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.

Can anyone recommend places to stay north of San Fran? We are tentatively thinking of San Fran and around then on to Vancouver over three weeks but it's such a distance to cover..perhaps I'm being unrealistic

TanteRose I usually recommend WB too but I’m not sure of the age restriction.

We’re doing it again when we go back in May as they’ve now added the Big Bang Theory set to it. We went into the BBT sound stage last time and saw it but now it’s available for you to be photographed on like the Central Perk one.

We have done similar.

We stayed at Evergreen Lodge for Yosemite. It is outside the park but easy enough drive in. We only had 2 nights there - I'd have liked to stay longer.

We stayed at this place in West Hollywood - LA. It's opposite the CBS studios where James Corden films the Late Late show. Unfortunately did not realise until too late and did not manage to get tickets. We watched other people line up - they had to q for a long time! It was easy enough to find and to drive around LA.

We flew in to San Francisco and did not pick the car up until we were ready to leave SF. It saved having to find parking in the city. We just went back to the airport and got the car to drive out to Yosemite.

@MadisonAvenue oh right! Yes would be better to check.

We saw the BBT sound stage too (just before New Year last year) and they were just about to start filming the final season

Would be fab to check out the BBT set! The Friends set was brilliant - sitting on the sofa in Central Perk etc.

@Cotonshaded I always recommend Lassen Volcanic park, which is a few hours north of SF. We stayed at Chico (remember it being a uni town?) and Redding (different trips). Think Eureka was the furthest north we made it (it had a fab microbrewery that served oysters but that was 25 years ago).

@Cotonshaded
I wouldn't attempt SF and Vancouver in one trip. They're too far apart, unless you want to spend most days driving!
I've been to Vancouver and you could easily spend 3 weeks there. We did 3 days in the city, a week on Vancouver island staying in an ocean front cabin on the Pacific coast, 3 days in Whistler, a coup,e of days in Penticton visiting relatives then back to Vancouver for another 2 nights.

We stayed here for Yosemite, about 20 minutes outside the park.
www.yosemitebug.com
It was far cheaper than staying in the park. It's quite 'rustic' but our DD loved it there. It's just outside Mariposa, a lovely town with nice places to eat.

We did 3 weeks
Flew into Las Vegas and home from San Diego
2 nights Las Vegas
2 nights Flagstaf for grand canyon flight and trip on Colorado river

1 night Grand Canyon north rim
1 night lv again
Bishop

4 Nights Airbnb Yosemite
5 nights San Francisco
1 night Monteray
1 night Santa Barbara
2 nights LA
3 nights San Diego

Ds were late teens
Warner bros in LA was a big hit as was Observatory , We drove through Death Valley.
Also did Hoover Dam
Alcatraz worth paying extra for Behind the scenes tour
Disney Museum in SF was good , more suitable for adults though
San Diego zoo is excellent