Please talk to me about California ...

[zafferana]

We're planning to go to California for 14 nights in summer 2021. Our two boys will be 13 and 10. I haven't been to CA for a while and we've never taken our DC, although they're familiar with the east coast. This is our itinerary and we'll by flying to/from San Francisco:

San Francisco and Marin County (3 nights)
Yosemite (2 nights)
Death Valley (1 night)
Santa Monica/Venice Beach for visiting LA (4 nights)
Pismo Beach/Morro Bay (1 night)
Monterey (2 nights)
San Francisco (1 night)

Our boys are into hiking and just being outdoors (particularly DS1) and messing about in the pool/on the beach (DS2). Hopefully I've included enough of both to keep them happy. We have a friend in LA who we'll want to visit for one of the day and otherwise I want the second week to be quite relaxed and include plenty of beach, wildlife watching and relaxing time.

Would they enjoy Alcatraz, do you think? I will book in plenty of time, if so. I've never been, so I'm not sure. TIA.

If you are thinking of August then check when Monterey Speed Week is. If you like cars then there is a lot to see but it does make the roads busy and accommodation may be booked/expensive. The cars all meet on one day in Carmel and you can walk around them. If it is still there, we have eaten in a middle eastern restaurant a couple of times and had good food - Dametra.

My kids might like the whale watching. I get seasick and have had a horrible time whale watching in the past, pitching up and down on the ocean - bleugh! The aquarium is definitely more my style, but I agree that one per trip is plenty.

Monterey does sound nice, but if we stay an extra night there it means more of a rush to drive down the PCH to LA. Mind you, I was browsing the Trailfinders standard fly-drive itineraries on their website and boy-oh-boy those have a lot of driving in them! Max. of 2 nights anywhere - would be exhausting for the DC. We did a massive 7-state, 21-night trip when I was a teenager and by the end of it I felt I'd seen very little of a lot of places. I don't want to feel like that.

If you are staying for a night in Santa Barbara I would recommend El Capitan Canyon. Fantastic place for kids and adults, my kids of similar age loved it. I would recommend doing bus tour in san fran. The one we did included the tickets for alcatraz which made getting tickets easier and great way to get to further flung bits of city. Go to haight ashbury and to see painted ladies houses.

We did a loop, starting with a couple of days in LA, then down to SanDiego for a day, then across the border to Tijuana for a day, then drove inland to Phoenix and the Grand Canyon for a flight over it, then a couple of days in Las Vegas, then drove through Death Valley to Yosemite for a couple of days, then drove to San Francisco for the last couple of days where we flew back from. All do-able within 14 days.

We did Alcatraz whilst in SF - we found it very informative and worthwhile, but you have to book far in advance - there were people in the queues offering to pay silly money to buy tickets from people who'd pre-booked.

I'm glad everyone is in agreement about Alcatraz. I've been to San Francisco twice before and not made it there, so that will give us all something new to do, which I think is really important. Actually looking at the holiday from the DC's POV has made me plan it quite differently to an adult trip anyway - very few museums, no art museums (sob! luckily DH and I got to do with before we had kids ), lots of hikes, beaches, exploring on foot, possibly a bike or segway tour. What's really annoying is that I can't book any of it until next summer!

Definitely agree with Alcatraz, also we biked the bridge in SF which was great fun. We weren't mad about Monterey ( in an RV though and the site was rubbish) agree with just 2 nights there for the whale watching and aquarium.

PP mentioned Santa Cruz and we loved that, cool boardwalk, lovely beach and generally good vibe. The DDs felt like they were in Grease!

Redwood National Park isn’t too far out from San Francisco - beautiful park, good walking, may be worth looking at.

You’ve mentioned not interested in Disney - I would recommend Universal Studios if you want a park. Great as your boys are older and it’s a great park.

Not sure if you want another location but we loved Sacramento! Home if the Taffy I believe.

