We are trying to narrow down our plans when visiting California in August. Our family is 2 adults, 1 13 year old girl and 1 5 year old girl. Would like to see the highlighst of both Northern and sourther California. Is it possible to stay in a central location in N.CA and a central location in S.CA, rather than moving around, and still see Disney, beaches, zoos, redwoods...
Thanks again for the help!

Do you plan on driving the coastal route. I strongly recommend it with maybe 1 or 2 nights on the road. We've done a similar trip. Started in SF, spent 2 nights on the road (big Sur and Solvang) and ended up in Sanat Monica (visied disney 1 day while there). If you do drive the coast, be sure to visit Monterey Acquarium and Hearst Castle. Monetery can also be a day trip from SF. The coast is spectacular. My kids enjoyed the 'road-trip'. We leisurely drove down the coast and made stops along the way to check out various scenic points.

Fayzie, As far as Northern California is concerned, you could consider San Jose (www.sanjose.org) as a central location to see the city and take day trips to Monterey, Carmel, and the redwoods.

In San Jose things of interest for the family would be the The Tech Museum of Innovation (www.thetech.org) Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum (www.egyptianmuseum.org) and the Winchester Mystery House (www.winchestermysteryhouse.com)
In Kelley Park you can visit the History Museum of San Jose
(www.historysanjose.org) and the Japanese Gardens(kids love feeding the koi fish). The Happy Hollow Park and Zoo (www.happyhollowparkandzoo.org) is actually a petting zoo with rides that would be more appropriate for your 5 yr. old. Your younger daughter would also enjoy the Children's Discovery Museum as well (www.cdm.org)

The redwoods of Big Basin Park (www.bigbasin.org) are about 20 miles outside of San Jose in the scenic Santa Cruz Mountains.

In Monterey (www.monterey.com) the must sees include the Monterey Bay Aquarium (www.mbayaq.org) Fisherman's Wharf (www.montereywharf.com) the quaint town of Carmel, and 17 Mile Drive. If you have time, continue on south on Highway 1 to see the spectacualr scenery of Big Sur and for a tour of Hearst Castle (www.hearst-castle.org) in San Simeon. Be sure to make reservations for the Hearst Castle tour. There is lodging near Hearst Castle in the town of Cambria.

Have a great time in California.

thank you. your suggestions are really helpful and very much appreciated.

We did it in 10 days and had a blast. Flew to San Diego, went to San Diego Zoo, then drove up to Carlsbad (Lego Land was great for my kids and yours may like it or say it is too young for them)Played at Oceanside beach.Then two days at Disneyland. Drove up Highway One and didn't know where we'd end up. At sunset found a B&B in Carmel and loved it! (Wayside Inn)Walked around Carmel the next day, then headed out for San Francisco for 3 nights. Stayed on Fisherman's Warf. Did a day trip to Sonoma/Napa and the kids tolerated it and we loved it.Ended up at Muir Woods on the way back to hotel to see the Redwoods. Did a lot but but didn't get too tired. Missed a lot of SF and Napa. Need to go back. If you want to see both N and S, you have to keep moving. Have fun.

For a trip like this, did you stay in different hotels in each area, camp out, rent a cabin? What do you think is the best way to do this?

Fayzie, how much time will you have in Ca. and what are some of your "must sees" besides Disney and the Redwoods?

Hi joesource,
We should have about 10+ days in California. Must Sees (unless someone advises otherwise) include San Diego Zoo, SF, Monterrey Aquarium,Beaches, Big Sur and maybe some other amusement type thing like Knotts Berry Farm(?)

I know there are people who "do" California in a 10-14 day trip, but IMO Calif. is just too big. If you know how many miles you're covering, and are fine with that, OK.

We spent 2 weeks in N. Calif. and felt we barely had time to do it justice.

Fayzie,

You pretty much have most of the "must sees" on your list. I would also add in Big Basin redwoods, as well as Great America Theme Park in Santa Clara which is near San Jose. I would also plan on a couple of days in the San Jose area as well.

Fayzie,

The thing about your idea of staying in one central place in Nor Cal, and one central place in SoCal is that you are going to spend a heck of a lot of time in the car.

In So Cal you should consider staying a few days in San Diego and a few days in Anaheim. Anaheim is of course convenient to Disneyland, but I also like its access to Newport, Laguna & Huntington Beach areas.

As for northern california, you've already received the San Jose argument.

San Jose vs San Francisco is something of a sore spot on this board. Half of the bay area posters think that it is worth while, and half of the posters think it is a waste of time.

It is close to Big Basin, and it's sort of close to Monterey, closer than SF at any rate. However, it's also lacking in distinctive character. It's not characterless, it's more like it has the character of a suburb. Its also quite spread out, kind of like Phoenix. To top it off, it's got the worst of the bay area smog and traffic.

