Hi again! Trip going to start in 2 days and still unsure. (2 adults, 3 teens) This is the plan so far....

Day 1 - Wed, arriving into San Fran late night. staying in Union
Day 2 -Thursday morning, doing Muir Woods, Golden Gate and Presidio. Then heading for a 3:30 reservation to Alcatraz. Finding casual dinner spot late dinner.
Day 3 - Ferry to Sausalito for lunch then explore, then back to san fran to jump in car and head to Monterey to have dinner and spend two nights at Portola
Day 4 - , Monterey aquarium, kayaking and explore. Hopefully have a yummy dinner in Carmel
Day 5 - Wake up, quick breakfast and off to Big Sur, Hearst castle reservation at 3:00. Make a long drive to Hermosa Beach. ( crazy 4.5 hour drive, am I crazy???)
Day 6 - Stay at Beach House, spend day biking, exploring Manhattan Beach, etc. casual day
Day 7 - Head to Santa Monica to pick up 6 hour tour to all the touristy Hollywood things for the teenagers in our group. Excited for the lunch spot at the farmers market I hear so much about. Arrive back at Santa Monica Pier. Let kids lead way around there and pick a casual restaurant. Head back to Beach House in Hermosa.
Day 8 - Explore as we drive to Laguna for lunch and explore, then and onward to San Diego for our final 2 nights.
Day 9 -10 spend at San Diego Zoo, Balboa Park

Tell me what I am doing right or wrong? I know the drive is crazy from castle to Hermosa, but really want to get to Hermosa Beach to have 3 nights in 1 hotel with some sort of relaxation. Heard it is a great central point to all spots in LA. This is not set in stone, but need to make decisions. I know we are missing a lot of beautiful spots but can come back again another time . Trying to make it exciting for teens. Thanks for feedback.

>>Day 2 -Thursday morning, doing Muir Woods, Golden Gate and Presidio. Then heading for a 3:30 reservation to Alcatraz. Finding casual dinner spot late dinner.

Ok. Is Muir Woods on the way to Monterey or the other direction? We are not on any strict schedule. Those are points of interest. We can definitely switch it up. Thank you!

Muir Woods is north of San Francisco and as noted is a one hour drive each Way. Your plans for San Francisco don't include spending any time expolring San Francisco, you might consider skipping Muir Woods and actually seeing San Francisco.

See Sausalito on the way to Muir Woods then visit Golden Gate/Presidio on day 3.

Yes, driving to Hermosa Beach on Sunday night is a bit crazy, you are going to hit traffic snarls through Santa Barbara into Los Angeles. Sunday drives through this area can be a royal pain especially between 5pm and 9pm. I'd say grab some dinner at the Flatbread place in Los Alamos to let some of the traffic ahead of you subside, then take a deep breath and then around 8pm, head for Hermosa...expecting to arrive by 11pm if you're lucky.

Hermosa is not at all a "good central spot for seeing L.A." but thankfully you are only doing one (long) day trip in to see Hollywood/Los Angeles. You do have to watch your drive time to Santa Monica as that is hellish until 10am. What time do you have to be in Santa Monica to start your 6 hour tour?

Day 5 looks like sheer madness. I wouldn't have tried to cram Big Sur AND a tour of Hearst Castle into one day, THEN topped it off with a drive that optimistically will take over 4 1/2 hours (I'm guessing more like 5 1/2, before stops). You will get into Hermosa Beach pretty late; I'm sure the hotel can take late check-ins, but I'd call just to be sure.

I would have given myself a whole day to drive down from central coast on CA-1 and/or US-101, just so I could enjoy the drive, maybe stopping here and there (Santa María, Santa Bárbara, Ventura, Malibu). The fast route will take you on CA-154, a bit inland, and it's not an ugly drive (like, say, I-5)-- you'll be driving through Central Coast Wine Country--, but it's not nearly as gorgeous as the slow route.

In my opinion, Hermosa Beach is NOT "central to all spots in LA". It's central to the northern beaches of the South Bay, yes. But everything else will be a rather long slog in the car (that "30-45 minutes to everything" claim only works if you're heading to those places at 4:30 AM-- on a Sunday). On the other hand, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Hermosa Beach-- it's very "laid-back southern California" in feel and not at all touristy, and there's a lot to do there; if you can deal with the drives to the touristy stuff, it's a great choice.

My mother-in-law went for a quick day trip down to San Diego on Sunday (we live in Long Beach, and she hadn't been to SD in nearly 35 years). She was bowled over by how busy everything was (granted, it WAS Father's Day)-- and now she wants to go back for a long weekend. It is a fun town, and you'll love the Zoo and Balboa Park. This is a long-winded intro to my suggestion: On day 8, check out of Beach House early, go to Laguna for breakfast (skip the "exploration"-- save it for your next trip, since I'm sure you will be back to our fair state!), then head down to San Diego and do something fun like Old Town and the officially-haunted Whaley House in the afternoon, then have dinner in the Gaslamp. By the way, where are you staying in SD?

I don't understand Day 3 at all. Why leave San Francisco again? If you are going to go to Muir Woods, stop in Sausalito on the way or on the way back, have breakfast or lunch, take a walk and be on your way. It's a very nice little town, but nothing really worth "exploring", especially in lieu of San Francisco.

