Fantasy California road trip

[BeanCalledPickle]

I’m pretty much giving up on thoughts of this years holiday! So next summer I want to do a California road trip with two DDs who will be seven and nine. Vague plan is into SFO and de jet lag there. Trip over to Sausalito and Muir Woods. Then drive down to Camel and Monterey. I’d like to go to Yosemite but have no idea where to start and am massively put off by the traffic and parking horror stories! Then via somewhere to Vegas. I know not California! Then back to LA for theme parks. What should I be doing, what am I missing and how long do I need?!?

[StarcourtMall]

We did some of that a couple of years ago, but started in Oregon so went via Mount Shasta, Sacramento, San Francisco, Monterey, LA and then finished at Disneyland. We didn’t have time for Yosemite unfortunately.
It was all great, but we particularly liked Monterey / Pacific Grove (Carmel was a bit posh for us) and seeing the sights in LA.
We stayed near Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, but found it noisy, crowded, dirty and expensive and I think we’d have been better staying in Sausalito or maybe the North Beach area which we liked.
Other than that, it was great - our best family holiday ever!

[ineedaholidayandwine]

We're planning this too OP

We did the Pacific Coast drive 3 years ago and loved it, started in LA and finished in Seattle, decided we wanted to go back and do Cali as one holiday then Oregon and Washington as another holiday.
Yosemite is amazing! We've done 3 days there already and need more, need to get there early before the crowds, stay as close to a park entrance as you can.
Our itinerary is:

California – 3 weeks: inc Hearst castle
• San Francisco
• Monterey/Carmel
• Santa Barbara
• San Diego
• (Somewhere in between, not sure)
• Kings Canyon NP
• Yosemite NP
• Tahoe
• San Francisco

[ineedaholidayandwine]

San Fran we stayed near Union Square, next time we're looking at the wharf for easy access to Alcatraz plus it looking a nicer location

[Fearnecuptea]

We did this 3 years ago in October during a crazy heatwave. It was amazing, I find myself daydreaming about it constantly these days! Started at LA, went to Yosemite (stunning, the fresh alpine smells there and views omg, so much better than I'd even imagined), grand canyon, death valley, Las Vegas (which I think is pretty meh), did the Pacific coast and stayed in Carmel (where we saw Clint Eastwood!), ended in San Francisco. We hired a car, picked a route and booked up airbnb, it was super easy to put together as so many gorgeous places to choose from in CA/Nevada. This post has made me remember it all so vividly, would love to go back in a few years.

[AttilaTheMeerkat]

Las Vegas is incredibly hot in summertime so I would avoid that time of year.

Do not underestimate driving distances here, California as a state is similar to the UK in terms of length and you do not want to spend any more time than necessary behind the wheel.

Muir woods, Carmel and Monterey and Sausalito are accessible from San Francisco on day trips. Same with Yosemite but that’s a long day.
Personally I would make this a two centre holiday with a week in each and fly between SF and LA. If you stay in the city of Anaheim you are near both Disneyland and California Adventure theme parks and Knotts Berry Farm is located in Buena Park, again not too far from Anaheim.

[astuz]

I'm planning this as well! I promised my DD that we'd do California if she worked hard for her GCSEs (which she has) - we've been talking about it for at least the last 2 years, but now it's looking like we might not be able to go, so annoying. And for various reasons, we probably won't be able to go next year, so 2023 is the earliest we can do it. It seems like such an age away.

[londontonyc]

We did this in 2019.

• 3 days in San Francisco, (do book Alcatraz trip well in advance)
• on to Yosemite
• through the park to Lone Pine 1 night to break up the journey
• through Death Valley to Las Vegas
• 1 night at the Grand Canyon as it's a long day otherwise
• back to Vegas,

Was a great holiday, we think about it often. Would love to back and do more coast but LA doesn't really appeal.

[Aria999]

Yes careful of the distances.

We did a wonderful two week trip starting in LA (where we lived at the time) and finishing in San Francisco. If you try to take in too much you will end up doing a lot of driving. Big Sur was particularly good.

Yosemite is amazing just don't go on Memorial Day like we accidentally did the second time.

[SummerLightning]

I live in California and Tahoe and Yosemite are my favourite places in the world. Distances are long but driving is pretty easy going out here as the freeways are wide and it's a bit less stressful to drive and usually less busy if you avoid rush hours.

If you come in the summer, unfortunately you may need to have back up plans in case of fire. My brother came out here and we had to skip Yosemite as it was on fire. Last summer most of the bay area, SF and Santa Cruz were either on fire or under a blanket of smoke for about a month.

[Lilybeanbag]

We did 5 days from Sean Diego to San Francisco a few years ago and wish we'd done the full two weeks driving around but we crammed in:
Santa Barbara zoo
Moray Rock (to see the sea otters)
Santa Cruz
San Fran for the day + Alcatraz
The Mystery Spot (VERY highly recommended)
A night at the Madonna Inn (even more highly recommended)
Stopped at a country store to buy proper cowboy boots
Whale watching on the way back to SD, just past LA.
Was knackering, as PP said the distances are massive, I think we did between 6/8 hours a day but it was amazing.

[Beemail1]

Some great recommendations here. Also planning a trip for next year if all well.

