California adventure-advice please?

[AmericanAdventure]

We are thinking of going to California in the summer. Wondering if anyone else has done anything similar and has any advice or ideas to pack in loads of great experiences.

We have 3 weeks. Will fly there from the Heathrow and hire a car.. Would definitely like to see San Francisco, Disney, Grand Canyon (not Cal but close enough).

Looking for places to stay, areas to avoid, activities not to miss, car hire recommendations, best route to take etc.

Thanks to anyone who can share any I formation.

*information

Where are you flying into?

The Grand Canyon is quite a drive from either LA or San Francisco. Maybe you could make that your last stop and fly back to Heathrow from Las Vegas?

Are you flying into LAX? I would definitely avoid Hollywood, as it's actually not that great, unless it's something you have your heart set on. How many in your family? Ages of kids? That will help with recommendations 🙂

Following as I’m planning a similar trip
So far I’ve just booked return flights to San Francisco . I’d like to stop in Monterey , down to Disney and universal in LA and then back to SF via sequoia national park and Yosemite
Only have two weeks so won’t be going as far as you
Are you thinking of booking all accommodation in advance or looking for motels while you’re there
Good luck with planning

So we haven't decided whether to fly to LAX and drive round and up to San Fran, or to fly to San Fran and drive down to LA.

Not really too bothered about Hollywood. But would like to do Universal.

There are four of us. DS 10 and DD 6.

We flew in to SF, then Yosemite, then Las Vegas, Gand Canyon, LA and back up the coast via Monterey to SF. If I was to do it again I wouldn't drive from LV to GC, I would do a trip from LV by plane. Actually I wouldn't go to LV, but we did just a bit too much driving.

I'm hoping to book most accom before we go but only because I'm terrified of being stuck without somewhere to stay. Also wondering if Air BnB is sensible or to stick to hotels. @CallSignCharlie happy planning. Xx

CallSignCharlie, are you planning on driving from SF to LA and back? That's a LOT of driving.

San Fran gets mixed reviews on MN. I love it; been 6 times. Visit Alcatraz, ride the trolley bus, walk along Haight, cross to Berkeley and drive to the Redwoods and Napa.

Not sure if Big Sur is open now. We stay at Glenn Oaks.

Yosemite is beautiful. Great to cycle and picnic. Accommodation books up very quickly.

We like Santa Monica to visit Disney, Universal and LA. You can hire bikes and skates in Venice and travel the beach path. Malibu is great. We like Point Doom.

The Grand Canyon is jaw dropping. I LOVE the Hoover Dam, built in the recession it’s architecture is Art Deco.

How much are you budgeting- out of interest because we want to go.

Forgot Monterey- love it there too

@TSSDNCOP where would recommend basing ourselves in San Fran and how many days to do it justice?

Yes if you want to stay inside Yosemite you need to book now. We did Airbnb mostly except for Yosemite.

What is there to do in Monterey?

Whale watching & the fabulous aquarium.

So exciting to read all your suggestions and get ideas

At the moment I’m planning on driving from SF to LA and back . If that’s too crazy I might look at internal flights one way
( especially as it’s just me and DS - no one to share the driving with )

I'm hoping to spend no more than 10k but realistically probably 15???

I think the drive is only about 5.5 hours. We are going for three weeks so the long drives aren't eating into our fun time too much.

@Mustbetimeforachange were you Airbnb experiences all OK? Bit paranoid.

We're going back again to Los Angeles in May, we love the area.

Be prepared to be in the car for hours on end as you drive between places, and even going short distances around LA can take ages due to the amount of traffic.

The Griffith Observatory is a favourite of ours, especially for sunset, and Griffith Park itself is an interesting place to spend a few hours with enough to keep children occupied.

For Disney you'll probably need two days - a day for the Magic Kingdom and another for California Adventure.
For Universal you'll only need a day, it's not a huge park.

The Hoover Dam is a must see if you're visiting the Grand Canyon.

Have a look at an app called Roadtrippers for planning this sort of trip. I've found it very useful for travelling in the US. It'll tell you the distance and travel time between destinations. roadtrippers.com/
I recommend Monterey, Sequoia, Yosemite as great places to visit in California. Hiring bikes in Yosemite is a lovely way to explore the valley.
Universal Studios is great and Santa Monica is nice. If you're into art, the Getty collection in LA is worth a visit.
If you're keen to include the Grand Canyon, consider doing 'open jaw' flights, eg into SF and out of Las Vegas. I'm sure you'll have a fabulous time. Enjoy!

They were all fine, although I have in the back of my mind that the rules may have changed in SF in the last couple of years. If you are on your own I would try not to do so much driving. It could take you 3 hours to get on or out of LA, the traffic is horrendous. On the freeways there can be 70 miles between junctions/gas stations. The driving was ok for us as there were 2 & the kids were older, but we did spend about 4 of our days doing nothing but driving. We could have saved some by flying to GC from LV or maybe LA?

@KungFuFriday thanks for those tips. I'll have a look for the app now.

SF is lovely but can be a bit full-on. You need to do the cable car and Fishermans Wharf, Chinatown and the sea-lions. We did 2 weeks there in the summer and we stayed in Sausalito. A quick drive into the city (toll-payable) or a lovely ferry ride. My DS and his partner got the bus in most days, but Uber/Lyft weren't prohibitive.

Further down the coast Hearst Castle is amazing. The Madonna Inn is mad. Not a huge fan of LA but glad we did it.