themselves in the local experience, and those who don't put much thought into what makes a place...

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Hollywood Sign Los Angeles

15 Reviews It is sad that tourists spend so much time and gas driving to see the sign when the only way to get really close to it is to hike up to it by parking just north of 6363 Deronda Dr, 90068. Or, see it...

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Tijuana San Diego

9 Reviews Everyone should go to "TJ" at least once in their lives. It is incredible that so many people can be crammed into a space so small. ALWAYS haggle with the shop owners. Don't be too cheap - but they...

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Disneyland / California Adventure Anaheim

12 Reviews by not giving in easily at Downtown Disney. Price markup is smart for the vendors- bad for the tourists of course. Unless you are getting a gift or buying an item that's very unique, try to resist...

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Cannery Row Monterey

8 Reviews The Cannery Row is one whole district that is aimed for shopping, eating and dining! The former Sardine Canneries are now converted into assorted Shops, Stores, Restaurants, inns, hotels, bars and...

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Universal Studios Hollywood

3 Reviews Last visited: August, 2010 Times visited: 1 Highlight: Waterworld show I recommend Universal Studios for families with young teens and below. Due to word of mouth from back home we had high...

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Santa Monica Pier Santa Monica

2 Reviews 'Santa Monica Pier' was a waste of time for us. Granted it was the Fourth of July, and crowded; however the only things it offered were a couple of o.k. restaurants, souvenir shops, and rides that...

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Beaches Long Beach

2 Reviews Dirty Beaches continued... The mouth of San Gabriel River meets with the Pacific Ocean and brings with it trash from 35 miles. I have stumbled upon some rather disgusting items which I will leave to...

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Ponderosa Ranch South Lake Tahoe

1 Review Ponderosa Ranch, near Incline Village, has just recently closed after 40 years. It was an attraction based on the TV show Bonanza (remember Hoss?), and some of the filming was done here as well. It...

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10.

OLD SACRAMENTO Sacramento

5 Reviews In Old Sac a train ride is offered down the Sacramento River. The cost is approximately $8. but don't be fooled. There is nothing noteworthy to see on this ride. The tracks are between the river and...

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11.

Places to Avoid Mammoth Lakes

2 Reviews 'Speed of Light' Photo developing at the bottom of Old Mammoth Road - they ruined half the pictures of the 6 films I put in there. When I complained they first said 'Sorry, but what do you want us to...

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12.

The Allure La Jolla

1 Review Though La Jolla is a mecca for tourist wanting to mingle with the 'rich and famous,' there isn't much in the way of tourist traps! So, I submit this: Black's Beach--San Diego's 'Unofficial' nude...

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13.

Pier 39 San Francisco

40 Reviews Again one of my favorite areas of the city. PIER 39 is San Francisco's Premier Bay Attraction. The 45-acre open air complex has two levels of shopping, dining, and entertainment. PIER 39 houses more...

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14.

Hollywood/Walk of Fame Los Angeles

21 Reviews Hollywood! You think of feather boas, decadence, diamonds, movie premieres and ordinary Joes making it big and being discovered. That's what on everyone's mind, whether you're American (Hispanic,...

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15.

Too Expensive San Diego

10 Reviews This place used to be a place to view marine animals. It still is, but you have to look for them. There are lots of games which really belong in an amusement park, which SeaWorld has become. It is WAY...

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16.

Cost Too High Hollywood

4 Reviews check it out on the outside! Dolby Theater (formerly the Kodak Theater), home of the Academy Awards is featured along Hollwyood Blvd. Most of us will not be able to score an invite to the Oscar show...

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17.

Cost Too High Long Beach

3 Reviews ok, I know you need a car in L. A. but the parking prices over there, are too expensive, here at the Queen Mary was 8 dollars!!! So we decided to leave there the car and go to the shoreline by boat...

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18.

Not Really A Trap Sacramento

2 Reviews South of Sacramento, along the river, you will find the old Chinese town of Locke. It has the unique status of being the only town in the US built exclusively by the Chinese for the Chinese. It was...

