West coast US road trip

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Can anyone suggest any tweaks / better options to this trip I’m planning for my husband’s 50th next August. These are the options I’ve found but happy to hear others .

3 nights San Francisco- Fisherman’s Wharf (probably a Hyatt or Rui Plaza type place)
3 nights EITHER Carmel or Monterey
3 nights Yosemite View Lodge in El Portal- struggling to find decent accommodation in the valley itself
Fly home final night. Will hire a car when we leave San Francisco.

Anyone done anything similar? Has to be August as I’m a teacher.

Is it nicer to stay in Carmel than Monterey? Carmel seems classier but a heck of a lot more expensive
Want to head to Big Sur - no desire for Vegas or LA
Any ideas gratefully received!

I really liked Monterey but 3 nights feels a lot there.. although I suppose if you are driving to Big Sur and back in a day then you might need that time.

We drive through Carmel and I’d definitely stay in Monterey again if we went back.

I’d say it’s definitely worth staying in Yosemite park though. If I remember rightly there’s only 3 hotels in the whole park. They’ve changed names now but I’ve stayed at what was the Awahnee and Yosemite Lodge at the Falls. The Awahnee was nicer, has an impressive dining room but is mega The Shining vibes. Yosemite Lodge was nice enough but they are both very American National Park vibes in their quality so not luxury at all, but worth the trade off to be in the park.

I’m also pretty sure the Yosemite hotels are only available for booking a year out, and so you won’t be able to see them as available yet.

Also check out the TripAdvisor forums, they were invaluable for planning and sense checking our itinerary.

We did something similar in 2016. Flew into SF for a few nights, up to Napa then down to Yosemite and then Monterey. Last couple of nights back in SF. We drove through Big Sur, stopped for a coffee but wasn’t overly impressed. Did a trip to Carmel which is very cute but I think Monterey has more going on. We stayed round the Bay looking towards the ocean, spent time sat watching the whales and dolphins from the hotel, it was magical.
At Yosemite we stayed outside the park, the hotel/motel was a bit lacking but we were really only using it as a base. I think we bought a 3 day pass. It was my favourite part of the trip.

Actually, we stayed at Yosemite View Lodge, it’s had a bit of a glow-up since we were there, it had distinct “Deliverence” vibes 10 years ago.

Big Sur is not going to fun in August - there will be ton of tourists and be aware that there may be closures if the el nino is as bad as they say it's going to be. I'd keep an eye on that. Carmel is cute, but three days may be too much, but it's a good starting point for Big Sur. You may want to split that part of the trip as Monterey/Carmel and a night in Cambria/Moro Bay before you drive north to Yosemite.

Thanks all. Am using an independent travel agent to do some digging for me.
if we stay 3 night SF, 3 nights Carmel, 3 nights Yosemite View Lodge (in El Portal- just outside), it’s coming up at £5.3k for the two of us, flights and a 7 day convertible hire upon leaving SF
That feels fairly reasonable??
I’m more worried about cost of food!

Im not a San fran fan! What about one night less there and one night Santa Barbara instead. It’s really lovely

Just to say we’ve stayed in Yosemite view lodge, I was worried it was a second best option as had on previous visits stayed in the valley itself. But honestly it was great, humming birds, easy access to valley, great pizzas (check last restaurant/take away time it was surprisingly early). I’d stay there again.

We did three nights at the Riu Plaza at Fisherman’s Wharf (great breakfast!) and then picked up the hire car. One night Monterey, one night Allegretto Vineyard, one night Solvang, three nights Anaheim for Disneyland. Bought all things separately. I can recommend Sensorio in Paso Robles.

Does it have to be such a short trip? I mean, I’d still do it, but the longer the better really.

It’s going to cost you $235 to go to Yosemite (thanks Trump) so you might consider an annual pass for $250 that gets your vehicle into all National Parks, National Monuments and National Forests. Maybe the Redwoods NP and Eureka, going north from San Francisco. I think that might be quieter than going south.

Food is expensive, like here really. Breakfasts are usually good value and enormous. We often have one at about 10am, which feels like late lunch because of the time difference. You can get reasonably priced food to go in supermarkets too.

If staying in hotels we take a travel kettle - there won’t be one. There may be a coffee machine, but that’s not much help if you drink tea.

We have 10 days really as we have our children at home to think about. They are teens but finding someone to have them for much longer is hard. our youngest is too young to leave on her own.

I know Yosemite is going to be super expensive. It’s hard trying to find a ‘big’ holiday in the summer holidays. Too many rainy seasons to contend with!

