Hi guys,
Where do I even start with this trip? It honestly was the trip of a lifetime, with what felt like the longest build up to a holiday ever!
I’m so sorry for the delay in getting this post up. There was just so much to it, I kept putting it on the long finger haha! I know lots of you had questions about Coachella and some had questions about LA so I’ll try and cover everything. But don’t be afraid to message me if I’ve missed something and I’ll do my best to help.
First up – Coachella:
Coachella had been in the planning since November last year when we booked our hotel – it was 6 months in the works. I’ve wanted to go for years and was determined this year it was going to happen. I couldn’t hack one more year of looking at the photos and not being there haha!
Where did you stay?
We booked the Hard Rock Cafe in Palm Springs, which is the city where most people going to the festival stay. It’s about 30/40 mins from Coachella Valley and there are lots of shuttles organised by Coachella leaving every 5/10 mins.
When/how did you get tickets?
We got our tickets in January – to fight the post Christmas blues. Coachella don’t spend long promoting it before it happens, so you have to keep an eye on the website and about a week or so before they will say when they’re on sale. They sold out in minutes so we were very lucky to get them (although if you don’t you should be able to get them on Stubhub afterwards at a higher price). You are sent straight into a waiting list when they go on sale. We had 3 laptops and one phone with the page open for tickets and managed to get ours on the phone. They were $465 for the general admission ticket and a shuttle pass (taxes not included).
Where did you fly to?
We booked our flights to LAX which is then about a 2 and a half hour drive from Palm Springs. The festival starts on the Friday, but we all arrived in Palm Springs on the Thursday to get checked in and ready for the few days ahead. We also bought sim cards with AT&T which cost $78 including tax – it had unlimited calls, texts and data so it was really handy while we were over there and worth the money in my opinion. I think T Mobile do an even cheaper deal – in September for fashion week I got a sim card including tax for $55.
Before the Festival? What time did you go for?
First things first on the Friday we all hung around the pool for a few hours, then got ready and left for Coachella at about half 3/4. We arrived into the festival around 5 which was perfect timing. Most of the good acts aren’t on until the evening and it can be really hot in the desert all day.
Can you eat/drink in Coachella?
In terms of eating/ drinking in the festival – there is loads of places to eat – some stalls have longer queues than others so have a look around. Drinking – there are designated areas in the festival where you can drink. They are right in the middle of everything – you can even see the main stage from one of them, technically you are not allowed take your alcohol outside the areas, but it does happen haha!
What do you wear?
I think its safe to say anything goes at Coachella, but we went all out with the festival style this year. You can see my 3 outfits in this blog post here.
How much did you spend?
I honestly couldn’t tell you. We were in over in California for 10 days in total, and it cost us a bomb!Coachella is quite expensive and we had planned and saved for months beforehand – but I can honestly say it was worth every cent. We had an absolute ball!
Any other tips?
Of course – so many tips haha!
If you are thinking of going next year here are my top 5 tips for you:
- Plan early – book your hotel, flights and buy your tickets as soon as you can
- Wear comfortable shoes – you will do a LOT of walking to get to the festival and when you’re in there too
- Bring a jacket for nighttime (it gets cold) and a scarf to cover your mouth from sand if it’s windy
- Buy the shuttle bus pass – it’s so much handier than taxis or ubers for getting to the festival
- Save save save! It’s an expensive trip there’s no doubt about it – but I promise it’s worth every cent.
It’s hard to talk about how amazing it was, and the logistics in one blog post but I’m pretty sure ye got the jist of how much I loved it from my social media posts haha 😊
Any other questions feel free to shout!
Now – LA
Where we stayed?
Venice on the Beach in Venice Beach
The London in West Hollywood
Both were absolutely amazing. Very different areas and vibes so I couldn’t say which one I preferred but I’ll definitely be back to both!
What we did?
– Walked down Rodeo Drive (I may or may not have purchased a bag haha)
– Visited the lamps at LACMA
– The star homes tour of Hollywood/ Beverly Hills (loads of these go from Hollywood Boulevard)
– The Hollywood Walk of Fame
– We climbed to the back of the Hollywood sign (look up the Hollyridge trail and drive right to the top of Deronda drive, you can park on the streets around there) – you can walk right up to the side on a windy road from there.
– Got In ‘N Out Burger (several times)
– We went to a Lakers game in the Staples Centre
– Rented bikes and cycled from Venice Beach to Santa Monica
– Enjoy brunch on Abbott Kinney
Where we ate?
I have to say I’m pretty easy going as to where I eat when I’m away – but for allll of the LA restaurant recommendations check out my friends Dearbhlas instagram. She’s been to LA so many times and she does her research to find the best places. See her instagram here.
The few cool bars/ restaurants we did visit I will of course mention though:
- Pink Taco on Sunset Boulevard
- Catch LA
- Kreation Cafe on Abbott Kinney
- Arts Table in Santa Monica
Hopefully this is somewhat helpful, I feel like I could just talk about LA and Coachella all day every day. One blog post will just never cover it but hopefully my excessive social media posts while I was there helped as well – I’ve included some of the photos below and check out my highlights on my instagram to see some of my stories,
Anyway I’ll be back soon with more travel posts (I hope) I just have to make some travel plans first haha,
Lou x