Think carefully about what you want to see in Northern California. One option is to stay in Santa Cruz for a few days. Santa Cruz is even CLOSER to the Big Basin redwoods and Monterey than San Jose is. It's a slower, smaller city perhaps a nice break between SF and LA. It's a beach town with a very different feel than the Orange County beaches. Because of the university, there are a lot of inexpenisive places to eat there. They also have a lovely beach Boardwalk there where the Movie The Lost Boys was filmed.

You could stop off in San Jose on your way north to San Francisco.

Hope this info helps.

Bay Area has a good point about not limiting yourself to just one central area in northern and southern California.

In northern California the Big Basin Redwoods park is quite nice. Another thing to consider nearby is to take the Roaring Camp steam train tour through the redwoods in the town of Felton.

I know the San Jose/San Francisco thing has been beaten to a pulp on this board. However, the naysayers seem to be exaggerating in their negative critique about San Jose. Downtown San Jose is actually fairly compact and walkable, and is also where many of the attractions are. The rest of the city tends to be more spread out. However, you will find much of the same in Los Angeles and San Diego, and to a lesser extent in San Francisco as well. As far as smog is concerned, you will encounter lots of more of it in Los Angeles than in San Jose.

Santa Cruz is basically a college/hippie town. There is not a whole lot in the area unless you visit the beach boardwalk amusement park, but since you are already going to Disneyland, I would not recommend the Boardwalk. Santa Cruz is only about 10 miles closer to Big Basin than San Jose, not much of a difference there. The advantage of staying San Jose over Santa Cruz are that there is a lot more to keep you occupied. There are many great restaurants in walking distance from many of the downtown points of interest.

When you go to SF, be sure to bring jackets and sweaters along, as the summer tends to be rather foggy and cold. Highs are usually in the lower 60's and it can be breezy at times. The sun will usually come out for about 3 hours in the middle of the day.

Point of Clarification:

LivesinCali perhaps you can help alleviate my anti-San Jose bias.

What *are* the sights that are in downtown? What are the sights that are within walking distance of downtown?

Thanks.

Fayzi, I agree with other posters. While it depends on the sort of vacation that you want, I don't think you can stay in only 2 spots and see much of California very easily. It's way too big. You'll be able to see more and relax more, if you plan on moving your sleeping location as you move up the coast. While my family generally focuses on one spot when we travel, we moved every 1 to 3 days on our California vacation, and it worked really well. Plan it out and you will see it will be wonderful.

BayArea,

There are too many to list here, but a some examples include:

Museums: Tech, SJ Museum of Art, SJ Institute of Contemporary Art, American Museum of Quilts and Textiles, Children's Discovery Museum, Fallon House, Peralta Adobe, etc.

Dining/Entertainment: San Pedro Square (restaurnats) and SoFA (South First Area for restaurants, nighclubs, and art galleries)

HP Pavillion (Sharks hockey, Sabercats Arena Football, concerts, etc)

Cirque Du Soleil

Theater, Opera, Ballet, Symphony

St. Joseph's Cathedral Basilica

Guadalupe River Park

www.sjdowntown.com has more information.


There is acutally a lot more to do in SJ than many people realize.

and just so that we are clear, these are ALL within walking distance ???

BayArea,

Yes, all of these places are within walking distance. Just for clarification, the various perfoming arts are typically held at the Center for the Performing Arts (CPA), SJ Repertory Theater, Theater on San Pedro Square, City Lights Theater, SJ Stage Company, and the Le Petit Trianon Theater, which are also within walking distance in the downtown area. The link below is a map of the downtown area.


http://sj-downtown.com/tra2.html

O.K., now that I've finished ROTFLMAO at the attempts to once again claim that San Jose is California's premier tourist destination city, I can tell you that when I was a kid, I'd take a beach, arcade games and some amusement park rides over walking around a concrete jungle any day.

Santa Cruz is a blast for kids and adults alike, I would not recommend skipping it in favor of walking around looking at third rate museums, concert and theater venues all day. My God, what a YAWN for kids.

nomopromos,

With all due respect, I was merely answering questions that were posed to me. In no way am I trying to "promote" San Jose as you claim. I have no affiliation with the city whatsoever, but instead am just trying to be helpful.

Apparently you would rather spend time at an arcade that enjoy more culture and the arts and good food. How can you say that SJ's museums are third rate, when judging from your animosity you probably haven't even been to a museum in SJ. The Art museum has in the past shown exhibits on loan from the Whitney in NY and the Egyptian museum has one of the most extensive collections of Egyptian artifacts on the west coast. Not exactly what I would expect from a third rate museum. However, you are entitled to your opinion.