California Road Trip

[blueboocat]

We are thinking about a holiday to California in October 2023. I have a 13 year old and an 8 year old.

Has anyone done a road trip, San Fran to Los Angeles that could help me plan and would love recommendations of where to go, what to see, where to stay.

This will be a big holiday for us, probably only going to get to do in once so want to make sure we cover the best parts. We could probably for 2 to 2.5 weeks.
My son loves Death Valley and would love this to be included into the trip, as well as Disney in Anaheim.

Also, is late October a good time to go?

Some years ago when kids were about the same age we did San Francisco to Phoenix over 2 weeks - highlights were Yosemite, Death Valley and Las Vegas. Also did Disney in LA , Sedona which was lovely and Phoenix at the end for R&R

A good travel agent like Trail Finders will put together an itinerary for you. I’d advise at least 2 nights in each place and no more than 4-5 hours driving a day

Oh also did Monterey, this was prob the most disappointing stop of the whole trip

Still quite hot in DV in October.
Why not Easter 2024, when you might see desert flowers?

Disney sucks, huge waste of money & always busy unless it's raining.

We did this last summer OP and took 3 weeks. We did SF, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite NP, Monterey, Pismo Beach, Santa Barbara, LA. Our favourite stops were Lake Tahoe (the lake itself, the town of South Lake Tahoe was tacky), and Monterey for the wildlife, which is amazing and you can view just walking along the shore (the aquarium is also lovely, despite hefty price tag). The coast can be cool/cloudy, although it gets warmer and brighter the further south you go. We didn't bother with theme parks, because we've done them in FL, but I realise this is a big part of many families' trips and if you only have 14-17 nights you might want to skip Santa Barbara so you have time to enjoy them.

Try to see Solvang, a pretty typical DANISH town. Quite intriguing. A must see is the Grand Canyon and the Hoover dam. A boat ride up the Colorado from Willow Beach is lovely, and as a complete contrast a trip to Las Vegas- once seen never forgotten but worth a visit nevertheless. Yosemite is also a must see.

Solvang, a pretty typical DANISH town

Haha, Solvang is NOT a typical Danish town - it's a tourist trap - although if you enjoy kitsch you'll find it amusing.

We did a road trip all round the west of America for 3 weeks, pre kids . Flew into Las Vegas and hired a car and some of the daily drives were incredibly long so I’d look carefully at journey times and possibly flying from LA to Vegas. We went Sept/Oct blue skies and warm. Death Valley was 110f but amazing place. Yosemite was great. The pacific coastal highway from SF to LA was stunning. Have to say LA was a bit of a let down- but plenty of theme parks for the kids.

I would fly between the two cities rather than drive given you have children. Being in a car could become very boring for them as back seat passengers and you could end up just driving from place to place not really seeing much. Distances can be long and CA as a state is huge (it’s larger than the UK).

I would give Death Valley a miss as it’s a big detour from your planned route. That is best visited in the Spring and from Las Vegas as a (long) day trip.

Your children may well like to visit Knotts Berry Farm’s waterpark and amusement park at Buena Park which is near Anaheim. Anaheim has plenty of family friendly hotels near Disneyland and California Adventure.

Just be aware that late October is still fire season.

Late December/early January is a good time to go for clear skies in Big Sur and manageable weather in deserts. Downside is you don't get as much daylight.

I’ve driven the coastal route from SF to LA as part of a longer road trip.

SF - Fisherman’s Wharf, Alcatraz, Chinatown, Golden Gate Bridge, cable car rides. One of my favourite cities ever! Stay either at Union Sq or Fisherman’s Wharf
Santa Cruz - there is an amusement park on the beach with a nice boardwalk area
Monterey/Carmel - hotels were really expensive here & not much to choose from, so book early if you want to stay here. There is a big aquarium & the fisherman’s wharf area. I also drive the 17-mile drive & stopped by Pebble Beach golf course for a look. I stayed in a residential area near a butterfly sanctuary as there was no availability elsewhere
Big Sur - lots of places to pull over & see from the road. Bixby bridge is cool
San Luis Obispo - stayed here just to break up the drive but it’s actually a pretty cool city
Solvang - cute little town with lots of windmills & pastry shops. Worth a half day at least
Anaheim - Disney!! I am such a fan - park is not as big as Orlando, but still great fun
LA - I love it here too, although it seems to get a lot of hate. It’s fun looking at the stars on the pavements & the handprints of celebs, Hollywood sign, universal studios, Warner bros studio & tour, Santa Monica pier

October is a good time to visit but as a previous poster has mentioned, still in fire season.

