California: SO much to do, how do you pick

[piealhxiprshl]

4 of us (2A, 2 "c" 15 and 12- so probably adults!), 2 weeks in May (not this year!), can probably go up to 15-16 nights, but budget will likely cap us.

We want to do Disney and Universal, plus Hollywood (happy to do 1 day in each theme park don't want to get too consumed with theme parks but kids are keen). I know San Diego is a good location too. But I love the look of the north of the state San Fran, Monterey and Yosemite but is that at all feasible in a week if doing a week of theme park/Hollywood/LA stuff? Happy to drive but will the visits be too short?

We could fly into LA and out San Fran which might help, I guess we could ditch San Diego and Yosemite, would that make it more feasible?

I'd be grateful for itineraries!

We are flying into San Fransisco, then travelling to Yosemite, Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, LA and Anaheim, flying out of LA. 15 nights. Would have loved to have added on San Diego, but time and money... feel like we are barely touching the sides of some of it, but we wanted to prioritise SF, Yosemite and the parks in LA so we just planned around that really.

Thank you for your reply, I'm just drawing up some drafts and I think you're right, it's San Diego that's making it tricky for us and then adding a big chunk of travel time for when we want to head north.

No worries. I think you have to start with what you'd love to do, highlight the must dos and then start to scale back. We could easily have added another week but budget constraints stopped up. I'm still a bit hand-wringy that some stops are far too rushed, but I keep reminding myself that we can't do everything, all we can do is make the most of the time we've allocated in each stop. Can't wait to go though!

Oh there's a fb group California dreamers and west coast wanderers that I found really useful, people posting diaries of their trips etc. It helped me start to narrow things down.

Thank you, I hope you have an amazing time when it comes around!

We did 9 nights in Anaheim where we did theme parks, but also Hollywood and a couple of beaches. We then travelled down to San Diego for 7 nights where we went to Seaworld, the Zoo and Mission Beach. We originally booked to go to Palm Springs for a week, but changed as we didn’t think there was much for our 10 and 14 year old dc. We picked hotels where we had living areas as well as 2 double beds, it was cheaper than 2 rooms. We really enjoyed what we did and have great memories.

We had an amazing fortnight in California in September last year - me, DH and our 2 young adult kids. We flew into San Francisco and stayed in a hotel in Union Square for three nights: it was brilliant, we did so much eg visited Alcatraz, climbed Coit Tower, saw the sea lions at Fisherman’s Wharf, rode on cable car rides and went on an open top bus over Golden Gate Bridge - plus much more. We then picked up a hire car and drove to Monterey- seeing Half Moon Bay and Pigeon Point Lighthouse on the way. Love Monterey, particularly the aquarium and Cannery Row and we saw LOADS of whales on a whale watching trip. I think my favourite part of the whole trip was the 17 mile drive out of Monterey, which hugs the coast all the way to Carmel - which is delightful. We had a lovely time on the beach there. We then drove down the Big Sur past Bixby Bridge, visiting the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park to see the giant redwoods, and more sights along the coast, but then had to drive back up the Big Sur because the road had been closed by a mudslide and travel a different route down to Pismo Beach, where we had a very short seaside break, then on to Santa Barbara (gorgeous) and LA. We did loads in LA (Griffith Observatory, Santa Monica Pier, Venice Beach, The Walk of Fame, Paramount Studios etc) and we spent a day at Universal - which was easily my least favourite day of the holiday. We’ve already been to Universal, and Disney, in Florida six years ago and I thought that was much better, but I did love the Harry Potter area. We then drove to Palm Springs (the Aerial Tramway was an extraordinary experience). After that we drove through the Joshua Tree National Park, which is incredible, then onto Las Vegas. We stayed on the Strip - and marvelled at all the crazy sights etc. I’m glad we went there, as it’s great to find out what it’s all about, but I won’t be rushing back. We saw Cirque du Soleil “O” and I was very underwhelmed (especially given the eye watering cost) and then we did a coach trip to the Grand Canyon - it was a long trip to do in one day, but it’s probably the only chance that I’ll get to see it; and it did live up to its reputation. We flew home from Las Vegas. I can safely say it was an amazing holiday. I wish we’d had time to get to San Diego and I guess it might have been better to have cut Las Vegas and visited Yosemite instead, but one can’t have everything!

