Is This CA Trip Doable in One Week?
 

Hello everyone! We're planning a one week trip to San Francisco area and are trying to determine whether we can do the following in one week (factoring in drive time.) We would love opinions from others who have done a similar trip. Thanks!

We arrive in San Francisco on a Saturday around 2:15 pm and leave the following Saturday at 6:30 am.

Things we would like to fit into after reading some guidebooks:

Golden Gate Bridge
Chinatown
Cable Cars
Lombard Street (quick drive?)
Victorian Homes (quick drive by?)
Ano Nueve State Reserve
Big Basins Redwood SP
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Carmel
17 mile drive thru Pebble Beach
Big Sur
Hearst Castle
Point Lobos State Reserve
Julia Pfeiffer Burns SP
Kings Canyon/Sequoia
Yosemite

you can do it, but you'll really have to haulass. Try to cram as much of the city as you can into your Saturday evening and all day Sunday. Hopefully you can arrive in San Fran rarin' to go rather than worn-out from a flight. Traffic will be tough on the weekdays so plan accordingly. Don't plan on hitting the freeways at rush hour in the morning. For instance, either head down to Monterey at 5:30am, or wait until 10am.

Yep, that's a lot to squeese into a week.

You do realize that California is a BIG state. Just to drive from SF to Yosemite and then down to Kings Canyon/Sequoia is a round trip of almost 800 miles and that will take you about 2 days of just driving.

I think I would leave out Kings Canyon/Sequoia and a few other places too!

Utahtea

You'll be rushed and I think you'll have to eliminate a few things to enjoy others. The Big Sur area is really beautiful so I'd plan on doing Julia Pfeiffer State Park and taking a hike or two. You'll want to stop and sightsee along the coast. If you have to skip something, I'd skip Kings Canyon. It's dry and not as pretty as other mountain sights. Instead, focus on Yosemite where you could spend days. Others will disagree with me, but I'd also skip Hearst's Castle. It's gaudy although impressive in its expense and expanse. Any tour will take up half a day and I don't think you have that time. Lastly, there's a lot to explore in Monterey and Carmel so if you run short of time, skip the 17 mile drive because that's no big deal next to the coastal sights you'll see in Big Sur.

OK. Thanks for the advice. Yeah, it seems that Kings Canyon/Sequoia is way out of the way. Also appreciate the advice on the 17 mile drive.

By the way, we're planning this trip for the last week in July. (Have to go when school/summer camp is out and can get off work.) Any idea how long it will take to drive to Yosemite? Also, any recommendations on where to stay? Tenaya Lodge looks nice and close but expensive.

My family took a similar trip a few years ago so I will relate our itinerary which I took lots of time and research to plan. We did almost all of it too so I must have done my homework. We flew into Reno by noon, drove to Lake Tahoe and spent two nights there. Left early on 3rd day and drove to yosemite and through the park to the Valley area where all of the major sights are, took a hike, etc. then stayed in a hotel outside of the park about 20 miles west . The 4th day we went back and drove to Glacier point by sunrise, saw some wildlife and great views of Yosemite from there, then we went to the sequioia tree area where you can take the tour and see the tree that Roosevelt drove the car through, etc. That same day we drove to Monterey coast with a stop in San Juan de Battista for lunch at Jardines de San Juan and a visit to the mission there. ( we all loved this) We got to Monterey that afternoon and just relaxed. The 5th day we went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the Fisherman's wharf area there as well. The 6th day we drove to Big Sur via 17 mile drive ( my husband and I got into a fight because we accidentally passed the Lone Cypress tree and he wouldn't backtrack!!!). We went to Carmel that evening for dinner, but we didn't really get to see much of the shops and galleries (was that intentional on my husband's part again??) The 7th day we drove to Santa Cruz and spent the day on the beach then drove to the Big Basin area and stayed in one of the little towns there. The next morning , 8th day we drove through the winding roads very early until we got back on the interstate to San Francisco and parked at one of the BART stations outside of the city so we wouldn't have to contend with rush hour traffic. We took BART to Berkeley for a couple of hours, then to SF, Embaradaro area. From there we walked and took buses to see China Town, Coit Tower, and I can't remember what else but we took BART back to our car and drove into the city between 2:00 and 3:00 in the afternoon and then checked into our hotel near Fishermans Wharf. That way we didn't have to worry about parking at all since we had parking priveleges once we were in the hotel. We spent time at Fishermans wharf that evening. The 9th day we took the cable car up to Union Square and walked all around from there, Nob Hill, the Fairmount hotel, Lombard Street etc. and walked back down to the wharf then took a boat tour of the bay area and around Alcatraz. We left in the afternoon around 3:00 and drove over the Golden Gate Bridge, through Sausalito and made it to Vacaville where there was a huge outlet mall (sweet revenge). The next morning, we met a friend from Folsom CA for breakfast, then on to Reno to catch our flight home. It is amazing what you can do in 9 days. Good luck and have a great time. We did not get to spend any time in any of the parks you mentioned such as Point Lobos, and Big Basin although I had planned to try to work it in. A couple of tips: My husband and I have gone to San Francisco again since and we drove all over San Francisco on the 49 mile drive. You can get a map for this and you see basically every neighbor hood along the way, that you are mentioning in your post. It takes a good part of the day with a few stops along the way but you could get an idea of where you wanted to go back to and spend more time by walking and taking cable cars. We also had no problem parking right on the street at Alamo Square which is the little park right across from the Victorian row houses. So we were able to take pictures from the park. It is also really fun to walk down Lombard Street. (not really on the actual street but the sidewalk alongside. Then you can get pictures from the top, bottom and along the way.

