MichelleY

If you want to cut a few days from SF, consider a couple in Monterey and Carmel. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is fabulous and would be great for the kids.

travel2sk

KayF

There are lots of suggestions above. It really depends on whether you want to drive the coastal route or inland. Have you checked out these ideas on a map?

Kay

tomfuller

Are you thinking of renting a car in Los Angeles and dropping it at SFO? Bad idea IMO. For a stop between Los Angeles and San Francisco along the coast (US 101), I like Santa Barbara. The view from a train of the ocean is stunning just south of Santa Barbara. Things to do/see in Santa Barbara include the Mission on the hill, the great zoo and the restaurants on the pier. The Amtrak station in Santa Barbara is within walking distance of the pier.

mlgb

If you are still planning on Universal Studios, don't do it from Anaheim. Include it in your Los Angeles days.

I'm not a Santa Barbara fan. For me, stops between LA and SFO would be Cambria or San Simeon, Carmel, Pacific Grove, or elsewhere in the Monterey Bay area. I also like Morro Bay/Montana de Oro, but not sure how it would be with toddlers. There's also Pismo Beach and San Luis Obispo as options.

If you go inland to Yosemite, Oakhurst is only 4 hours. You could spend the night there, Fish Camp or Wawona. You wouldn't have any snow between LA and Oakhurst. If there is snow between Wawona and the valley, it will likely be plowed and the paved road will be clear. You can verify if chains are required at any time (unusual in April) by calling 209.372.0200 which is updated daily or when conditions change.

jamie99

Tom just wants you to buy an Amtrak ticket to someplace,anyplace. He can be a helpful poster but has a real hangup about using trains, and also paying a one way drop fee, which is why he probably said driving from LA to SF (SFO is the airport code) was a bad idea.

The drive on Highway 1 from LA to SF or vice versa is probably one of the prettiest drives in the entire USA.
You would want at least two overnight stops or more depending on time and interests. Santa Barbara is a lovely town and one of my favorite California towns, but if you need to get further north your first day, that is fine also. I would try to at least stop briefly to see the beautiful mission,and have lunch if time permits.

Either Morro Bay or Pismo Beach would be fine for toddlers, Cambria is nice also, but is more couples oriented and the beach is across the street from the Moonstone Drive motels. Then spend a night or two in Monterey, see the Aquarium, toddler might like Dennis the Menace Park, maybe take a whale watch cruise, lots of stuff to see and do.

MichelleY

Like mlgb, I am not a big Santa Barbara fan, particularly with small children. If your kids are prone to car sickness, Hwy 1 may not be the best choice. I agree that you should try to fit in the Monterey Bay Aquarium etc either before or after Yosemite.

mlgb

True about car sickness on Hwy 1. You could take US 101 instead, all the way from Pismo Beach. Or from San Luis Obispo (SLO) you can take another leg of 1 as far as Morro Bay and then cut over to Atascadero via Hwy 41. Even going as far as Harmony, then Hwy 46. The Adelaide Inn in Paso Robles is a good value, highly rated with recent upgrades even in the original motel section. They don't offer breakfast on site but the rooms have refrigerators and microwaves and there are suitable restaurants nearby, from McDonald's to Rustic Fire Pizza.

There is a light installation nearby (Bruce Munro who did one in Australia) which will be open in April, (Thurs-Sun only). Kind of expensive but it was pretty nifty.

sf7307

If you do go through Atascadero, Hush-Harbor Artisan Bakery is a great place for lunch - their bread is made on site and fantastic.

mjs

mjs

mlgb

I would drive DOWN (south) the coast, not up (north).

Big Sur (Hwy1) depending on how the kids fare with carsick. The drive from I- 280 near Woodside via Hwy 84 to San Gregorio would be a good test of that. I had friends who even as adults felt queasy on that one. Plus my brother's dog.

If they don't do well it wouldn't be too far to backtrack and take Hwy 101.

travel2sk

Thanks for all the suggestions so far.
I have planned as per this so far
San Diego -3 days
Disney -2 days
LA - 3 days
Yosemite - 2 days
San Francisco-5 days

For Yosemite, we are thinking of driving upto El Portal from LA and stay at Yosemite View Lodge to have access to YARTS.
How is the drive from LA to El Portal? Should we stay some where in between for 1 night to avoid a long drive or is it doable?

travel2sk

Can i also get some suggestions on suburbs to stay in San Francisco for the 5 days we plan yo stay. Something which can be easily accessible by public transport and not too far from downtown. Thanks 🙏

J62

"For Yosemite, we are thinking of driving upto El Portal from LA and stay at Yosemite View Lodge to have access to YARTS."

If there is snow forecast then there will be chain requirements far before you get to El Portal.
That said, staying in El portal / YVL is not a bad plan. You can decide when you get there if you want to drive the last 10miles into the valley, or take the bus.

janisj

"For Yosemite, we are thinking of driving upto El Portal from LA and stay at Yosemite View Lodge to have access to YARTS.
How is the drive from LA to El Portal? Should we stay some where in between for 1 night to avoid a long drive or is it doable?"

Very nice plan. No need to stop over en route really, just drive all the way to El Portal so you can get into the park early the next morning

"If there is snow forecast then there will be chain requirements far before you get to El Portal."

That's not very likely really. El Portal is just under 2,000 foot / 600 meter elevation (which is the main reason I recommended 140/El Portal) Snow that low is rare that time of year. Though not 100% unheard of it is not very likely. Fish Camp on hwy 41 for comparison is over 5,000 feet/ 1500 meters.

mlgb

Snow is not particularly likely around Fish Camp/Wawona either. But sure, go the long way round if weather is bad.

Personally I would rather stay IN Yosemite Valley rather than El Portal. Traffic from the San Francisco end can be a bloody nightmare, much worse than coming in via Wawona.

janisj

"Traffic from the San Francisco end can be a bloody nightmare, much worse than coming in via Wawona."

In July, yes - but in April?

Pretty doubtful. In the last 5 years I've driven in via 140 in Dec (when it is actually busier than April because of the Bracebridge and holiday celebrations) in March (over Easter) and in April and there was virtually no traffic any of those trips.

MmePerdu

If you give us more information, especially the reasoning for staying out of town, it'll be easier to answer.

travel2sk

as we are 2 adults + 2 kids, i found the accommodation a bit too expensive to stay in downtown so wanted to look within 20 mins away using either uber or public transport.