We did California in 2 weeks but admittedly didn't do any of the Disney or LA bits .

We didn't do San Diego because I had been before but it's pretty cool. If you go make sure you go to La Jolla.

Big Sur and Monterey are both awesome spots and I would totally recommend. We did a night in both and we worked it out so we hit both early on the first day so we got maximum time. In big sur we stayed in these really cool cabins in the woods. Again it's quite small so accommodation fills up. We also did Santa Barbara and whilst it was really fun I think you could just stop for lunch there and that would be enough. Make sure if your doing highway 1 you stop at San Simeon to see the elephant seals

San Fran would be a no for me again I had been years ago and loved it but not now. It didn't feel safe and we regretted wasting 2 nights there. It's such a shame but sadly the homeless and drugs issues they have meant it didnt feel safe walking around even during the day . It was pre Covid we visited so it might have changed now thou.

Yosemite was the absolute best bit of our entire trip! The place is awesome. You need to plan in advance as accommodation goes like hot cakes if you want to stay in Yosemite itself. We stayed right on the edge at Tenaya Lodge ( highly recommend ) I think we did 3 nights here and wished we had done more. We were also there in May and it was a brilliant time of year to visit !

We flew in and out of La and just left early from Yosemite to fly out of La that evening!

It was one of the best trips we have ever done

We flew in/out of LA and drove everywhere which gave an amazing experience of the vastness of California.

We spent the night in LA before heading north and based ourselves in half moon bay for trips to the redwoods and into San Francisco.

The drug problem was very evident in San Francisco so it wasn’t our favourite but you should try and see the redwoods.

We then headed over to Vegas via Death Valley for a few days and also to the Hoover dam. The scenery was awe inspiring.

We then headed down to San Diego which was a real highlight, such a cool place. The kids loved the visit to the aircraft carrier, Midway which we spent hours on. Also worth a trip to the car museum just to be able to sit in a delorean!

We then headed up to LA, spending time in Venice Beach and Santa Monica.

The Hollywood walk of fame is not a nice experience, lots of drug addicts around and didn’t really feel safe despite there being other tourists around.

The science museum is going to be exhibiting a space shuttle but I think that might be next year or the year after, but worth looking into.

California was just amazing and would love to go back but it is so expensive to eat out, expect to add on at least a 20% tip everywhere.

We did a 3.5 week trip a few years ago with similar aged children, flying in and out of San Diego. Lots of driving but we wanted to show the kids as much as we could in the time.

SD - get over jet lag, the zoo and Balboa Park, La Jolla.

LA - Venice Beach, Muscle Beach / Golds Gym (for eldest DS), Santa Monica pier, Griffiths Obs, Walk of Fame, Universal Studios.

Big Sur, Hearst Castle, San Simeon elephant seals, Morro Bay, Carmel, Monterey, Santa Cruz for the boardwalk.

SF - Fisherman’s Wharf for sea lions, Alcatraz (book well in advance), general walking around, Golden Gate Bridge.

Lassen Volcanic NP (my favourite) and then down to Reno (over the top casino stay).

Yosemite - Bodie ghost town, drive through the park, a couple of short but spectacular hikes. Kings Canyon - like a mini Yosemite but much quieter. Sequoia NP.

LV - Death Valley, Vegas, flight over the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam, Lake Mead.

Palm Springs - Joshua Tree, San Andreas fault and a water park.

Back to SD to fly home.

I’d add that for SF we stayed in Oakland and took the train into the city. Much easier and cheaper.

I would do san fran via yosemite to LA.

If you go to San Diego (went early November) ...I took the amtrak down the coast. It's only 2hrs but for some part of the journey it goes right down the coast literally by the ocean. In San Diego I really loved the zoo and Balboa Park really need a day each to do them properly , La Jolla is amazing and I did that one day walking along the coastline seeing the seals and went to Pacific Beach for the sunset unreal so that's one day. Also took the ferry to Coronado Island, I cycled around it another day trip thats so great. More beautiful sunsets. I didn't do seaworld or get time to go around mission bay as I only had 4 days.

