Hello
I am making tentative enquiries into a visit next August to California, from the UK (first visit to west coast).

I wonder if anyone can help with suggestions/advice, as I am planning the holiday without the use of a travel agent.

I would prefer to avoid Los Angeles, so would likely to be flying into either San Diego or San Francisco.

Criteria is myself, husband and 14 year old!
We don't particularly want to travel miles and miles, as like to make the most of special areas by exploring fully.

I am fairly confident with finding accommodation to suit our needs, but any recommendations would be most welcome.

My main problem is route planning! Can anyone advice on a west coast route, that is safe and not too strenuous. A route that is realistic to achieve in either 2 or possibly 3 weeks.

Many thanks your help is much appreciated!

Lucy

Lucy,

I'm not clear by your post, do you want to fly into one of the 2 cities and stay in that area or are you thinking of driving from one to the other?

We also like to limit our driving and explore an area thoroughly. Last August we took our first trip to Calif. and spent 2 weeks. We limited our trip to San francisco, Yosemite, Sonoma, and Monterey. We felt this was just about right for 2 weeks, the only change would have been to spend less time in Monterey, and more in San Francisco.

Here is my suggestion for a route if you fly into San Diego and rent a car one way between San Diego and San Francisco where you then fly home. You need 4 nights in San Diego to explore the area. Then leave San Diego no later than 5 am to avoid a lot of traffic. Take RT 5 to RT 405. Follow RT 405 to RT 101 north of Los Angeles. Take RT 101 to Santa Barara for the night. The drive to here is about 5 hours and you will have the rest of the day to explore Santa Barbara. The next day take RT 101 to State RT 1 at San Luis Obispo. Use this to Carmel where you can spend the night. From here again take State RT 1 to San Francisco.

For some reason this message won't post. Maybe it is too long so I will split it up into 2 pieces.

Part 1:

It is a little difficult to offer much advice without more specific information. However, I will make some assumptions and take a crack at it.

First, I do not know why you wish to avoid Los Angeles. There is a lot to do and see in the Los Angeles area. However I will respect your wishes and move on.

Both the San Diego and San Francisco areas offer a lot to see and do. The drive between them is very enjoyable if you take the scenic route. Of course you will have to go through Los Angeles but that can't be avoided without a major detour.

August is a very busy month so make sure that you have your accomodations lined up.

I would fly into either San Diego or San Francisco. My choice would be decided by the best airfare. I would allow 4-5 days for the immediate San Diego area, 3 days for travel between San Diego and San Francisco, and the balance of your time in the San Francisco area. If you change your mind about Los Angeles than allow a couple days to see some interesting things there.

I need to know how much you are budgeting for accomodations before any recommendations can be made. I can offer some generalizations. In San Diego, stay either downtown, Coronado, or north along the coast. I would not stay at Hotel circle in Mission Valley. The area is OK but not too good for tourists. I won't even generalize about San Francisco without some specific price range.

Continued in next message:

Part 2:

I would travel along the coast between the two places. This is the route I would take from San Diego to San Francisco. If you go the other direction then just reverse it. Leave San Diego on I-5 north to Los Angeles. Do not attempt this during the commute hours. If you leave on a weekday, then start out no earlier then 10:00-11:00 am nor later then 1:30 pm uless it is late at night. I would leave about 11:00 am. Travel up I-5 to the downtown Los Angeles area and then take 101. An alternative is to take 405 from I-5 to 101. You get 405 just north of Mission Viejo. It is your choice which way. I would just go up I-5 to 101 though there may be a little less traffic on the other route. In any event expect a lot of traffic at all times except 1:00-4:00 am.

Definitely do NOT take the above posters advice about leaving San Diego at 5:00 am. That would get you into the Los Angeles area right at commute time.

Travel north on 101 to Santa Barbara. I would make this my first stop. It is a nice area and a reasonable distance for the first day. Travel north on 101 from Santa Barbara. You can take a bypass route 154 out of Santa Barbara. It is a very scenic route that meets up with 101. It is also quite a bit shorter. Stop and take a look at Solvaang as you pass on through. Once you are back on 101, proceed north to San Luis Obispo. From there, take Hwy 1 to Morro Bay. You then stay on hwy 1 up, through the Big Sur to Monterey/Carmel. I would skip this route if it is very foggy. You can just contiue up 101 if you like though hwy 1 is spectacular as long as it is not engulfed in fog. I would then plan on staying the second night in the Monterey/Carmel area. You may want to stay a full day here to go to the acquarium and other nearby attractions. Despite what others may say, I do recommend the 17 mile scenic drive between Carmel and Monterey.

