California holiday - Yosemite, Monterey, disney

[PrincessPopsicle]

Hi, would really appreciate some planning help for Cali holiday.

We have 2 weeks. Fly to SF and stay for 4 nights, then 2 nights as yet undecided, 4 nights LA, 3 nights LV and final 2 nights undecided.

The 2x undecided were going to be Carmel/Monterey and Yosemite (in that order but now thinking may change this to avoid 7 hr drive from LV) but youngest has just asked if we are going to Disney. We weren’t planning to, but do have Universal and Warner Bros in mind for LA.

Does anyone have a view on where is good to stay in Yosemite - general location helpful (found nice hotel in Fish Camp?), we are 5, so accommodation isn’t always super easy. I think we’d like to see the main attractions there, but are not seasoned hikers (and I’m a little afraid of bears). I’m hoping we’ll find an organised tour to join (assuming they exist).

Also, anyone any thoughts on whether 2 nights is overkill (given how little time we have to play with) for Monterey etc. We would like to do whale watching and I’m told the aquarium is amazing. Could we nick a day from here to go to Disney and not suffer?

Any other tips on what not to miss while we’re SF/LA/LV and anywhere in between, would be fab. We fly at the weekend, so not much time to organise!

Bump

Monterey is fab. We did a couple of days. Whale watching (take a hoody or something, even if it’s warm on the shore it will FREEZING on the water). Monterey aquarium. Mooching around. You could do the pebble beach drive (we hired a car from SF), we didn’t because the coast road was closed at the time. Schooners is great, lovely views over the water, binoculars in the windows for booth seats (get one if you can) so you can watch the water). Hula’s Island Grill is good too. Mad tiki place with good food.

I would focus on mountains or coast - not both. Too much driving.

We took 3 days to drive down from San Fran to LA and I felt we still missed a lot. Monterey is great, and the aquarium is wonderful. The volunteers were so knowledgeable and helpful. Carmel lovely too and the Pebble Beach scenic drive was well worth it. Big Sur coastal drive is stunning as well.

I honestly think if you try to squeeze Monterey AND Yosemite into 2 days you’ll spend most of your time driving and not really enjoying it. That said if you want to do it, I’d go for accommodation in Yosemite Valley itself to maximise your time.

I would throw a curveball into the mix for Lake Tahoe which was unbelievably beautiful.

4 nights is quite a lot in LA - couldn’t you use one of those days for Disney? It was very pricey when we looked so we didn’t bother.

San Fran - deffo do Alcatraz, best booking online ahead of time. It’s so worth it. Also the Imaginarium was great with kids.

Just back from San Francisco,

I would definitely recommend a trip to Alcatraz (depending on age of DC I guess) - we booked the early-bird boat which means that it isn't too crowded on the Island but you really need to book in advance for that as it gets booked up quickly.

We hired bikes to go to the Golden Gate bridge - this was quite tough cycling though as it was very windy and a bit hilly around that area.

We did two 1-day coach tours, one to Monterey/Carmel/17 mile drive which was lovely and another to Yosemite which was amazing but a really long day - 7am - 9pm. When at Yosemite we used the free Yosemite shuttle bus which was good but very busy.

The cable car trolley was definitely a highlight, especially standing on the outside. Don't underestimate the steep streets, took ages to get anywhere walking as it was so steep and we used Uber quite a lot.

Lombard Street, (steep street with tight turns and nice gardens) is probably worth going to, we got an uber to take us down the street which was a bonus.

Pier 39 to see the sea lions too.

I would give Las Vegas a miss. We did a figure of 8 when we did California, starting off in LA just for a night to get over the flight, up to Barstow, through Death Valley to Bishop, over Yosemite and had a night in Mariposa. Lake Tahoe followed by San Luis Obispo, San Francisco, LA again for Universal, Hollywood and Disney. Next stop was Palm Springs then San Diego, then back to LA for our flight back.

We did this over a three week period.

We stayed at South Lake Tahoe City and was very disappointed. It is close to the Nevada border and the town was very seedy and tacky. Lake Tahoe, especially Emerald Bay is pretty, but it wasn't worth the detour for us.

Thank you so much for the advice offered here. It’s really helpful.

Alas we are now committed to Yose (booked hotel about an hour ago, non-refundable).

Will def take the 2 days in Carmel/Mont after advice on here I think. It will be the end of our hol and it sounds like it will round things off perfectly.

Have checked previously for Alcatraz, but online is fully booked to almost end August. Is there another way to book when we get there? Husband is v keen to see it.

What time of year are you going? Even in summer San Francisco was quite chilly. Also the top of Yosemite is cold, so you will need to take clothes for all kinds of weather.

Following with interest. We are also planning this holiday next summer. But we have three weeks.

Our itinerary so far is;
SF three nights
Yosemite 2 nights
Monetary 2 nights
Carmel 2 nights
Santa Barbara 7 nights- doing day trips from
Here
Disneyland 2 nights

Possibly Laguna bay 2 nights or fly/ drive to LV and do Death Valley or Grand Canyon

Don't bother with LV. There are huge distances to cover, you don't want to spend half your holiday driving.