[fiveminutebreak]

Yosemite is a must! We stayed at Curry village which is not too expensive and they have canvas cabins. Rustic but v good location.You need to book well in advance though, like now if you can!
Redwood forests / state park
Drive the 101 from Sfo down to LA or San Diego. If you don't mind a bit of risk you could just stop where you feel like it rather than book hotels in advance, especially if you don't mind budget chains.
For SF , if you want to do the trip to Alcatraz you need to book well in advance. Don't make our mistake and try and get ticets on the day
LA itself isn't amazing but the beaches are v good.
There is also Zion national park and of course the Grand Canyon - which is actually doable from LV. I would fit it in if you can.
I haven't been to San Diego but heard lots of good things about it, lots to do and great beaches. It's about 2.5 hours from LA.
Driving in LA is awful, v bad traffic.
You could probably do it all in about 2.5 weeks, though you may need longer for the parks.

[zafferana]

We're due to go in August for 21 nights. DH and I have been to many of the places before, but it's the first time we're due to take our DC (aged 13 and 10).

The route we're taking is San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Monterey, Pismo Beach, Santa Barbara, LA. We've been to Vegas before and have no interest in going back, especially with DC. Vegas is a good gateway city from the UK if you're doing Grand Canyon and other NPs around there, but otherwise it's not worth the detour IMO. I'd stick to CA with DC the age that yours are.

You can map your route using Google maps. We're aiming to never drive more than 4 hours in one day - the longest stretches being SF-Tahoe, Tahoe-Yosemite and Yosemite-Monterey.

[Aria999]

LA is actually amazing but it's hard to be a tourist in.

We're back here on vacation right now (fully vaccinated, moved away just before covid) and have spent a very happy and full six days here.

Beaches, museums, wonderful restaurants, hiking in Santa Monica mountains...

[Bouledeneige]

I did the following by myself with my two DC:
San Fran
Yosemite
Monterey
Cambria
Santa Monica
Grand Canyon
(Hoover dam on the way)
Las Vegas
Barstow
Lots Angeles

Depends when you're going. Yosemite us boiling in August. We went and loved it but cut our stay short. And got back to the cooler coast. Obviously Las Vegas is boiling too but it's in a desert.

There are so many options. If you don't want to do Vegas you can also keep going down to San Diego or Palm Springs. Or stop at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo.

[Wasabiprawns]

I did similar last year with 2 kids ages 11 & 9. We did:
-San Francisco 2 nights 1day- cut short due to COVID so we went to Sonoma for a couple of nights, coast was dramatic
-2 day, 1 night wilderness rafting trip - all organised, slept at the side of the river, under the stars

• 4 days in Yosemite- stayed in the cabins
  
• 2 days in sequoia& kings canyon
  
• headed to Cambria on the coast for a more chilled time - did kayaking trip on morro bay,
  

Drive back up the coast and stayed in Carmel for a few nights before leaving from SF

The coast is amazing (bit chilly) and I would stay in Big Sur area instead of Carmel but it was booked up even in COVID

Advice would be to book this year for next summer and in September for the national parks. The coast is so dramatic, definitely to Yosemite!

[SourLemons]

Sorry to jump in but these replies all sound amazing and it's something I would love to do... what kind of cost is a holiday like this?

[Wasabiprawns]

Don’t worry about the driving outside of LA, that should be fine. La won’t be great for driving though due to traffic.

[Wasabiprawns]

I think we spent about 4K but we live in Boston so the flight would be cheaper. I economise on accommodation when we are passing through and try to book places with breakfast included otherwise that’s another $80 for a family of 4,

[astuz]

I reckon we're looking at 8k or more for a family of four (not including spending money). Flights we're about £600 each when I looked a few weeks ago, so that's £2400 for starters. Trailfinders quoted me something like £8400.

[zafferana]

@SourLemons

Sorry to jump in but these replies all sound amazing and it's something I would love to do... what kind of cost is a holiday like this?

For a family of four flying from the UK during UK school summer holidays it's hard to do it for less than £10k @SourLemons. You can shave off a bit here and there by flying indirect, staying in cheap motels and self catering and if you are on a tight budget there are FB groups where you can get advice on coupon schemes, loyalty cards for restaurant chains, etc, but flights, accommodation and entrance fees to attractions soon add up.

[Fearnecuptea]

The flights were around £600 to LA at the time, car was quite cheap and Airbnb was a bargain (we stayed near Silverlake but in the tiniest apartment which I didn't mind at all as we were out most of the time). Other places on the road were all cheap motels/ cheap Airbnb's (some of them were so full of character! great memories). All in all maybe £2500 each without spending money for two weeks. We saved for a year! it was definitely worth it.

[Aria999]

Flights seem expensive at the moment, probably a covid thing.

LA driving is an interesting experience. You need to make peace with VERY small distances between the cars on the freeway but it seems to work...

[Belindabelle]

We flew in and out of SF as it was much cheaper.

San Francisco. Drove to Bodega Bay and did Muir Woods.
Monterey. Saw whales, loved Carmel, 17 mile drive. Down to Big Sur.
Las Vegas. Base for Hoover Dam.
Death Valley. Amazing.
Mammoth. Stop over.
Yosemite. Breathtaking.
Back to SF

I would do it all again tomorrow if I could.

We didn’t attempt Grand Canyon as apparently the trip from Las Vegas isn’t the real deal and you need more time to visit. Didn’t do LA either. We hope to go back and visit that area along with San Diego.

Highlights include:

One night in the pool in Death Valley with high temperatures, then the next night being in the pool in Mammoth with flurries of snow.

Driving from Monterey to Las Vegas and eating in traditional diners.

Driving over the Bixby Bridge and the waves on the Big Sur beaches.

Climbing Sentinel Dome and seeing the view.

Getting the train out to Ocean Beach and my first glimpse of the Pacific.

I will shut up now. I could go on about it for hours. Best holiday ever.