California road trip itinerary ideas, please

[broadsheetbabe]

Hi,

We - DH, me and DS - fly into LAX at the end of May for two weeks.

We want to hire a car and hit the road. But, of course, California is huge and I don't want to overstretch ourselves with too much driving and not enough time to actually see anything.

We will be there for Memorial Day Weekend, so will need to pre-book accommodation.

We have to be at Disneyland, Anaheim, on Day 7 because it's DS's fifth birthday and he wants to go to the Star Wars Jedi Academy.

Apart from that, we are open to ideas and suggestions from any Mumsnetters who have knowledge of the state and what it offers.

Our first thought was LA to San Diego, out to Palm Springs, over to Death Valley, up to Yosemite, across to San Francisco and then down the coast back to LA.

But is that too much? It would involve very long drives of around four to six hours on most days, perhaps too long for a five year old. Would we be better focussing on, say, Southern California and the deserts and leaving the rest for another trip?

We definitely fancy a night at the Wigwam Motel at San Bernardino, LA, after driving some of the last stretch of Route 66, a whale watching trip from Newport Beach, Calico Ghost Town near Barstow, the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, the deserts and Santa Monica pier.

All itinerary suggestions welcome, plus tips on any places to visit!

Have to say that fixing on Disney on day 7 is a bit tricky. I'd forget Yosemite. Maybe do Grand Canyon and Las Vegas instead? But actually I don't see how you are going to fit that much in with Disney in the middle.
Maybe really cut back and just do LA, San Diego and Palm Springs? If you did things slowly that would be plenty. Do either the Zoo or Wildlife Park in San Diego. The beaches are great. You could walk into Mexico (very seedy when I went, but an experience).

Thank you, mummytime

Disney on Day 7 is a pain. Another option would be to take him there on Day 2 (Day 1 being the day we fly to LAX) - an early birthday present wouldn't be unwelcome!

I like your idea of Vegas but I assumed there won't be much there for DS. The Grand Canyon is another five hours of driving and I can't help but think DS is too young to appreciate both the extra driving and the canyon!

But to throw a spanner in the works, I've discovered we can fly from LAX to Vegas for $49 each way.

One idea we had was LA to San Diego, Palm Springs, Joshua Tree NP, Barstow (Route 66) and back to LA for DS's birthday, and then up to Death Valley and back down via, say, Lone Pine and the 'airplane boneyard' at Mojave to Santa Monica on the second week. That would leave Yosemite and San Francisco for another trip.

The more maps I look at, the more confused I become!

Re your comment:-
"Our first thought was LA to San Diego, out to Palm Springs, over to Death Valley, up to Yosemite, across to San Francisco and then down the coast back to LA".

No to this routing, far too much driving and you'll end up spending a vast amount of time in the car. Distance between LA and SF is about 387 miles. Also you're likely to be too late to find any accommodation in Yosemite NP itself.

Would suggest that you concentrate on Southern CA this time around and leave Northern CA for another trip. Two weeks there anyway is barely scratching the surface of this vast state. Would suggest two cities e.g LA and SD and spend a week in each.

Palm Springs is very nice but there;s not much there for young children.

If your son likes Lego there is a Legoland at Carlsbad to the north of San Diego. SD is a nice city to visit anyway to spend a few days in.

Utterly gorgeous zoo in SD too - and Legoland in the sun is wonderful

Many thanks for your suggestions. It certainly helps to gain advice from people who know what they are talking about, rather than DH who thinks a 400-mile drive in one day is fine.

Mind you, the last time we undertook a road trip in the States (in those days it was a road trip with three teenagers who are now all grown up and left home) we did actually drive almost 800 miles in one day

Taking your advice, Attila, I think we should scale down our trip to just LA, SD and up to Death Valley (that bit's for me!).

A bit like the schedule I thought of: LA (Newport beach for whale watching trip) to San Diego, Palm Springs (tramway), through Joshua Tree NP, Barstow (Route 66) and back to LA for DS's birthday, and then up to Death Valley and back down 'other side' via, say, Lone Pine and the 'airplane boneyard' at Mojave to Santa Monica (beach and pier) and into LA (Hollywood tour, Universal Studios, Griffith Park).

Would this be doable? Or is it still too much?

Our little one has shown a slight interest in Legoland but only because of its Star Wars stuff. He doesn't really know much about Mickey Mouse and Co but desperately wants a go on the Star Wars ride and academy at Disney.

