I'm traveling with my family to Los Angeles Sun to Sun, with children 4 to 7. We were thinking of staying 2 days in San Diego to visit Legoland and San Diego Zoo. Then moving to LA for Universal, Disney, Kontt's Sciencecenter, and sightseeing Beverly Hills, etc. Which area you recomend to stay, so we do the less car traveling possible and be in a nice area for dining and walking around. Any other tips or suggestions?

"L.A." and "Disney" are really two separate areas....I personally would stay in Anaheim the first 4 nights with a day trip to Legoland and a half-day trip to Knotts...then move up north and probably stay at one of the Universal Hotels if you can handle the $$$.

From Universal you can take a subway ride down to Hollywood & Highland one afternoon, take an easy trip to the L.A. Zoo ( better than the San Diego Zoo for 4 & 7 yr olds in my opinion) and take a bus tour of Beverly hills homes if desired.

We live in San Diego and prefer the wild animal park instead of the zoo. IMHO..Marilyn

The Zoo in San Diego is better for children than the Wild Animal Park, IMO. They can get closer to more stuff. Legoland is about 45 minutes north of San Diego, and perhaps you could go there, then on to Anaheim the same day rather than double back.

It's quite easy to spend a lot of time at Disneyland/California Adventure and the kids are likely to enjoy it very much. There are numerous places you can go, of course, but few will match the appeal of Disneyland. My daughter and I have had no problem spending several days per visit there. San Diego is great too.

txs for the help. So should we skip the whole San Diego trip, and focus the 7 days only on LA and Anaheim, with the day trip to Legoland? Is that park really worth the drive?

Well, much as I love our Zoo and San Diego, if going to the Zoo is all you'd be doing here, then I would say stay in Anaheim/LA.

I would go to San Diego for the zoo and Sea World. San Diego is a much nicer area.

just a thought but you have planned 6 out of 7 days at amusement parks & beverly hills. i've had many groups of families come down to visit in san diego and after their first trip, they often say that they WAY overplanned. i think you've planned way too much for kids your age. what about a day enjoying the beach area, checking out tide pools, hanging out at the hotel pool, etc. my recommendation for a family with only a week - three days in la running around to the amusement parks, then head out to san diego. plan one event there (zoo or sea world) and leave the rest of the days free so you can make plans once you get there and know how your kids are reacting.