10 day California Trip in July

Old Dec 11th, 2017, 04:39 PM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 106
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
10 day California Trip in July

Hi all, My husband, teenage daughter and I are planning a 10ish day trip from Ft. Lauderdale to California. We have never been to Cali. Our plan is to fly in and out of Los Angeles and drive from LA to San Francisco and back...OR fly in and out of San Francisco and drive to LA and back. Any thoughts on that?

Ideally, we would have liked to fly into LA and out of San Fran. but we plan on renting a car and to drop the car off in a different place than we rented it is very expensive, right?

Along the way, we plan to stop and visit in Solvang, San Simeon/Hearse Castle, Carmel, Monterey, Big Sur, Santa Cruz, San Jose, Muir Woods, Alcatraz, Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown, Sausalito.

How long should we plan to stay in each location? Thanks in advance for all your input.
staci1 is offline  
Old Dec 11th, 2017, 05:19 PM
  #2  
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 72,628
Likes: 0
Received 50 Likes on 7 Posts
>>We have never been to Cali>Our plan is to fly in and out of Los Angeles and drive from LA to San Francisco and back...OR fly in and out of San Francisco and drive to LA and back. Any thoughts on that? LA and back. Do a linear/one way drive.

You don't mention any sites south of Solvang and 3/4 of your list are in the SF/Monterey Bay area . . . so why do you want to fly in or out of LAX?

With just 10 days (and if that includes your travel days it is really only 8 or 9 days on the ground) you could fly in/out of SFO and do a loop of SF/San Simeon/Monterey/Santa Cruz (and forget about Solvang and LA). I'd also forget about Muir Woods -- and EXTREMELY crowded small-ish park and (as of January) one MUST pre-book a visit. Go to Henry Cowell Redwood State Park instead. It is in the Santa Cruz mountains.

What do you want to see/do in San Jose?

Note -- you can visit Big Sur but not drive all the way through so you will have to back track getting to or from Hearst Castle

If you want to visit LA -- then basically SF 2 nights > Santa Cruz 1 night > Monterey/Carmel area 2 nights > San Simeon/Cambria 1 night > Solvang/Santa Barbara area 1 night > LA 2 nights is doable.
janisj is offline  
Old Dec 11th, 2017, 06:25 PM
  #3  
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 12,137
Received 26 Likes on 4 Posts
Using janisj's reasoning re LA and her list at the end, I'd amend it to:

SF - 4 nights
Monterey/Big Sur - 4 nights
Cambria - 2 nights

Return to SFO for flight home (3 1/2 or so hrs drive). A much nicer pace and quality trip, I think (and saves the drop-off fee).

Or reverse it, drive to San Simeon on arrival and spend the last few days in SF.
MmePerdu is offline  
Old Dec 11th, 2017, 07:55 PM
  #4  
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 72,628
Likes: 0
Received 50 Likes on 7 Posts
That would be good -- assuming they have 10 nights. Not quite sure from the OP since it says >>10ish days
janisj is offline  
Old Dec 11th, 2017, 08:02 PM
  #5  
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 1,051
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thank you for mentioning Muir Woods has reservations required starting January 1. In fact, if you get there by 8 or 8:30 in the morning, there is parking and there are not people. We live right by the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and will be sure to get there before it's reservation time (which may be a good idea since by 10 it's a zoo, but is taking away one of our favorite weekend things to do.
cmstraf is offline  
Old Dec 12th, 2017, 04:05 PM
  #6  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 106
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thanks for everyone's input. janisj, ideally, we would love to fly into LA and out of SF, but someone said the drop off fee for a car rental would be close to 800 dollars extra..

As far as San Jose, we are interested in the Egyptian Museum, Japantown, and the Winchester House.

MmePerdue, I will consider flying in and out of San Francisco. I thought it would be more expensive than LAX but it doesn't seem to be.

