Hi,
We are going for one week holidays to LA and San Francisco this Xmas. We - two adults and one child 7 years old. Of course we would like to see as much as possible. Would you recommend any bus tours in LA and SF? What is worst to see first? Thank you.

I don't know when you will be in each city. But where ever you arrive, give your child a few days to get through jet lag. Plan activities out in the sun and fresh air. That's the quickest way to get through jet lag. Don't attempt Disneyland or anyother attraction until your child is in this time zone!! In SF take the van tours of the city. Its a great way to get to know it. I don't know what they have in LA. Its such a big city. You will need a car, but probably you will stay on the West side of the city..from Beverly Hills to the Ocean. What are your interests?

There are many tour van services in both LA and SF. I would contact the concierge at the hotel and ask for their recommendations. SF is nice and compact, while LA is vast and sprawling. There are thousands of things to see and do in both cities. You won't run out of things to do!

Thank you, and sorry for the error, I mean "Worth to see first". We do not have a lot of time only a week for both cities. And I hope we won't have a jet lag because for us it will be only 3 hours difference. We’ll have a car in both cities.
We’ll take a shore tour in SF and may be a van tour, if you recommend. Can you give me the tours’ provider name that is better than others? In LA I saw grand city tours and Hollywood tours. But I cannot decide if it is good idea to spend 2.5 hours in these tours or do it yourself. Would you recommend going on the tours in LA?
How much time we would need in Universal studio? Is it terrible to go to Disneyland on Dec. 26? What most LA citizens do on Dec.26 shopping or rest? Thank you.

Disneyland can be difficult any day, so it's hard to predict how it will be on the 26th. Generally, the Christmas holidays are pretty busy due to the kids being off school. But probably the 26th would be better than most days.

My sister works there and they were not nearly as busy on Thanksgiving day as they expected - so what about Christmas day?

We are going to arrive only on 25th. So we can go to Disneyland only on 26th earliest. Whould you recommend to visit both parks or only one? Then which one? I assume it can take a whole day.

Yes, it is a whole day. And the best thing to do is to arrive at opening time and do the most popular rides first - or at least early. (Space Mtn, Indiana Jones)

You can get a combined ticket for both parks, although I do not know how much they are since I am lucky enough that my sister gets me in free! The parks are right next to each other and it is very easy to walk from one to the other. Calif. Adventure is not nearly as extensive as Disneyland and will not take all that much time, at least IMO. Although the Tower of Terror is a blast! And Soarin' over Calif. is not to be missed.

Sorry, got carried away with Disneymania! There is a lot more to SoCal than Disneyland.

Linda

I was just re-reading your post and, since you have so little time, I would not recommend doing both Universal Studios and Disneyland - unless your little ones have their heart set on both! Universal Studios would also require a whole day.

Also, if you are not familiar with the L.A. area (including Hollywood), a tour bus would be the best way to go since it is so spread out you may have difficulty seeing all you want to see. As mentioned above, see which one your hotel recommends.

Linda

I would not recommend Universal Studios for a 7-year-old.

If you can fit it in, the Aladdin show in California Adventure was a highlight for all three of my kids. My husband waited in line for seats while I kept the kids busy in the Bug's Life area. Fodor's has a great book on Disneyland with kids.

My kids would be bored with two bus tours. I would do San Francisco but not LA.

Is that Griffith Park Observatory reopened yet?

Dress warmly for the Bay.

Griffith Park Observatory is open, but access is currently reservations-only:

www.griffithobs.org

Still, it's a pretty cool place.

I notice you were wondering about doing both Disneyland/Disney California Adventure and Universal Studios Hollywood. A very important thing to consider: Los Angeles is not laid out for the convenience of the theme parks like Orlando. Universal Studios Hollywood (which was, and is still, a working movie studio long before the theme park was added) is 35 miles from Disneyland, in another city. In another county (Disney in Orange, Universal in Los Angeles). And that's 35 miles of highways. You do have to consider distances between places of interest very carefully in this area.

I'd avoid any tours of LA that show you movie star's homes...most of them no longer live there, or they are old stars from before most of us were born. But an over all tour might be an easy way to see the city. Its a huge, spread out place... I'd do Disneyland over Universal. If you are there New Year's day, thats a great time to visit...many people are watching TV football games, or nursing hang overs...or watching the rose parade..which might be fun, but probably not for a 7 year old...
Do the van tour in SF for sure.

In SF if the weather is decent, go on a boat out on the bay. The Red and White Fleet has tours, as does Hornblower. There are also ferries over to Sausalito.

Another cool tour is the firetruck tour.

Of course ride a cable car - don't leave SF without doing that

As mentioned before, SF is very compact, so you may want to utilize public transportation rather than drive your car - parking can be pricey and sometimes hard to come by, but the public transportation is pretty good. It is also a good city for walking.

Take a walk through Chinatown and have some dim sum. That is always fun.

For inclement weather, the Exploratorium is always a good bet.