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Post by bearmom on May 27, 2015 14:53:11 GMT
thinking ahead to next summer.
Prefences: San Fran, San Diego, Disneyland, one or two National Parks.
Two weeks.
Dh, me, dd - 16, and dd - 14.
Flying in, renting a car.
Help me plan, please.
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Post by bc2ca on May 27, 2015 15:24:43 GMT
I would fly into San Francisco or Oakland, rent a car and head east to Yosemite and/or Sequoia and Kings Canyon NP for a few days before going back to San Francisco to spend a few days in the city. Leave San Francisco and go to Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur for at least a night and drive the Pacific Coast Highway south, stopping at Hearst Castle (reservations needed for the tours). Keep heading south, overnight in Cambria, Morro Bay or San Luis Obispo and/or spend a couple of days. Santa Barbara is also a nice stop and if you want to spend a few days in LA, stay in Santa Monica. Take a day or two poking around Orange County beach towns and/or Disney and then finish the final leg to San DIego. Drop off the car & fly home
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Post by lindywholoveskids on May 27, 2015 15:45:32 GMT
I am from the San Francisco Bay Area. There are lots of things to do around here, like the Academy of Science and the Exploratorium ...Be sure to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Both areas have traffic issues. Commute hours are awful in San Francisco and on the i80 maze to the Bay Bridge. We avoid driving these areas at commute (3pm-6:30 pm at least) We always check the radio AM 740 for traffic reports or look on our smart phones for issues like accidents. Sorry to present a negative issue, but it's part of life around here. It might be nice to stay outside the City (what we call San Francisco!) and go in using BART.
I agree with stopping in Monterey, Cambria, and/ or San Luis Obispo. If you are trying to go to Yosemite, plan now, and call for a reservation in the Valley. it's worth it, but it's almost always crowded. We go in early May. Once there, you can park your car near either Curry Village or the Lodge (depending on where you are staying) and take the free shuttles around the Valley.
Maybe buy tour books. There is entirely too much to see and do in California to begin to post here. Or, if you belong to AAA, you can get maps and tour books as part of your membership. Yosemite has a great website Yosemite.org I think.
Have a great time!!!
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Deleted
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Oct 7, 2024 7:22:29 GMT
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2015 16:01:32 GMT
I like bc2ca plan for you. Whatever you do, don't miss Yosemite. And spend as much time there as you can. Go there first and pass up Kings Canyon if you need to.
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Post by bearmom on May 27, 2015 17:02:38 GMT
Thanks for the suggestions so far. I know I will need to do a lot more research, just trying to get some basics down and get dh on board (he wants to to go on a National Park tour only, but being allergic to everything green makes this less than ideal for me).
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caangel
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Posts: 5,676
Location: So Cal
Jun 26, 2014 16:42:12 GMT
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Post by caangel on May 27, 2015 17:28:54 GMT
For Disney I'd suggest 2 days at DL and 1 at DCA at the minimum.
2 weeks sounds like a lot but remember that CA is BIG. You could do 2 weeks in Nor Cal and the Central Coast easy, and not even hit So Cal. I'd probably suggest choosing either So Cal or Nor/Central Cal. It all can be done in 2 weeks but it would be a busy vacation vs relaxing. Driving from SF to OC/Disney takes about 8-9 hrs, with minimal stops and traffic.
If you focus more on Nor Cal you may want to hit Tahoe, so beautiful!
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Post by sunnyd on May 27, 2015 17:49:55 GMT
I love the entire CA coast! Where are you traveling from? Are you into the beach at all? I would personally only need 1-2 days at Disney & would get a hopper pass for CA Adventure. There is SO much to see right in SF, you don't need a car for most of it & parking is expensive. Our hotel charged $50 per day to park our car. If you do SF to San Diego you'll be driving a LOT! Tons of driving just through the National Parks & traffic on the freeways is mentally exhausting. What are your goals/plans for San Diego? If you need to skip something I'd skip that, although it's GORGEOUS. I'd do SF, Redwood Forest, Yosemite, Disney, Laguna Beach area, Huntington Beach area, your girls would probably love a day in LA & Beverly Hills. Anaheim is a good inexpensive hub for hotels for the LA, Disney, beach plans if you want to stay in the same place for a while. I'm a beach person so give me the ocean any day. We've done SO many road trips to CA; it's our favorite place. Also Big Sur is SO pretty! To me, Monterey was beautiful but didn't require a nights stay or more than a drive thru for me. The highlight to me was the views along the coast highway & the hotels are very pricey in that area. We've stayed there & it was boring to my teenage dd. But the coast highway in that area is a must see (and stop along the way) in the daylight.