So, we need reservations just to get into Muir Woods? Do we need to chose a time frame too or just the day?
staci1 is offline  
Old Dec 13th, 2017, 12:10 PM
  #7  
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 3,287
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
You'll need reservations for Hearst Castle also.
jamie99 is offline  
Old Dec 13th, 2017, 02:57 PM
  #8  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 106
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thanks jamie99. I really have to plan this trip out well!
staci1 is offline  
Old Dec 13th, 2017, 07:02 PM
  #9  
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 72,628
Likes: 0
Received 50 Likes on 7 Posts
>>So, we need reservations just to get into Muir Woods?
janisj is offline  
Old Dec 14th, 2017, 02:35 AM
  #10  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 106
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
That is good to know janisj. Everyone around here tells us we have to go to Muir Woods,but it sounds like it isn't the only place to see beautiful redwoods.

We wanted to go to Redwood National Forest, but it is just too far.
staci1 is offline  
Old Dec 14th, 2017, 07:09 AM
  #11  
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 26,243
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
staci, I live in San Francisco and I love redwoods. AND I haven’t been to Muir Woods in 35 years!
sf7307 is offline  
Old Dec 14th, 2017, 07:40 AM
  #12  
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 12,137
Received 26 Likes on 4 Posts
Sf, not surprising. We from the area know where all the redwoods are and I think the particular value of Muir Woods is for their draw, to keep the tourists corralled there and we have the rest to ourselves. I don't recall ever having been there though quite a while ago I did visit what may be the next park to the north, Armstrong Redwoods. It was inadvertent as I was visiting someone who lived on the same road and figured I may as well.

My favorite "secret" redwoods are near the San Mateo County coast south of SF, Butano State Park and has the advantage of not being near any built-up area, just the beaches & stunning coastal drive and the nearest tiny town, Pescadero. That's the one I recommend, though in this case it may be a bit out of the way. Not a lot but not a straight line if San Jose is on the itinerary.
MmePerdu is offline  
Old Dec 14th, 2017, 07:42 AM
  #13  
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 72,628
Likes: 0
Received 50 Likes on 7 Posts
>>Everyone around here tells us we have to go to Muir Woods
janisj is offline  
Old Dec 14th, 2017, 09:59 AM
  #14  
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 26,243
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
mmeperdu, you recommended Butano previously and we hiked there last year (followed by soup and pie at Duarte's of course). Very nice, and we were almost alone on the train we hiked.
sf7307 is offline  
Old Dec 14th, 2017, 12:43 PM
  #15  
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 12,137
Received 26 Likes on 4 Posts
I thought I saw someone!
MmePerdu is offline  
Old Dec 14th, 2017, 01:13 PM
  #16  
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Posts: 594
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Regarding one way car rentals - put your dates and locations in to a couple of rental sites and you will probably find one that does not have a drop off fee. We've done it a couple of times and all companies do not charge the fee.
sandragoodlife is offline  
Old Dec 14th, 2017, 01:36 PM
  #17  
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 12,137
Received 26 Likes on 4 Posts
Also check on booking through your airline site as there are some good deals to be had when you book it with your flights. And maybe after, too, I don't recall which it was last time.
MmePerdu is offline  
Old Dec 14th, 2017, 01:54 PM
  #18  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 106
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
O.K., thanks--I'll look at Butano State Park. If we could avoid the tourist crowds, all the better. We are so tired of looking at palm trees!

I'll also play around with the car rental companies. I just assumed they all had a drop off fee-good to know.
staci1 is offline  
Old Dec 15th, 2017, 08:46 AM
  #19  
 
Join Date: Feb 2008
Posts: 13,617
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Butano is one of my favorite parks. It has plenty of redwoods, but no old-growth groves, so you won't see the really big trees there. It's still a great park though. And you can hike for hours and only pass a few people.

Both Big Basin and Henry Cowell have old growth groves - both are popular, but not really crowded, especially if you visit on a weekday. We visit Big Basin regularly on summer weekends. The main park headquarters area is busy, but all you have to do is walk 0.25 mile down any trail and to leave the crowds behind - there will be people on the trails, but not a ton.
november_moon is offline  
Old Dec 15th, 2017, 11:51 AM
  #20  
 
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 72,628
Likes: 0
Received 50 Likes on 7 Posts
Butano is a wonderful park . . . But I definitely recommend Henry Cowell or Big Basin instead. You want to see the big trees -- that isn't Butano.

••• Now, IF you have time for Butano PLUS one of the other two -- absolutely fit it in. But not 'instead of' •••
janisj is offline  

Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -