Fly Drive California / Motorhomes

[HarrogateMum]

Thinking of taking my DTs (will be 4), DD (will be 2) and DH (will be...a bit older than he is now) for a hol to California next Spring.

Has anyone done a fly drive with kids - if so did you plan and book it yourself or did you go through a travel agent and do a pre-planned one?

Especially interested to hear if anyone has been in a motorhome and what your experiences of that were! Would they be suitable for littlies like mine?

TIA!

has no-one been?

I've not been but am bumping as would like to do something similar next year.

wow thanks for that SIAECup! So you dont think my kids will be too young to appreciate it? I figure it will be more interesting than 2 weeks on a beach....only thing is we have to go end of march/early April to coincide with my parents holidays (my Mum looks after the kids one of the days I work and she is away for 3 WEEKS!) and I'm a bit worried about what the weather will be like?

Did you arrange your own accommodation etc or did you stay with family the whole time?

Hi HM, i have traveeled the California route a few times, the last with my then pregnant wife and our then 2 year old.
You may have already booked but thought I would submit a couple of pointers. San Diego is a lovely place to visit and Sea World and San Diego Zoo is great. We have not been to the Wild Life Park that is attached to the Zoo, but we will be trying it next year. LA is a very busy place...a big city..which requires alot of travelling time to get around. Disney is Disney and is great for the children..at any age. No doubt you will want to see Hollywood, Beverly Hills and Rodeo Drive, this can be done on a "rest day" as it doesn't take long to see them( but the travelling to and from your hotel may take a while). The pacific coast highway, number 1, is a good drive and as SIAEC has already said, Solvang is worth a visit. Further up the PCH is Monterey with its world class Aquarium.
At this point i guess I should ask how long you are going for and how far north are you going to travel. I will then may be able to help a little more. My overiding tip is to give yourself at least one rest day when you get there as your childrens body clocks will be all over the place and unless you get them sorted at the beginning they will be out of sorts for 4/5 days. Also don't go too fast, make sure you enjoy what you see, if you don't see it then it gives you a great reason to go back.

Hi HM. Have fond memories of taking our 4 in campervan a couple of years ago (aged 10,9,5 and 4). Was cheapest option for us in terms of transport and accom and allowed us to be really flexible esp self catering/toilet on board etc. Our route (leafing thru old journal...) was to pick up the campervan in San Francisco after a few days there, then Yosemite, somewhere called Lake Isabella in the middle of nowhere, Las Vegas (more child friendly than we thought and theres a campsite just off the strip at Circus Circus!), then Grand Canyon, Needles and San Diego (excellent with fab beaches and Sea World and a quick tram ride to Mexico - bit scary there though) then ending up returning the van to Los Angeles and have some fun at Disney.
We booked our campsites through KOA (a national chain of good sites usually with shop/playground and pool) - have a search if you fancy. We took 20 days to cover that lot with some easy days and some days just driving. An amazing way to see so many great places. It was a tad chilly in Oct when we went and campervan people only supplied one blanket each and minimal cooking stuff but it was a great adventure. Happy to help with more info if you need it.