california+hawai
 

Hello, I'm spanish and I'm planning my trip to California for this summer. What do you think about this:
day 1: San Francisco
day 2-3-4-5: Yosemite
day 6: Montreal
day 7: Big Sur - San Luis Obispo
day 8: Los Angeles - San Diego
day 9: Tijuana
day 10: Las VEgas
day 11: Las Vegas
day 12-13-14-15-16: Hawai (by plane)
day 17-18-19-20-21: San Francisco

Is too much driving?

Thanks

I think your day 6 should be Monterey!

Do you have reservations for lodging in Yosemite?

Skip Tijuana.

Do you want to see anything in LA and San Diego or are you just driving through on the way to somewhere? There's a lot to see in both cities and you could at the least spend two days in each.

Are you planning to drive to Las Vegas or fly?

Where are you flying to Hawaii from?

ITA, skip Tijuana. Not worth the time it takes. I would be tempted to skip Vegas too if you are driving. A quick flight there from LA or San Diego would be okay.

Yes, that Montreal entry got my attention too.

California is a big state. You are trying to see too much. I would forget about LA and San Diego with your limited time. Stay in Northern California.

Consider flying to Las Vegas instead of driving if you only have two days.

Are you flying from Vegas to Hawaii and then back to SF? Since you are not from the US, you might not be familiar with some of our regional airlines like Southwest, Aloha, and ATA. For example, you could fly to Vegas from the Bay Area on Southwest, then fly to Hawaii on ATA and then back to the Bay Area on Aloha. On these airlines, you can fly one way without paying the penalties you do on the international carriers.

Remember Hawaii is half way across the Pacific. It's like going across the USA to the East Coast. It's a long way.

It is definitely a LOT of driving.

I would cut Tijuana and Las Vegas from the list, definitely.

Los Angeles and San Diego both deserve more time than just a drive by. I'd take the time you currently give to Vegas and Tijuana and spend it L.A. and S.D. instead. It's still a lot of driving, but a little more doable and will actually allow you to see something of these places instead of just driving through them. Something like this:

day 1: San Francisco
day 2-3-4-5: Yosemite
day 6: Monterrey
day 7: Big Sur - San Luis Obispo
day 8: Los Angeles
day 9: Los Angeles
day 10: San Diego
day 11: San Diego
day 12-13-14-15-16: Hawaii (by plane)
day 17-18-19-20-21: San Francisco

I would definitely cut something. I would do either LA/Las Vegas or San Francisco and north Calif. not both. I would shorten up the entire Calif. part to put a few more days in Hawaii, myself.

Why only 1 day for Los Angeles and 5 days for San Francisco?

Oh yes, and definitely skip Tijuana!!

i love san diego but consider your time restraints, i would do the first 7 days of your trip and then just go to la in order to fly out to vegas or if driving, just head there after you've completed the drive down hwy 1. i love las vegas so i'd keep two night there. the day's that you've cut off (la, san diego and tj), add onto your hawaii part of the trip.

Can you fly into LA and out of SF??(or visa versa) Why back track? I think you can do it all. We American's cram it all in when we go to Europe too. As for Tijuana... its quite seedy, corrupt police who stop drivers and ask for cash but worst of all are the LONG lines to come back into the USA. Think spending HOURS waiting to cross. At least if you are driving. Plus U.S. auto insurance doesn't cover driving in Mexico. Park on the US side and walk across if you absolutely must see TJ. Do look into booking flights with Southwest Air from either L.A or SF into and out of Las Vegas.
Have fun planning your trip, and welcome to the USA

i think TJ would be a waste of time.
flying to hawaii and returning to the mainland will eat up about two days of your travel. it is a 5-6 hour flight to hawaii, plus getting to airport 1-2 hours early, getting a rental car, etc.

You could fly from LAX or San Diego to Hawaii and return to San Francisco. Get as early a flight as you can going and as leave as late as you can coming back to California. That helps to maximize your time in Hawaii. Stay on one island, you don't have time to island-hop.

Day 8 is a bit of a concern to me. Los Angeles to San Diego is a huge area. It looks like you arrive/depart from San Francisco. Perhaps add a day to your first night there to rest up from your flight, and add another night in LA?

I'd agree that Tijuana will not give you a great sense of Mexico, but rather the least attractive element of that country. You might be surprised that 45% of LA is now Hispanic, and there are great restaurants and cultural activities to experience much of what you might seek in Tijuana.

Finally, this is quite a bit of driving, but manageable with a good agenda. Many locals have do the longer elements of this trip from LA in 3-day weekends, and it's not uncommon for people to visit Las Vegas from LA in a regular 2-day weekend.

I hope Beita knows how to find this thread. Lots of good comments.

I agree with day 8 being a good question. You won't have time to see much of anything in either place. LA is a huge city. Don't you want to see some thing there? Then at least 2 hours down to San Diego, another city that is not exactly little either!