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19.

Be Aware! San Francisco

19 Reviews By mistake i ended up with this shop and got fooled for my life. I purchased Olympus VR 320 camera in this shop and i wanted to give off my fuji DSLR camerca as well as i was not using it. The...

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20.

Homes of the Stars Los Angeles

12 Reviews I went on a tour called hollywood tours it is located between mcdonalds and gunniess world of records right on hollywood blvd. the lady boss was very nice to the customers but mean to her employees....

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21.

Transportation Issues San Diego

4 Reviews There are few things in any town or country that I would consider a tourist trap. Especially in San Diego, where most of the renovations are geared towards "resident's" use, as much as tourist's use....

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22.

Alcatraz N.P. San Francisco

18 Reviews If you read stories about Alcatraz and its prisoners, or saw some movies about it, then the visit is very interesting for the revival of your memories. If as it happened to Fernanda, you never paid to...

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23.

Amusement Parks Los Angeles

7 Reviews For me Disneyland was a disappointment. I had imagined it would be a huge amusement park offering something also for adults. Soon I noticed that most of the attractions were made for children, "Goofy"...

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24.

Old Town San Diego

4 Reviews This used to be called Bazaar del Mundo. A company from the east coast (Delaware Company) outbid the people who had it for 30 years. It was a very popular place to eat and shop. It was a very colorful...

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25.

Cable Cars San Francisco

9 Reviews Cable Cars. A San Francisco icon. One trip costs $3.00, an all day pass costs $9.00. This is a rip off considering a bus or street car ride costs only $1.25. If you ride on a cable car, you most...

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Reviews from VirtualTourist Members

The Cabazon Dinosaurs

by traveldave

For many years, the Cabazon dinosaurs have been a roadside attraction for those traveling Interstate 10 between Riverside and Palm Springs. They have become an American icon, appearing in rock videos, Coca-Cola and Kodak commercials, and the movie Pee Wee's Big Adventure.The two concrete dinosaurs, one an Apatosaurus ajax (named Dinny) and the other a Tyrannosaurus rex (named Mr. Rex), were constructed by Claude Bell as an attraction to lure guests to his motel, the Wheel Inn. Considered the world's largest models of dinosaurs, Dinny is 150 feet (46 meters) long and weighs 150 tons (136,078 kilograms), and Mr. Rex is 65 feet (20 meters) tall and weighs 100 tons (90,718 kilograms). There is a small souvenir stand in Dinny's belly, and admission is only one dollar. Work stopped on Mr. Rex in 1989 when Bell died, and there are no current plans to complete it.The dinosaurs once stood on an...

Getting Gas in Yosemite

by DueSer

If you're driving in to Yosemite National Park on your own (not on a tour bus) then getting gas is a concern. You certainly don't want to run out while you're in the park because there's only one place to fill up (that I saw) and it's small and expensive. So, if you fill up before you go to the park or on your way back home, here's a tip: don't fill up in one of the small towns that surround the park.When I went recently I was surprised to see that all the stations in the area have two different prices: one for cash and one (more expensive) for credit cards. Also, after I filled up at one of these places, and went on into the park, I started having trouble with my car. The engine jerked but when I checked the transmission fluid, it was full. Then the Check Engine light came on. When reading up on this, I discovered one reason it can come on is if you get water in your gas tank. I started...

e Hollywood tours

by Korki

E Hollywood tours -- that's the name of the company you should stay away when walking along Hollywood Blvd. People who work for this company will jump out of nowhere and sell you the tour for 25$ + free parking for 4 hours at the Kodak theater. My friend and I got on the 2 hours tour around Hollywood and Beverly Hills (which I think is boring and not worth the money but my friend really wanted to go and I didn't feel like driving anymore). After the boring tour of houses-where-famous-people-supposedly-live we returned to the parking space only to find that the garage doesn't accept their stamped recites (aka tour tickets) and we ended up paying 10$.. I went back to look for the guy at the place where he is "working" but he was gone for the day. Tip -- stay away from E Hollywood Tours.. and if not interested in Hollywood and movie production stay away from LA as well =)

e Hollywood tours

by Korki

Santa Cruz Main Beach

by Laurel16

Although Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is occasionally fun for local children (we go maybe once a year) the main beach below the boardwalk is usually crowded and dirty during the summer. When I was younger (middle & high school) we used to call this beach "San Jose by the Sea", meaning most of the people on the beach were from "over the hill" in San Jose. There are other, much better beaches.

