Underhill,

When you mentioned "a night at Asilomar", did you have any specific accommodation in mind? I assume the dining hall where they serve camp-style belongs to a hotel?

Thank you.

Ties Thursday July 17 will be a long day - depending on traffic - where you stay in l, traffic to northern San Diego - can be a beating. All day at legoland and then the drive to check into a hotel in Anaheim... Just be aware of that.

I would personally go to Disneyland on July 17 and then go to San Diego for 3-4 nights. San Diego zoo is amazing (one of the best in the World), take in a padre game at Petco park (very American! - go to Coronado, go to la Jolla.. You won't be sorry! You can visit Lego land in one of those days if it is a high priority.

You are moving a lot for traveling with a family & I think going to be exhausted.

I would stop in Santa Barbara after Cambria. It's a long drive to LA otherwise and will feel like you are in the car a lot.
If you do stay in Cambria, can I recommend staying on Moonstone beach. We have done this a couple of times now and LOVE it. This past November we stayed at the Sand Pebbles inn and thought it lovely ( not to mention a great sea view if you take one of the front rooms AND it's next to the fabulous Seachest restaurant. )

Also as you be early risers coming from Europe , I would book Hearst castle for the a.m after you have stayed at Cambria. Yes you are back tracking slightly BUT it's only 5 minutes or so up the road and that way you are not rushing down thru the Big Sur to get to HC on the day before. Pre book online.

Oh and finally we also visited San Diego zoo in November for the first time ( I thought we would be there a couple of hours) we were there ALL day. It's amazing.......

We did a lot of travelling too on our trip from Sf to San Diego ( and then up to Palm Springs before finally finishing in LA) but we like you wanted to cover a lot of ground BUT do realise the driving can be tiring ( and boring) so less stops do mean you will "see" more!

A few more thoughts.

If you go to Point Lobos on a weekend, get there early. All the parking spaces fill up very early on the weekends. And it's only a .5 mile walk to McWay Falls at Julia Pfeiffer State Park and it's a gorgeous view.

I'd either go to northern Arizona or southwestern Utah. It's too much driving to do both. Either one will be very hot in July. You could combine southwestern Utah with the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. If you do go to the South Rim, do go to the condor talk.

If you drop a night from Las Vegas I'd add it back to Yosemite. It's really hot in Las Vegas so I can't recommend hiking there in July. If you ever go back during a time of year with comfortable temperatures, Valley of Fire is a gorgeous park. (And on the way to Bryce & Zion.)

My son doesn't care much for zoos, but maybe we can stay 2 nights in Anaheim (to visit Disney), and then another 2 nights in e.g. La Jolla. In La Jolla when can then do 1 day Legoland and 1 day relaxing before the trip to Las Vegas. I suppose it doesn't make a huge difference to travel from Anaheim or La Jolla to Vegas (only 30 minutes difference?).

Shanti, when you say "combine southwestern Utah with the North Rim of the Grand Canyon", do you mean I should drop Bryce and Zion?

Do you think Point Lobos and the Aquarium on one day is a no go?

Thanks.

>>Do you think Point Lobos and the Aquarium on one day is a no go?

I meant that driving to the South Rim and then going to Bryce and Zion, which are in southwestern Utah, adds a lot of driving to your trip. Which would be much more driving than I would want to do, especially at that time of year.

Stu Dudley answered your other question.

.

Hi Stu,
I did actually leave out Hearst Castle on purpose, so we have the whole day to drive from Monterey to Cambria and spend quite some time in Big Sur. I am not sure if Hearst Castle is very special, but I have already seen quite some castles in Europe.

So, if I add one day, would you suggest the following itinerary?

Sat. 12 July: Arrive in Monterey. Check into hotel and relax.
Sun. 13 July: Visit Monterey Bay Aquarium. Stay in Monterey (2nd night)
Mon. 14 July: In the morning, check out of hotel and drive to Big Sur lodge. From there visit Point Lobos (if not done on the 13th), have a leisurely lunch or dinner at Nepenthe and time for visiting Pfeiffer State park, Pfeiffer Beach, Julia Pfeiffer Burns state park.
Tue. 15 July: Drive to Cambria in the morning. Is there anything to see there, or just relax until the drive to LA the next day?

