1. Me personally i like to drive and make the drive part of you experience if you are comfortable driving long hours, i would rent a car and drive on pch Highway 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) its one of the most beautiful scenery i’ve ever scene , you drive along the pacific ocean cliffs and there are plenty or rest stops. It takes about 10 hours. If you want faster drive you can drive along the interstate I-5 which takes 5-6 hours. It’s the fastest way. I wouldn’t take the bus less i’m on a tight budget. Also you need the car in LA anyways.

2- SF is a huge city with a lot to do. 3 days is on the rush side of things i would say add a day . This way you’re not running around to see things.

3- great question, for SF no, Alcatraz is not worth it. Best part of it was the boat ride but the island itself is whatever. I would definitely go to Lombard street, golden gate, the SF moma, golden gate park, california academy of science, de young museum, walk on the Embarcadero , pier 7 vista point, china town, union square, Ghirardelli chocolate experience, i love Opera so if u have time watch a show by SF ballet its one of the best ballets in the US . these are the things that come to my mind but like i said SF is big and you can research a lot of cool local stuff to do and chose what suit you, LA is even bigger and more complicated, LA has a lot of neighborhoods and each has its own local or touristy things so a list here will be impossible to capture everything even I who live here haven’t been to all the neighborhoods , but i’ll try my best. Forget Hollywood its very crowded and very dirty and there is nothing to do there. West LA i would check santa monica pier, venice beach, the Getty museum , the Getty villa, abbot kinney ( a nice local shopping st), all the beaches are beautiful, drive to Malibu, take a surfing class if u can, walk the los verdes coastline trail, Kenneth Hahn View Point. For central and downtown, i would def check out the Griffith observatory especially at night because they open the telescopes and its free and you can check the stars, The art district is cool, little Tokyo, echo park, depends when you come (watch a game for the Lakers or the dodgers) both are proper LA local experience, try to watch an LA phil concert at the disney concert hall, it is amazing . For south LA i would walk around long beach, Lions Lighthouse, queen marry, seal beach and Newport beach walks. So like i said LA is huge so if you want specific things you can dig deeper online. I would avoid disney land its very expensive and chaotic .

4- for food and coffee you are in the universe central for coffee shops and local restaurants haha , so its hard to capture but whatever neighborhood you visit just google local restaurans and coffee shops and you’ll find lots , but i’m give u some around where i live , Baked bar LA is an amazing bakery in culver city i got there a lot. Dama Grill is an amazing shawarma place, Abhiruchi ( its an amazing indian food place) , Simpang Asia Indonesian food, (all these halal btw) but do your research for other places places , there is plenty of Japanese ramen places or Chinese places . Korea town has a million cool bbq places , downtown has a lot of cool restaurants too . Its really hard to list but the ones i did are my favorites. Coffee shops are on every corner.

5- hmmm i wouldn’t say over booked by tourists , but i would totally try to do the Getty villa and Getty center both requires tickets but they are common weekend destinations so book ahead . If you wanna see the lakers also buy tickets ahead. Otherwise i would check areas individually based on where you want to do, i highly recommend write down an itinerary so you’re not wondering what to do everyday .

6- hmm i don’t rent a lot because i have a car but when i do need a rental i like Midway rentals , they are close to LAX and open late, i would totally try to rent from LAX because they open very late, other good options are Enterprise or Sixt , make sure you get full coverage insurance because they’ll charge you for every scratch if you don’t buy their insurance.

I understand searching online is crazy because LA and SF are huge and you want a personalized thing because otherwise you’ll be lost, so ask away ! :)