We will be driving from SF to LA in August with our three kids, ages 20, 17 & 12. We have some of the itinerary down, including 3 days in SF, a day in Palo Alto & Half Moon Bay, a day in Monterey, and a day hiking in Big Sur. I'm trying to plan the rest of our trip and would like suggestions for how much time we should plan to spend at these sights:

Hearst Castle
Mission Santa Barbara
Huntington Library & Gardens

Thanks!

We spent about 3 hours at the Huntington Library & Gardens and could easily have spent 3 more! In the 3 hours we were there, we walked through many of the gardens, took a quick tour through the house/art museum (large private collection of very well-known artists and paintings) and spent a bit of time (where we would have liked more) in the library (huge collection of important historical documents and artifacts). I'd want at least 4 hours there.

Getting to and from and visiting Huntington Library and Gardens can easily consume most of a day.

Mission Santa Barbara takes about an hour unless you like to read lots of labels in museums.

Hearst Castle tours come with a movie and a drive to and from the mansion-a full morning or afternoon.

Have you considered including the Getty Center in your trip?

HTTY

Unless this is a college tour, I would skip Palo Alto and Half-Moon Bay, and add a day to the Monterey peninsula to visit the aquarium, Point Lobos, Asilomar and its beach, some of the historic buildings in Monterey, the Carmel Mission, and Carmel itself.

Flying Fish in Half-Moon Bay is a good lunch stop.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/...7624512998387/

and the next 30 to 40 pictures.

Thanks everyone!

SF7307 & happytrails, I had a feeling that Huntington Library and Hearst Castle would take a lot of time. That definitely will help me plan the trip.

Michael, thanks for the suggestions. Unfortunately our trip coincides with the Pebble Beach Concours D'Elegance & Monterey Auto Week, which messed up our plans to spend two nights in Monterey - the hotels all have a 4-night minimum and the B&Bs have limited availability - we were lucky to get a night there! I spend a fair amount of time in Silicon Valley for work and have long wanted to take my kids to see Stanford and to spend some time in Half Moon Bay myself. It will only be half a day or so, staying overnight in HMB, and then driving down to Monterey in the morning. Thanks for the lunch tip!

We enjoyed Kayaking at Elkhorn Slough(not far from Monterey). Do the Aquarium first thing in the morning, to beat some of the crowds. We almost skipped the aquarium, but we thought it was good.