Thanks.

You will need to pre book Nepenthe. Even in November it was mobbed at lunchtime!

We've been at Nepenthe in September and waited about 45 minutes. Personally, I wouldn't want to have to arrive there on a schedule.

Asilomar is not a town, it's a "conference center" (that sounds so dry) where you can stay. http://www.visitasilomar.com/

I think you national park plans look fine. The South Rim of the Grand Canyonnis at 7000 feet and the North Rim even higher, around 8800. Bryce is also very high. Zion, at 2400, will be the hottest, but you can cool off with the Narrows hike. That is about the most fun you can haven two feet. Make sure to stop in at Zion Adventure Company to check on the weather and river conditions before you start. July is thunderstorm/flash flood season, and you don't want to risk being in the river iwhen one occurs.

I like Shanti's suggestion of going to the North Rim instead of the South. It is higher, cooler, and quieter than the South Rim. Itis also a lot closer to Zion and Bryce. You could get a Weatern Cabin and be right on the rim. Walk out to Bright Angel Point for beautiful canyon views. You can also hike into the canyon on the North Kaibab trail. I don't know if they do condor talks there, though.

The closest view we have had of a condor was at Zion, up at Scout Lookout. One landed on a ledge nearby and opened its wings repeatedly, so we could easily see the number tags.

SF, I guess if it depends on whether you really want to eat there or not ( its only like prebooking any other restuarant) if your not bothered and happy to wait then agree don't pre book, but If it's on there "must do" list, I would pre book.

Nepenthe does not take reservations. Waiting is the best part of having dinner or lunch there. You get to sit on a large terrace overlooking the coast with A+ views. Maybe they'll have a fire going in their big fire pit. The views are actually better than the views inside the restaurant. You can actually have a light dinner/lunch outside I believe (certainly you can order drinks/cheese etc). That might be the best idea for a 7YO. My wife loves the ambrosia burger with tons of French fries. You can also wander in their gift shop below & "relive" the 60s. We were at Nepenthe in April and also last Sept & got to the restaurant as soon as they opened for dinner. No wait at all - but we chose to have a drink outside first. I think they open at 4:30 - which might be a good time for a 7YO - but you may decide to do lunch/dinner on the terrace.

River Inn is a fun breakfast spot in Big Sur.

Julia Pfeiffer Burns state park is at the extreme south end of Big Sur (the village) - so visit that on the way to Cambria. Cambria itself is OK - but compared to the hundreds & hundreds of small villages we've visited in Europe and also compared to Carmel and Pacific Grove - it does not "measure up" IMO.

Also, compared to the hundreds & hundreds of castles we've visited in Europe, Hearst is OK - but it probably won't "jazz" you that much. It's different/unique for those who have never visited Europe - but not for those who visit European castles frequently.

Stu Dudley

I've eaten lunch at nepenthe probably 6 or 8 times and have never booked. But then I almost never go in July / August.

My guess is booking at that time of year would be helpful. But it is pretty hard to gauge arrival time if it is one's first drive down hwy 1. There is so much to see along the way.

You honestly cannot compare Hearts Castle with a real castle in Europe, totally different. HC is built in the style of! That said I still think its interesting and have done 2 of the tours now. I found it more interesting ref the life of Mr Hearst etc. ( and the views) Than from a " castle" perspective.

Ref Nepethen we chose to eat outside as the wait was ages... Think we just had cheese and drinks etc. glad we stopped off as we ment to go when we were in CA last time but didn't make it. Wasn't a highlight though..... Odd as I could have sworn you could prebook onliine.. I must be thinking of somewhere else. ( I did do a ton of research about a ton of places so it doesn't surprise me

If you're adding a night in Big Sur and not visiting Hearst (which I agree is skippable), how about spending the following night farther south like Santa Barbara?

I also like the North Rim Grand Canyon suggestion, less crowded and less driving.

By Nepenthe being "open" I really mean "seating people & start serving dinner". The bar/terrace service is open all day/evening long.

We've been gong to Nepenthe annually since 1970. I don't make reservations, but if someone knows that they take reservations, verify it again and let me know about it. To my knowledge, they will put your name on a list when you arrive - but I was not aware that they could do "call in" reservations in advance - but things change!!!.

Stu Dudley