California

[JumperandJacket]

Sorry, two threads in one day!

My brother lives in California and we're planning a holiday there next year to see him. We've been to CA/NV a number of times to visit him and so have done quite a few of the standard tourist things-

Yosemite
Sequoia
LA/Disney
San Francisco
Las Vegas
Death Valley

Would love some suggestions for other areas and things to do. We'll be travelling with DC aged 16 and 14.

There’s lots to see and do in San Diego: SeaWorld, San Diego zoo (one of the best in the world), La Jolla Cove, USS Midway museum etc….

Please don’t go to Seaworld - it’s a horrific place and we should not be suppprting keeping whales in captivity.

We visited Hearst castle which was pretty cool, although over 18 years ago so I'm not sure if it's still open!
Also drove up along the coast saw seals in big Sur on our way to the monterey bay aquarium which I really enjoyed.

Joshua Tree National Park
The Mojave National Preserve
Bits of Route 66

Monterey/17 Mile Drive

San Diego is my favourite place in California. Also love the coast South of LA: Laguna Beach, Newport Beach etc.

Maybe fly into Las Vegas and do a road trip through the national parks? My teens loved our trip to Vegas, Hoover Dam, Zion, Bryce, Antelope Canyon, Lake Powell, Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, and Sedona.

You don’t say where he lives or what time of year you’re going but as well as San Diego , what about wine tour in Napa, Sonoma valleys?

Hoover Dam trip.
Kayak down river from foot of Hoover Dam
Baseball match
US football match
Basketball match
Concert
Fly up to Seattle?
Hawaii?

Lassen Volcanic NP, north of SF, is pretty amazing.

Thank you so much, everybody. I will get googling all these suggestions.

We are going in the summer. DB lives in San Francisco but I'm happy to make it a bit of a road trip- I love the Arizona suggestions above!

How about Monterey for whale watching? Big Sur?

Pismo Beach

Hoover Dam, Pacific Coast Highway including Hearst Castle, Monterey, etc. I enjoyed the Charles Schultz museum in Santa Clara (Peanuts and Snoopy).

We loved Santa Barbara and San Diego, loved whale watching in Monterey.

I think Arizona is ludicrously hot in summer. Just horrible! Easter is way better! But it’s a great holiday though! LV would be unbearable in sumner. It’s gross must of the time. Fly in and drive out asap.

In California, we take our time. North of SF is wild and quiet with giant redwoods and secluded little towns. South of SF you have Carmel and Monterey. There might be whales off Monterey but check migration season!

We liked doing highway 1 and Big Sur. Hearst Castle is worth a visit and definitely Santa Barbara. We visited the missions in Carmel and SB.

LA has more to offer than Disney. We liked the costume museum at the Max Factor factory, the Getty Centre and Santa Monica. Also Pasadena has an older city centre. Plus there is a car museum there but I forget it’s name. We drove Mulholland Drive in LA for the views I would also suggest the Getty Villa at Malibu. The beach is cool too.

We really didn’t rate San Diego. Too touristy for us. I don’t go to zoos or animal acts. I’m sure the beaches are good, but they are everywhere. La Jolla is attractive but the sea lions really smell! Happy holidays!

You could head north into Oregon, the coast is incredible and maybe even do a loop by Crater Lake NP. Or, if you don’t mind a couple of short flights, fly to Salt Lake City and drive to Vegas via the Utah National Parks - Zion, Bryce and Arches are fab.

I would head north - we live in LA and finally road tripped it north of SF last summer and it’s so wild and beautiful up there. You could Amtrak up to Seattle (or even Vancouver) and then campervan it back down the coast. The Mendocino and sonoma coasts are stunning and Humboldt County has all the redwoods (I love sequoia but Humboldt is something else)

I second the Oregon coast - beautiful area. We were at Crater Lake in late September a few years ago and it snowed. The national park was closed when we tried to visit but we did a detour the next day when conditions eased and it re-opened.

what about wine tour in Napa, Sonoma valleys?

Might be a bit boring for the teens but maybe you could leave them in the city for the day? You can do day tours from the city.

I love Point Reyes and Tomales Bay.

You could head to Tahoe. Beautiful at any time of year. We went for 4th July and stayed in a lodge right on the side of the lake in a little resort with a beach. Water is very cold though!

Depending on how long you’ve got/how much exploring you want to do Hawaii could be an option? I think its about a 5 hour flight.

Route 1 road trip, giant redwoods, the mystery spot, Disney, hearst castle, half moon bay, Sonoma/ Napa.
There's so much! Giant redwoods north of SF were my highlight of that area, the most beautiful living things I've seen.

I would also go north if you’ve already seen most of the major sites to the south. We loved our Seattle to SF road trip. Great mix of cities and national parks.

They really haven’t seen the sights south of SF. They have seen the touristy ones! I agree though. North of SF would be great. For next summer though, accommodation is busy already!

I agree with drive the coast road, lots of interesting places to stop – Carmel, Monterey, Big Sur etc and you can whale watch and sea lion spot along the way. Also agree with PP about Hearst Castle, and it is still open, we went there in 2019.

Another suggestion is Santa Monica pier and boardwalk – lots going on around muscle beach etc, and interesting surf shops and cafe. Doubtless your teens will have seen lots of Netflix series set in and around the area!

Is route 1 open round Big Sur? There were mudslides blocking it last time we were over there. It seemed to be becoming a fairly regular thing. We were really disappointed.