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.

Get yourself onto tripadvisor and the California and road trip forum....tons of advice on there from people who have done similar trips to yours, and of course you can ask any specific questions to your trip.

We are doing this trip in August - 3 weeks flying into and out of San Francisco. The plan is 3 nights sf, 2 nights Lake Tahoe, 3 nights Yosemite (the only accommodation booked at the moment) then onto LA and then drive back up the coast to sf?

We decided against Las Vegas and Grand Canyon as we thought the drive would be too much! There are 4 of us 2 adults 2 kids, 15 and 10.

I am sort of budgeting on £200 per night max but this is proving to be difficult in some destinations, we won’t go too basic and sometimes £200 is buying us some really (imho) dingy accommodation. I’m looking at a mixture of Airbnb and hotel bookings plus other sites like owners direct - all accommodation will be booked beforehand as I need a plan!

I like a motor hotel or boutique hotel. I’m a complete nut for anything built from 1920 to 1950 OP. This may not be to your taste though they’re usually well priced for city accommodation and sometimes around a pool. San Fran isn’t a massive city it’s easy to get about. I’d allow 4 nights, 3 days minimum. Then drive down the PCH. Is it all open again? Monterey is a pretty seaside town. Beach, cute shops and restaurants.

If land in SF and fly home from LaX or LV.

Thanks everyone. @TSSDNCOP I think we have to stay in at least one motel type place. They are pretty iconic and I doubt we'll ever get back to that side of the states so I reckon that's a must do. 😁

They are truly fab OP, it’s so evocative! SF is in my top 3 cities the other two being Boston and DC. But everywhere I’m drawn to the snips of Deco. Just wonderful!!

Done similar a couple of times

Flew into Vegas and did the huge drive to GC and sites then stayed in GC couple of days.

Stayed a few nights in Vegas

Drove to Death Val and stayed 2 nights

Drove up to Yosemite stopped in mammoth Lakes and then over Tioga pass which had only just reopened.

Stayed in Oakhurst for 2 nights

Drove to SF and stayed 4 nights.

Then drove down H1 to LAX to return flight staying in Canberra along way.

Also did trip the other way around stopping at other places and also did a

San Diego to Palm Springs to LAX and inland which was fantastic.

All pre DC though

Madonna Inn

St Louis Obispo

@MarthasGinYard those trips sound amazing. I'm not sure Vegas would be great with the kids?? As much as I'd love it.

We stayed at the most amazing place in Palm Springs. They claimed that FDR stayed there and it had a wheelchair ramp that enabled the disabled to wheel down into the spa waters.

AA you are quite wrong. Kids are everywhere in LV.

@TSSDNCOP would you mind telling me what is was called?

I'd fly in to San Fran and then along the coast, including the Big Sur if its open, and then fly out of LAX.

It's such a wonderful route and there's so much to do:

• San Fran itself you won't need a car really while you explore here but when you pick up a hire car you can drive across the bridge to Sausalito. It's in the opposite direction but well worth the detour

-Santa Cruz- I've never stayed overnight here but it's worth a stop to see the pier and the attractions. -Monterey/Carmel by the sea - Very close to each other but both lovely and well worth a visit. Point Lobos National Park is a must see. -Cambria- We did an overnight at Moonstone Beach to break up the driving and it was lovely. Very quiet and peaceful.

• Santa Barbara - Great shopping, nice pier. I believe there are nice vineyards in the area but I haven't been
• LA - We split our time here between Santa Monica and Hollywood. There's so much to do. I'd recommend getting tickets to watch a TV show being filmed if you can.

Are you going with kids?

Wherever you fly into, have a couple of days to get over the flight before you pick up a hire car.

Look at the car hire brokers like RentalCars and HolidayAutos and book through a cash back site where you can. An SUV will let everyone see more stuff when travelling.

Don’t underestimate distances - we did about 3500 miles in just under 4 weeks (San Diego - LA - SF - Reno - Yosemite - Death Valley - Vegas - San Diego).

SF - we stayed in Oakland and took the train into town (we had a car by then and hotel parking in the city is not cheap).

Lots of hotels have laundry facilities which makes life easier.

The one way car hire fee can be worth it to save driving all the way back to the start of your trip. Check out the cost versus driving unless you plan a loop to take in all that you want to do.

Book Alcatraz well in advance.

LA - Hollywood is a bit seedy, Griffiths Observatory is good for a visit. The Getty Centre is also good (think you need to book in advance?) but your children might not be so interested. Venice Beach is worth seeing, and Santa Monica Pier is the end of Route 66.

Expect long queues at Universal Studios in summer (although there are signs to tell you wait times). You can pre buy tickets in the UK. Pay more to jump the queues.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon are fantastic - and much quieter than Yosemite (Kings Canyon is like a mini Yosemite).