We went to Carmel intending to stay, walked past a shop selling fancy dress for dogs, and left to stay in Monterey which we loved. 3 nights seems a lot though. Personally I would add more time in San Francisco but it depends what you like. Book Alcatraz in advance if you want to do that.

Monterey has much more going on than Carmel (Carmel is lovely though, and beach is great). Loved Monterey- we only stayed 1 night but could’ve stayed 2. Not sure either warrants 3 nights tbh. Ideally if you’ve got those 3 nights earmarked for those places I’d do 1 in Carmel so you can enjoy a nice meal/ wine as there’s a few great restaurants and then the other 2 in Monterey.
As a side note make sure you time a drive e.g up/ down the coast to coincide with sunset away from towns etc. Plenty of lay bys to stop off and enjoy the sun dropping into the Pacific

It seems a slightly pricey but not a million miles off.

We do a US road trip every year and my aims for pricing are:

• Return flights below £1,000pp
• Average £300pn for hotels (we like a reasonably nice hotel so some are over and some are less but usually comes in about there on average)
• £50 per day for car rental (but we always get a large SUV not a convertible).

So my starting budget for your holiday would be about £5,000. I self book everything though.

I’ve also never actually spent as much as £1,000pp on flights, so I’d expect to have come in under £5,000 once I’d actually priced it up but that would have been my guide price.

important edit: we do also always do May or September which will impact pricing too.

Hearst Castle is a must.

We are off to this part of the world this August for our summer holiday with two teens. This is our itinerary for a longer stay:
3 nights San Francisco
pick up hire car
2 nights Lake Tahoe
3 nights Yosemite (staying in a cabin in the park)
2 nights Monterey
1 night Cambria
1 night Santa Barbara
3 nights Santa Monica
flights back from LA

I think this seems like a nice relaxed itinerary. 😊

I was also going to say if you are staying in Monterey/Carmel for 3 nights it’s a bit long, but if you are using it as a base to explore I think it’s fine. I stayed in Monterey, near the butterfly sanctuary in a residential area as I left it too late & there was no other choice of accommodation- so book early!!

I recommend the 17 mile drive, if you like golf you can swing by Pebble Beach for a look.

At Big Sur, Nepanthe restaurant is lovely, you could just go for a drink and take in the views.

Santa Cruz boardwalk is nice for a few hours and where The Lost Boys was filmed.

I do think your quote is on the pricier side (I’d expect it to be £1k less), but then I’m used to booking my trips independently.

Monterey is one of my favorite places in the world.

The aquarium takes up a full day for me. I know it might not for other people. Definitely 3 days there.

Carmel is an expensive lunch stop and a stroll through town kind of place for me. It’s worth a stop, but not a stay when you have to prioritize.

Whale watching from Monterey is something I’ll remember all my life.

We meant to stop at the artichoke capital of the world 😂 but in the end just had artichokes in Monterey.

Nepenthe restaurant at Big Sur is well worth a stop for lunch.

As others have mentioned upthread, Monterey is much nicer than Carmel if you are staying overnight.

I’d’ve thought it way too hot for a convertible car tbh.

For whale watching look along the bay at Moon Landing, we had a whale watch trip from there that went right out into the ocean where the blue whales are found.

SF, apart from the Alcatraz tour ( book as far ahead as possible ), there’s the Napa and Sonoma valley wine tours. We went with Extranomical with pickups and drop offs in SF itself.

For evening / sunset views with drinks and food, there’s Top of the Mark at the corner of California St and Mason, again, I’d suggest booking ahead of time to get a table.

If you are concerned about food costs (and do be because every menu adds tax, then tips are crazy these days) definitely look for hotels that include a proper buffet breakfast (look at recent reviews to see what is included) and download apps for restaurant deals, vouchers etc. you used to be able to pick up booklets of coupons for hotels and restaurants from gas stations (and I never pre booked hotels) but I suspect that ship sailed since I lived there (pre mobile internet.) I did like Death Valley (as hot as you can guess) and loved the proper lodges in the national parks. Tahoe is nice. I personally would be seeing if you can stretch the length as flights are so much and economise by getting some evening meals from the hot food counters in supermarkets, it’s nothing like the uk, full meals ready to go!

Sorry I went on holiday and didn’t respond!
Thanks all for the comments and ideas.

We are not 100% sure if this is the trip for us. Maybe it’s not the right time for Yosemite. Our other thoughts are Japan (but very hot in Tokyo so possibly not right either) or doing something Nordic- fjords and trains. Choosing an August trip is hard!

Canada? You could have a lovely tour of the Rockies in 9 days. Yes it will be busy, but you’ll be up at stupid o’clock with the time difference and can be well ahead of most people.