Santa Monica Pier.

The OP has a 16 year old, so many places that are tacky to adults may appeal to a teen; like Hollywood, Santa Cruz, Pier 39, even Solvang for tacky shopping(I detest Pier 39 & Solvang also). It just depends on the teen and how much whining is involved. Last week in Hollywood, I gave in an dd and I went thru Madam Tussaud's. It was actually pretty fun. You get to pose with the various wax celebs.

Our teen daughter thinks we are boring and embarrassing


MY

Exactly - keep the age of the travellers in mind. When I said I thought Carmel was a skip except for the beach and the mission, I was thinking of the 16 year old.

daughters loved the wax museum in Vegas - love Pier 39, Alcatraz, Santa Monica Pier, 3rd Street Promanade, the Grove, Hollywood... all could be a pass for me...but a happy teen makes for a happy trip

And nothing would make a teen happier than celebrity sightings in Bev. Hills. They're there just walking about ... although, on second thought what 16 year old knows or cares about Larry King!!! The Grove is fun for people watching (saw Edward Olmos and Jason Alexander there)and has good shopping for a teen. Lunch at The Farm in either The Grove or on Beverly Drive is a good bet.

Go for dinner to The Mission Ranch in Carmel ... saw Clint Eastwood having cocktails on the patio last summer ... again, though, 16 year olds don't care much for 80 year old actors I suppose.

The IMAX movie and the pools at Heart Castle are worth seeing IMO ... yes, the sea lions do stink.

Oh ... and ... it might be too late now to make a rez but Pizzeria Mozza in West Hollywood is very good ...

What is "The Grove"?

http://www.thegrovela.com/

If you take your kids to the Grove, you can go to the Farmer's Market - it's right next door.

Rather than telling you what I would skip, I decided to tell you what I would do.
1. Day 1 Upon landing at the airport I would head for Napa Valley. To be this close and miss it would be a shame. Great place to explore. We enjoy many of the wineries. An interesting historical thing to do is to go to Jack London's House in Glen Ellen. He wrote Call of the Wild and most shcool kids have had to read it so it creates interest. He led a colorful life.
San Francisco is a lot of fun and you could spend 3-4 days there. Time is limited. Here are some things I would do there:
Day 2: The Exploratorium, Lombard Street, Tacky, but fun Pier 39 with dinner in the North End in the Italian section of town. Chinatown abutts this area, but I have never been interested in visiting it. After dinner drive over the Golden Gate Bridge.
Day 3: Golden Gate Park with most time spent (4-5 hours) at the new California Academy of Sciences. Cliff House. Lunch or dinner at jannah restaurant (Formerly Ya-Ya's) Located at 1775 Fulton St/Masonic San Francisco(415)567-4400. Great Mesopotanium food.
Day 4 Drive down highway 1 and get breakfast in Half Moon Bay. Continue on down and go to the Santa Cruz Pier area. Just north of the pier is the national surfer's museum. This same park includes a cliffside view of surfers in action. They surf along the face of the cliff. Just south is the pier where you can enjoy the Amusement area. Lots of food choices here. You can spend someof the day laying out on the beach here. After dinner head on down Highway 1 to Monterey.
Day 5: Monterey is about the most beautiful place on the planet. Walk the coast. Make sure you go to the Aquarium (3-4 hours). Take the 17 mile drive and have dinner in Carmel. There is a fun Cheese shop here which everyone knows where you can sample cheeses and then buy a little with a bagette.
Day 6: Decision to be made here. The ride from Carmel to Morro Bay is gorgeous going through Big Sur. It is twisty and at points quite high. If you go this way (which I would [presume you would want to) you will come upon Hearst Castle in San Simeon.
Day 7: Take Highway 101 to Santa Barbara. The Mission here is wonderful so check it out. Enjoy the town and the beach. Maybe go feed the geese and ducks at the lagoon. Spend the night.
Day 7 Make your way down the coast to the LA area. Go down along the coast and enjoy the ocean views. On the way down you will come to Malibu which is a place where stars are often seen in the better restaurants. Next comes Santa Monica. It has a memorable pier which has starred in many movies. Spend some time there. Walk along Venice Beach for the best and wierdest people watching you will ever see.
Day 8. Take the tour. Don't forget the La Brea Tar Pits, a walk along Holywood Blvd, Westwood Village for lunch or dinner. The Griffith Park Planaterium is another famous movie location and a must see. Universal Studios City Walk at night.
Day 9 and 10. If you have not been there, Disneyland.
This tour would probably be pretty intense for you, but it hits my highlights. There is just so much to see along California's Coast. The rest of CA is also spectacular. Next trip go inland and see Lake Tahoe, the Gold Country, Yosemite, Bodie, Sequoia and Kinds Canyon's Parks. Go past LA and see Huntington Beach where you can take surfing lessons and enjoy San Diego. Beautifulo beaches!!
Have fun on your trip.

