We are planning a trip with my two teenagers and my parents (active 70 yr olds) to San Francisco. From there ,we plan on traveling either North along the coast or South. My children have never been to California and I really want them to have a great active experience. Galleries and Antique stores would be the equivilant of root canal for my son. Any suggestions? we are open to all ideas. We probably could spend 5 days or so on the road.

Although the coast north of SF is spectacular, there isn't much to entertain your teenagers. Hwy 1 south of SF will take you along an equally spectacular coastline all the way to Santa Cruz. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is right on the beach with amusement park rides and games. The beach here is relatively warm as compared to the rest of the northern cal coast. Great for the whole family. 45 min south of Santa Cruz is Monterey. The Monterey Bay Aquarium there is a must to see. The shops on Cannery Row (right next to the aquarium) are fun even for your teens. take the "17 Mile Drive" from Monterey to Carmel and everyone will love looking at the fantastic mansions along the way as well as the Pebble Beach golf course. Carmel is also a great place (expensive) to shop and has a beautiful beach too. Really neat town. Hope this helps!

Probably more interesting for the teens & 70 YOs traveling south. You could hug the coast, visit Half Moon Bay (Main St), then to Santa Cruz where the teens might enjoy the amusement park & the boardwalk. Lots of other teens there on a nice day in the summer. Perhaps stay there a night.

Then continue south to Carmel & stay there 2 nights. Aquarium, beaufiful coast, cute villages, Pt Lobos (fantastic), 17 mile Drive, Spanish Bay, Pacific Grove, shopping, - lots of stuff for everyone to do.

Then head to Big Sur & stay there 1 night. Have dinner at Nepenthe (great burgers & fries - and knock-your-socks-off views). Also visit Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, walk/drive through the redwoods at Pfeiffer State Park, and also try to find Pfeiffer Beach (lots of Pfeiffers).

Then continue south along the most beautiful stretch of coast in the US. End at San Simeon & visit Hearst castle. Then back to San Francisco on 101.

Not as much diverse stuff north. Lots of pretty coast (not as nice as Big Sur, IMO), giant redwoods, cute village of Mendicino, etc. I think both the teens & 70s would find more to do heading south. Nature lovers who want to "get away" might prefer the north.

Stu Dudley

Thanks, I had heard the aquarium was fantastic. What about Big Sur? We had thought to see some redwoods and do some hiking. Is there any spot close to the coast that we can do this other than Muir woods?

There are plenty of places to see redwoods and hike south of SF. A good bet is Big Basin state park in the Santa Cruz mountains. Henry Cowell state park is also a good choice, and a short drive from Santa Cruz, so it is convinient - Big Basin is further up the hill.

The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and the Monterey Bay Aquarium would be the highlights of the trip for teens. Also, if they like bike riding, you can rent bikes on the Monterey Bay recreation trail that goes for miles along the ocean. A good place to rent the bikes is at Adventures By The Sea in Cannery Row. Adults love this bike ride too for the spectacular scenery.

Agree that South is the only way for your family! If you do some searches for Santa Cruz, Monterey, Big Sur you will find loads of ideas. It's really great.

Oh yeah, definitely - renting bikes and riding along the recreation trail in Monterey would be great. In addition to regular bikes, you can rent these 4-wheel surry bikes that are lots of fun. I think they hold 4 people.

Again--go south.

Agree, go south. If you stop in Nuevo Ano state park a little south of SF you will probably see elephant seals. Plenty of sea otters in the Monterey area. Redwoods in Pfeiffer state park and some nice hiking areas there too. Pt. Lobos.Big Sur.

We just returned from SF with our 15 year old daughter. We do 2 or 3 national parks per year. We went North for a day. Headed out @ 5:30am in order to catch the low tide @ 8:00 at McClures Beach-Pt Reyes National Seashore. We went tidepooling there, also saw deer and a ton of Tule Elk, lighthouse, seals, sea lions, whales. Many hiking options there. Stopped by Muir Woods National Monument for a couple of hours and was very suprised by how much we enjoyed it.

We also went to Golden Gate Park while in SF. Very good place to go. Eat at Beach Chalet, see Japanese Gardens and a ton of other things to do and see there. You could easily spend a day in the park. It is huge!!

Thanks for all the suggestions. South seems the direction to go. I need to start making some reservations