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?

If you like 50 degree heat then of course death valley is an option. For those of us who like more modest heat, it’s awful. Other national parks are so much nicer! I haven’t been to Alcatraz but DH and I avoid tourist hotspots. We also prefer Spring. We would never go in August and we don’t spend all our time in the car either.

DH loved lunch at Pebble Beach golf club. We also like wildlife and prefer to sit quietly and watch rather than gadding off to the next tourist area. I cannot imagine not spending time in SF either or seeing the best of LA. Our drive along Mulholland Drive was great with super views. Lonely Planet books always have interesting visitor ideas. We kept away from the trashy centre and found Santa Monica rather nice as the Independent Spirit Awards film festival was on. Saw quite a few stars. Local restaurants and enjoying our surroundings is more relaxing than long drives. Savour what you see and soak it up.

If you are headed inland to Yosemite, I would be tempted to discard Carmel & instead stay inland to visit Sequoia NP & Kings NP and then Death Valley. You could then head back out to the coast.

San Francisco - 3 nights
Yosemite- 2 nights
Sequoia/Kings NP- 2nights
Death Valley- 1 night
Santa Barbara- 2 nights
LA- 2 nights
Anaheim- 2 nights

Honestly, too much in the itinerary. Too much driving. You need a down day or 2….

Exactly. Too much driving and no relaxation. You are just in and out of places. Also when are you doing Big Sur and the best bits of Highway 1? Carmel is the best place to slow down. You have one day sightseeing in most places max.

you will see more if the car than the surroundings. Far too much driving there.

I think your kids will hate the car and you will spend too much time behind the wheel. I would seriously consider making this a trip centre holiday and spend a week in SF and then Anaheim.

Would be a shame to miss San diego.

San Diego has the advantage over LA of being more kid friendly. It's easier to get around, great beach, great food, a zoo, parks, the Top Gun diner....

I loved Death Valley, but it is a two trick pony -'Christ it's hot' and the night sky. But I can understand wanting to say you've been.

Be aware of the driving times between the stops. It can take longer than you think! Traffic can be vile in the cities and on the freeways. How will your children cope with being in the car for hours at a time? Maybe try looking up journey times. Also Yosemite can be very crowded. I much preferred Kings Canyon where we got to see Black Bears and a rattlesnake(!).

Everyone I no have loved San Fran and wished they could have settled and spent more time there.just something about the place.

We did this but hired an RV from San Fran. Spent 4 nights in an Airbnb in SF taking in the sights, cycling over bridge, wandering. Didn't do Alcatraz as you had to book in advance and it was hugely busy.

RV down Highway 1 staying at Santa Cruz then drove inland to Mariposa and Fresno (there was a water park at the latter).

On to Yosemite and did some walks but stayed on a campsite out of the valley (which was fortuitous as it gets very hot in the valley).

Over Tioga Pass and mooched up and down Highway 395. I loved this bit the best, real America. Stayed at Mammoth Mountain, Twin Lakes and Bridgeport. The gold mining ghost town is called Bodie and definitely worth a visit.

We went in July and it was very hot but the RV had air con. All campsites had a spot where you could light a fire, despite the huge fire risk, it's almost seen as a right. These are usually large steel circles next to each pitch and you can BBQ on them. I found it quite expensive for food but it depends where you go. Tourists get fleeced and Carmel, Monterey are extortionate (bullet proof vests for dogs sold at pet shop). But go off the beaten track and there are pound shop equivalents and cheap trailer parks. The one in Fresno was great and had a pool and everything. I get that it's not for everyone but we all liked that we saw what felt like was real America and real people rather than tourist hot spots. We got to bathe in natural hot springs, sit round campfires with others eating s'mores, it was fabulous

@whoruntheworldgirls can I ask if you used a particular company or just sources everything youself? We're planning to go in July.

I would have assumed Vegas not great with children, but posters seem to be recommending it?

