Lots to see between SFO and Hearst, plan on it taking all day, then see Hearst in the a.m. Don't miss Point Lobos just south of Carmel.

A trip to L.A. without a visit to the Getty? No way!
www.getty.edu

I agree about Day 3 being impractical as far as squeezing in Winchester Mystery House with San Francisco sights. It's more than an hour's drive to San Jose from downtown SF, more likely two hours with the traffic. I'd skip Winchester because it's out of the way.

However, I also agree that Carmel/Monterey deserves a stop on the way to Hearst.

In the wine country, I don't know if you can have lunch at the Oakville Grocery. You can buy food there to take for a picnic lunch, but unless I'm mistaken, I don't think it's a restaurant.

I definitely would not skip the Winchester house. It is a very interesting mansion to tour. I think some people here are overestimatimng the amount of time to get to San Jose. As long as you go to SJ during the non- commute times, it should not take more than slightly over an hour.

Do make time to spend a couple of days in Monterey and Carmel. The scenery is wonderful.

Thanks for the replies, I have altered the course a little (and none of this is set in stone, I realize I may not be able to do it all). This one includes dates.I have extended it to 14-15days.(sorry for the lengthy entry)

SAT 8/23-Fly into SFO, pick up car, check into hotel, relax
Day 1:Fisherman's Warf,Alcatraz,Pier 39
Day 2:Exploratorium Museum,Golden Gate Park & Bridge,Cluff House,Lombard Street
Day 3:Wine Country,Old Faithful, Petrified Forest,Muir Woods
Day4:Check out of hotel, head to Monterey to see Aquarium,continue onto Cambria, stay the night
Day 5:Tour Hearst Castle, Head onto LA
Day 6:Universal Studios/NBC Studio Tour?
Day 7isneyland
Day8ong Beach to have brunch on Queen Mary,possibly take ferry to catalina island,venice beach
Day 9:Hollywood,Walk of fame,Chinese Mann Theater
Day 10:Check out of hotel,head onto San Diego
Day 11ea World, Mission Bay Beach
Day 12: SD Zoo,Balboa Park
Day 13:Coronado Island, Old Town, Seaport Village
Day 14:Head home in afternoon

In Los Angeles:

I would consider staying on westside of town (Santa Monica, West Hollywood, Beverly Hills for days 6 - 8 then staying at the Disneyland hotel the night after your Disneyland day. maybe you could stay at Disneyland the night before and after Disneyland day. This would cut down on driving. Also:

Day 6: Santa Monica, Venice Beach in am, Getty or NBC Tour in afternoon.

Day 7: Universal Studios during day.
Hollywood,Walk of fame,Chinese Mann Theater in evening. Have dinner at Musso and Franks in Hollywood.

Day 8: "Long Beach to have brunch on Queen Mary, possibly take ferry to Catalina Island."

Might also consider Pasadena - Norton Simon, Huntington Gardens.

Or, as previous poster suggested, cut this day out and spend it before Los Angeles in Santa Barbara - this is what i wouls do. Much more rewarding than Long Beach.

Day 9: Disneyland.

Just some suggestions. have a great trip.

Urrghhhh - sorry for typos.

One suggestion, take the NBC tour and put it with day 9. Universal studios will take more time and be much more tiring than the Hollywood stuff. Also as you do Mann's and the Walk of Fame check out the Roosevelt Hotel. It's a historic hotel with a lot of Hollywood history and if I remember right just a short walk from Mann's.

I would add a day for an overnighter in Carmel or in Santa Barbara. That would put you into L.A. on a Sat and Sun which is great for the traffic.

You can do Universal in the same day as Hollywood/Chinese etc, even can fit NBC in that morning as it is only a 90 min. tour. From Universal the speedy clean subway runs directly to Hollywood Walk of Fame and back.

A night in Carmel would be nice, followed by the drive down to San Simeon, see Hearst and spend some of the day but not worth an overnighter. I'd say drive down to Santa Barbara around sunset (beautiful drive) and spend the night there, then you're only 90 minutes from Los Angeles.

Take the 17 mile drive in Monterey and also on day 10 you will not need all day to check out of the hotel and get to SD to check in.

My husband and I do this all the time for his work and we're all set up no later than noon.

So depending on how you feel, you may want to break off a little chunk of another day in SD that day 10 afternoon.

You guys are awesome, this is really helping me out!