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seaexplore
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Apr 25, 2015 23:57:30 GMT
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Post by seaexplore on May 27, 2015 18:26:04 GMT
I live in CA. I've lived in the Bay Area and the central coast. Currently, I live in the Central Valley.
Disney is over rated for me. If your kids want to go, then give at least 2 days. I haven't been in 20 years and at $100/day for ONE park PER person, it's a skip for me.
Like someone else said, you could spend 2 weeks in Nor Cal alone! Do you want warm beaches? Nor Cal beaches are NOT warm. So Cal beaches are warm but frequently crowded. The water is SUPER chilly in the north but the coastline is BEAUTIFUL! For driving times, it is about 8 hours from the Bay Area to San Diego without traffic. It's another 8 hours to the Oregon border. Nor Cal is BEAUTIFUL! It is about 3 hours east to Yosemite from the Bay Area. Nothing much out towards Yosemite unless you want to go to Mammoth to the south.
Day 1: I would fly into San Jose (or Oakland or San Francisco) and drive to Santa Cruz for the day.
Days 2-4: Monterey, Carmel, Cannery Row. You can do that in 2 days or so. Cannery Row and the aquarium can be done in one day, Carmel is a quaint shopping area that is VERY pricey. You can walk thru neighborhoods of super expensive but nice looking beaches homes. You can go a bit south of Carmel and hike at Point Lobos. BEAUTIFUL! That could be a day alone. Stay the night in Big Sur.
Day 5: Get up early and drive to Cambria (south of Monterey/Carmel) and visit Hearst Castle
Day 6: Santa Barbara
Day 7-9: Catalina Island
Day 10-13 Disney/California Adventure/Mideval Times
Day 14: fly home from LAX
If you skip Monterey/Carmel and all that, do it in reverse and visit San Diego first. I love San Diego. You wan walk for miles along the shore. Coronado Island is a good day trip. Hotel Del Coronado does a great brunch.
I'd do a trip of JUST Nor Cal or JUST So Cal. Come back for another 2 weeks and do the other,
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Post by papersilly on May 27, 2015 18:34:08 GMT
you've heard it a million times but i'll say it again. beware of traffic in the los angeles area no matter what days of the week you are here. points of interest may seem close together on the map but with traffic and summer tourist crowds, they might as well be hours away. you may have to pick and choose your battles for the los angeles area points of interest. I would definitely do Disneyland but save the beaches for up north or san diego if you don't want to get stuck in parking hell. IMHO I would skip Hollywood Blvd altogether. it is dirty, gross, congested and not a true representation of "stars and Hollywood".
oh, and let Trip Advisor be your friend.
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smginaz Suzy
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Je suis desole.
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Jun 26, 2014 17:27:30 GMT
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Post by smginaz Suzy on May 27, 2015 19:24:40 GMT
With seaexplore's itinerary, I would fly out of SNA (aka Orange County or John Wayne airport) not LAX.
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Post by hennybutton on May 27, 2015 19:48:11 GMT
I second the motion of either doing Northern California or Southern California. You can get to Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks fairly easily from either. One thing to keep in mind if you're renting a car is that there can be a pretty hefty surcharge if you drop it off at a different location than the one you picked it up at.
I live in Southern California. Frankly, I think you'll enjoy Northern California more, especially if your DH and kids are outdoorsy. You could spend several days in San Francisco and be busy the whole time. If you go, make sure to get to Alcatraz. In addition to Yosemite and Sequoia, go to Muir Woods and Point Reyes.
Gosh, there is so much you can do. Two weeks is not enough.
