7 Days in California
 

Hello friends!!

I'm writing for some advice in my upcoming trip to Beautiful California.

We will be four people, my wife and her mother, my son (2 1/2 yrs old ) and me.

Our current schedule is as follows:

2/17/2008 Arrive at 9am in Los Angeles - Spend day in L.A.
2/18/2008 *Leave L.A. to Big Sur / Carmel Monterey
2/19/2008 Big Sur / Carmel / Monterey
2/20/2008 *Leave monterey to San Francisco
2/21/2008 San Francisco
2/22/2008 *leave to Lake Tahoe
2/23/2008 Lake Tahoe
2/24/2008 leave back to LA - flight leaves at 10PM


Your suggestions are greatly appreciated!!!!

Dave

Unless you're planning to ski, I would skip Lake Tahoe in February. Instead, I'd spend that time in San Francisco.

Your son will probably love the Monterey Bay Aquarium. We planned half a day there and ended up staying well into the afternoon.

Do you have to fly back from LA, or can you fly out of San Francisco instead? You'll be spending a lot of time in the car, and could be delayed by bad weather on the way back.

Lee Ann

I also would skip Lake Tahoe. With your proposed plan, you will be spending lots and lots of time in the car. I'd spend more time in San Francisco and leave Tahoe for another time.

Where are you coming from, and have you been to California before? What are you especially interested in?

The AT&T Pebble Beach golf tournament will be happening 2/15 -2/19, so Carmel will be very busy on the 18 and 19th and lodging will difficult to get on the 18th.

I hope you take lots of "car games" with you for your son, mom, & wife - because that's a heck of a lot of time in the car - and not much time "being there".

You only have about 7 1/2 days in Calif. You are really spending almost zero days in LA (arriving in LA at 9am, and spending the day there really isn't enough time to do much of anything) - any yet you're arriving & departing from LA???

I would strongly recommend changing your flight arrangements to fly in/out of SF, skip Tahoe, and just spent the time in San Francisco, and Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur. There is PLENTY of stuff just in this region to keep you satisfied for 7 days.

Stu Dudley

I wouldn't do it Dave, meaning Lake Tahoe. And if there is a big snowstorm you could get "stuck" getting out of Tahoe and miss your flight home. I have had friends that were stuck around Tahoe for 8 hours or more due to heavy snow storms.

Sorry, but you may have to re-think your itinerary.

It would be difficult to cover that much territory in the fine weather of the spring/summer w/ a toddler - but in Feb it would mean potential rain/wind storms along the coast and snow storms/tire chains in the Sierra. And IF there are storms on the coast - parts of hwy 1 close due to rock slides or potential rock slides.

Driving from Tahoe to LA to catch a flight the same night borders on the impossible. Not only could there be snow at Tahoe - there could be dangerous tule fog down the entire Central Valley.

Now - <i>none</i> of these weather disasters might happen - but the odds are not good and you won't know until you are here.

(SAB: next year's ATT runs Feb 9 - 15 so they would be arriving after it is over)

&gt;&gt;Not only could there be snow at Tahoe - there could be dangerous tule fog down the entire Central Valley.&gt;&gt;

And, there could be snow on the Grapevine leading to LA, &amp; once in a while - they close this road.

Stu Dudley

I think you now have enough opinions that you should be convinced to skip Tahoe. I also believe you should fly into LA and out of SF or vice versa, unless you've been convinced to skip LA altogether. Check flights on Kayak.com - mark Multi-City at the top and it will give you additional lines.

Carmel/Monterey is a wonderful area, but I would avoid the dates of the golf tournament as previously mentioned.

While in the SF area you could also do Sausalito, Muir Woods, Wine Country. Don't know how well behaved your son is, so some of these ideas might not be feasible.

And one more thing...remember temps in SF area in Feb are pretty cool.

&gt;&gt;remember temps in SF area in Feb are pretty cool.&lt;&lt;

If they are coming from the northern US or Caneda - temps will be very warm. I remember several ATT tournaments that were quite warm, and many that were cold &amp; rainy.

