momplaygroup

We are going to California July 5 until July 19. We're flying into LAX (3 kids 9,9,10) and want to drive along the coast. We also want to go to San Diego. Should we drive to San Diego from LAX first? We don't care about all the Hollywoodish stuff....our thing is relaxing trips, beaches, history, and some fun stuff. We've been to Orlando and done all that (except Sea World and my kids haven't been to Universal Studios either).

Can you please help me plan an itinerary? I'm really confused and overwhelmed by all the information on here. Here's what I think we'll enjoy:

Drive from LAX to San Diego and see:
-Balboa Park (1 day)
-San Diego Animal Park (our DC zoo is cool and free so maybe we'll just see the animal park) (1 day)
-Coronado Beach (1 day)
-La Jolla Beach ??
-Sea World (1 day)

Drive from San Diego to LAX and see:
-Santa Monica Beach (1 day)
-Universal Studios (1 day)

Drive from LAX to San Francisco via the Route 1 (Pacific coast highway) (Big Sur Coast Highway) along the way stop at:
-Hearst Castle
-Julia Pffeifer State Park
-Big Sur ?
-Monterey Bay Aquarium (is this worth it? Should we skip Sea World and do this instead?)

(will the above take 1 day?)

Then we arrive in San Francisco! I was thinking we see:

-Alcatraz (does this take 1 day?)
-My husband wants to see the famous Redwood trees...where's the best park to see them at? Muir Woods? (1 day)
-Fisherman's Wharf
-Golden Gate Bridge

Help please! Thanks so much in advance and please let me know if any of the above doesn't make sense and/or if there's something else the kids would like to see! I've heard things about Santa Cruz boardwalk? TIA!

martianman

Scratch Universal Studios. Unfortunately, it's ablaze as I speak, and probably won't be put back together by July.

momplaygroup

Wow, thanks!

november_moon

The portion of your itinerary from LA to SF will take more than a day for what you want to do. I would plan at least 1 overnight in between, 2 would be even better if you've got the time.

The drive straight through on Interstate 5 (the fast, boring inland route) is a good 5-6 hours. The route through Big Sur will take closer to 8 hours of driving. Plan on at least 2 hours at Hearst Castle and a couple more at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Plus stops along the way in Big Sur to at least admire the view - you will probably want to do a little wandering around too.

Sea World or the Aquarium? They both deal with marine life, but that is probably where the similarities end Sea World has the shows and all that stuff. The aquarium is more geared toward learning about the animals, their habitat and so on. It's hard to answer questions about whether something is "worth it" because it depends so much on your interests. The aquarium is really good though and I wouldn't miss it if I were going through this area.

Your time is tight, but if you can find time for a few hours in Santa Cruz, your kids would probably really like it. The Boardwalk is there - amusement park on the beach - and is a lot of fun.

For redwoods - I would say the best place to see them on your route is the Santa Cruz mountains - Henry Cowell and Big Basin state parks have some great redwood groves. You would plan a small detour enroute from Monterey to SF. Next to Henry Cowell is Roaring Camp railroad, which used to be a logging operation and now they run narrow gage steam train tours through the redwoods. Muir Woods is a good choice too. It is north of SF, so you would probably need to take a half day and go up there while you are in SF. You would drive over the golden gate bridge to get there.

Alcatraz will take 2-3 hours to go through. You take a boat out at your appointed time and then can come back on any boat you choose. So you can spend as much or as little time out there as you like.

Barbara

I agree that you need more time between LA and San Francisco.

Have you seen the Hearst Castle web site? You can reserve tickets for tours there and that might help your planning.

http://www.hearstcastle.com/

Here is a site for Big Sur which may have helpful ideas for you:

http://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/

Sea World and the Monterey Bay Aquarium are, as has been mentioned, quite different. Your kids will love both of them, and you probably will too. If you will be staying in a hotel in Monterey, you may be able to buy your Aquarium tickets there or you can buy in advance online. If you can get tickets ahead of time, it can save you a long wait in line to get in. Check when the feeding times are, because that is the busiest time and your kids will not want to miss that.

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/

Jean

Actually, Universal Studios will be open today. A few film locations (New York Street, Brownstone Street, Courthouse Square) are damaged or destroyed, and the King Kong attraction is gone. But the show must go on.