The Lone Cypress, 17-mile-drive

by sim1

A well-known spot on this drive is The Lone Cypress. This tree is very characteristic and stands on a bare rock formation in the sea. Is it a must see? No, not at all! I think it is just a tourist attraction. It wasn't busy at the viewpoint when I was there, so it wasn't too bad. It was actually quite amazing to see the tree in such a strange place on the rocks. But I think it can be very busy here, and I wouldn't want to make a stop here at such a time. It must be very annoying to watch a tree from a long distance with all the tourist around you, all trying to get the best view.Take a look at my Monterey page for more photos and info.

Napa Valley

by YouthinAsia

Copia. What a RIP-OFF. This is supposed to be the Napa Valley's great visitor's exposition but beware, better yet don't bother. The supposed showcase of food & wine but it is neither and totally it is without "soul". Sure there is wine (you'll pay for it), there is food too (you'll REALLY pay for that) and you'll even pay to come in the door here with the admission charge. Nevermind that the whole "experience" is completely removed from any winery this place is a total waste of $$$. Better to just check out the gardens in front (you can do this without lightening your wallet) and drive over to Sonoma where you can actually talk to a winemaker while he pours you a glass - sometimes still at no charge. For a much better presentation of wine and food get up to Hopland (Mendocino County) to Fetzer's or The Old Schoolhouse. Anderson Valley is a good bet also with very low key atmosphere,...

Hollywood Boulevard

by c-girl

In front of Grauman's Chinese Theater-all the stars have their handprints or footprints...and in some cases....hoof prints! This may be a tourist trap....but lots of fun! Get down and see how your feet and hands match up!

Where to see celebrities

by BGordonLA

You will not see celebrities if you go to the wrong places, and Hollywood Blvd. is the wrong place--unless you go on the day of a movie premiere or somebody is being immortalized on the Hollywood Walk Fame. Your best bet is to go to the restaurants and hotels that cater to a celebrity clientele. One of the best is the Four Seasons Hotel on Doheny, at the border of Los Angeles and Beverly Hills. When new movies come out, the studios rent rooms there for the stars to be interviewed by journalists. Later in the day you can almost always find celebrities at the hotel bar or restaurant. When I gave a tour of Hollywood for winners of an American Movie Classics contest, some of the winners did not want to go on the organized tour. They wanted to stay at the Four Seasons.William A. GordonAuthor"The Ultimate Hollywood Tour BooK"

Hollywood

by b1bob

We also went to Mann's Chinese theater to see the hand and footprints of a smaller group of movie stars. In total we walked about 3 miles. I found Hollywood to be seedier than I thought it would be. There were bums asking for a handout every 15 ft. (5 m). I pretended not to know English to get away without harassment. If you don't happen to speak 6 foreign languages like I do, fake it by babbling like a madman.

Top 3 Hotels in California

Argonaut Hotel - A Kimpton Hotel San Francisco

4 Reviews and 2443 Opinions There's no doubt this hotel, provides a level of luxury and convenience, that many travellers will...

Hotels in San Francisco

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Magic Castle Hotel Los Angeles

5 Reviews and 1284 Opinions The Magic castle hotel is a great place to stay. It looks small at first view but its rooms are on...

Hotels in Los Angeles

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Residence Inn San Diego Scripps Poway Parkway San Diego

1 Review and 108 Opinions If you want to stay at a place that's not right on the beach, but still close enough to get anywhere...

Hotels in San Diego

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7,361 Hotels in California

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