Hotels.com will give you a free night with every 10 nights you book with them. The chains are reasonable quality and not too expensive - La Quinta, Hampton Inn, Best Western etc.

In more rural areas people eat early (not much open after 8pm).

Hoover Dam is stunning but it will be scorching in the height of summer. Ditto Death Valley.

We did 4 weeks for 4 of us (no expense spared) for £10k in 2015. That included a helicopter flight over the Grand Canyon from Vegas - that was brilliant and was much easier than trying to drive to the rim and then stay. Expensive though at £150 per head (but good fun).

We drove one way, sf to San Diego. Our dc slept on the big sur drive 😂
They loved Yosemite. Wish we'd had longer in San Diego. Family vote that Hollywood is Croydon in the sun

@ContinuityError and @Adviceplease1234 thanks so much for the advice. Fantastic tips. Love the idea of watching a TV show being filmed and of the helicopter over the GC. Also good to know that my budget isn't Completely bonkers.

So in the big national parks.. Yosemite etc, what can we do. Littlest is a whinger on long hikes but can manage for about an hour each way. Is getting there with her bike and hoping to be much better by summer but are the trails very difficult and hilly?

We got the hire car delivered to our hotel a couple of days into the holiday. Far nicer than picking it up from the airport after the flight.

We did a two week trip this year.

Vegas (three nights), Arizona/Grand Canyon (one night), California coast (two nights- one in Ventura, one in Santa Barbara), Yosemite (one night), Mammoth Lakes (two nights), San Francisco (three nights)

Booked everything ourselves, flights (flew to Vegas, flew from San Francisco), car hire (recommend Sixt), hotels - varying price ranges and def read extensive reviews!

Highly recommend Yosemite and Mammoth Lakes, could have done the whole trip just at these two.

We did similar 4 years ago, flew to Vegas and did the Grand Canyon then flew to SF, hired a car and drove down the PCH stopping in Carmel, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, LA and ending up with a few days in San Diego before flying home from LA.

We flew to LAX and did Disney for 3 days before going to Huntington for 2 days, San Diego for 5 days and then Palm Springs for 2 days before flying home.

We did a fly drive with BA and booked it all through them. Highly recommend San Diego. Could have spent the entire holiday there!!

We stayed at Mammoth Lakes to the west of Yosemite, then drove through the park. We walked up Lembert Dome (as we could park easily and it was a gentle walk with great views from the top) which is on the Tioga Pass side. Yosemite Village was very busy and we didn’t attempt Glacier Point. TBH, I preferred Kings Canyon - a mini Yosemite with stunning scenery and much quieter. Sequoia is a must for big trees (and we saw a bear there too).

I lived there for a while and 6 hours may seem a lot between LA and San Fran but the roads are different and a lot of the scenery on the drive is spectacular. It's nothing like driving in the UK. I've not been for a good few years now but all places that have been recommended are fantastic. LA was the worst so would spend the least amount of time there. Good to do though in a day, maybe book a tour bus as that stops at all the main places. They have them in san fran as well and they're handy enough when you consider the cost and convenience in stopping at main tourist attractions. Can get multi day passes too. Driving and parking in both cities is horrendous so once you have a base either walk or taxi or tour bus. Public transport is great in SF but awful and a bit scary at times in LA. Vegas is so worth it even with kids. It's an unreal place and close to the Grand Canyon so I would say worth a stop for a while at least. Monterey is lovely and as has been said there is a great aquarium and the clam chowder is second to none! With regards to accommodation, definitely book in advance. Air b&b anywhere can either be amazing or terrible and cancelled last minute so that's your decision but will give you scope to buy local produce and cook. There are plenty of cheap motels/travelodge etc. Some are creepy but with the internet nowadays you can check reviews online so should be okay. Highway 1 is incredible to drive so dont try a shorter route inland if possible. I also agree with pp about San Diego. It's totally different to sf and la and will be warm any time of year. Fabulous beaches. Depending where you are in LA about a 2 hour drive. I've also driven from LA to Vegas before and it's not horrific. Make sure you hire a high enough and comfortable car and you'll be fine. Maybe even a convertible and drive part of highway 66????? You're going to love it all of you that are planning to go. Let me know if you need specifics on other towns. I can also recommend some generic food places/tourist attractions but some info may be put of date as been a while. Oh and book Alcatraz early!!!!! Evening tours when sun is setting are just incredible over the bay.

@marthasginyard I always wanted to go to madonna inn! Lived in San Luis Obispo for a while and although a college town it's pretty enough to visit for a day or so as a stop off. Lovely wineries nearby without the extortionate prices of Napa.

Another thought. Disneyland there is great but pretty small compared to Florida and incredibly similar to Paris if you've been before. The neighbouring park California Adventures has a lot more to do and amazing rides so maybe spend 2 days in Anaheim or more if wanting to do universal nearish by.