Oh and San Diego is known for its navy ports. I did the USS midway, you need a whole morning for that so amazing to go on an aircraft carrier and I also did the boat tour takes you along San Diego and all the other navy ships and submarines

I've added some pics from San Diego. Alot to do in San Diego!

The orange sunset is taken from the Pacific beach pier, one of the ocean pics is taken from the train so that's how close we were, the other is from La Jolla and the San Diego skyline from Coronado island

We stayed 10 days in Weho. 2 adults and a teen, 17. None of us interested in theme parks but we went to Warner Bros Studio Tour, walking music tour, The Observatory, Griffith Park, tour around Hollywood sign, Beverly Hills etc. We went to the Pasadena for TBBT and there were numerous niche guitar activities. Day in actual Hollywood looking at the stars. One of our best days was spent walking from Santa Monica and along the length of Venice Beach. Everything was incredible and there is so much to do. We will be returning as soon as we can.

Thanks everyone, lots of food for thought there, we've done Las Vegas/Hoover/GC so we can leave that out but sounds like we need to make some decisions for a more realistic itinerary for 2 weeks.

We did two weeks in 2016 I think? Flew to SF, one night in airport hotel. Next day Columbia (preserved gold town), then Yosemite (stayed in the park, it was incredible) for 2/3 nights. Drove Tioga Pass to Death Valley (stayed in the park), then on to Mammoth Lakes (this was the MOST INCREDIBLE drive I've ever done) for 2 nights. One night in Tehechape to break the journey to Cambria (beautiful coastal town). Up Big Sur to Monterey (didn't think much of the town but the wildlife and whale watching was amazing).

It was wonderful. I'd recommend staying inside the national parks if you can, they're so big that if you stayed at the gateway to Death Valley/Yosemite you'd be a good hour to get to the centre. The variation of scenery was out of this world, I'd love to go back x

We did a road trip last summer with our 7yr old, in and out of SF, been before so didn't stay, on landing we drove straight to Monterey, after that down the Big Sur to Santa Barbara, then did Sequoia, Yosemite, Mammoth Lakes, Lake Tahoe (stunning!)
In May if going to the NP's you'd need to check the snow/road situation as despite us going last August some roads had only been open a couple of weeks as the winters snowfall had been so much and caused so much damage.
Also Big Sur can be closed a lot due to landslides.

I reckon you could do all of it apart from San Diego in two weeks, as long as you don't mind lots of long drives! If you want to do SD, then I'd cut out Yosemite, and start in SF and drive south. You could do the following in either direction (so starting in either LA or SF):

Day 1: Fly to LA
Day 2: Day exploring LA/Hollywood. There are bus tours that you can join that are fun and informative and you'll be jet lagged and tired so it's quite nice to just sit there and enjoy. Go and watch the sunset from Griffith Park Observatory.
Day 3: Universal Studios
Day 4: Santa Monica, pier amusements, beach, rent bikes and cycle either north to Pacific Palisades or south to Venice/Marina del Rey
Day 5: Disneyland
Day 6: Drive north via Santa Barbara to Pismo Beach, Avila Beach or San Luis Obispo
Day 7: Drive Pacific Coast Highway to Monterey
Day 8: Monterey Bay Aquarium, pier and waterfront walk
Day 9: Drive to Yosemite NP
Day 10: Day exploring Yosemite NP
Day 11: Drive from Yosemite to San Francisco
Day 12: Explore San Francisco (Dylan's Tours - SF, Sausalito and Muir Woods is v. good)
Day 13: Alcatraz and Golden Gate Park
Day 14: Relax in SF before evening flight home
Day 15: Arrive back in UK

Thanks so much for the replies and help, I am taking notes, pleased to hear what we want to do isn't out of the realms of possibility though it does sound like we will need to can San Diego which will be the simplest thing to do, though it looks lovely!

@piealhxiprshl Your big decision is how much time you want to spend in a car. Your theme parks seem unavoidable but for us, they were. So LA was about totally different sights!