Make sure your boys are prepared for the size of Yosemite - I wasn’t! We stayed in a hotel about 15 minutes away and I was completely unprepared that once you enter you could still be in the car for an hour through hair pin bends and such- take travel sick pills if anyone’s sensitive! Apart from that, such a beautiful place. 2 days hiking will be amazing. We managed to see a baby bear when we were in our car. Invest in good hiking shoes!

Another vote for definitely doing Alcatraz and make sure you ride the trams! Not sure about best area to stay - homelessness was at really high levels when we went a few years back and some areas were circled by the hotel concierge on the map as a warning to keep away from at night.

Enjoy!

The PCH is a tiring drive through stretches, but very beautiful. Big Sur has some beautiful beaches and hiking and spectacular coast line south of Monterey. Pismo is fun and San Luis Obispo right next door is a charming town. They are looking at phasing out ATVs on the sand dunes at Pismo though if you were looking forward to that. In San Francisco, I think the California Academy of Sciences is worth a look. I would definitely agree that Death Valley in the summer probably wouldn’t be too fun. They have big warning signs about extreme heat. If you can do Yosemite mid-week, that might be better as it can get very busy during the summer with queues to get in some days.

Redwood National Park is a 3 hour drive from SF, but Muir Woods is much closer and a lovely place to see coastal redwoods. They’ve implemented a reservation system for the summer season though so you need to book in advance. There is a giant sequoia grove in Yosemite that is quite accessible though if you want to see really big trees.

Take your kids to Alcatraz so many amazing stories to hear about I went as a teenager and still think about it now!

Santa Barbara is beautiful - walk along the pier to the aquarium and lobster/crab restaurant.

Yosemite is so cool, so much to see.

I love S Fran, but it can be quite rough nowadays. Definitely do Alcatraz, and book v far ahead. Hire a bile and cycle over to Saulsalito then get the ferry back. We stay around Union Square.

Have a look at Long Beach or Redondo Beach (Redondo is so peaceful!).

I honestly think we're all theme parked out for the time being. We did the Universal parks in Orlando last year and at the time DH made me promise that we wouldn't go again! There seems to be loads to do though that will interest us for three days, without resorting to theme parks. Our kids would honestly much rather be on the beach or hiking through the woods than riding roller coasters, although in two years' time, who knows?

As for Muir Woods, DH and I loved it when we went before, but I remember it being busy. I think we'll probably head to one of the groves of big trees in Yosemite - we're going midweek so hopefully it won't be too crazy.

We went May/June last year with DCs aged 12, 10, and 7.

Also flew in and out of SF as it was considerably cheaper (from Mcr)
We did.....
SF 2 nights
Yosemite 3
Santa Cruz 2
Carmel 1
Santa Barbara 2
Anaheim 3
SF 1.

It was a lot of driving but we LOVED it, car was massive and cool the children almost had armchairs!
The scenery was amazing as was stopping at the roadside for rest and food.

It was the best holiday I have ever had, we all still talk about it often and I am sick we’re going back to Florida next as CA stole my heart!

I second @Honeyroar's suggestion - my favourite memory of a trip to SF many years ago was cycling out from SF to one of the small coastal towns above it (I think Sausalito) and getting the ferry back. Gorgeous.

It was the best holiday we ever did with teens. They will love it!

We did enjoy Alcatraz but watch the film first; it gave us all some context

Oh I meant Muir Woods! It has the beautiful redwood trees (been to both got in a muddle!)

Fair play on the theme parks - Orlando ones probably top them anyway!