@Onthecuspofabreakthrough Hi, we knew the locations we wanted and number of days so i emailed that to Travelbag, they sent an itinerary and we checked ask the suggested hotels and emailed back any alternatives we wanted to check, they are so helpful [email protected]

We also got quotes from Tropical Sky and Kenwood Travel, when filling in the quote request form i just selected San Francisco then in the additional information box added my itinerary

SF, LA, SD need three days each. You may need to add two days for trips out (Yosemite, Heasrt, Big Sur. Silicon Valley) . Of the places already mentioned, Solvang is tacky, Carmel is pretty but disappointing, Monterey only intrigued us because of the Steinbeck association, Pebble Beach is not all that interesting if you don't play golf. If you like vineyards, go further north from SF for a day. If you want to do the main things and take it all in at a nice pace then you should probably not aim for all the national parks as they are vast and need a couple days each.

@Onthecuspofabreakthrough My kids loved Vegas, there's loads to do. Obviously depends though if you want to gamble etc because kids aren't allowed but I'm not interested in that at all so didn't miss out on anything.

Thank you @whoruntheworldgirls that's very helpful.
I'd assumed using an agent would make it more expansive, so your experience is good!

@Onthecuspofabreakthrough we've used Trailfinders a few times for trips like this. Highly recommend them. they know the distances, good places to stay and what feedback they've had as well.

Really interesting - so does an agent charge a fee on top of the cost of the accommodation etc, for arranging it? (You can tell how long it's been since I used a travel agency of any kind!)
That's interesting too about Vegas, not a gambler but a friend found it quite seedy which put me off. I suppose there are lots of sides to it.

I worked it out and booked it myself. Got the flight times, did a load of research on possible routes and places to stay, then made a rough itinerary (based on driving times, Google maps was helpful) then I booked via Airbnb or booking.com or hotel websites. I changed the itinerary based on whether I could book the accommodation I wanted for those days, and also avoided weekends in Yosemite as the Valley gets very busy.

We don’t like a lot of time in the car, so over two weeks did San Francisco, Yosemite, Sequoia, Monterey, flew back out of San Francisco. Which was perfect for us.

I've booked myself for longish trips and used Trailfinder (or similar) or a combination. Not found it particularly more expensive to use a travel company, they'll work to your budget and find decent flights. In fact some hotels were cheaper than we would have got independently. Never had a bad one with them to be honest. Usually get good car deals too. We live on an Island and it's always a weird hop to get anywhere and quite often that bit will end up being thrown in free which is a nice bonus.

If I have time to research and book myself I will, but I find that having them come up with an itinerary based on your dates will save me a lot of time and then I can add bits to it - or say that's great but I'll have a free week at the end before flying out or whatever.

Some hotels do better deals for agents. They are not necessarily more expensive.

I don’t see the attraction of LV on a trip to California. The nice thing about Csrmel
is people watching snd the beach. It’s great for relaxing. Get out of the car for a bit. Pebble Beach golf club is great for lunch.

I tend to think California makes people go to one tourist attraction after another. Why not take a bit of time to see a bit more by relaxing or staying for a bit? @BookedOut has a great itinerary. Except I would go at Easter and Big Sur is a must!

We did a similar trip this year and stayed:
4 nights San Francisco
1 night Santa Cruz
1 night Monterrey
1 night Big Sur
1 night San Luis Obispo
2 nights Santa Monica
4 nights Las Vegas

If I did it again I'd stay longer in Santa Cruz (highly recommend the Dream Inn Hotel on the beach) and miss out the stays in the The Big Sur national park and Santa Monica. We'd probably stop for a few nights in say Santa Barbara or Carmel instead as the 1 night stays meant we saw lots of new places, the packing up and moving on every day meant we didn't really have enough time in the places we really liked the look of.

Agree with prev posters that the US is now very expensive. Even a basic croissant and coffee breakfast was 25 to 30 quid. We spent a fortune largely on food and also tips. Theres no need to have a car in San Fran or Las Vegas and most hotels en route offered parking at a fairly reasonable nightly rate.

That said would do it all again tomorrow as the whole experience was fantastic. Truly a holiday of a lifetime. Hope you have a great time!

Oh also forgot to add, try not to fly with British Airways if you can. They were pretty awful this summer with us.

I've been looking to book with BA as someone else told me to avoid American Airlines!

Personally I would try Virgin but it all depends on routes. BA code share with American Airlines so they may be hard avoid.

British Airways are the absolute worst to fly long haul with. Virgin all the way.