Why most LA honeymoons start wrong
Almost every California honeymoon package looks the same: four hotel nights downtown or by the beach, plus a booked city tour. The large Los Angeles operators sell two-hour coach tours from around $50 per person, and full-day tours in the $70 to $95 range. You will see the same places listed in this article – just on their schedule, with forty other people, and an audio guide in nine languages.
That is not bad. It is simply the opposite of what a honeymoon should be.
I say that as someone who hands over vehicles in Los Angeles and hears afterwards what worked and what did not. The couples who come back happy have nearly always done the same thing: three days in the city, deliberately kept short, then out to the coast or the desert. Not seven days of LA. The city is the opening, not the trip.
This guide is built accordingly: three days of Los Angeles for two, self-driven, and then the exit.
Day 1: Hollywood, Beverly Hills and the sunset that matters
Morning: Hollywood Boulevard – keep it short
The Walk of Fame is busier, louder and smaller than the photos suggest. That is not a criticism, it is a planning note: two hours is plenty. Go early, before the coaches arrive, take your pictures, and move on. Anyone budgeting half a day here spends it in a crowd.
Midday: Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive
From Hollywood it is 20 to 30 minutes to Beverly Hills, depending on traffic. Rodeo Drive is primarily a backdrop – you do not need to buy anything to enjoy the afternoon. Beverly Gardens, with the well-known sign, is a few minutes away and makes the calmer photo stop.
A practical note we give every guest: with the rooftop tent fitted, your Model Y is taller than usual. Many parking garages in Beverly Hills and Hollywood have height limits around 6.5 feet. Use street parking in these neighbourhoods – we show you the exact vehicle height at handover.
Evening: Griffith Observatory – the actual reason to have the car
This is where a road trip separates from a coach tour. Griffith Observatory has the best view over Los Angeles, from the skyline to the Pacific, and the terraces at sunset are exactly where you want to be standing as a couple. The point is this: sunset does not happen when a tour bus arrives.
What to know:
- Closed on Mondays. So do not plan this evening for a Monday.
- Admission is free – the building, grounds, exhibits and public telescopes cost nothing. Only the planetarium show is ticketed.
- Parking is paid and enforced daily. Published rates differ between sources, so budget for it and check the signage on site.
- Arrive well before sunset. The lots at the observatory fill first; after that everyone parks further down the hill and walks up.
Bring a light jacket. The hillside cools faster after sunset than a summer day in LA would suggest.
Day 2: The coast – Santa Monica, Malibu and the first real quiet
Morning: Santa Monica Pier
The pier is the end of Route 66 – the “End of the Trail” sign stands there, and for many of our guests it is the most emotional photo stop of the whole trip. For the historically precise: the original terminus was a little inland, at Lincoln and Olympic Boulevard. The two are minutes apart, and the second is far emptier.
More on the area and the drive north is on our page for Santa Monica and Malibu.
Afternoon: Highway 1 to Malibu
From Santa Monica, Highway 1 runs right along the water. After roughly 30 to 45 minutes – traffic matters more than distance here – you reach the beaches north of Malibu. El Matador State Beach is the best known: rock arches, cliffs, a narrow access down a steep staircase. Unbeatable for photos of the two of you, often too crowded for a relaxed afternoon. The neighbouring beaches are quieter and nearly as beautiful.
Point Dume, a little further north, offers the climb onto the headland with a view across the bay. In winter and spring you may spot whales from up there.
Evening: the first night outside
This is the part no city tour can offer. The first genuine coastal campgrounds are north of Malibu, a good 30 to 45 minutes from Santa Monica. They are popular and regularly fully booked in summer – reserve ahead and plan a fallback further north.
Important, because it is regularly misunderstood: sleeping in a vehicle is prohibited by ordinance in Santa Monica and much of greater Los Angeles, and it is enforced. Move to an official campground for the night. How free overnight stays work legally outside the cities is covered in our boondocking rules.
Day 3: The exit
After two days in the city you have seen enough of Los Angeles to place it. Now you pick a direction – and that is the real fork in your honeymoon.
North: the Pacific Coast Highway. Via Santa Barbara to Big Sur: clifftop road, whales, morning fog. The classic route for couples, and in our view the most beautiful. It runs through Big Sur toward San Francisco and is planned out as our Pacific Coast tour.
East: the desert. Joshua Tree is a good two to three hours away and the complete opposite of the coast: silence, heat by day, stars without light pollution at night. If you only have a week and want a genuine contrast, go here.
East and onward: Route 66 in reverse. Some couples drive the Mother Road from Santa Monica in the opposite direction. Unusual, but legitimate – the full run is in our Route 66 guide.
Which version suits you is summarised for couples under honeymoon and couples road trips.
What it costs – and what it replaces
A camping package based on the Tesla Model Y starts at $119 per day with us; the Model Y camping package with rooftop tent is $216 per day including gear, insurance and Supercharging. All daily rates are on the pricing page.
Weigh that against the alternative: a hotel in greater LA plus a rental car plus booked tours. In most cases the difference is smaller than couples expect – and in return you get nights in places no hotel can take you.
Three things I always tell couples
Keep the first day short. After a long-haul flight, the coast road into low sun is no pleasure. The campsite is not going anywhere.
Book the coastal sites in advance. Californian coastal campgrounds sell out weeks ahead in summer. Spontaneity almost never works here.
Leave one evening with no plan. The memory couples write to us about afterwards is rarely the photo in front of the Hollywood sign. It is the evening when nothing was scheduled.
Handover in Los Angeles
Vehicle handover takes place at our hub in the greater Los Angeles area – no airport counter, but a personal briefing on the rooftop tent, Camp Mode and the route planner app. We arrange transfers from LAX on request. Details are under Tesla rental from Los Angeles.
We do not operate city tours and are not affiliated with any tour provider. This guide is written for self-driving – the way we drive the route ourselves.
A honeymoon should not feel like a programme being worked through. Three days of city is enough. The rest belongs to the two of you.