AIBU to ask for California travel top tips?

[QueenArnica]

Have posted in travel and had some great replies but feeling a but overwhelmed with where to start hence posting for traffic.

We are doing a road trip of Californina in August, me dh, dd (14) and ds (11).

Car and accommodation are booked, just want to make sure that we see the best sights, eat at the best places so any top tips or suggestions gratefully received.

We are in San Francisco for 4 days and will do the obvious (Fisherman’s Wharf, Alcatraz, trams maybe cycle across Golden Gate Bridge)

We then drive to Yosemite for 3 days, then on to Monterey/Carmel for 2 days (maybe whale watching), then on to Santa Barbara for 4 days, Hollywood for 3 days (booked VIP tour of Universal) and then last stop Newport Beach for some R and R.

Thanks in advance!

If you want another twisty turny road with great views (and less chance of fog), you could drive through Rancho Palos Verdes on the way down to Newport ... more great homes to see here too

In particular you could visit the Wayfarers Chapel; go, and you'll see why I suggest what sounds as if it might be a bit pointless

Don’t go to Santa Cruz

Santa Monica is lovely.

If you do the VIP universal one book an earlier one otherwise you risk only going on the rides once each if it’s too late, although the no queing is great, and the food was really good. We also did the Warner Studio VIP tour which was good.

If you’re driving always add 45-60 minutes to any journey, the traffic levels are high!

I thought a part of the Coast road from SF to LA was currently closed due to a landslide, they may have cleared it but worth checking.

There is a shopping centre in Hollywood, I can’t remember the name but if you go to the top floor you can also see the Hollywood sign from there.

Hearst Castle on your way down the coast, Venice Beach, Santa Monica pier, In-N-Out for a burger, PF Chang’s for Chinese

It's worth stopping at the Madonna Inn just to visit the toilets! 😂😂😂 If you are going south on the 101 it's just after the grade.

Ginorchoc That would be The Grove shopping centre, it's a lovely outdoor mall attached to a farmers market.

Actually looking at your schedule I’d knock Santa Barbera down and add a night on big sur We stayed here, great fun and add a night in Santa Monica.

That’s the one!

Also, if you’re as anal as me pre-book restaurants that are anywhere near sea/beach/piers or you’ll kick yourself when they’re all fully booked.

If you want a really close look at the Hollywood sign you could try Lake Hollywood Park on Canyon Lake Drive ... you'd need a good map, though

Stop at a supermarket and buy a cheap polystyrene ice box for the car and a bag of ice. Fill up with sodas etc. Replenish from the ice machine at your motel.

Santa Cruz is a good place to stay. Old-fashioned beach town with hippy vibes and nearby redwoods. Joan Baez lives just outside.

Just caught up with Little Bear. Oh dear, has it changed?

Im another one who loved the celeb homes tour, didn't think I would either. But it was so cheesy it was great. No idea if anyone stayed there who the guide said did but he was very entertaining. And got to see lots things to, including the stairwell Richard Gere climbs up in Pretty Woman.

Wow so jealous! We did a similar tour 8 years ago (pre DC) and loved it.

My tips:
Def book Alcatraz in advance. We did but many others showed up on the day and fully booked.
Downtown San Francisco is beautiful but go careful to to stray to far out of the centre as many surrounding areas are quite rough.
The Cheesecake Factory in Macy's is a must!
If you like seafood the crab house on pier 39 is a must and you can watch the sea lions as you eat.
Try to avoid Yosemite at the weekend as it's just a giant car park. Overall probably the highlight of our visit though! Try to Mini train to get your bearings and the Yosemite falls walk is amazing.
Only go whale watching if you have a strong stomach. We went in June but it was really rough and half the boat (DH included) spent most of the trip being/ feeling sick!
The aquarium in Monterrey is well worth the visit. As usual the US do attractions like this much better than we do!

Enjoy!

Hollywood is an utter shite hole, I wouldn't spend 3 days there.

Oh yes and another thumbs up for In and out burger. Best burgers ever!

Pre book Alcatraz to you don't have to queue

From the Pacific Coast Highway, as you enter LA county, you can turn onto Mulholland Drive and take it all the way to Beverly Hills. It’s beautiful and scenic.

Have a great trip but dont understand why asking for travel tips is UNREASONABLE?

Santa Monica is fab - we were there last year with similarly aged DCs. They loved it. Rent bikes and cycle to Malibu or to Marina Del Rey, the other way via Muscle Beach. I've got some great pics of DD being picked up by the muscle men! You can also ride around the canal parts of Venice which are very pretty. We stopped at a supermarket near MDR and got a picnic - one of the highlights. Watermelon to die for and the best tortillas and guacamole ever.
We did the Hollywood Tour - it was excellent. We went with Ultimate Hollywood Tours - very entertaining. A bit difficult to find their base but great fun with open sided vans.
We used the metro from Santa Monica around LA and it was cheap and fab. The hotel didn't even know about it and quoted us $200 for transport to Universal. It ended up costing us less than £5 on the metro for the four of us. There seems to be some snobbery about using it e.g. you only use it if you can't afford a car!
Go to see the space shuttle at USC (also on the metro line).
We didn't get to go to the Getty, which I was disappointed about, but next time will.
If you go to Universal, have a big American breakfast before you get there (food expensive inside, although we took snacks), try to get there at opening and walk right to the back lots, down the escalators, to do the studio tour first. It gets busy later in the day. Then do the rides. If you go as single riders (there is a separate queue) you will miss the big queues. We ended up sitting two together and in front of each other, so it was fine. This way we did every ride, some of them twice. Don't miss the Harry Potter big ride. I'm not a huge fan but it was amazing. The place where you have to leave your bag in a locker for the HP ride is a bit of a bun fight and confusing but other than that it's great.
Have fun - don't forget to use plenty of sunscreen as the breeze can make it feeler cooler than it is but you will still burn. I ended up with terrible sunburn on my arms during bike ride! Not good for clothes shopping.
DD, similar age to yours, LOVED the shopping. There's a Brandy Melville sale shop on 4th St, behind the third street promenade. It backs on to their normal shop. DD spent a lot of time, and some $$, in the shops. I didn't find much to buy as most of the shops seemed geared to teenagers. Fun to look though.
Have a fab time.

This post has got me looking at flights again, I want to go back. Looks too early on most sites for Summer 2019

Don’t forgot ID if you want to hire bikes & cycle along Santa Monica like we did!

John Muir park to see the Redwoods.
One of the most emotionally moving days in my life.

Definitely go to Muir Woods when you are in San Francisco - it's beautiful.

Avoid the I5 - we made the mistake of choosing that route north and it was over 200 miles in a straight line with no change of scenery.

The hotel didn't even know about (the Metro) and quoted us $200 for transport to Universal

IME they tend to know perfectly well about such things, but prefer the kickbacks they get from selling something much more expensive

Genuinely surprised (though obviously very pleased) that so many have enjoyed the "stars' homes tours", as I believe several providers have shut up shop after all the complaints about seeing little. Perhaps they were the smaller/less professional operators though, and didn't make such a good job of it ...