I have now changed it to the following after hearing more suggestions (and after finding out when one of my hotel choices was available):

Fri Night- Fly into SFO
Days 1,2,3 - Spend around SFO
Day 4 - Drive to Monterey/Carmel, See Aquarium and spend the night
Day 5 - Drive to Hearst Castle, then head onto Santa Barbara and spend the night there
Day 6 - Drive from Santa Barbara to LA
Days 7,8,9,10 spend around LA/neighboring cities
Day 11 - Drive from LA to San Diego
Days 12,13,14,15 Spend in San Diego
Day 16 - Head Home!

Long trip but I think it will be fun! Your comments have been really helpful, pretty flexible with days but wanted to end in San Diego and I think this will work!

Tip: Get the the aquarium in Monterey the minute it opens, or better yet, get there early to be first in line. It was VERY crowded when we went and it was a weekday. I wish we had gotten there earlier so we could see better. The crowds made it difficult to enjoy it. That being said, you should NOT miss it, very wonderful place! I also highly recommend the Pacific Terrace hotel in San Diego, great location on the beach, UNLESS you are willing to spend the money on the Coranado! You are going to have a GREAT trip, love the itinerary! Link to Pacific Terrace:
http://www.pacificterrace.com/

I have picked all my hotels for the trip (REALLY EXCITED!!!)

San Francisco - Marriott Fisherman's Wharf(mostly for location and good rate)

Monterey - Spindrift Inn (Heard good comments, not a bad rate)

Santa Barbara - Simpson House Carriage ROOM!!!! (IN LOVE WITH THIS PLACE ALREADY!)

Santa Monica - JW Marriott Le Mergiot (fairly good rate, good location in relation to other LA attractions)

San Diego - Marriott Downtown Marina (Love the location,nice pool, rate could be better but worth it)

Thanks for all the Replies!!! Will have tons of photos and a trip report when I come back!!!

Just got back from SF. Would definitely suggest giving up some of your time at Fisherman's Wharf for the WokWiz tour of Chinatown. My wife and I were tired of the wharf after about 2 hours!

jw, that is funny you say that because I made a reservation to do to 4 hour "I can't believe I ate my way through chinatown" tour! LOVE chinese food so I am definitly looking forward to it! Thanks for the info!

Would suggest skipping Old Faithful and the Petrified Forest. My wife and I had those on our must do list when we travelled to Napa last year. The 10-year old science geek in both of us (My wife is mid 30s, I am mid-40s). We were very disappointed.

Learned there are several Old Faithful geysers in the United States. This one was pretty lame. Kind of like getting excited for Fourth of July fireworks extravaganza and finding out the show consists of a pack of Black Cats and some sparklers.

As for the Petrified Forest, it looks like the State of California hasn't done anything with the park since the 1950s. You sort of amble a long and look at some old ossified trees and comments about prospectors.

Personally, I would eat at Greystone instead of Oakville Grocery.

The 10-year old geek in us loved the Exploratorium.

Now, Heast Castle was cool. Definitely worth the trip. It's probably not the most aesthetically pleasing mansion architecturally, but it is an amazing place to see. The views are outstanding, and the collection of stuff is overwhelming.

Good idea to stop in Santa Barbara, but that is still going to be a long trip. Drive from Monterrey the castle is 3 hours. Tour is two hours. Be sure to get reservations. Drive from San Simeon to Santa Barbara has to be at least 4 hours. Don't remember because we ambled from Santa Barbara to Cambria, which is now my favorite California coastal town.

Enjoy.

I was thinking that the petrified forest wasnt sounding all that interesting. I would maybe still see the geyser(I've never seen one at all) and I think the Muir Woods are on the list for that day to see some tall trees. I had been to napa about 6 years ago and we stopped at a place that had tons of cheese/wine and it had really pretty grounds. I was trying to remember the name of it, looked in the Frommer's 2003 book for California and it was in there (V. Sattui Winery). I think we will stop there for a picnic lunch instead of going to the Oakville grocery. Looking forward to the Exploratorium!

We are going to get up around 7am on our last night in SF, eat breakfast and then drive to Monterey (which I figure will take about 2 hours). Check in to our hotel and go visit the aquarium for the afternoon. Spend the night in Monterey and get up around the same time the next day to eat breakfast, check out and then drive to Hearst Castle(about another 2 hour drive). I figure to leave Hearst by 3PM and drive onto Santa Barbara where we stay one night at the Simpson House. Kind of tight for those two days but I had people insiting to stay in Monterey and Santa Barbara and I think it will be fun!