California Itinerary - what do you think?

[Lovewhereilive]

Ok, next August we are hopefully going to make it out there. Here's what I was thinking:

Fly to Vancouver (Yes I know this isn't California but DH and I really really want to go there and its close (relative to the UK!)

3 nights Vancouver
Fly to San Francisco (2.5 hours)
3 nights San Francisco
1 night Monterey
1 night Pismo Beach
2 nights Santa Barbara
1 night Santa Monica (drive to Universal from here for the day)
1 night Huntington Beach (go to Knotts Soak City for the day)
2 nights Carlsbad
2 nights San Diego

Fly home from San Diego or Los Angeles (preferably SD)

Think this is ok? There are 5 of us (3 active boys who will be 13,12 and 8)

All advice/tips gratefully received!

I'd go back to Yosemite tomorrow if I could! Even my eye rolling /x box obsessed/ hard to impress 13 year old ds loved it
I think what made it for us was staying in the park ( Yosemite lodge at the falls)
Keep asking questions if you want, I could talk about the holiday forever!

Where would you stay if no accommodation left in the park? Mariposa? And is it like a giant Lake District?

Where did you stay in Monterey? There are 5 of us which makes the accommodation thing a bit harder but not impossible.

We stayed here in Monterey
http://monterey.hyatt.com/en/hotel/home.html?src=agnmlsshrlclbbgplaces_mrydm but it was a bit out of town, but we just drove into town there is free parking if you look.
There were lots of nice hotels at the gateways into Yosemite, we drove in one way, and out of another. Bear in mind it's huge, bigger than the Lake District ( I think). You also have to pay to get into the park about 30 dollars.

"What i can't decide on is 6.30am flight from San Diego to Chicago or 8.50 LA flight (just move the Annaheim day to the end so we are close to airport".

Presumably the later flight is at 8.50am. A 6.30am departure would entail you being at SD airport around 2 hours before. Also when you arrive into Chicago you will need to set your watch two hours on from Pacific time.

San Diego is overall a better airport to depart out of; its a lot smaller for a start.

Anaheim is about 60/90 minutes drive time away from LAX airport, it very much depends on traffic.

Ok thanks. Do need to decide flight and just book. Wish SD one was 8.50. Maybe we should stay by LA airport night before.

Thanks too for link Dingit. Now if all you lovely people could recommend hotels (that sleep 5 per room) to me in all the different locations we plan to go....

When your in San Diego. Go to Phils barbeque. It was featured on man vs food. It was amazing. Really good value food. Go early as it gets incredibly busy!

Really jealous....we looked at doing the trip with an RV. Just not sure kids could do the close confines.

Wannabe, we looked at doing the trip in an Rv. However we decided the logistics would have been a nightmare. Eg, parking in the cities, and some of the roads in Yosemite, especially the drive up 9000 ft to glacier point ( which really is a must)

Oh, and as soon as we picked up our hire car in SF, we drove down Lombard Street ( with much squealing from me), the worlds twistiest road. It would have been interesting in an RV!

Op have you considered holiday rentals from tripadvisor or similar. May work out better value if there's five of you although you may have problems with that if you are only staying for one or two nights. I am looking at Santa Monica for our itinerary as we are a family of 4 (need a breather from sharing with the kids for the duration of the holiday) but maybe making it 4 day stay and using hotels for San Fran / San Diego at the beginning and end.

Or perhaps look at airbnb - some of the properties are fantastic! Ooogetyooo - I've just booked a sneaky night at Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica for escape purposes - suddenly our two 'DC' are free to join us for the expensive part of the trip!

Wow - those photos!!

Will make a note of all the recommendations to eat/ sleep etc - thank you!

So which flight should I do? V v early from SD or early from LA?

Ooogetyou I will look but like you say when we only doing short stays may not work for us.

You could also try VRBO as some owners will rent for 2 or 3 nights.

Many hotels will do two queen beds and an extra rollaway bed, or try looking at suite hotels too, like Embassy Suites / Hampton Suites / Holiday Inn etc, which might have two queens and a sofa bed. Marriott Resorts type places can be good too, with two bedrooms and a sofa bed. Try plugging in 2 adults and 3 children and 1 room to Hotels.com for ideas.

We stayed in Oakland, just across the bay from SF but very easy to hop on the train to get into the city - couldn't face paying exorbitant parking fees in SF!

Squirrel, we didn't pick up our car until we left SF! It was about £35 per day parking!

San Fransisco hotels aren't cheap are they. No we won't pick up a car til we leave there, and got rid of the jet lag hopefully!

Op for Yosemite take a look at Evergreen Lodge. It's just outside the park and lovely. It's also near to Hetch Hetchy which is another valley nearby like a mini-Yosemite. I've stayed in the park too (Yosemite Lodge at the Falls) and it's nice to be so close but you don't get very much except location for the money.

Yy to Glacier Point view. It's mind blowing. More so than Grand Canyon IMO.

We stayed in a family room at the Buena Vista Motor Inn which I remember being huge and having loads of beds. It was pretty basic and a bit dated but clean and really well located.

Op, SF isn't cheap full stop. On our first morning we were starving so had a big breakfast, £70! For four. Even Dh who is used to London prices was
We did find cheaper after that!

Great thanks! £70 - hope it filled you up all day for that!

Sorry I should have said that the Buena Vista Motor Inn is in SF.

Ha ha. We had to run to catch our Alcatraz ferry ( after going to the wrong pier), so mine nearly ended up in the Pacific

Thanks postereh (and Dingit)

Anyone recommend water parks near San Diego?