I'd personally skip both Muir Woods AND Sausalito on this trip. I'd spend the Days 2 and 3 doing the Presidio (not really sure what there is there that would take a whole day to explore), Marina Green, Chrissy Field, walk part way across the Golden Gate Bridge and back, and on the other day, walk along the Embarcadero, walk up through Chinatown and North Beach, climb some hidden staircases, make your way to Coit Tower.

The sad truth is you are trying to squeeze about 14 or 15 days worth of sites/places into 10 days.

A few things have to give.

janisj, could you expand on your reply regarding the Presidio (you know I live here, but I always like to find new things to see and do, for my "tourist in the city" days).

I would also gently suggest that this itinerary in general is FAR too jam-packed and gives extremely short shrift to San Francisco and the LA Metro area, which both have millions of things of keen interest to teens. Then again, neither city can really be given a fair tasting in less than five days-- each. More time than you have.

Do try to give yourselves some breathing room here and there. You do want it to be a vacation and not the Bataan Death March in a rented Hyundai, seeing every sight through the windows. Enjoy any down time you can grab onto!!

sf7307: Depending on what interests one could spend hours there. The Disney Museum alone is worth 90 minutes. Then various walks and amazing views Or renting a bike is a great way to explore the Presidio. The Officers' Club is a very interesting museum. Fort Point. The Farralones sanctuary Visitors center. Just tons of stuff depending on one's interests.

Not sure what the "Big Sur to Hearst" drive is like on a Sunday but you might want to try for a REALLY early start (like 6:30am), and cancel Hearst if it's not pre-paid (since you said you'll be back and can do that at another time). Try for an 11am to 3:30pm drive down into Hermosa and then settle in for a nice sunset dinner. Or spend the afternoon and evening enjoying the beach & wharf in Santa Barbara, have dinner @ the wharf or up the street in downtown SB, then the late drive to Hermosa at sunset.

I don't know your teens, but I know teens who just shrugged at Hearst Castle and would have rather been walking along the beach checking out the beach homes in Montecito or Malibu (or Hermosa/Manhattan Beach).

I do think you made a great decision to finally stay put in one place for 3 nights so that I wouldn't change.

Another alternative would be to save San Diego for your "next trip" and then space things out a little better all the way down (not sure if Beach House rez can be changed etc).

Agree with many of the above. I think Sausalito would be a snooze for your teens. Stay in the city to maximize your time there.

Wow that is one rushed trip, Hearst to Hermosa will be a crazy long drive. I agree with janisj that you probably need to drop a few things.

So happy everyone replied! I will ax out Sausalito and Muir Woods. I traveled years ago to San fran and was in an area close to San fran that had huge redwoods and thought it was Muir Woods. We will just spend two days in San Fran exploring. I would like a recommendation for a yummy upscale restaurant with a view for dinner in San Fran please?

On the next topic, I don't mind the drive to LA. Teens are fine sitting as long as I have the dvd, we are good. My real concern is that I am not sure where to stay. We have 4 nights to explore. I want some casual down time on a beach. And I really don't want to hop around hotels. As of now, I have 3 places booked and need to cancel two. 1) Beach House in Hermosa, ( casual, fun, rides bikes to Manhattan and easy access to Santa monica), 2) Santa Monica, ( lots of fun, but heard little too touristy and we can't get hotel right on beach like Hermosa. Waited too long and shutters is at 800/night 3) inn at Laguna Beach, which I hear is beautiful, good eats and great shopping but 4 nights might be too long. Not easily accessible to other areas.

Leaning toward Hermosa so kids can run free, ride bikes, I feel safer there leaving them and venturing off with my husband. I also like that Manhattan Beach next door.

I have also thought of either 1) driving from Hearst to Santa barbara for 1 night, and then heading to Hermosa for 3 nights, OR, heading straight to Hermosa for 3 nights and spending the 4th at Laguna. I'm loving the pics I see of Laguna, totally different beaches from where I live in Miami with cliffs. Kinda want to show the kids something a little different. Will have to go to San diego for a day and night because that is where we fly out of. Thoughts ?

Also, I wanted to add a Malibu day trip, is it worth it?

Thank you so much again....making myself crazy

I like the Sunday night in Santa Barbara idea. On Monday you'd have a much more leisurely drive to Hermosa if you leave SB between 9:15 am and 11am. And @ Oxnard where the 1 branches south from the 101, you could detour down through Malibu and see it on the way to Hermosa. Malibu Cliffs Park (directly across from the Pepperdine University entrance) is a nice place for a picnic by the seacliffs. Free parking and just walk out behind the ball fields to the picnic area and viewpoint.
Leave Malibu by 3pm to head down to Hermosa and you should be there by 3:45 easily.

Ok, we ditched Hearst castle and are going to drive from Monterey, stopping at Big Sur and head to Santa Barbara for night. What is a must see on the way to Santa Barbara?

You do know that "Big Sur" is an entire stretch of coast line, not a single point on the map, right? Too many tourists get confused thinking they are going to see single site. Big Sur stretches from Point Lobos, just south of Carmel to about Ragged Point (depending of your viewpoint). It includes a number of California State Parks and beaches and wilderness areas. So "stopping at Big Sur" is not one stop, but usually many.

Ok, got it. Lol. When I was there years ago, we stopped at the lunch place in Big Sur And I think it was also a visitor center, anyway, when I think of Big Sur, that always comes to mind. Ok, so any stops I must make along the way?
Btw, thanks for all the help