<p>If by chance you decide to stay in SB, I highly recommend Pacifica Suites. They have a special for UCSB visitors, press them for the “best” rate. Full cooked to order breakfast, and rooms are like Embassy Suites, some privacy for the teen if they don’t mind a sleeper sofa. </p>
<p>From Pasadena area, If the 101 traffic is heavy, consider 210 to HWY 5 N through Santa Clarita and the 126 W to 101 N. Beautiful drive through strawberry/ veggie/ citrus growing regions with all the stands open now selling produce. Do not take the 118, even though GPS always suggests it as the fastest. It is a demonic ride through stop & go traffic. The 126 goes through Fillmore, a quaint historic though currently down on its luck town. </p>
<p>Second the vote for Pacific Grove, wonderful boardwalk along the coast for strolling, sometimes good deals on hotels (unlike the über snooty, oops I mean artsy, Carmel).</p>
<p>We like the Westin in Pasadena. We use priceline and always get that hotel. Look at [BiddingForTravel.com</a> - The informed Priceline Travel Bidding Forum](<a href=“http://www.biddingfortravel.com%5DBiddingForTravel.com”>http://www.biddingfortravel.com) for tips on how to bid. This past summer when we looked at Caltech we stayed in a Vagabond Inn Executive very near campus that actually was a bargain for the price. The Caltech tour was about 2 hours long. In Santa Barbara the campus is actually in Isla vista so you may look for a hotel in that area. In Carmel Monterey there are a change of hotels by the four sisters. [Four</a> Sisters](<a href=“http://www.foursisters.com/inns.htm]Four”>http://www.foursisters.com/inns.htm)</p>
<p>As others have suggested be prepared for traffic so don’t schedule too much.</p>
<p>I highly recommend the Cobblestone Inn, conveniently located in downtown Carmel. Since you don’t have anything scheduled on Friday morning, you might want to drive or take BART over to UC Berkeley and do a quick look-see of this school as well. There will be traffic, but you would be doing more of a reverse-commute, so it won’t be as horrible in that direction. There’s a BART station on the edge of the UC campus and you can take a short stroll up to the admissions department, where the info session/tours start.</p>
<p>I second the Westin in Pasadena for Monday night. I got it for a great price on Priceline where I made a bid. The Huntington Gardens and Library are lovely. Be sure to wander through the Japanese Garden. It is a great place to take photographs. The Norton Simon Museum and Garden are also lovely. It is a small gallery right in downtown Pasadena, a few minutes from the Westin.</p>
<p>I would suggest you mapquest the different places you are looking at to get a better idea of distances and potential freeway options. Have to disagree that the 118 is demonic and all stop & go - no more so than many of the other freeways in the L.A. area. I have taken the 210-118-23-101 many times and usually it is better than the 101. Taking the 210-5-126 will also take you well out of your way to get to Santa Barbara from Santa Monica, and if I recall correctly, on a 2 lane highway.</p>
<p>Last weekend we drove from N Cal to LA, and I swear it seemed like it took less time to get to the grapevine than the last 20 miles on the 405. It was a Thursday, and about 6 pm. Gah! OTOH, leaving Sunday at 2 was a breeze. </p>
<p>OP, your schedule seems crowded and tight to me. For instance, "Tuesday: CalTech & Occidental. UCLA in the evening. ". Our experience was that touring two schools a day was our limit. Doing three is pushing it, especially if your day is going to end with dealing with traffic in Westwood. :eek: </p>
<p>My heretical suggestion: skip UCLA entirely. You’re OOS, it’s going to be $$$$$ to attend–even if this is affordable for your family, you can get more bang for your buck going private. Apply if your D is interested, but save a visit for if she’s accepted and if it’s really a possibility. </p>
<p>Then “We’ll leave Disneyland Monday morning and head to Claremont for the Harvey Mudd tour.” Again, gulp. Do the drive the night before. </p>
<p>101 from LA up to Santa Barbara is a gorgeous drive, though the 1 through Big Sur is even more gorgeous.</p>
<p>I live in Santa Barbara, used to live in Santa Monica and go there a few times a year for work. From Santa Monica to Santa Barbara you have two route options. The 405 north connecting to the 101 North. This is all freeway driving. The other route is Hwy 1 through Malibu connecting onto the 101 in Oxnard. If you go Hwy 1 you will have an ocean view most of the trip. You will not have much traffic if you go during the week and it is not summer. 101 is faster but you have more of a risk of traffic. Even with 101 you will have ocean views the last 45 minutes of your drive. UCSB is just north of Santa Barbara. I would never count on getting from LA to SB in 1 hour 45 minutes if I had a timed appointment. As Ebeee suggested allow 2 1/2 hours. The coast route is probably 15 minutes longer if both routes have no accidents.