We loved Yosemite! That was our favourite place on our road trip from LA to San F. If you want to go to go Alcatraz make sure you prebook as it gets full quickly.

If you fancy Las Vegas we added this in and went more main land. Worth the experience for a few days and the hotels are cheap.

We flew into San Francisco and stayed nearby. Also visited Stinsin (?) Beach and a giant redwood forest. Then we drove to Yosemite. Best place I've ever been to.

After Yosemite we drove to the coast via Gold rush town. Can't remember the name, sorry! Monterey and other coastal towns. I was disappointed at the coastal drive because we always seemed to be in a bit from the coastal view. Santa Barbara was a lovely town for a stop. Turns out that's where the very rich stay, so I've got expensive taste.

We stayed in an Airbnb up in the hills above Malibu. It was cheap and luxurious. LA traffic was awful. We couldn't even be bothered getting out of the car. Perhaps public transport would have been better.

Venice beach was a disappointment too. A sunny Blackpool. Although, if you walk away from the beach you can see the bridges and canal that are often in films.

I loved the drive to Vegas via Death Valley. We stayed a night near a Western Film Museum which we all enjoyed.

What I loved most about driving throughout California is the vast changes in landscape, from green and luscious to coastal to desert and big cities.

On the downside, my then 10 year old was often bored stiff in the car on longer drive days

Sorry, my post looks really negative. It was a great holiday really! I've to is to book accommodation for Yosemite great in advance. I struggled to find decent accommodation as it was all gone in the park to and even outskirts were expensive for most basic.

Thanks, some goods tips. I didn’t even think about the fire season and will read up more about that.
How many days do we need in Yosemite? And any recommendations for accommodation in Yosemite?

a friend has suggested Tenaya Lodge in Yosemite - anyone stayed there before?

San Fran - LA is not very far for 2 weeks. When I was 15 we did Palm Springs to Nevada to Arizona to Utah. Vegas, Bryce Canyon, Joshua Tree, Antelope Canyon, loads of other national parks, random fun pit stops you come across.
When I was 10 we did bits and bobs around San fran - big sur was lovely, petrified forest, a geyser with fainting goats, loved the sea otters at Monterey as a kid but this was 20 years ago so will have changed in that time!
Really amazing memories, your kids will thank you!

I took my two DC a couple of years ago.

We did San Fran, Yosemite, Monterey, Cambria, Santa Barbara, the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Las Vegas, Barstow, Los Angeles. Favourites: Yosemite, Monterey, Cambria, Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam and Vegas.

Other nice places to go: San Diego, the crazy Madonna Inn, San Luis Obispo.

We did SF, flew to LA (.as part of the Pacific coast highway was closed). drove to Anaheim and did Knottsberry farm, then drove to Santa Clarita and went to Six Flags.
Drove back through the desert to Las Vegas. Then after a few days in Lv, we drove to the Grand Canyon and stopped off at the Hoover Dam. We stayed overnight in the Grand Canyon and were able to see sunset and sun rise.
Flew from LV to San Diego. Ours was more of a theme park holiday, although we did take in some scenery too.

I did this pretty much in my twenties

It was great, loved it

Meant to add OP if you're on Facebook, there's a very good group - California Dreamers and West Coast wanderers.

Also, stayed at Grand Canyon Lodge North Rim which was stunning!

Book Alcatraz as soon as you have your dates if you want to go. Same with Yosemite.

We used The America Road Trip Company a couple of years ago.
We went in September, flew to San Francisco, spent about 16 days traveling (including Lake Tahoe, Yosemite, Pacific Coast Road etc) and flying back from Los Angeles. It was fantastic!

www.theamericanroadtripcompany.co.uk

We did San Francisco, Yosemite, Pismo Beach, Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Diego. We didn’t fancy Las Vegas so drove back to LA to fly home. Loved it and so did DD 17 & DS 15. A couple of years later just me and DH went to San Francisco and Yosemite, DC were miffed.

Thanks for all your help. How does this sound?
San Francisco - 3 nights
Yosemite- 2 nights
Carmel- 1 night
Santa Barbara- 2 nights
LA- 2 nights
Anaheim- 2 nights
San Diego - 2 nights

any longer or shorter in each place?