From Monterey, proceed north up hwy 1 to Santa Cruz. Take a few hours and visit the boardwalk and pier in Santa Cruz. Your 14 year old will love it. From Santa Cruz, take 17 north to Los Gatos ( San Jose area ) where you will take 85 north ( approx. 22 miles from Santa Cruz ). Proceed north on 85 a few miles and then take 280 north right into San Francisco. This all may seem a little confusing but it is really quite easy. The freeway signs are well marked in advance.

There is much to do and see in San Diego/San Francisco and the surrounding areas. To keep your 14 year old happy ( you will enjoy it too ), visit Sea World, Wild Anaimal Park, and the Zoo in San Diego. In the San Francisco area, visit Great America in Santa Clara and the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. I would definitely visit the Napa Valley, Muir Woods and the coast north of San Francisco.

If you post some more specific information then we can carry this a little further.

Hi everyone!

Thank you so much for your help - I really appreciate it!

To be a bit more precise - if we fly to San Fran, we would stay around that area and the same for San Diego. Chances are it will be San Fran - so I think for now (until I find out otherwise) it may be best to concentrate on that area.

Also, on a time scale I will say a tentative 18 days.

To give you some idea of accommodation, we like to mix types of accomodation. In San Fran I have been advised to stay in Fisherman's Wharf (Holiday Inn). For the rest of the trip, I would choose a mixture of Inns, B&B's, with minimum stays of 2 nights.

To give a better idea - we would probably stay in San Fran for 3/4 nights before heading out. Although other accommodations would be a minimum of 2 nights, for one reservation we would like to base ourselves in a particular nice area for a minimum of 5 nights.

For the entire vacation we would prefer to keep coastal!

Another alternative is to spend 3/4 nights in San Fran, before heading to a highly recommended area and renting a condo for the duration. Do you recommend this idea?

Does this give a better idea?

LIZ: Why did you wish you had spent more time in San Fran than Monterey.

CAL: Why do you not recommend the hotel circle in Mission Valley?

In general, how safe is the state and what should we look out for?

I am concerned about the fog (see my other posting).

Many thanks.

Hi Lucy,

We thought Monterey was over-built and less interesting than other parts of out trip. Our love of the Maine coast probably factored into our impression. We did enjoy the Aquarium and Point Lobos State Reserve, though. Four days just wasn't enough time to explore S.F. To be 4.5 hours from Yosemite and not visit HAS to be a crime. Words cannot describe its beauty.

The reason that I do not recommend Hotel Circle is because it really does not offer much for the tourist. There is really nowhere to walk around there. The other areas that I mentioned are great places for walking around. Hotel Circle is prefectly safe and is a nice area. It is just more suited for the business traveler than the tourist.

Like anywhere else, there are areas of California that are not particularly safe and should be avoided. Any of the larger cities have some undesireable areas. You just have to use some common sense like anywhere else. Any of the tourist areas are very safe. Actually the crime rate in California is generally lower than most other states. San Jose, CA has the lowest crime rate in the country for cities greater than 400,000. San Diego, which is the 6th largest city in the country has the lowest crime rate of any large city in the US. However there are still parts of San Diego that you should avoid though you are not likely to see any of these parts. Los Angeles has some bad areas but again, there is no need to visit those areas. I think that the main thing to consider is that crime can happen everywhere so use normal caution but don't be paranoid about it. In general California is a pretty safe state.

Hi

Thanks again - with my timing being a bit more precise, can you advise on what you consider the best plan. Also, do you have any accommodation recommendations.

Regarding crime - I have read that on some of the beaches (Laguna?) there are gangs which come onto the beach early evening - is this true and what areas?

Thanks.

Lucy:

I haven't heard of any gangs at Laguna Beach. Laguna Beach is a nice area and is quite an art center. Gangs are really not much of a problem in most areas anymore. Things have changed drastically in the last few years. The crime rate has dropped every year for going on 8 years now and is at it's lowest level in over 30 years. This has been happening all over the country as well as California.

No visit to northern California would be complete without a visit to Sonoma County (about an hour north of San Francisco).

The county lies along the coast (Bodega Bay) and the Pacific Coast Highway is a beautiful and a bit scary ride with stops along the way to walk down on the beach.

There are fabulous wineries but with a 14 year old that may be a problem -- although I would imagine some of them have activities for children while parents visit ...

For more info visit the official web site at www.sonomacounty.com/ Sonoma County is one of our families favorite vacation spots in the U.S.

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