Planning 1st family trip to California this July. We are in early stages of planning. Great fares to SFO so we would likely start there. We are obviously trying to pack as much into 10-12 day visit as possible without spending entire time in car. Would it be worth a couple hundred bucks to fly into SFO & out of San Diego or elsewhere? Highlights we would like to include: Coastline , Yosemite, 1 nite in wine country...or too far west?, San Fran...suggestions please! Kids are 15 & 11.

You will probably make better use of your time by flying into SFO and out of some other airport.

However, on a recent trip we found the best air fare and auto rental deals were at LAX, so we arranged our travel to take advantage of the savings.

Stargint at LAX, a possible itinerary would be up Highway 1 to San Francisco and then on to Yosemite. From Yosemite you could go to Las Vegas, San Diego, or elsewhere and back to LAX.

In my opinion, starting at SFO makes it awkward to include Highway 1 going south and Yosemite. Others will disagree.

You haven't said where you are coming from but be sure to also check airfares out of Oakland rather than SF. Because of Jet Blue and Southwest, the fares are often lower than SF.

A round-trip might make sense, but that would leave out San Diego. You could go down the coast to LA and back up inland to see Sequoia and Yosemite. It would be longer than going to Yosemite and then back to the coast, but it might save you money.

We would be flying from the Southeast. RT air in/out SFO is $183 & In SFO & out of San Diego (for example) is only about $220...that's not bad at all! Do you think starting in San Diego is best? If so, when would you swing over to Yosemite?

The first thing you should do is make your Yosemite reservations----summer lodging in the park sometimes books up a year in advance. Look here for lodging inside the park:
http://www.yosemitepark.com/
If they don't have what you want, there are nice motels (with swimming pools) at the park entrance at El Portal. You can always cancel the reservations if you change your mind about this part of the trip, but if you don't make reservations soon you won't be able to go!

If going from SF to San Diego or LA, one thing you could consider is going into Yosemite Valley, then up into the high country (absolutely beautiful in July) and over the Tioga Pass, then down the eastside of the Sierras on Hwy 395, possibly stopping for a night at Mammoth (hot springs, lakes, hiking and biking trails). This route will take you right across the Mohave Desert, but with AC in your car it is not difficult, especially if you do that part of the drive in the morning. This route also gives you the opportunity to skirt most of LA and go to the Orange Couty beaches and on down to San Diego for that part of your stay.

We are planning a similiar trip for ten days in July also. I have already reserved flights one way into Reno and one way back home out of San Jose (two different airlines SW and Continental via Expedia.) We will spend one night in the Tahoe area and the next 3 in Yosemite. (South Tahoe to Yosemite east entrance 2.5 hours driving - which allows us time to explore Tahoe for the day before heading to Yosemite.) The first night we'll stay near Lee Vinings and the next two are in El Porto. We will get to El Porto via the Tioga Pass and spend the day exploring that area of the park. All of the lodges/rooms inside the park were taken but I understand you can get on a waiting list. We are at the Cedar Lodge in El Porto which is 8 miles from the nearest entrance. From there we will drive south and west (maybe 4.5 hours) towards Hwy 1 for one night in Cambria. We head north and the next night is in Big Sur - very hard to find lodging there! - and the last four nights are in San Francisco. It's all falling into place with not a lot of driving, but I'm sure a lot of stopping to see the beautiful sights...and b/c we are flying in and out of 2 different areas, we are saving some driving time/back tracking.

Originally, our plans had us heading towards SF after Yosemite and ending the trip with working our way down and back up Hwy 1 to San Jose, but the timing fell on a weekend along Hwy 1 and rooms weren't as available. You may want to keep that in mind when planning. Good luck and have a great trip!

El Portal.