So incase you mightn’t have noticed, I still very much have Coachella on my mind. I’m pretty sure I’ve watched my VLOG about 100 times by now and I keep catching myself looking back on all the photos on my phone. Long story short – it was a weekend of a lifetime! Since I got back to New York, a lot of you have been asking me to share a guide on how to get tickets, where to stay, etc. so today, I’m sharing a Coachella Guide. It was my first time attending and the planning was definitely a little daunting at the start, so I’m happy to share my recommendations.

TICKETS

So the big question is always how and when do you buy tickets? This is DEFINITELY the tricky part so its worth it to do your research. I don’t think the 2017 dates have been released just yet, but here is the official guide to buying tickets which is on the Coachella site right now. The pre-sale/early bird tickets usually go on sale before Christmas (I would really recommend getting these) and then the regular tickets go on sale in January. They literally sell out in 1 minute flat, so you HAVE to be ready. The trick is to already have your account set up and then literally keep refreshing the page before the live time. Thankfully, we had help from friends who go every year and ended up getting nearly all the tickets from Coachella.com. There was just one of us who didn’t, so we bought the final one on Stubhub. It’s always a little more expensive to do it this way, but if you want to avoid the crazy stress of queueing for tickets online on the release day, this is a good option. Tickets from Coachella.com are about $450 and the ones on stubhub are usually about $100-300 more expensive depending on when you buy them.

TRANSPORT

So the next thing to think about is transport. A few of us flew from New York which cost about $300 each, Tommy came from SF and then our friends Dearbhla & Harry flew from Dublin (so it is totally possible to come from Ireland too). They flew to London first and then flew from London to LAX with Virgin Airlines. I’m pretty sure there are direct flights too, but I imagine they would be a lot more expensive. Once we all got to LAX, 5 of us rented a jeep for the 2-hour drive to Palm Springs. We kept the jeep for the whole weekend (definitely recommend doing this so you can travel around Palm Springs) and this worked out at about $100 each. The drive from LA to Palm Springs was probably one of the most fun parts of the whole trip and the views were just out of this world. On average, it takes about 2 hours but definitely give yourself enough time as traffic can be heavy. You can also actually fly directly to Palm Springs, but I think this works out a little more expensive. Each day going to the festival, we either got the shuttle from our resort or else an Uber. Uber is actually pretty cheap in California, but my advice would be to leave a little earlier each day as they become so hard to get at peak times.

ACCOMODATION

As it’s a festival, of course there’s an option to camp but we decided to save ourselves a lot of stress and book accommodation instead. We definitely did quite a lot of research into this! Initially, we had planned on renting a house in Palm Springs for the 6 of us and used sites such as Home Away, VRBO and Airbnb. In the end though, the houses ended up either being too expensive or else the location just didn’t suit, so we ended up going with a hotel/apartment style resort which was SO perfect. The resort was called World Markway and we actually found it through Air B&B. When we booked, we really didn’t know what to expect but were so so happy with everything about it. There was loads of space for the 6 of us, a fully equipped kitchen, a balcony with the most amazing view, a huge pool, Jacuzzis and even a Starbucks on site. We couldn’t have asked for better! There were a lot of other Coachella groups staying there too so it was very fun! It was also just about a 15 minute drive to and from the festival which was ideal.

CLOTHES

So…now for the most important part of all! Haha! Last week, I shared all my Coachella Outfits and now I want to share a few tips. You obviously want to look stylish but when you’re planning your outfits there are a few big things to remember. Firstly, there is A LOT of walking so I really would recommend wearing shoes that you’ve already broken in and that you know will be comfortable for 12+ hours on your feet. Secondly, it is absolutely roasting during the day (do not forget SPF) but gets quite chilly from about 9pm onwards. So be sure to bring along a light jacket that you can fit in your bag. It’s also good for the walk back to the shuttles/taxis at the end of the night. Other than that, just have fun with your outfits. More is more and absolutely anything goes!

OTHER MUST-DO’S:

-Set aside some time to go up on the famous ferris wheel. I absolutely loved this! It’s only $8 and the wait wasn’t actually too bad. Well worth doing as the views from the top are amazing!

-Try out all the amazing food on offer. My favourite was the pizza (surprise surprise, haha!)

-Grab some photos in front of the Ferris Wheel at sunset – this is the very best time to get some amazing shots.

…and finally, just have WAY too much fun! It’s the ultimate care-free and laid-back weekend, which I promise you will remember forever so just enjoy every minute. I genuinely think a smile didn’t leave my face all weekend.

If I’ve forgotten anything, feel free to send me more questions to my snapchat (retroflame1) or Instagram (@retroflame) and also I would love for you to have a peek at my VLOG from the weekend. Part 1 HERE.

See you again next year, Coachella!

Stylishly Yours,
Erika x