Amost forgte. If you can get tickets to the Greekl Theater for any night you are in LA, it is a special place to enjoy outdoor entertainment.

Yes to the Greek Theatre, but it's probably easier to get last-minute tickets to the Hollywood Bowl.

Seer--thanks--you just helped immensely with my itinerary!

wordfreak-I answered on your other thread about your California itinerary. You should try to get everything together on one thread. On that thread, I talked about skipping LA because you want to go to Yosemite. You also didn't mention that you had a 16 yr old traveling with you.

If you do decide to go to Yosemite, I really think it will be pushing it to get to LA. But as I mentioned on the other thread, if you decide not to do Yosemite then I think seer has a pretty good itinerary and very similar to mine except seer spells things out a little more. The only thing I would not do is go to Napa Valley when you first get in. Although a 16 yr old can go in the wineries, I don't think it would be of much interest to them. Secondly, depending on the time your plane lands, you will need to get your hotel, get settled, etc that first day. As much as I love Golden Gate Park, I don't think I'd spend 4-5 hrs at the Academy of Science. Maybe a couple of hours but there is just so much to see in SF when you only have a couple of hours.

For the central coast city, I recommended Pismo or Avila Beach.

Sorry Lenora-I got you confused with wordfreak who is trying to do a very similar itinerary except throw in Yosemite. So ignore everything I said about that. Guess I shouldn't be on Fodors this late at night!! Anyway as I said, I think seer has a great itinerary with exception of the the notes I made above about Napa and the time spent at the Academy of Science. Again I apologize for the confusion.

I would add (to the great comments here already) to substitute Fisherman's Wharf in Monterey for the very expensive and touristy Pier 39 in SF.

If you like clam chowder, The Old Fisherman's Grotto restaurant on the pier in Monterey is a must (they give out free samples and you'll be hooked instantly - it's the creamiest and best I've ever had). Their sourdough bread and bowls are the best ever. Two sourdough bowls, a quart of chowder to go and a bottle of wine makes a great picnic on Lover's Point (Pacific Grove) or Spanish Bay.

Another site not mentioned is Ocean View Boulevard between the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Fishwife restaurant at Asilomar Beach (recommended). This beautiful drive not only has gorgeous coastline with the classic Monterey cypress trees, but goes past beautiful Bed and Breakfast mansions that have been impeccably restored (stay there if you can). Skip the Tin Cannery outlet mall -- you can find better prices and selection elsewhere.

The entrance to 17-Mile Drive (don't miss it) is just past the Fishwife restaurant. It's the only way to go South along the coast. Enjoy and bring your camera (and the picnic).

Lenora, I also agree with the other posters that disagree with skipping Carmel. It's one of the best places to have breakfast and a walk, ever.

Don't miss the Carmel art galleries, the cheese shop, Carmel Beach, or Carmel Mission.

Carmel, Big Sur, San Simeon, Santa Barbara, La Purisima, Santa Monica, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Venice, Highway 1, the Santa Monica Mountains--in fact, skip the trip.

I would skip San Simeon, I thought is was a waste of time.
Other than that it's only a short drive down the coast route, from SF to LA (if you drive straight thru) so I'd not hesitate to stop at many of the cities along the way. It sounds like you won't be spending much time at any one location anyway.

I personally love Los Gatos, Santa Barbara, Carmel and Monterey.

When you take the time to travel and spend the money then I think you should do the research and see all what you can.

Find out what interests YOU and focus on those things.

No one call tell you what to see or not....we are all different and each of us like different things.

Make your own decisions and see the world as YOU want to!!!