LA plus where? California in October ideas please!

[WhatWouldTheDoctorDo]

DC really want to go to LA, mostly for Disney etc. (we've been to Florida). Originally, before covid hit, we'd planned to fly into SF, visit Yosemite, drive down the coast stopping at a few places, few days in LA.

We can go next year, but exams etc. now mean we are restricted to the summer when it will be crazy hot, or October when we're restricted to around 10 days.

Would be grateful for any suggestions! I've got a notion to spend some time in LA, maybe some time in San Diego, and save SF, Yosemite, Big Sur etc. for a time when we're not restricted to school holidays! Any other suggestions for a trip based around LA & San Diego?

Excellent tips thank you!

We did one night in Monterey and think that was fine, but we didn’t do whale watching and decided not to do 17 mile drive in the end given that we had driven up PCH which was amazing and I’d heard the underwhelming feedback like a PP said.

The Aquarium was a good aquarium, but not amazing you should definitely spend an afternoon doing it good.

I did love going for breakfast and seeing all the wildlife in the morning while getting a coffee, and just pottering around the main town.

Also - I think Disneyland is SO MUCH better than Florida. I’d go back to Disneyland in a heartbeat (and have gone back since), but wouldn’t rush back to Orlando. It’s different, smaller but I truly think better.

Thanks for the post @VeggieSalsa We loved Florida, would have gone again if it hadn’t been for covid. DS is mad keen to do the Star Wars stuff and something else I’ve forgotten about! We’re erring towards a night in Santa Cruz instead of Monterey, but early days on the PCH planning.

August is wrong time to whale watch, anyway. March-November are peak months.

Santa Cruz has a proper beach boardwalk with a historic wooden rollercoaster - it’s quite the experience.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Dipper

Thanks @WarningToTheCurious i think DS would enjoy this and it will fe a fun place to spend the afternoon/evening after Yosemite. I thought whale watching was year round in Monterey @lljkk ? We’ll actually be going in early July, but I think we’re likely to pass through Monterey anyway and focus on some other parts of the coast. I’m already coming to the conclusion that there’s a DC free return holiday needed in a few years to do the things we’d like to do especially the wine tours or can’t fit in on one trip!

Check out the town of Julian about 21/2 hours from San Diego. It's a lovely little small town with great independent shops and an original 1950's diner ( the milkshakes are divine!) In October they hold an apple pie festival, and there is such a lovely vibe.
Fortunately we have friends who live in San Diego and I think it's a fabulous city, with lots to do.

Also try to do some stargazing in Yosemite, an experience you will never forget.

@WhatWouldTheDoctorDo OP now you have decided to go in July (same time of year as us) will that influence going to places like Joshua Tree/Death Valley? Will Yosemite be excessively hot or less so as it's not a dessert area?

@Toebrushtoe obviously there's nowhere like Yosmetite, but is there any smaller but similar national parks in the southern, LA or SD areas?

@Everydayshouldbe Joshua Tree and Death Valley were never really on our list, though if we had stuck to October and focused on L.A. and San Diego then we would have looked into it. I think they’re properly scorching in the summer. A poster earlier said while hot in July, it shouldn’t be crazy hot in Yosemite. We have decided to do SF, Yosemite, then drive to either Santa Cruz or Monterey before heading down the coast over a few days then onto L.A. and Anaheim to do the parks. Possibly San Diego for a couple days depending on timing. We’re not going until end June next year though - I’m just trying to sketch out a rough plan so I know when to look for flights and book Yosemite accommodation as we want to stay inside the park.

Check out Kings Canyon and Sequoia - Kings Canyon is often overlooked but has some dramatic scenery.

That look absolutely amazing! Thank you. Still might be too far north for us, I'm not sure

@WhatWouldTheDoctorDo That sounds like an amazing trip. I don't think I can get the dcs in the car for that long but I would love to do it myself. I'm thinking, LA-SD-?-Annaheim for us. With the ? being somewhere inland - Palm Springs possibly? But I don't want another city really! Was going to do SD last until the comic con warning on this thread!

Are you fixed on inland @Everydayshouldbe ? Would somewhere like Santa Barbara (or other coastal town) appeal for a few laid back days with the DC if you don't want to venture far by car?

I think inland would be a greater contrast to the other days. I've been watching YouTube videos about a little town called Julian and the Anza Borrego desert state park (which has amazing sculptures in it!) which might fit the bill. Won't be hiking much because July, so just interesting places to visit and jump back in the hire car!

If you are up as far as San Francisco take the kids across on the ferry to Redwood and go to Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. It used to be called Marine World Africa USA. I took my kids there year after year they loved it. Roller coasters, Water shows with speedboats and skiers on the back doing tricks. Sharks. They used to have Tigers, giraffes, elephants but I'm not sure now. Six Flags
I'd stick to Coastal areas in summer, we lived inland and summer was upper 30's and 40. It's always chilly in San Francisco take a fleece, we always forgot and bought new ones every time we did a day out.

Anza Borrego in July is not fun. I love the Palm Canyons hike but honestly, it's not for tourists in July, insanely hot. Julian will also probably be possibly hot in July and boring at all other times. Maybe stop off in Julian for apple pie after a hike up Mount Palomar.

I'm sure this is all true, but - stars!! And weird metal sculptures!

Fair enough @Everydayshouldbe you're braver than me going anywhere insanely hot though. 😀

Yeah I think I'm probably being stupid

We went to Julian when it was boiling hot and had apple pie and ice-cream. There is also a lovely second hand book shop just off the main street. I would not hike up Palomar Mountain because at the Observatory (which was interesting) there were signs everywhere saying look out for rattle snakes! We did a loop starting with 'Avocado Alley' which was an eye opener for DS.

i concur - palm desert and Joshua tree and Julian will be insanely hot but you can go to either Idyllwild or big bear for mountain air, both you can get to from the west side of LA in 2.5 hours if you time it right

We stopped off at a town called Bishop which had a fascinating mining museum , thought it would be quick but spent whole morning there

Sorry it was Laws Train museum but did have a bit about mining