San Francisco to LA with teens.

[Fedupnagging]

Have been researching for so long, my brain is now hurting!

There is so much I would love to do on the West Coast but need to narrow it all down and tailor it as much as poss to 15, 17 & poss 20yr old ds's who basically want theme parks and water parks and as little driving time as possible!

So, we think 4 nights in San Francisco, then drive to The Grand Canyon for 2 nights and then on to LA. (would love to spend time at Yosemite but that is all the ds's idea of hell!)

Any ideas where to stay in LA please to give easy access to Universal, Knott Berry Farm and Six Flags? Is there anywhere else we should visit? What are the best waterparks?

Is Hollywood/Rodeo Drive etc worth visiting?

We are thinking of going for about 18 days in the summer holidays.

All advice welcome...

Hollywood worth visiting if you want to say you've done it but tbh it's a bit of a dump round there! We stayed in LongBeach which was fine. I'd go to Yosemite over the Grand Canyon but that's just me :-) We flew into Las Vegas, did a day trip to Grand Canyon, then did Death Valley, Yosemite, San Fran (which can be pretty cold when it's foggy!) and LA. Definitely go to Alcatraz - been twice (once as a teen) and it's a must-see. Book onlinebefore you go though as it gets booked up weeks in advance. Don't bother with Coit Tower in SF. Death Valley is pretty amazing.

Sorry can't help with theme parks - I'm sure someone else can - but I highly recommend booking with Trailfinders. They are fab with advice, often the cheapest for trips like this, and think of everything. I was so impressed I wrote to thank them afterwards!

I liked Rodeo Drive and Sunset Boulevard, had coffee in the hotel they filmed 'Pretty Woman'. We visited them on one day and also spent some time that day on Santa Monica pier which we enjoyed.

Hi
just off the top of my head san fran to grand canyon and then on to LA seems like a very long drive. Couldn't you fly in between places instead? That's what we did and flew to Las Vegas (suspect your kids would love it!) for a couple of days to do the grand canyon trip (still a 5 hr drive from there but we went to hoover dam as well which was amazing)

We stayed in Anaheim right near Disney and not far from Knotts berry farm and universal studios. Didn't do 6 flags or waterparks though.

In san fran Do Not miss Alcatraz and the sea lions behind pier 39! Lombard street is quite a sight. Also we had a trip to Sausilito and the redwood park nearby - Muir woods which was worth doing.

We also went to long beach and went on a tour of Hollywood, saw the handprints, stars houses, rodeo drive etc .

I'm sure you will have a fantastic time.

"Any ideas where to stay in LA please to give easy access to Universal, Knott Berry Farm and Six Flags?"

The problem here is that these are all pretty much distance from each other, particularly in the case of Six Flags which is located in Valencia about 32 miles north of LA. I would consider staying in the Valencia area if you were to visit Six Flags (it is an ideal theme park for teens. They may wish to see it over 2 days as one day may not be sufficient due to long lines in summer).

Universal is located just to the north of Hollywood (actually you can get on the metro train to go there now from Hollywood itself) and Knotts Berry Farm is located in Buena Park which is near Anaheim to the south. Knotts also now has a water park opposite Knotts Berry Farm.

I was also wondering if your children would find the Grand Canyon too "boring" seeing as they seem to want just theme parks and as little drive time as possible. Would you not consider flying to Vegas instead?. What ideally would you like to do once there?. Its a long distance to drive from SF to the Grand Canyon, its around 790 miles (that's further than London - Edinburgh). CA as a state is truly vast and driving distances should not be underestimated.

Thanks for the replies.

Yes, the ds's do want to see the Grand Canyon and we have sort of promised them a helicopter ride! However, I can see that we are being a bit ambitious with our plans I guess.

We are trying to avoid Florida again and trying to give the boys a bit of culture at the same time. Originally we thought San Fran and LA but then it would be a shame to miss the Grand Canyon.

Obviously the boys are perfectly happy to sit in a car for ages if the end result is a theme park.

Your boys may like the theme park called I think Californian Land which is next to Disney in Anaheim. There are some very good rides there, a couple with big drops that were fun. We stayed at Hyatt Regency in Anaheim in a family suite which was excellent value. We had one day at Disney and one at the other theme park. A free hourly shuttle bus is provided.

All those parks will be horrendously busy & hot in case of 6 flags/GC. Expect to spend hours standing in queues.

I would imagine my teens liking Universal a lot.

Driving around goggling, there are bits of Beverley Hills where (while in the car moving on the road) you can peek over fences & across lawns at fantastic mansions. Doesn't matter who lives there, it's just fascinating to see lots of amazing houses (or maybe it's just my parents who instilled in me a love of looking at those).

Honestly you do not want to spend a vast amount of time sitting behind the wheel of a car driving from place to place. Its your holiday too!.

I have been at Six Flags in the summer and the lines especially in the afternoon can be very long indeed. You would need to get there for opening time.

Las Vegas as well is going to be unbearably hot in summer so you may well want to rethink the Grand Canyon altogether.