I am amazed at how many things people attempt to pack into a trip. Sure, you can "do" all these things if you sleep in your car and never stop driving.

Remember, you are on vacation. You are supposed to relax and have fun. There is no prize for the person who drives by the most sites in a week's stay.

Come back after your trip and tell us what you actually did. My hunch is that your trip will be pared down a bit or you will collapse.

Whatever you miss will still be there when you return.

Hey! I've been to SF about 15x and have still not seen many of the things on your itinerary. I haven't, for example, been to Yosemite or Big Basin.

Laruen,

If you've been to the Bay Area 15 times and haven't been to Yosemite yet then you've missed out BIG TIME! IMHO.

Utahtea

I would say that this itinerary is doable in a week, but you will be rushed nonetheless. It's best to do SF on Saturday and Sunday, leaving SF on Sunday evening. It's advisable to stay overnight in San Jose and the next morning head out from there to Big Basin, as it's only about 15 miles from there. I would recommend staying downtown close to dining and other attractions.

http://sanjose.org/

Big Basin is best seen in the morning to avoid the crowds and also to not get caught up in the commute traffic between Santa Cruz and San Jose. in the Morning as you are going toward Santa Cruz on highway 17, the traffic is heading into SJ.

http://bigbasin.org/

In Monterey some of the highlights include the aquarium, 17 Miles Drive, and Fisherman's Wharf. Point Lobos south of Carmel is spectacular. For Hearst Castle, I would recommend reservations.

http://monterey.com/

http://hearst-castle.org/

In Yosemite, if you can stay in the Valley. This will save you at least a 45 minute drive each way into and out of the park My picks would be Curry Village or Yosemite Lodge. While your there, take a guided tour of both the Valley Floor and Glacier Point. These were a couple of the highlights of our trip to Yosemite. A hike to the base of Yosenite Falls is also great.

http://yosemitepark.com/

Well, if you would like to cut things out...here is my suggestion of how to do it:
The Coastal Highway-Decide what type of destination would make you the happiest...Carmel and Monterey are quaint shopping/resort areas while Big Sur and Hearst Castle areas are rustic/artsy. They all have similar landscapes. Same goes for Kings Canyon and Yosemite--one is more touristy than the other. By the way, if you are planning a summer vacation, I hope you know that Big Sur and Yosemite book up quickly (limited places to stay). I suggest a day in SF on Sunday and Friday--stay in two different parts of the city if you can, too...(i.e., a tourist area like Fisherman's Wharf or Downtown--and a pretty neighborhood like Marina or Pacific Heights).
by the way, I have done all of the above--and love them all--my favorites are really based on my preferences...