Stu Dudley

LOL...yes it is all relative. I was in SF in August and froze. My mom kept telling me to take a jacket and I just kept thinking...it's summer.

Of course, I grew up in Miami and was taking a break from school at UGA in Athens, GA...not exactly cold country.

&quot;<i>I was in SF in August and froze.</i>&quot;

Well - duh! :) If you had asked here first we could have told you about &quot;summer&quot; in SF :D.

Now Feb - could definitely be rainy - but it won't likely be cold in SF compared to other places. And possibly nearly the same temps as you had in August. Highs average about 55ºF in Feb and maybe 60-65ºF in August.

Now be nice...this was 20 yrs ago...no Fodor's then!

Dave - You forgot to add Yosemite to your travel itinerary.........

As others have said, there are lots of problems with your plans. All that driving in such a short time period does not sound like fun to me especially with a 2 !/2 yr old and your mother-in-law in the car.

February is still winter here and you may be lucky with the weather or you could run into an entire week of wind and rain. Do this trip sometime other than winter. Spring or Fall is best.

I would also just do one or the other - LA or SF/Monterey area - in only a week's time. Spending only one night in each place is a waste of time.

Do less driving and more sightseeing and stop to smell the roses.

FamousDave,

You're probably feeling that you've been dumped on, but most of these are good suggestions.

I would also suggest skipping Tahoe. It would be helpful if you'd come back and tell us if that is a particular reason for going to Tahoe, other than its beauty!

If you will skip Tahoe, I'd suggest another night in LA. There is a lot to see there, and you may be too tired to do much on the day you arrive.

You'll probably be driving up Highway 1, so you'll miss any fog on the Grapevine.

I'll second the Monterey Bay Aquarium being a great place. We spent hours more there than we expected to. Find out when the feeding times are, and be sure to get to each spot early so you can grab a space to sit/stand.

You can spend another night in San Francisco too. Lots to see there too, and even more just a short drive away.

I'll assume that your flights are booked, so you'll have to get back to LA. As an alternative to staying overnight in LA when you arrive, on your way back to the airport, arrive in LA the day before you leave so that you have more time to see the city and you don't run the risk of missing your flight.


I know it's hard to see as much as you can in a short time. Enjoy California!

Ugh. That sounds like an awful trip. Four driving days out of your seven day trip.

What were you going to do in LA for one day? It's a massive place and getting around involved driving, alot.

The drive to Big Sur is fairly long for a 2 year old. And it doesn't allow you much time to really enjoy the scenery and views. I would want to see Hearst Castle and Moro Bay rather than Tahoe in February.

I agree that Yosemite would be a good addition, but I would skip LA. I did a very similar trip with my mother and sister 20 yrs ago...when I froze in SF. But...we had more time and we were all adults. It was a lot of driving.

We flew into LA and out of SF. We spent 3 nights in LA and did a day trip to San Diego. Stayed 1 night in San Simeon to see Hearst Castle, then drove along Big Sur to Carmel where we stayed 2 nights. Saw Monterey and did the 17 mile drive visiting Pebble Beach from Carmel. We then went to Yosemite for 1 night and Lake Tahoe for 1 night before ending in SF for 3 nights.

In retrospect, I would have skipped Tahoe even though it was beautiful. Another night in Yosemite would have made much more sense. But...I had never been to CA and couldn't decide what to cut out.

For your trip I would recommend flying round trip to and from SF with 3 nights there, 2 in Carmel/Monterey and 2 in Yosemite. Save southern CA for another trip. LA has a lot to see and so does San Diego. When your son is a little older he would like the SD zoo and Sea World.

Deb,

I think the well-namesd Supercilious was being sarcastic about Yosemite.

Well Barbara...I reread it and I think you are right!!!. Sort of...If It's Tuesday, This Must be Belgium. :-)

I'm trying to get info on a trip to AZ, where I've never been, and I'm kinda hanging reading other posts hoping I'll get all kinds of advice!

But I still think SF, Carmel and Yosemite would work with 7 nights. But then again, with the youngster it might be best to stick with just Carmel and SF.