Hi! We're going to California for 2 weeks in August. I've seen a lot of info. on San Diego, sounds like a 'must go to'. But does anyone know anything about Santa Barbara, Santa Monica, San Jose, Yosemite N. Pk and also Oakland & Berkeley? Does anyone know if any of these places are worth seeing and how far these places are from Los Angeles? We want to see as much as possible.

We want to see the major LA sights etc., also some beautiful scenery and deserts.

Is it possible to drive from LA to any of these places for the day and still see enough. Or would we need to overnight in any of these places?

Would greatly appreciate some info.
Thanks.

From LA (where I live):
Yosemite = 8 hours, overniter+
Las Vegas = 4.5, overniter+
San Diego = 2, overniter+
Palm Springs = 2, day or overniter
Santa Barbara/Solvang = 2-4, day trip
You don't mention where you are coming from or how, but I would see Venice Beach/Santa Monica Pier in westernmost LA
Long Beach for the Queen Mary and the Aquarium of the Pacific.
Catalina Island, off the coast 1 hr. by boat from Long Beach or Newport Beach.
LA Harbor/San Pedro to see the cruise and other ships come thru the channel.
Palm Springs for the drive through Idylwild (in the mts.-get a map) and the PS Aerial Tramway, which takes you up a mt. and is 30 degrees cooler up top, hiking trails, etc. Cheap rooms in PS in summer.(HOT!)
The J.Paul Getty Museum in West LA area
If you go to Yosemite you could head straight west after and see San Fran, but don't you want to relax just a LITTLE!?
Have fun! LA can take 2 weeks all by itself!

OK,
We need to start with some very basic geography. I recommend that you pull out a map of California before you come. We are a HUGE state.

Oakland and Berkeley are in Northern California accross the bay from San Francisco. This is easily a 6 to 8 hour drive depending on from where and when you leave as well as the route that you take. Mind you this can be a beautiful drive up the coast, but this is not a light undertaking - this is a serious road trip you are talking about.

While this is quite possible for a 2 week visit, I recommend that you orient yourself with California a bit more so that you can decide if you want to have a driving visit, or a sit in one spot visit. Both can be very rewarding as there is much to do at either end of the state - and lots in between.

The only area that is a day trip from LA... is LA itself (or maybe San Diego if you are at the south end of LA). The rest of the areas you list, are day plus trips.

And a final note of clarification and orientation (now is a good time to pull out your map): Santa Monica is part of LA as is Venice Beach. Santa Barbara is up the coast from LA a about 100 miles and is nestled along the coast. Yosemite is inland and north of LA, about 200 miles east of San Francisco (300 miles from greater LA). Palm Springs is due West about 125 miles. San Diego is due South 125 miles. San Francisco and the greater Bay Area (including San Jose, Oakland, Berkeley) is due North about 400 miles, or another 6 hours up from Santa Barbara.

Best of luck with your planning.

Sharon

Some of your questions remain unanswered. Now, this is just my opinion (and I'm probably going to ruffle some feathers here), but you can skip Santa Barbara, San Jose, Oakland, and Berkeley and not miss much, especially since your time is limited. I'd propose the following itinerary: 3 days in San Diego, 4 in LA area, two days driving up to San Francisco, 2 in San Francisco itself (without any outlying areas, one day driving to Yosemite, and two in Yosemite. This will fill up your 2 weeks and give you a chance for an overview. Notice, I said overview. Save the rest of this wonderful state and a more indepth visit of each area for other visits. Or limit yourself to one area of the state, like Southern CA, with LA and San Diego. Getting out a map and planning strategy is a great idea. Another is to read up on all the possible destinations and then cross off the ones that are not so important to you for this trip.

OK, my feathers are very ruffled at the thought of skipping Santa Barbara!! I agree you can skip San Jose, Oakland (especially) and Berkeley, but not Sta. Barbara. You can do Santa Barbara from LA if you get an early start and drive up 101. If you want to drive PCH up and back, you might want to overnight. Good restaurants and a pretty mission in SB, just about right for a day of touring. The other thing to consider when planning is that SWA offers low one way fares in California, so you might want to fly from LA to SF and then drive back down again. I would allow 4 days for the driving back down the coast--that's leisurely, but that's how we do it. It's possible to drive it in 2 days but it's a pain and a lot of hurry up time. With two weeks, I would plan 4 days in LA, 2 days in San Diego, a flight to SF for 4 more days and then 4 days driving back to LA. It's approximately 500 miles from LA to SF but takes about 7-8 hours on the 101--freeway all the way, not many views of the coast. Another thing to consider is the Amtrak Coast Starlight which goes up the coast and you can get on and off as you wish. Unfortunately, there have been complaints about their service and on time record lately.

Sharon, Linda and kam gave good advice (I won't get into the Santa Barbara/non- Santa Barabra fight. it is a lovely city but you could miss it and not be out that much). California is a VERY large state and it seems you want to concentrate on the southland with a side trip to SF/Yosemite. Well enough, but understand you will miss all of northern calif - The fabulous north coast, Tahoe, Shasta, the gold Rush country, etc. But you can have a great trip w/ just the places they listed.

But I will warn you - do not venture into the desert in August - they don't call it Death Valley for nothing. Temperatures up to 120F and more are common and are not to be taken lightly. That is why hotel rooms in Palm Springs that run $250 a night in Feb. can be had for $70 in July/August.

Thanks to everyone for your very helpful and much needed information and insights. I think we're going to visit LA for the first week or week and a half (including Santa Monica and Venice Beach), then spend a part or the remainder of the vacation in San Diego, not forgetting to include a day or so to stop off in ... wait for it..drumroll
...Santa Barbara! OK Kam, feathers be still! Since we're now just going to visit a couple of the places we were first thinking of visiting, we'll definitely have enough time to stop there. Besides, I'm curious and now we'll be able to check the place out, with plenty of time left for the rest of the vacation.

Thanks again to all of you for your input.

You don't say why you are staying in L.A. but can I take for granted that you have kids and want to do the Disney/Universal thing? I could spend the whole summer in California and find better things to do than L.A. But to each his own. Since you re going to be staying there,and i Have been there several times, can I make a few suggestions? If you like the touristy thing, go to Hollywood and see the Chinese Theatre and the Roosevelt Hotel across the street from it,a lot of Hollywood history there. I really enjoyed the NBC Studio tour in Burbank. Also, if you want a nice relaxing trip with the prettiest scenery that you will find in that area, take one of the boats in Long Beach over to Catalina. It's like nothing else you will experience in Southern California. You can spend part of the day on the island browzing through the shops or take one of the tours around the island, or both. Driving down the coast to San Diego make sure you take Highway 1 along the coast, and maybe a stop in Laguana Beach along the way. I must agree with some of the others, that you really have to go to far north, especially for a day trip, to see much worth really seeing. But I have to say that the Northern California coast (Carmel/Monterey, Big Sur, San Francisco) is by far the most beautiful part of the state.