Santa Barbara traffic- In summer and some holiday periods you will have stop and go traffic headed into Santa Barbara on Friday afternoons. Sunday afternoon you will have the opposite traffic as weekend guests head back to Los Angeles. We also have some commuter traffic from Ventura/Oxnard in the am and around 5 pm. It is traffic for us but for those who come from metro areas you would not consider it horrible.
If we are down south and heading home we start checking the AM radio stations before we hit Santa Monica to decide whether we will take the freeway or the coast. The AM radio stations in Los Angeles give frequent traffic updates. Off the top of my head one is KNX 1070 but I know there are several stations.</p>
<p>My reaction on driving from Disneyland to Mudd on Monday morning was a double gulp. DS goes to Mudd. I have business trips that take me to LA and Orange County frequently. Driving anywhere to or from Mudd in the morning rush hour (which seems to start by 5:30 and not end until 10) is like the lottery. Sometimes the traffic flows and it isn’t awful, more frequently it can take hours. My advice is to stay in Claremont Sunday night. There is a DoubleTree in Claremont that is a favorite with many Mudder parents. </p>
<p>And when you go to the Huntington, don’t miss the cactus garden. It is something out of the Flintstones. I am assuming from the schools you are looking at, that there is real science interest. This nearly prehistoric garden seems to delight all the techies.</p>
<p>Stay in Pasadena Monday night. Traffic not worth it. The Westin si a good choice and a splurge is The Huntington Hotel near Cal Tech. In Santa Monica The Shore Hotel is new and right on Ocean Drive for Tuesday night. The rates were great when they first opened but may have crept up since then. Be careful you can hit and miss in Santa Monica. </p>
<p>The coast highway through Malibu and up to Oxnard is a great idea for getting up to SB! Time seems to go by faster just by driving up the coast. There are many good options in SB. Book now as the best deals go because they do many baseball, lax and other sports and cheer competitions over spring break and it is flooded with teams. The drive up to Carmel is amazing but long on highway 1 so I would suggest 101 north after all you would have done. Awesome schools you are visiting. UCLA is on the way to SM so worth a visit. Certainly will feel big time until you reach Stanford(:</p>
<p>The Doubletree in Claremont is quite pleasant and exceedingly convenient to Mudd - and you can walk into town as well if you like. There is also a nice Mexican restaurant very close to the DT (short walk). Mudd is very small and the tour doesn’t take long in terms of seeing the buildings, but it’s nice to take time to soak up the feel of the place.
The Stanford tour takes a longish time (we actually skipped it and just walked around on our own and had lunch there after the admissions talk). Stanford is really big and parking is a bit odd - I remember having to park a fair ways from the admissions office, then check in there, then walk a good bit to the actual admissions talk site.
Traffic varies a lot - I think the difficult thing will be making a schedule that allows for jams.
Disneyland - I would think that Disney during spring break might be a logistical nightmare, but others would know more about that.</p>
<p>So many suggestions and helpful tips - thank you so much everyone.</p>
<p>We (or rather I) am not unfamiliar with the craziness of L.A. freeway driving having grown up in the O.C. and worked in Hollywood. I haven’t driven around L.A. for a few years so it’s helpful to have input because things seem to change every time I venture down south. </p>
<p>We may drag ourselves away from the magic kingdom and stay in Claremont Sunday after all. Thanks for the suggestion all. I always use the carpool lanes and don’t seem to run into too much trouble heading east from DL, but it will be a Monday and who knows what is in store?</p>
<p>For anyone going to Disneyland I highly recommend using [RideMax</a> - Planning Software for Walt Disney World and Disneyland](<a href=“http://www.ridemax.com%5DRideMax”>http://www.ridemax.com) I discovered this a few years back and never go without it. My O.C. friends used to laugh at me until they went with us one trip. It’s a computerized list of what time and what ride to go on to minimize wait time. Longest we waited for a ride was about 10 minutes at the height of summer! They have one now for Disney World.</p>
<p>ETA: The reason we’re going to UCLA is that a friend teaches there and will be giving us an informal tour so D sees what a big California PAC 10 school looks and feels like.</p>
<p>Thanks for the heads up BerneseMtn. A $45 parking ticket is not what I want to come back to after a long tour.</p>
<p>I have many fond memories of UCLA. My much older sister attended there during some of it’s finest sport years and I’d often stay in her sorority on weekends. I enrolled in a screenwriting program there and really have loved every minute. It’s a beautiful campus and Westwood is lovely.</p>
<p>Oh to be young and have so many options available.</p>