The Americans tend to go back to school late August (I did American summer camp for 4 years and always finished by mid August) so if that’s the time you’re going, towards the end of August some of the more touristy places may be less busy. There is a public holiday though which we found made everything extremely busy that particular weekend so be strategic - not that I believe you are incapable, but my family planned appallingly

In San Francisco definitely do Sausalito (ferry or bike over), Alcatraz and MUIR WOODS! In the Central Coast, consider staying in Cambria on Moonstone beach, Lovely laid back little town with a few really good places to eat (pie). Morro Bay's tourist area is getting a bit grimy. Or El Capitan Canyon north of Santa Barbara would be fabulous with kids, especially slightly older ones. Such an idyllic place and a fair amount to do. LA is sooo much more than Hollywood. Most residents (I count myself among them) never set foot there. Do the Griffith Observatory, hiking down to Griffith Park if it's not too hot, get on Thrillist for Los Angeles and check out some of the great ethnic restaurants and neighborhoods we have. No better Korean food anywhere (fantastic barbeque!!), more Thai restaurants than anywhere else, and of course the Mexican is unbelievable. Go to Pasadena and hit the Huntington Gardens. Go to the Getty Villa in Malibu or the Getty Center Museum. Both are pretty spectacular and not just for people who like museums. Both are free, except for parking. Go to Santa Monica, rent bikes and ride for miles along the beaches. Go to Pacific Park and ride the ferris wheel and roller coaster at sunset. Walk across the street into Santa Monica to find many wonderful restaurants. (Dont eat on the pier unless you like really overpriced tourist gunk) There's also a nice tiny little aquarium under the pier mostly run by college kid docents. Very chill.

Take a look at flying via Oakland airport just outside of SAN Francisco. It's not much difference in getting in and out of the city, but we found it much cheaper than SF itself.

Dd was 16y and she really enjoyed Alcatraz. We booked an early visit on our first full day - made the best of our jet lag. A ride on the tram is fun too.

Your dc may like a visit to Santa Cruz and it's pier. We ended up there as our Yosemite hotels were cancelled the day before we were due to drive there due to the fires. We ended up booking a last minute hotel on the beach there and dd really liked it.

If time in LA the Warner Bros studio tour is fab if your teens enjoy films and TV.

And yes to whale watching. We booked a fabulous eco trip when staying in Monterey and it was a definite highlight to our holiday. Though we did see whales from the coast line too, plus dolphins, seals and sea otters.

We also visited a little attraction not far from Santa Cruz called the Mystery Spot or similar. It's a gimmick type attraction but it wasn't expensive, was in a beautiful forest if the really tall tresses and was a bit of fun for the teenager. It does have to be booked - we booked online the day before - as it gets busy.

YY to the Mystery Spot, teen DDs loved it

Ooooooh, thank you - the Mystery Spot looks right up our street. Off to SF very soon and this will definitely be on the agenda.

RE flights.

I've been over to San Francisco for the past three summers. Thomas Cook do very cheap DIRECT flights from Manchester to SFO. However they only run in the main summer months- they aren't released until a few months prior. Me and DH went at the end of June for less than £500 return each. I thought that was pretty good. I don't know where you are in the UK but if there are good price savings to be made on the flight by driving to Manchester it might be worth it.

I was trying to remember what we did in California- it was a very hectic family visit (with a lot of time spent up at Lake Tahoe)

Other things to do were as a PP mentioned Muir Woods, Sausalito - you can do both of those in the same day as are North of the city.

A great viewpoint of the Golden Gate Bridge is from Battery Spencer. We were staying with family so got the best insider tips. From there you are sooo close - great photo stop. Battery Spencer

Monterey was good. We didn't do the Aquarium - just me and DH. You can rent bikes and cycle along the coastal path. Also take the 17 mile scenic drive (you have to pay butit's worth it). We also called into Carmel - lots of quirky little shops, very pretty. The beach was VERY windy though.

We did a similar trip: SF 3 nights, Yosemite-3 nights, Carmel/monterey- 2 nights, San Luis Obispo- 2 nights, Santa Barbara - 2 nights and 3 nights in LA. For the teen the highlights were SF, Mono Lake (just outside Yosemite), beaches and wildlife, Universal studio in LA. Youngest loved the science museum and planetarium in SF, boat trips in Monterey and space shuttle exhibition in LA. We underestimated the distances involved, in LA in particular, it takes ages to get anywhere and no suitable public transport. Would also recommend Getti Villa and Museum in LA and Griffith observatory.