2 Days: LA and Southern California
Two days isn’t enough for LA itself, so this plan doesn’t try. It uses LA strictly as a base and spends both days on the two closest Southern California day trips: Disneyland and a PCH run up to Malibu. Rent the car the moment you land, this whole plan depends on it. Going longer? The 3-day version adds Santa Barbara.
Book these before you go
- A rental car for both days: compare cars in Los Angeles
- Disneyland’s dated one-day ticket: book directly on the official site , gate pricing runs higher and some dates sell out
| Day | Trip | Distance / Drive Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Disneyland, Anaheim | 30-45 mi / 45-90 min southeast |
| 2 | Malibu + PCH | 36 mi / ~1 hr northwest |
Day 1: Disneyland, Anaheim
Morning
Disneyland is in Anaheim, Orange County, not central LA, budget 45 to 90 minutes each way depending on traffic and leave before 8am to beat both the drive and the park’s opening rush. Single-day, one-park tickets in 2026 run a tiered $104 to $224 depending on the date, so check the calendar before you book.
Afternoon
Disneyland Park and California Adventure sit side by side and share a single ticket, budget the entire day if you want both. Lightning Lane passes cost extra but are worth it if this is a one-time visit, they cut real time out of the standing-in-line math.
Evening
Dinner in Downtown Disney before the drive back, or push through traffic and eat closer to your LA hotel. Either way, don’t schedule anything else after this day, it’s the longest driving day of the two.
Is Disneyland Worth a Full Day From LA?
Yes, for nearly everyone who makes the drive. The catch is treating it as the full-effort day it actually is: an early start, a plan for both parks if you’re using a Hopper ticket, and nothing else booked for the evening. Half-measures here waste both the drive and the ticket price.
Day 2: Malibu and the Coast
Morning
Point the car north onto Pacific Coast Highway. It’s a free, scenic drive the whole way, though PCH still has a 25 mph zone through the Palisades fire-repair area between Temescal Canyon Road and Carbon Beach Terrace, with crews working into fall 2026. Treat this stretch as slow and scenic, not a highway sprint. Current closures are posted on Caltrans’ PCH recovery page .
Afternoon
Zuma Beach or Point Dume for the kind of open coastline that makes the whole rental worth it, budget $10-20+ for beach parking. Bring a towel and just sit for an hour, there’s no schedule to keep on this side of the itinerary.
Evening
Dinner at a pier-adjacent spot in Malibu, or turn back toward Santa Monica if you’d rather eat closer to your hotel. Sunday evening return traffic on PCH specifically can double your drive time, so budget for it if that’s your day.
How Long Do You Actually Need for Malibu?
Half a day covers the beach and the drive comfortably; a full day lets you add a longer stretch of coastline or a slower lunch. It’s the most flexible day on this itinerary, easy to shrink if your flight home is that evening or stretch if it isn’t.
Things to know: rent the car at LAX rather than downtown, it’s typically cheaper and you’ll want it from hour one. Parking runs $10-25 in most spots, more at Disneyland and near the beach in season. Pack sunscreen and a light layer, coastal mornings run cooler than the “always sunny” reputation suggests, and Anaheim’s inland heat can run 10 degrees warmer than the coast the same afternoon.
Fill the gas tank before Day 2 evening. Hunting for a station on PCH at golden hour is a bad way to end a good day. For the fuller version of this trip with Santa Barbara, Catalina Island, and the desert added in, see our complete LA day trip guide .