He's keen to ride the aerial tramway at Palm Springs and Route 66 is something he's interested in, thanks to Top Gear and Disney Cars movies. The Griffith Park Observatory would interest him, too. DS is quite odd old for his years: He was looking at the map with DH and decided he wanted to visit Folsom Prison because of his love of Johnny Cash's music (not that I've brainwashed the child, of course!)

Have been to Newport Beach and spent part of a day there.

Whale watching season at Newport Beach runs from November to end of April only. Thought I would point that out as you're travelling at the end of May.

Would suggest you work out how long you want to spend in each place or city. CA as you are already aware is vast and you don't want to spend many hours of your holiday time travelling from one city/place to another.

Correction - Newport Beach does do whale watching tours in May as well (was thinking of somewhere else).

Watching this thread avidly, as contemplating something similar this summer for us (although 2 teens).
I spent 4 months in LA at university 30 years ago a while back, so "did" most of the state then, albeit in smaller chunks at weekends. Am really keen to show the kids everything, but need to be realistic.

I don't think you can skip Yosemite. It's amazing and your children will love it.

In 3 and a half weeks we did LA, Yosemite, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Grand Canynon and Las Vegas.

In 2 weeks I would suggest LA, Yosemite and San Francisco which are the highlights in my opinion.

Just noticed that you have to be in LA for day 7, in that case I would stay in LA for 7 nights, 3 nights at Yosemite, 3 nights in San Fran and 1 night at a beach on the way back down the coast.

That sounds mad to me Haziedoll. Actually Yosemite was okay when we went there, but not that amazing. Actually my favourite place in California is Larsen National Park, and I only know one other person who's been there; next I loved Mendocino. But they are both the other end of the state so I'd recommend another trip to do them (we did SF, Yosemite, Lake Tahoe, Larsen, Eureka, Mendocino, Wine country SF, I'd skip Wine Country).
On our first trip we did SF down the coast to LA (should have taken longer as the coast is great) straight on to SD (did Disney from here), then across Joshua to Palm Springs, then Grand Canyon, LV, then back to SD. But we didn't have kids, and it was really too much driving.

Why does it sound mad MummyTime?

The reason I love Yosemite so much is because of the wildlife, we had bears outside our cabin and every night at the pizzeria we were joined by racoons. I think the kids would really appreciate the wildlife.

Thanks again for all of your advice... keep it coming, please!

Sadly, I think we've accepted that San Francisco, Yosemite and anything else in the northern part of the state are best saved for another trip.

Instead, we are going to focus on Southern California - LA, SD, Palm Springs, Joshua Tree NP and Death Valley NP and any bits in between that we can find the time to include.

According to Google Maps, my latest itinerary is 1,000 miles over the two weeks. That should be doable, shouldn't it? There are a couple of three- to four-hour drive days but there are also four or five days at the end chilling out in LA.

Oh, yes, advice needed there, too. Where in LA is it best to stay? I'm thinking Santa Monica (I love piers) because it's convenient to all the sights and on the coastal highway if we fancy any more driving

Have you guys logged on to www.roadsideamerica.com? It's brilliant! But every time I take a look, I discover some other thing I want to visit. DH found the 'airplane boneyard' near Mojave - loads of planes mothballed in the desert. Not my cup of tea but the Wigwam Motel looks fun!

To save time, I think we'll skip SD Zoo and Legoland because we can 'do' both here at home.

What about Sea World? Do we or don't we?

Agree that Santa Monica is a good base for LA. Don't know what your budget is but if you are looking for a cheaper option we stayed at the Travelodge which is about 15/20 minutes walk from the beach.

Highway 1 is breathtaking.

Yosemite for me is full of being stung by Bees (not as painful as the ones at home, but much more agressive). Also I don't see visits by bears as a good thing, but then when we were in Up State New York, Garbage was collected twice a day to keep bears out of town. And a kid had been killed by a Bear in the Catskills (down state from where we were).

But then I've always seen Moose as very stupid and docile, but people have been injured by them.

I'd also vote for Highway 1.
Its good to go slower, discover rather than plan everything. Hidden California are useful books to help find the quirky.

Thanks for the tip, Hazledoll. I'll take a look at their website.

The5thFishy, hopefully we'll experience a bit of the coastal road when we drive down to SD. I've promised myself that our next trip will be to San Francisco and include a proper drive down Highway 1.