Tours will obviously be adjusted for the foreseeable future, but I don't think you need to drop Universal Studios from your list.

dmlove

With two full weeks to play with, I'd do everything you listed, and leave yourself time to be flexible, too. So your 4 days in San Diego is enough time for all of the activities you mentioned, but only the Wild Animal Park will likely be a whole day. What do you plan to do in Balboa Park for an entire day? Go to Balboa Park (it's beautiful and has some interesting stuff, too) but also go to the Gaslamp District, Old Town, Seaport Village, maybe a Padres game (all near Balboa Park). In Los Angeles, you could definitely spend a whole day in Santa Monica (besides beach, there's fun shopping, etc.), and at Universal. The trip up the coast has lots of fun places to stop, though, even if just for an hour or two, so you probably want to add time - Santa Barbara, Pismo Beach, Cambria (near Hearst Castle), San Luis Obispo, Montery, Carmel, Big Sur, just to name a few which you should research. The Aquarium in Monterey is wonderful, and I wouldn't skip it, but if you were so inclined you could probably breeze through it in a couple of hours -- but Monterey has other things to see and do, too! Do some searching on this board for trip reports about San Francisco -- several people have posted reports and things to do with kids your kids ages -- Fisherman's Wharf, the Exploratorium (a fantastic hands-on science museum), walk across the Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, Alcatraz, ferry to Sausalito, etc.

You have a nice chunk of time and have made a great start on figuring out your itinerary.

momplaygroup

Thanks everyone! Keep it coming!

-More time between LA and San Francisco: if we were to stay a night in between, where do you suggest we stay? (city/area?) Stay in Monterey?

- Santa Cruz sounds nice-- is it along the way from LA to San Francisc?

momplaygroup

Thanks dmlove! Can I ask a stupid question though b/c I'm so confused.. what is Big Sur??

Barbara

Big Sur is an area of the California coast south of Carmel and north of San Simeon known world-wide for outstanding views. The road-CA Highway 1- is a two-lane highway which is very twisty and often right on the edge of the cliff. I posted a web site which will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about the area .

ElendilPickle

Definitely visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium - it's really fabulous.

I don't know your budget, but we stayed at the El Castell Motel in Monterey a couple of years ago. It was fairly inexpensive, and they have "family rooms" with two queen beds in the main room plus a separate queen room.

Lee Ann

MBnancy

I'd be looking to make your July 4th Holiday weekend reservations in San Diego as soon as possible. Many places have 2-3 day minimums, even though you are arriving on the Saturday, the day after the holiday, some hotels might be filled.

dmlove

And yes, Santa Cruz is on the coast between LA and San Francisco. Carmel and Monterey are on the south end of Monterey Bay and Santa Cruz is on the north end of Monterey Bay. There's another cute little beach community in between too - Capitola.

lovelyliezl

if you do not care about doing hollywood stuff, i do not suggest you land at LAX. My suggestion would be:

-land in san diego, do all of your sight seeing
-drive from san diego to LA, which will take about 2-3 hours, depending on traffic
-from LA, drive to santa monica, you can see santa barbara, then monterey, then up to San Francisco, then fly out of the SF airport.

This seems the most logical to me to go from south to north. I think you'll make more use out of your trip that way, then driving from LA to SD, then SD to LA, LA to SF... too much!

Also- you should take PCH (highway 1) if you love the beach. Santa Monica- Oxnard is beautiful! It's 27 miles of Malibu beaches... it should take you an hour to get through, and you can eat at one of the restaurants along the coast. There is a lot of free parking if you guys want to stop to play in the water. I think your family would enjoy it.

SDtravelers

I agree with Lovely, best to fly into Lindburg Field San Diego then work you way north. When in SD or on your way out of town be sure to take the beach route hwy 101. Can catch it from 5N - La Jolla Village Drive exit - go west, turn right on North Torrey Pines Rd. (be sure to stop at the hand glider park - on your left just after getting on Torrey Pines rd.) Drive all the way up to Carlsbad. If you have time take half a day drive while you are here in SD and go thru all the nice little beach towns, stop at one of the small beach huts for a lunch. The view is beautiful you will get some great pics of our coast line. IMO Coronado is overated. The drive up the strand from Chula Vista to Coronado is nice.

Enjoy, you will love SD, we moved here in 83 and never returned to Indiana

elizzie4000

If you do go to the Wild Animal Park please remember it will be very very hot! Please take the necessary precautions. I'd be there when they open. Have plenty of water and make sure everyone is wearing a hat. The temp could be in the high 90s or triple digit.

eulariza

So you're on your way to SF? There are lots of sites there to visit. Check this out for your reference: www.mapjack.com/SanFrancisco