Please critique my California Road Trip plan and save me from myself...

[Greeper]

We have two weeks and 3 kids 7,9,11. Plan is to fly to San Fran, 3 nights Alcatraz and hopefully recover a bit, then pick up a car and drive to edge of Yosemtite for 2 nights, not sure what to do here but a bit of gentle hiking, maybe kayaking. Then drive back across to Monterey and one night here, down the pacific highway stopping at two motels somewhere, TBC, and arriving into Holywood for 3 nights. We want to do universal possibly, not sure. Then death valley for a night and on to Vegas with two nights here. Possibly helicopter trip, if I can make myself do it (slightly terrified). Is this just too much? Or can we do it and still have fun? What would you ditch and what would you add? TIA mners

Yes, that’s true! However we never took ours to a theme park. They never asked to go.

Ah, dd loves a theme park. But then so do I. We go to theme a lot and do often fit one in most years on holiday. We are fortunate that we have a few holidays a year, so lots of other days for the other stuff.

Different tastes - no one set of tastes are better or worse than others really. Just different.

And the 'touristy traps' only become them because they were initially places lots of people want to visit. We went to London this weekend to show our visiting Spanish student around - and yes, we visited the tourist traps - Buckingham Palace, Houses of Parliament, Horse Guards Parade, the Thames, Covent Garden, etc. because they were the places he'd heard of and they are popular well know places to go and see. He loved it.

I loved Yosemite and the tourist trap of fishermans wharf

My view is I’m a tourist. There’s nothing wrong with doing touristy things. Although I think our favourite bits were smaller towns. We got a bit shocked when we hit cities, (and we’re lifelong city dwellers). Some ‘tourist traps’ like ummmm Yosemite and Alcatraz were amongst our highlights. Fisherman’s wharf is hilarious. And I obviously rode the wooden rollercoaster at Santa Cruz. For my cultural enrichment :P it’s a heritage rollercoaster doncha know.

These posts are so useful.

We are doing SF for 3 nights, Yosemite 3 night, 1 night in Monterey and then onto LA/Disney. But I’m looking for accomodation for a week before the Disney mayhem, between Monterey and Anaheim. Can anyone recommend a place for a family of 4 that’s youve stayed in? I was thinking Santa Barbara or Carmel.

@Wilso we stayed at the Carmel mission inn - we had a 2 queen bed room which was fine. You can visit the Monterey aquarium near there which was excellent. The coastline is just stunning.

I did similar, but did a round trip inland. We flew into LA, spent a couple of days there to see Universal Studios and Queen Marty, then a couple of days in SanDiego and over the border to Tijuana, then inland to Arizona, Grand Canyon, a couple of days in Las Vegas, Death Valley, Yosemite, and then back towards Sanfrancisco via Napa Valley for the final 2 or 3 days and flew out of SF. All in 2 weeks. I'd suggest not going inland twice, i.e. do Yosemite & Las Vegas together as the drives between coast and inland are long and pretty boring. I think we drove around 2,500 to 3,000 miles but we also had plenty of recovery time in the major places. So, entirely do-able.

@wilso it’s quite a drive from even Carmel to Anaheim, and the kind of drive where you want to be able to stop and smell the roses. There’s a big stretch, round Big Sur, where building is restricted so your options are camping or detour inland. We stayed at San Luis Obispo which might be less interesting for a family, but possibly Avila beach? Maybe one night Carmel post Monterey and one night Avila beach? Although checking the journey time I’m wondering if that part of highway 1 is even open...

We did Disney a few years ago and enjoyed it.. wondering about mgm tour or universal..any advice?! We probably only have 1 day. (3 nights, 2 full days in L.A. any tips?)

I would go against what others say and say stay in one place maybe two (at a stretch) and stay put and have fun. Only the 11 year old will probably walk away with great memories. From our experience the kids were too young to remember much, so don’t stretch yourself too far, and make sure it’s fun and there something for everyone. All that driving is too much. Maybe just do San Fran to LA with the universal experience. And go a little further and add San Diego, but that’s it. We have done all that driving mentioned ^^ (up north of San Fran and from San Fran to LA) and I wouldn’t do too much again but I haven’t been out in the Yosemite direction yet. Best of luck.

greeper do you/your kids like Harry Potter? batman? Friends? BBT?

