Hi

I am travelling to the US in September, and we are hiring a car to drive from San Fran to Yosemite, and then we'd like to come back out to the coast and drive down to San Simeon.

I was hoping that you would all have a flurry of ideas of things to see and do along the way? I have read about the Bigfoot Discovery Museum near Monterey and also the Mystery Spot which we'll probably go and have a look at.

Any other suggestions, especially to keep a bored teenager slightly interested!!

Hearst Castle as worth seeing and Carmel is prettier than San Simeon.

Sea kayaking in Monterey Bay.

Hearst Castle is probably a big Yawn for most Europeans. Its also 90 miles south of Carmel. I would recommend a quick visit to the John Steinbeck museum in Salinas, which you will pass through on your way to Carmel. If your teen is a reader, his books are quite good....Grapes of Wrath, Cannery Row etc. Don't miss the Monterey Aquarium either. Its fantastic. The new science museum in San Francisco's Golden Gate park should also be open by late Sept. in case you are going into the city. The old California Mission and square in San Juan Baptista is interesting esp. if your teen is into history. It really looks like a movie set of the old west, but its real. Its not far from Salinas. The mission in Carmel is also interesting.

If you want to see the Big Sur coast (worthwhile), I'd suggest leaving Yosemite via the south road and crossing through Paso Robles to the coast. You can then head north via Monterey back to SF.

The old west gold mining town of Columbia might be interesting near the route from SF to Yosemite. Santa Cruz is a lively beach town that might be more interesting to a teen than Monterey or Carmel.