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smginaz Suzy
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Jun 26, 2014 17:27:30 GMT
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Post by smginaz Suzy on May 27, 2015 20:10:34 GMT
If you are flying southwest into CA, you might rent a car for NorCal, then fly one way from San Jose or Oakland to LAX or Santa Ana, rent a car there, then fly home out of the closest SoCal airport from your last itinerary item. 2 week car rentals with the same pickup and drop locations might cover your airfare. then you could focus your day trips in NorCal and take out the last few days for your Disney days and just let go of the other SoCal sights.
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Post by bc2ca on May 27, 2015 21:08:41 GMT
you've heard it a million times but i'll say it again. beware of traffic in the los angeles area no matter what days of the week you are here. points of interest may seem close together on the map but with traffic and summer tourist crowds, they might as well be hours away. you may have to pick and choose your battles for the los angeles area points of interest. I would definitely do Disneyland but save the beaches for up north or san diego if you don't want to get stuck in parking hell. IMHO I would skip Hollywood Blvd altogether. it is dirty, gross, congested and not a true representation of "stars and Hollywood". oh, and let Trip Advisor be your friend. I really love Los Angeles, but this is so true. I wish there was someway to get from Santa Barbara to south Orange County and into San Diego County without having to go through Los Angeles. bearmom if this is a one time shot to see California, I'd definitely include the drive along the PCH. If you are likely to come back again, I'd do northern CA on this trip, southern on the next. We didn't even talk about exploring Humboldt, Sonoma or Napa Counties yet - all gorgeous. My dream CA trip would have all my time spent between Santa Barbara & Eureka.
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Post by papersilly on May 27, 2015 21:19:49 GMT
My dream CA trip would have all my time spent between Santa Barbara & Eureka. yeah me too. too much concrete jungle in the L.A. area. going up north is always so relaxing to me.
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Post by 2peafaithful on May 27, 2015 21:43:43 GMT
Our favorite CA stops are Santa Barbara and San Diego. We just went to San Diego last month for about 5 days. We stayed in Cardiff By The Sea and loved the area. It was like the best of both worlds. We could drive into the city but had this wonderful, amazing beach town right there. I would go back tomorrow if I could. It was perfection! I have a list of great San Diego places to go and places to eat but won't list them all unless you want me to. We stayed at an airbnb while there and had ocean views, a full kitchen but our place just slept 2. I have looked at other rentals as we will take at least one of our kids back with us because it was close to Legoland.
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Post by kristi on May 27, 2015 21:54:52 GMT
The best trip I have taken in CA (I have lived here for 17 years) was driving the Pacific Coast Hwy. It is amazing. We stopped at Santa Cruz boardwalk, Monterey (awesome aquarium), Big Sur (Bixby Bridge), Cambria (awesome meal @ Moonstone Beach)/Hearst Castle, went to a Dodger game, Santa Monica pier.
I would start in Northern California. So much to do in San Francisco walk/bike across the Golden Gate, go to Alcatraz (get tickets early). I would then go to Muir Woods (get there early). Santa Cruz is a nice beach/surf area with the Boardwalk amusement park. Monterey has the aquarium (you can sign up to feed the animals or go whale watching). Big Sur - make sure you have gas before arriving - we were almost out & paid $5.99 a gallon). Cambria is right by the ocean. The Hearst Castle is great architecture & excess (but worth seeing once - get tickets before you go). For Disney/California Adventure I would get 2 day park hoppers. California Adventure is not an all day park for us (Carsland is awesome) but it is nice to jump back & forth between the two (they are right across from each other & easy/fast walking distance).
From there you could continue to San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica & San Diego. If you wanted to add in Tahoe or Yosemite, I would try to start my trip there & then head to San Francisco & work your way down.
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Post by Scrapper100 on May 27, 2015 23:15:26 GMT
I am a San Diego native that just moved a bit north and my favorite places are in Northern California by far. There area lot of fun things in San Diego but they are crowded and Los Angeles is more so. Yosemite and the redwoods near San Francisco are gorgeous. Sequoia NP is cool to we didn't think Kings Canyon was worth the extra drive though.