With regard to the queues at parks, yes that is a downside but we are limited to the school holidays as as they are school/college. Plus I work in a school too.

We have become quite adept at 'queue management' though!

Think I need to have a rethink and talk to trailblazers.

We did Grand Canyon in a day trip from Las Vegas, which I was really worried about but was actually fab. Went with a Jeep company - I can't remember the name but they're number one or two on tripadvisor ratings, and deservedly so. The trip out was interesting as we saw the Hoover Dam on the way and stopped for breakfast and a few other sights (eg Route 66 cafe) and on the way back we all (only about 8 people per trip) fell asleep so that didn't matter!

Was it Pink Jeep?.

If it was they are really good.

The jeep trip sounds good super; dh would love seeing the Hoove Dam too.

Have looked it up - sorry it wasn't the jeep one, it was Grand Adventures. You can find them in the Activities list for Las Vegas. Highly recommended! (And the picnic lunch was really good!)

We didn't think San Francisco was ALL THAT really and it can be dodgy weather wise. How about LA (but stay by the beach eg Santa Monica, Venice) - Grand Canyon - Las Vegas - lots to amuse older teens and better weather guaranteed.

And look on Homeaway.com for relatively cheap houses and apartments - way better value than hotels

Thanks home we are now thinking of doing Las Vegas instead of San Francisco. Trouble is, there is so much to see and do!

We did this with teen DDs last year (14 and 15) although having done Disney and being selfish parents we avoided the theme parks. It was wonderful!
We flew to Vegas, did all the hotel/Cirque de Soleil stuff there, then Grand Canyon for a couple of nights, over to LA ( we stayed by the beach in Malibu and Santa Monica but that's a loooooong way from Anaheim) where the best days were Warner Bros studios and a Rodeo Drive/ Hollywood stars' home tour in a vintage cadillac (we felt like slebs as loads of tourists kept taking our photos!). We then did the Pacific Coast Highway to San Fran (agree with everyone not to miss Alcatraz also worth hiring bikes and biking the bridge which was great fun too.)
We flew home from San Fran to lessen the driving, worth it if you can, just the Canyon to LA was 10 hours if I remember...

It will be fantastic!

That's sounds like a great holiday cathy, how long were you away for?

Dh and all 3 ds's love the big thrill rides so we need to factor those in ( didnt fancy Florida again). Love the idea of the Cadillac tour.

As a matter of interest, am guessing you drove to the Grand Canyon and then onto LA- how long did it take. Also, how long from LA to San Francisco?

Hollywood is a bit of a dump, although universal studios is awesome (and I usually hate theme parks). I know you said Yosemite wouldn't be their thing but I just have to say visiting there was one of the best experiences I have ever had, it is incredible... Please reconsider and stop by there, if you do get a tour, I bet any money they would love it!!!
Fantastic part of the world, you will have a great time whatever you do, we missed the canyon, can't wait to go back and see it! Have fun

Whoa SF to Grand Canyon is a long long drive.

We did the same but split up with 2 nights in Yosemite and then 1 night in Death Valley, 2 nights in Vegas and 1 night in Williams( Grand Canyon)

The drive alone from Yosemite to Death Valley took 10 hours!

Best advice hire a really big SUV and then your teens do not have to sit next to each other or even hear each other breath ( speaking from experience) and get all your Apple gadgets in SF for the drive.

How about SF drive down to LA then across to Vegas and Canyon fly home from Vegas.
LA to Vegas still a long long drive through desert.

You can fly out to the canyon from Vegas (pricy and bumpy, but much quicker than driving), the Hoover dam tour is well worth doing.

Vegas is stunningly hot, but it's dry heat and air conditioned everywhere and great fun, in a totally fake theme park way.

We missed out LA except cooling off in a water park long time ago, it will have changed.

We went LA to san Diego (sea world, yes I know) museums and a meal overlooking the bay, long route to Vegus, canyon by air, hover dam. LA, then up route one Santa Monica, Santa Cruz, Morro bay, SF home. No DCs and low budget motels, to afford the canyon.

Ha ha zanz1bar, you have obviously met my children!

Dh says he really doesn't mind the driving and nor do I but the kids are not too keen. I think getting at least one internal flight may be the answer. Or even a train?

Thanks everyone for all your replies-it is really useful hearing what others have done.

Ok, if you are thinking of doing LA-Las Vegas can I suggest you stop over in Palm Springs for a night to recharge? Makes the journey more bearable. We stayed several nights and it was great. Fantastic discount shopping mall just outside and horse rides in desert etc. We then drove via Joshua Tree national park (DH big U2 fan) which was amazing and then onto Las Vegas via the back roads/salt plains. Palm Springs -LV taking in Joshua Tree was easily done in a day.

Have also done Grand Canyon to LV and it's a pleasant drive. I did a road trip doing San Francisco, highway route down to LA (thoroughly recommend visiting Hearst castle). Stayed in Anaheim to visit Disney and the QE2/Spruce Goose, then flew to Phoenix and drove up to Sedona (red rock country) then onto Las Vegas via Grand Canyon.