So what about Sea World? And Las Vegas? Is Las Vegas any good for a five year old? Mind you, he'll love the flashy lights after days in the desert!

"To save time, I think we'll skip SD Zoo and Legoland because we can 'do' both here at home".

SD Zoo is world class; you cannot miss that if you stay in SD for any length of time. Sea World in SD is also worth a visit. Legoland at Carlsbad is better to my mind than the one at Windsor (think the nice weather helps too).

Don't forget too that the speed limit in the US on their roads is still 55 so it could take the best part of a day to travel 400 miles. You are there to experience new things, not just sit in a car driving!. Also filling the car up even in the US is more expensive these days.

LA is vast - would not stay in the Hollywood area. Santa Monica is nicer generally. If staying further south look at Anaheim/Buena Park areas.

Las Vegas has now become less child friendly though I saw lots of young children there on my last visit. Also it will be very hot in May (probably high 80s into the 90s) during the daytime. Driving in that city can be problematic due to traffic congestion.

go to the USS Midway in SD. Very good value for all ages.

Reuben H. Fleet Space Museum is worth 3-4+ hours, too.

Meh, I used to visit SD Zoo weekly (back when they let under 16s in for free!). It's not that great. But very easy to be there with little ones.
Polar Bear is my fave of the zoo modern exhibits.

We are off to California in August (4th time with the children). Having stayed in Santa Monica, Beverly Hills and Anaheim (we just have one base) we find Anaheim the best option both for location and with children. It's obviously easy for Disney and California Adventure and with LA being so big, cuts a lot of the journey time to San Diego. We also do the beaches (Venice, Santa Monica) and Universal, Hollywood etc plus the water parks. We find we have a very busy 2 weeks with just LA and San Diego.

Attila: Our latest itinerary is 1,000 miles over two weeks. I agree, a road trip should allow you to see and do new things, not just sit in the vehicle. That's why I've curbed DH's grand plan of a massive drive around almost everything in California. Our 'worst' day for driving is 250 miles (unavoidable), the rest are just two-hour drives each day, and on some days we will not be driving at all. That should be OK for us. It's just difficult to find a balance, isn't it?

Ragged: Thanks for the tip about Reuben H Fleet Space Museum. It looks really cool and has been added to our 'must' list. It reminds me of something very similar in Union Station, Kansas City, that we spent half a day in a couple of years ago. The USS Midway was already on the list.

SD Zoo is not one of our priorities because we live very close to one of the UK's best zoos and spend a great deal of time there with both DS and the two DGSs. Given we only have two weeks this time, we would rather experience things we cannot do here at home.

Any other ideas for places to visit / things to do?

What sort of things do you enjoy most on holiday? cities, shopping, amazing landscapes, lying on a beach (bearing in mind it will quite possibly be grey and overcast that time of year), going to theme parks, kayaking/ice skating/bike riding, Museums, eating out?

What do you want to get out of this trip? seeing as much as you can, having fun with the kids, relaxing, having great photos to brag to friends about? Getting the most bang for your buck or just having a fun time somewhere new?

How old are the kids and how well do they travel? Would you consider buying a DVD player for the car? How long are you here for?

Let me know and I'll answer. We've lived here 13 years and have a teen and a pre-teen. We've travelled all over the western US including a 3000 mile in 8 day trip this year.

oh and our motorways aren't 55 anymore. 65 is the norm in SD county, but most cars go about 70-80mph. We don't have speed cameras but we do have CHP.

I've just skimmed your thread. I live in 29 Palms (outside Joshua Tree) and am very familiar with that area, Palm Springs. Less so with Carlsbad/SD but enough to be useful. DS is 4 so we've probably done (or considered) things on your itinerary.

PCH out of Santa Monica is not like what you get further north

LA is massive - check out the science museum, La Brea tar pits, natural history museum and Griffith Park.

San Diego also has the Birch Aquarium.

The speed limit on major highways is 65 (and that's really just a "starting point" on most of them).

If you drive from Vegas to JT/Palm Springs, consider stopping in Kelso - there's a small museum there and the whole drive that way is very interesting.

Sorry this is disjointed. I'm using my phone and am sitting in a hotel outside D.C.

Any opinions on whether the Grand Canyon is a complete no-no in August due to the heat? I've heard it can be 40+ down at the bottom. When I went, it was December, and we had snow at the top, but it was 70-80 at the bottom. Don't dancy hiking in that heat, but I gather going by burro is even worse.