Our favorite vacations are to the Eureka area and to the redwoods as there are lots of things for people that like nature. I love the gorgeous beaches but they are not sunny at all usually. There are also cool lagoons, gorgeous rivers, sand dunes, mountains and and of course the most awesome redwoods. If you stayed in the area you may also want to consider Lassen NP as well it is pretty cool. Not sure how far it is from the area and that area will get really warm in the summer. One of the reasons we like the Eureka area is because it is coastal and usually not too hot although two years ago I got a nice sunburn one day walking around and it was much warmer than we anticipated.
Monterey Bay aquarium is a lot of fun, and we really liked the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco and the whole park now it is really $$ to park for the day in the park I think it was $25 or $30.
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Post by bc2ca on May 28, 2015 2:08:28 GMT
Our favorite CA stops are Santa Barbara and San Diego. We just went to San Diego last month for about 5 days. We stayed in Cardiff By The Sea and loved the area. It was like the best of both worlds. We could drive into the city but had this wonderful, amazing beach town right there. I would go back tomorrow if I could. It was perfection! I have a list of great San Diego places to go and places to eat but won't list them all unless you want me to. We stayed at an airbnb while there and had ocean views, a full kitchen but our place just slept 2. I have looked at other rentals as we will take at least one of our kids back with us because it was close to Legoland. Cardiff is a great base to explore San Diego County. I hope Pacific Coast Grill was on the list of restaurants you tried .
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Post by 2peafaithful on May 28, 2015 2:51:37 GMT
bc2ca-It was and we loved it Perfect views and great dining. It was walking distance to our rental.
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Post by bearmom on May 30, 2015 17:02:06 GMT
Thanks for all the suggestions so far.
We are coming from Michigan.
It is going to be hard to narrow down what to do and see. I have written down everyone's plans and will start plotting them out.
If we stayed Southern California are there any spectacular National Parks? This is going to be the key for dh.
Northern California, any good beaches? I know So Calif has good beaches, but they seem crowded? Swimming isn't as important, but xl being able to chill and relax would be.
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Post by ntsf on May 30, 2015 18:13:59 GMT
forget swimming in northern CA...except...you could go at aquatic park in SF--water is about 55 degrees year round. there is not a place to change except for private swim clubs. but you can swim. we go to our beaches in hoodies and bundled up. there are many rip currents and it can be extremely dangerous to go into the water or near water in ocean beaches all through northern CA.
but the best parks are in Northern CA. yosemite, kings canyon..pt reyes..1 hour north of SF, muir woods.. go by 8 am.. 20 minutes from sf.. Lassen is beautiful and remote--about 5 hours from SF. Redwoods national park is spread out..again--4-5 hours north of SF. big sur coast..from sf to santa barbara about a 10-12 hour drive.
traffic can be a nightmare...
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raindancer
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Jun 26, 2014 20:10:29 GMT
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Post by raindancer on May 30, 2015 18:20:15 GMT
I agree with the start in the north and travel south. It's a fun trip!
I disagree with Disneyland being a skip. Two days should be plenty on a trip like that, but it's worth it, IMO. I personally LOVE San Diego over SF so if I had a choice my time would be spent more there than in SF. The bay cruise for dinners are awesome though. I would recommend any an all of the parks/touristy places in SD other than Seaworld. And not because of blackfish, but because I just felt like that whole place was kind of dirty, and really disjointed. Is a theme park? A place for animal conservation? A circus? Ugh.
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caangel
Drama Llama
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Jun 26, 2014 16:42:12 GMT
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Post by caangel on May 30, 2015 19:43:35 GMT
Thanks for all the suggestions so far. We are coming from Michigan. It is going to be hard to narrow down what to do and see. I have written down everyone's plans and will start plotting them out. If we stayed Southern California are there any spectacular National Parks? This is going to be the key for dh. Northern California, any good beaches? I know So Calif has good beaches, but they seem crowded? Swimming isn't as important, but xl being able to chill and relax would be. Southern CA is close to a desert. There are NP but these are not forest type of NP. Think dry brush with some Oak trees in the lower areas. We are dry most of the year normally and even more so with the drought. If you see photos of So Cal with green natural landscape it was taken in the winter. The parks are pretty for what they are but they are not lush. Although beaches are crowded they are big for the most part. Huntington Beach, for example, it is a long walk on the sand to get from the street to the water plentry of space. We have regularly gone to the beach on the 4th and Memorial Day. Parking is a pain but there is plenty of space on the sand. Also remember that the water at So Cal beaches are cold. Our currents come down the coast from AK.