Glad you are keeping Monterey and Carmel in, it's really lovely and good to have some downtime in between cities and long drives. We were there for Christmas and it was great.

How old are the kids? Have they been to Disney before? Both parks are relatively small I think, we had a day and a half there and felt we'd seen all we wanted. We were adults though! If you think the kids would get a lot out of it, I'd maybe be tempted to ditch Vegas and do two nights in Anaheim and then a stopover on the way up to Yosemite.

The Warner Bros tour is great. Highly recommend it.

Re Alcatraz - it wasn't so hard to book when we were there but our tickets were part of a tour package so might be worth checking if any of the tour companies have an allocation? We used Mr Toads Tours (an open top classic car!) But I don't think they operate anymore. We did a quick tour of the main sights and then dropped off at Alcatraz.

What are good ages for Alcatraz? My dcs would be 7 and 5. Is that too young? Will they be scared or borEd?

sounds like this will be a lovely trip, OP. One thing, please don't call it Cali. That is not liked at all by those of us who live here. Only slightly better than Frisco. Yuck. Hated words.

Your DC might really enjoy Santa Cruz, for the boardwalk. Really good fun, rides, beach, American fair food - it is quintessential America in my opinion.

I'd also skip Las Vegas - spend the money on Disneyland, you won't regret it.

As to Alcatraz, if you can time your ticket search for between 8 and 9 am PST you will have more change of scoring tickets. Might take a time or two, but it works, if you can stay up that late.

Have a great time.

When are you going? We are going to California for the first time in October. We are doing a lot of driving around but we love it.
4 nights doing the PCH and across to Prescott.
2 nights at the Grand Canyon
3 nights at Las Vegas
3 nights across to Monterey (whale watching booked)
4 nights in San Francisco without car.

Almost everything booked and waiting for the countdown for Alcatraz tickets.
Very excited especially as we have got an air miles upgrade to Upperclass!

I wouldn’t do Vegas especially with youngsters. Such an odd, odd place...

Plus even if you fly to LV it’s still hours and hours drive to get to the Grand Canyon / hoover dam which is spectacular. OK you can drive to part of the GC and fly over it which is fairly close to LV but it’s nowhere near as good.

Yosemite is amazing. We stayed near fish camp too, it’s a bit of a drive into the actual park but what a lovely trip.

Have fun !

We have done a similar trip in the past.

We did not book Alcatraz in time so did not get to go there. It gets really booked up in the summer.

Yosemite was very pretty. You don't have to be seasoned hikers - there are lots of accessible trails for not too long walks where you can still see some great parts of the Park. This map may be helpful here. We parked up at Sentinel Beach and walked from here to Yosemite Villlage - all very flat. You can then pick up the shuttle buses to go round a loop to places like Mirror Lake etc. A day in the Yosemite Valley was sufficient. If you want to do Mariposa Grove too then be aware that it is at least 1 hour drive from Yosemite Valley - it's not close.

Whale watching was one of my favourite parts of the whole holiday. We went out of Monterey with this company here. Saw lots of whales, dolphins, sea lions and even sea otters.

Following

You need to look at a map! We did SF 2 mights, Yosemite 2 nights Grand Canyon 2 nights Vegas 2 nights then across to the coast staying near St. Louis opisbo 2 nights where we had surfing lessons, driving back up the coast to SF for the final 3 nights.
It’s a lot of driving and if you’re planning to do LA it will be even further!
If Alcatraz is booked up you’ll have no chance getting in.
Are you going to Yosemite after SF then to LA? If so, that’s a hell of a drive, will take all day! You should do LA and LV the other way round or else you’re adding hundreds of miles onto an already long journey

I'd missed the bit at the end of your op which says you are flying this weekend!

You might want to check Expedia for Alcatraz. As pp said you can sometimes get a trip as part of a bigger tour. We did our Yosemite and Monterey/Carmel tour with Grayline who I'm pretty sure do Alcatraz trips as part of one of their tours so may be worth checking with them.

Have a great time!!!

We did a similar trip. Yosemite was one of my highlights. Booked a tour with close up tours and they were amazing. Saw so much more than we would have done by ourselves. Tour guide was great. Also did a couple of nights in Monteray. Went whale watching and did the 17 mile drive. Some stunning scenery.

Forget Las Vegas, 3 nights far too long. 1 night would be plenty. Hearst castle is wonderful just down from Carmel and Monteray. Disney is a whole trip. Go with Universal studios just as good.

Yosemite was the highlight of our trip, definitely worth a visit. We also stayed in LV on the way to the Grand Canyon, also a highlight. I wouldn't bother with LV otherwise. Its a long drive for heat and hotels.

We stayed in Pismo Beach, Santa Barbara and Santa Monica. If you like odd places stop at Solvang en route to Santa Barbara. It looks like old fashioned timber buildings but it's all painted concrete.

SF is interesting in itself without Alcatraz. I doubt you'll get tickets on the day.

How about going to a baseball game? We got tickets easily online to the LA dodgers which was great fun. Not sure why but Darth Vader came on at half time and there were fireworks at the end.

Whiterose- sorry to jump on the thread, but where did you stay in SB? We are looking for either a hotel with a pool walkable to the beach and activities or an apartment with a shared pool.