26 days in California - help with planning!

[Fancyashandy]

Flying to San Francisco with husband and two children (12 and 9yrs). Thinking of 3/4 nights San Francisco, 2/3 nights at Yosemite, then down the Pacific Highway stopping off at Carmel and a few places perhaps for a few nights. Need to be in Santa Barbara for around the 12 - 16. Will probably do a theme park/ studio in LA though don't want to spend much time in LA. Thinking of San Diego and want to end with perhaps 3 days in NY before flying back. First time so welcome any ideas or input.

Distance between SF and Yosemite is just under 200 miles with a drive time of between 4-5 hours. If you do not already have accommodation booked for Yosemite I would give this a miss.

This could be useful to you as well:-
www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/driving.htm

What theme parks at you looking at in LA?. Universal?.

CA as a state is vast; covering the distance from SF to San Diego is in UK terms the distance between London and Edinburgh. Its a lovely state to visit but I feel your plans need further tweaking; there's an awful lot of driving here and you really do not want to spend a lot of it behind a wheel of a car.

We stayed at Pismo Beach. Beach was cold and windy (July). We couldn't get out of it quick enough! Wished we had done Santa Barbara instead.

One thing we did in LA was the Warner Bros studio tour. Loved that.

DS loved Hollywood and we did the tour of movie stars homes. That was fun. Even if half of it was fiction!

We went to San Diego and really liked it. Wished we had more time there.

For anyone interested:

This is where we are staying in San Diego: casapalomasandiego.com/

And this is the Dude Ranch:
www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g31417-d288327-Reviews-Stagecoach_Trails_Guest_Ranch-Yucca_Arizona.html

You can use google maps for driving distances, as good as any source.

For life of me I can't see appeal of flying to and over the GC, but I guess the world needs all sorts.

We stayed at the GC but also did a helicopter trip. It was amazing. One of our highlights for sure. DS ended up sitting right up by the pilot - he was so chuffed!

I am sure I could get the same experience at a good IMAX studio for a fraction of the effort.

But good luck.

We are walking the canyon, btw, in May, at least I hope so in spite of the government's determination to make us pay £500 for the privilege. Now that you really do need to go there in person to do!

frenchfancy they look amazing. The ranch is on 'Doc Holliday Road'-how cool is that! Very Wild West.

(We are planning a trip to California 2015 so watching with interest. Everything seems to get booked up so early so good to plan ahead)

We went to Alcatraz years ago OP. haunting experience which has stayed with me all these years. I would definitely fit it in to your itinerary.

Bowler we haven't had a problem with booking, maybe because we are travelling in May. Everything has been booked since Christmas, I only booked the flights in December.

The amount of organisation that has gone into merely getting to CA has almost been too much for me. Still so much hassle to sort out with the kids' passports, I can't think about anything else right now. I'd love to Kayak, maybe in future, and definitely without the kids.

Last time I went kayaking with the husband, he nearly decapitated me with the paddle! Then I told me I was making a fuss over nothing. We were stuck in a bloody double kayak for a few hours not talking to each other!

In San Francisco consider visiting the Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. Truly amazing.

If you get a chance, visit the USS Midway in San Diego. A retired aircraft carrier. I'm not a military buff, but I was fascinated.

Yosemite in-park reservations typically book out within minutes of the window opening. The exception to this is the Ahwahnee, but that's because of the price. One word, I'm not sure exactly when you're going, but we are in a severe drought and many of Yosemite's famed waterfalls are either very sparse or bone dry, including Yosemite Falls. And unless we get significant snowfall, who knows when/if they'll come back this year.

I hope you have a wonderful time. There's so much to see and do here.

Second those who have mentioned the SF fog in the summer. Definitely bring lots of layers as it can be very cold there. We escape up there to cool down in the summer (can hit 40C in Silicon Valley where we live).

We did Carmel and Big Sur in July one year and it was also foggy!

Back to SF. Second the suggestions of the exploratorium and California Academy of Sciences. I haven't biked to Sausalito but DH has and he definitely recommends getting the ferry back. Also second the suggestion of using airbnb for accommodation. We use it all the time for vacation rentals. Alcatraz: I'm not sure if the kids will find it too boring to be honest, depends if they're into walking tours and history.

I haven't been to Yosemite and desperate to go! DD2 due in July though so can't see it happening any time soon .

Only thing to add to loads of excellent recommendations is if you have that long do stay in LA - I live here and if you have a car and time there is so much to see and do that tourists normally neglect

Santa Monica and Venice Beaches
Mulholland Drive
Hollywood Bowl
Fashion District and Little Tokyo Downtown
Huntingdon Library and the Rose Bowl Flea Market in Pasadena
Getty and LACMA museums
Long Beach Aquarium and Flea Market
Surfing and surfer watching at the beach communities (Manhattan and Hermosa)
Loads of hikes at Topanga Canyon, Will Rogers State Park, Runyon Canyon etc etc

Just sticking up for my part of CA that tourists normally dismiss apart from Disney - which I've personally only bothered going to once since moving here 2 years ago

ahem FRENCHFANCY - you're coming to LA??? We'll let me take you to some 5:2 friendly places while you're here!

Please make sure you spend a few hours walking / hiking somewhere with redwoods! They are AMAZING.

Yes ATB I can hardly believe it. I was wondering about contacting you. I'll send you a PM.

We have done 4 road trips to the West Coast and if money wasn`t a problem I would go back like a shot! We always worked out our own itinery and booked our own accommodation, even stayed in a former brothel in Williams.............and that place is a must, take the train from Williams to the Grand Canyon, its quite an experience! Yosemite is truly awesome, Vegas is amazing.........treat yourself to a suite at The Venetian, room rates in summer are very affordable.............oh I could go on and on. PM if you would like an tips/accommodation etc.

Frenchfancy - looked at the dude ranch and it looks fantastic. They have space but we are beginner riders and the heat will be HOT HOT HOT. Just wondering if it would be crazy to go bearing in mind our non riding experience and the heat. Very tempting though.

Broonco yes I imagine the temperature could be a problem in summer. We are going in March so should be fine.