Always go north to south on highway 1. You get the views and pull offs on the right side! So start in SF. SF is ok and there’s homeless all over the world. Check out what you want to do and see. Then check out redwoods. There are options about where to go and stay.

Maybe then add in Yosemite (or go there instead of Redwoods or Sequoia) back to SF for trip south. We liked Carmel snd it’s got a great beach. Plenty to see as you travel South.The history and the missions are interesting. Santa Barbara is lovely. Then see the theme parks.

I have stayed at La Jolla but much prefer Carmel. San Diego is over hyped. Balboa Park definitely. It’s really a museum theme park and it felt grubby. Could not get into SD at all. The older part felt like a theme park too. So my advice would be save the LA theme parks until last and go home from LA. Or save theme parks and SD for another holiday. Do you really need to see a zoo?

LA has the fantastic Getty Centre, Mulholland Drive and Paramount studios. Santa Monica is a great place to stay and relax. From there it’s easy to get to Malibu.

Honestly; don’t try and cram too much in! Redwoods or Yosemite! Theme park or LA. You cannot “do” California in one trip and getting over flights and theme parks doesn’t give you much time. We liked our whale trip from Monterey, beach time at Carmel, lunch at the Post Ranch Inn at Big Sur. Take time to savour what you see instead of rushing around. Who wants to spend 2 weeks in a car rushing from A to B?

@TizerorFizz if I could have it my way we would avoid the theme parks but DH and eldest love them so unavoidable sadly!

Thank you SO much for explaining going north to south, I feel less grumpy about paying more to fly into San Fran knowing that now!

Will take a look at the ones you mention on the list and work out our must haves.

Can I ask people about budget? Trying to work out a ballpark figure to aim for, currently assuming about £12,000 for the 4 of us for 2 weeks, we are pretty budget savvy in the US (we have done a few road trips there, just not California) and generally happy to stay in motels and eat cheaply, I know prices have massively increased.

This would include flying premium economy (reward flights) but could save another £1000 if we did the non-financially savvy thing of using points for economy instead of PE.

Appreciate theme parks have a big impact too, not quite Florida prices but not Alton Towers either!

The US is very expensive these days and you need to do a bit of research, because the price of flights is very variable, depending on when you fly, down to the month and day of the week, who you fly with, direct or indirect, etc. If you're going in May it might well be cheaper than in July/Aug, but flight prices have gone up a lot since the pandemic.

Hotels and motels you should be able to see their rates online. It's worth joining loyalty schemes for hotels and restaurant chains in the US as you often get free upgrades, free starters or drinks or reduced room rates. Most of them are free to join and it can be really worth it and save you quite a bit of money over a 2-week holiday.

@LipstickLil I will likely be using Avios so not too worried about flight prices as it'll be peak or off peak for reward bookings, sadly the days of flying to the US for £300 each seem long gone (although our Florida flights last year were only £450 each which I didn't think was too bad!)

Okay, well in that case the flights shouldn't set you back too much.

However, do price up whatever tickets you need to buy and buy them online in advance, because that's a bit cheaper than on the gate. Disneyland, for instance, when I looked last year was going to be $516 for 4 people for 1 day. If you also want to visit Disney California Adventure (the other Disney park, which is next door), then a 2-park 1-day ticket for 4 people came to $776. Two parks over two days was another price, which I didn't note down, but you'll have to take a look at the website. Those were 2023 prices and remember to factor in parking. Universal will be a similar amount. But the attractions can be $$$ so do include 2024 prices for anything you want to do in your budget.

On budget, we have factored in up to £15K for our trip - 2 adults, 1 teen. Sharing a double queen in most hotels. That's for sam Francisco, Yosemite, few stops on the coast, 2 nights in LA and 3 in Anaheim. 2 days of Disney parks, one at universal, and baseball tickets in SF. 15 nights in total.

We're staying in mid-price hotels, though have three nights in a hotel on the Yosemite valley floor which was pricey. Budget includes everything including spending money. We are going at peak times though - summer.

Booking.com was good for hotels and there's a California west coast fb group that was very helpful for planning stops, hotel recs etc.