Start Your Planning Early

Sue and Mel are planning a trip along the California coast from Los Angeles to San Francisco next summer, and they're getting an early start on planning and reservations. They wrote recently to say: "We have made all of our hotel plans now for our trip. We are going to stay in San Luis Obispo the first night on the drive up the coast. The second night we will stop in Marina. It was very difficult to find hotels/motels along this area as they are all sold out for next summer!"

Don't despair if you're not quite as prepared as Mel and Sue are. You can still find nice places to stay for next year's vacation, but booking early is always a good idea if you can manage it. Some hotels will allow you to cancel with only 24 hours' notice and no extra charges, so you can secure a room now and then change your reservation if you find a better deal or change your mind. You'll find specific tips for finding a hotel in California's larger cities in their sections of the site, but you can apply our Tips for Finding a Place to Stay anywhere you go.