Road trip for a week starting in Los Angeles

[dontlookgottalook]

We are visiting family in LA for two weeks in October. There are 5 of us, 3 DC under 10. We'll be able to borrow a car and to spare our hosts having to put us up for 2 whole weeks, we will take a road trip for a week.

Could I ask for your suggestions for places to visit?

I was thinking along the lines of stopovers in Palm Springs; Joshua Tree National Park; Grand Canyon; Las Vegas.

Or.. Joshua Tree National Park, Sequoia National Park, Big Sur, Santa Barbara..

Really not sure what is doable. Anyone done anything similar?

We did:

San Diego
Tijuana (briefly)
Death Valley
Phoenix
Flagstaff
A bit of Yosemite
San Fran
Down Pacific Coast to Santa Barbara
Back to LA.

Fab but lots of driving.

In 2018 when our kids were 10 & 8 we spent a week in LA and then went up the coast road, whale watching in Monterey, Hearst Castle, elephant seals at San Simeon, San Fran - Alcatraz is excellent for all ages. We had a bit longer than you and Yosemite was closed due to fire but went to another park with Sequoia trees which the kids loved. Then back to LA, Disneyland on final day then flew home. They still talk about it.

Remember it’s a holiday and pace yourselves! Children don’t like massive car journeys so we didn’t go as far as we could have done. It felt like a good balance of fun, distance and relaxing. I’m jealous, would do it again in a heartbeat!

Wow those itineraries both sound amazing!
I hadn't realised there was whale watching potential in Monterey. Perhaps a trip up the coast, taking in Santa Barbara, Big Sur, Montery, then coming back via Sequoia park. We have two six year olds who don't like long hours of driving so I'm not sure about San Fran. Big cities are hard work with them.
We'll already in in LA for a week and will do Disney, Universal etc.

If you get to any of the national parks, try to go stargazing. We did this in Yosemite and it was amazing no light pollution whatsoever, I felt I could've reached up and touched the Milky Way. One of the most memorable hours of my life.
San Diego is fabulous!

The drive up the PCH is beautiful. Hearst Castle is amazing, but probably not with 6 yr olds!
Monterey has a great aquarium.

Thank you for the tips. Monterey sounds amazing. As does the star gazing.

@Shunkleisshiny how did you stay in Yosemite? Did you camp or are there cabins? How long did you stay? We are doing fairly quick stops at each place (ie a day and night) so I'm wondering if Yosemite is too big for us.

Yosemite is BIG but it is worth it if you only do one day and see a bit of it, it's magnificent.
We stopped overnight in a lodge/hotel type room, it was very comfortable can't remember the name but there are lots of accommodation there.

If you travel the freeway around San Simeon where Hearst Castle is, watch out for the herds of Zebras in the fields! When Randolph Hearst went bankrupt and he lost Hearst Castle, his dil's let the Zebras out of the zoo so they wouldn't be shot, so there is a large herd of Zebras roaming around California!