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Post by crittsmom on May 30, 2015 20:49:51 GMT
I've lived in southern California most of my life, I think the original plan sounds pretty good. My must see places would be Yosemite, San Francisco, and Disneyland. The only national park out this way is Joshua Tree in the desert and it will be hot there during the summer. I also think you need to hit Mission San Juan Capistrano in Orange County, to get a feel for California history. Alcatraz in San Francisco is also a a national park (just saying). Carlsbad and Oceanside beaches are less crowded than Orange County. Everyone has such great suggestions. It is alot of driving here, its a pretty big state.
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AmeliaBloomer
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Jun 26, 2014 5:01:45 GMT
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Post by AmeliaBloomer on May 30, 2015 22:46:36 GMT
We did a trip similar to bc2ca's suggestion.
Some suggestions: -We flew into Fresno to do Yosemite first, so avoided the drive from the SF area. -I remember taking a cab maybe seven miles from the Fresno airport to pick up the rental car, which made our fee considerably lower. (It's amazing the amount you can shave off when you play around with pick up/drop off options on those car rental sites.) -I was really looking forward to the drive down the PCH, but that day was so foggy, we barely saw anything! And it's a loooong drive. -The three things I reserved the most in advance were Yosemite accommodations (Curry Village cabins), the night Alcatraz tour, and Hearst Mansion. -A book about ways to optimize your time at Disney is worth the price. -Yes, Trip Advisor is your friend. -Our trip became less ambitious as we planned it. Editing is hard, but often you have to make those elimination decisions.
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Post by hennybutton on May 30, 2015 23:01:39 GMT
We did a trip similar to bc2ca's suggestion. Some suggestions: -We flew into Fresno, which saved us the drive from the SF area. -I remember taking a cab maybe seven miles from the Fresno airport to pick up the rental car, which made our fee considerably lower. (It's amazing the amount you can shave off when you play around with pick up/drop off options on those car rental sites.) -I was really looking forward to the drive down the PCH, but that day was so foggy, we barely saw anything! And it's a loooong drive. -The three things I reserved the most in advance were Yosemite accommodations (Curry Village cabins), the night Alcatraz tour, and Hearst Mansion. -A book about ways to optimize your time at Disney is worth the price. There's an airport in Fresno? That would be a great place to start. I forgot about Hearst Castle. If you're driving PCH between LA and SF, it's about halfway. The history is really interesting. The only National Park I can think of in Southern California is Death Valley. It is not a place to visit in summer. I thinkJoshua Tree is a National Monument, not a park. Yosemite will be very crowded. I would go to Sequoia/King's Canyon instead. You can drive through Yosemite coming or going from there.
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caangel
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Post by caangel on May 30, 2015 23:13:16 GMT
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AmeliaBloomer
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Post by AmeliaBloomer on May 30, 2015 23:37:02 GMT
There's an airport in Fresno? Yup. We were using United miles and it didn't require any more miles to go to Fresno. Helped with the car rental cost, too. btw: I also tried to save money on the California rental by dropping off the car in SF and then renting again three days later when we headed south. Weirdly, it cost much less to keep the car and pay the crazy hotel parking prices in SF. Those car rental logarithms are a mysterious thing...
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Post by lindywholoveskids on May 31, 2015 0:13:17 GMT
It's almost like CA is two states! I much prefer the things we can do in Nor Cal. Nothing compares to Yosemite! You hopefully have checked out reservations already. Private message me if you want to know ins and outs of getting accommodations in the Yosemite Valley. It's kinda my favorite place in the world.
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caangel
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Post by caangel on May 31, 2015 2:27:25 GMT
It's almost like CA is two states! ^^^that! You really have to think of it this way. Or even 3 states: Nor Cal, Central Coast and So Cal. If it is possible that you may come back the focus on one area. If you really want to see NP then do Central and Nor Cal. Again it is possible to do it all but it will be a TON of driving... in traffic or the middle of nowhere or both together which is the worst.
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