Warner Bros Tour in LA is really really great - I recommended it up thread but its worth mentioning again.

www.wbstudiotour.com/

I plan to do Vegas as a separate trip with grand canyon, Hoover dam, route 66 and monument valley.

I really liked Santa Cruz and it’s crazy old rollercoaster water front vibe. Didn’t have time for Monterey last time (but did go north from SF to Sausalito which I liked). I liked Point Lobos, really interesting. We stayed in some lovely little cabins amongst the trees on highway 1 - real middle of nowhere stuff (Glen Oaks, Big Sur). I really liked Hearst Castle just outside San Luis Obispo. Didn’t much like Carmel - had a kinda weird vibe, and wasn’t keen on Morro Bay. Absolutely loved Santa Barbara, LA was ok, bit of a dump in places, Santa Monica/Venice etc kinda cool. It’s a really beautiful part of the world, and we have the option of going again this year (tagging along on a work trip for DH), but I’m not sure if it would suit our kids. It’s a lot of driving - we did 2-3h each day in the car. If your kids are older that would be better I think. Ours are still quite small.

I agree re: SF and the weird homeless/mental health issues slightly menacing but mostly just sad vibe (also saw this in LA too). It’s a really beautiful city though and it has lots to see and do.

We did something similar two years ago. Booked hotels directly. I would recommend the Grand Canyon, we stayed in the park, basic but great with kids. Our kids found Vegas boring. And only worth doing if you can get tickets for a good show.

I think it's too much. I would skip Vegas and la but that's cos I don't like them, I am an outdoor kind of person

Yosemite is wonderful! I recommend Rush Creek lodge as a place to stay, very relaxing and fun for the kids to chill out in.

Santa Cruz and Monterey and down highway 1 have to be done, beautiful. Point Lobos is lovely.

I have been to universal, I liked it as much as I ever like these things (never been to Disney so can't compare). You only need 1 day though. Harry potter part is the best bit. We ended up shelling out for the interactive wands but the kids loved them.

Big redwood trees in Marin or near santa Cruz are nice. Mount tamalpais near San Fran worth visiting. Also biking across the golden gate bridge and getting the ferry back.

My kids loved Alcatraz. They hadn't heard of it but they just called it Azkaban so that was ok :-)

Death valley is actually pretty awesome but was a lot of driving.

Oh and I also love Lake Tahoe.

Yosemite you can hire bikes for the day, it’s a must, just wonderful. The route 1 is beautiful, I would build in some stopovers as it’s a really long drive to LA with kids, who won’t appeciate the scenery. Monterey is lovely. Santa Barbara has a nice beach. Or you could come down the inland route (395) which is faster and from which you can do more national parks.

Personally I would stay in Santa Monica as it’s fun and glam while having access to LA. 2 hours from there is San Diego or Palm Springs which have lots to see and do. I wouldn’t bother with Death Valley, we did a night there and it’s interesting but boiling, even the swimming pools are like hot tubs, not sure young kids would enjoy it. Same goes for Vegas, nice to drive along strip, fun hotels and pools but not great otherwise for kids.

If you’re keen on Vegas I’d fly in to there, do just 1 or 2 nights then drive to Yosemite and from there go onto SF and then route 1 down.

Has anyone stayed In Airbnbs in these areas at all? Any recommendations or tips?

Dc reminded me of this on Sunday night looking up at the night sky in the pool at centre parcs. Make sure you look at the stars in Yosemite. As there's no light pollution, it's breathtaking.

Xx cannot wait! Just booked alcatraz

Definitely take a minivan. They are boring to drive but the kids will be so much more comfortable, they won’t complain about the driving!

Look into staying in Cambria. Absolutely lovely little town just south of Heart Castle. Fabulous stretch of small hotels on Moonstone Beach, and a short walk or drive into the town with lots of shops and restaurants. Linns is a highlight!

We spent 4 weeks on a road trip and visited San Diego, Grand Canyon, LV, Death Valley, Yosemite, San Fran and then a couple of stops on the coast between San Fran and San Diego including Monterey.

The only place I wouldn’t go again was Las Vegas which I really didn’t like. I also don’t think it would be great for kids (not least because it’s pretty seedy). Although Death Valley is amazing and very beautiful it’s a way out of your way (and hot so again maybe not great for kids) and so I would skip Las Vegas as Death Valley.

You could therefore have a little more time in Yosemite (it’s definfely worth a few days) and the trip south along the coast. Monterey is great for the whale watching. Sure you’ll have an amazing time.