California in August
 

We are excited about flying from Baltimore Maryland to San Diego in Aug and plan to drive around the state for 2 weeks in August. We want to hit Sequoia Nat Park and also possibly beaches on the West coast-WE also plan to drive as far North as San Francisco. Does anyone have any must see places? We like rustic, budget lodging or camping.WE love off the beaten path..And we like art and dance...and goat farms, nature, farm markets.. Any must see or do recommendations are highly recommended! Thank you so much!

https://www.fodors.com/community/uni...ations-356478/


Stu Dudley

Where are you flying home from, in other words do you need to return to SD?

Figure out your itinerary and make lodging reservations for the national parks and coastal towns ASAP. On the coast in particular, there is often/usually a two-night minimum stay required between Thursday and Sunday. If your two weeks bump up against Labor Day, availability will become more scarce. National park lodging is usually booked a year in advance. Even campgrounds.

I suggest you do some research on California. It's the size of some countries with more to see/do than you can accomplish in two weeks, and only you can make the hard choices esp. with regard to time in cities v. small towns. FWIW, I think some of your interests (goat farms, farm markets) point more toward central and northern California while others may be easier to satisfy in the L.A. area where some of the more significant art museums are located. There are numerous commercial galleries in both L.A. and S.F.

>>We like rustic, budget lodging <<

What is your actual budget . . . $ per night?

Also you say 2 weeks -- is that 14 days on the ground. Or is that a fungible 'about 2 weeks' . . . 11 days or 15 days or ???

There are fabulous/scenic beaches all up and down California - but except in places like LA or San Diego, you very likely won't have warm/beachy weather on the coast. The hotter it is inland (and it can be VERY hot ) the cooler and foggier it is on the coast. So you definitely want to spend time on the coast - but is just that you may surprised that you need a sweatshirt or fleece.

This is my favorite goat farm, about an hour south of San Francisco just inland from Pescadero State Beach a mile or so inland from Hwy 1, one of the most beautiful stretches of coastline in the state: Harley Farms Goat Dairy, Award Winning Goat Cheese, Farm Dinners & Goat Tours, Pescadero, CA

This is a visit with my granddaughters:
Coastal California: Three Girls Visit Harley Farms Goat Dairy | TravelGumbo

Like Jean says- some places book up months in advance- ESPECIALLY camping. And you may be very surprised to find that even budget rustic places are not budget price wise!

My favorite area in california is gold country. I like the Columbia historic park and the caves. Forestiere underground garden may appeal to you- it’s really neat.

There are a number of interesting hostels in California and that may work out for you budget and availability wise. Look up hostellling International. The lighthouse hostels are the best, but really I liked all of them, and the one near yosemite often has space available this late.

PS - There's camping very near Pescadero and the goat farm, campsites in a big grove of coast redwoods, bookable in advance:
https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=536

One more time . . . as marvelousmouse mentions above, there's also a lighthouse with a hostel, also near Pescadero (a bit farther than Butano SP). Book ASAP if it appeals. I stayed once and here we are there:

Hostel: Coastal California: The Pigeon Point Hostel | TravelGumbo
Lighthouse: Coastal California: Pigeon Point Lighthouse | TravelGumbo

I got all excited, and then realized the reason I didn’t check Butano before was that it had no showers😢

Hey - this is new to me!!! We will have to pay it a visit. This is our kinda stuff!!


Stu Dudley

This is excellent advice and thank you so much! We have to fly back from San Diego.

Oh wow! I went to Harleys Goat farm last year and it was closed on the day we went! It looks amazing. Thank you very much!

Your grand daughters are adorable and I cant wait to read the article about Harley Goat Farm! We will go for sure and i will share the article!

Thank you very much! We will look into this area. I realize CA is expensive- our last trip was to Panama so we got spoiled with inexpensive lodging...

I will definitely look into this. Thank you!

Good heavens - new to Stu, must be some sort of award for that!

This is what I like about living in the Bay Area. All kinds of new stuff to see. Last year I saved something you posted about Hakone Estate & Gardens. New to me also. If we ever get some good weather here so the flowering plants can bloom (our roses are lookin' lousy) - we'll pay it a visit.


Stu Dudley

If you're coming to the Monterey Peninsula, there are two events that will affect hotel availability in August. The US Amateur Championship https://www.pebblebeach.com/events/2018-us-amateur/ and Car Week which starts right after the US Amateur. Car Week will have a bigger impact with motels in Monterey charging $400 and up toward the latter part of the week.

If you have to return to San Diego to fly home, consider making your car rental one way and taking a flight back to SD. Overall, it will be more expensive, but trying to drive most of the length of California in two days will cost time. Money v. time. Your call.

If you're not seeing family or have some specific reason for flying in/out of SD, consider changing your flights to another city in California more central to where you want to explore.

I agree with Jean. Why San Diego? August is the perfect time to be in Northern California so consider flying into San Jose or San Francisco.