San Francisco vs. San Diego
 

We are a family of 4 from New Zealand with two daughters, 9 and 11. We are planning our first trip to the states. The girls want to go to Disneyland and my husband wants to mountain bike around Lake Forest. Which will take up the first 4 or so days. Then would we be best to head up the coast to San Francisco and visit Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge or do we head towards San Diego visiting places like Newport and the San Diego Safari park? We would have approx 4-5 days for this part of the holiday before stopping in Hawaii on our way home.

These both are two different types of vacations as you have noted, so it kind of depends on what you are looking for. Neither one is really "better" than the other b/c they have different things to offer, but I think San Diego would be more fun b/c it's more of a party town than SF.
SF is a beautiful city with amazing scenery and some great landmarks and buildings. SF is basically a sight seeing type of vacation and checking out the architecture, museums,landmarks, culture, ect.. SD has all those things too but SF's are more impressive.

Believe me, that depends GREATLY on what kind of "party" you like.

While we still love "Bagdhad by the Bay" - think the kids would much prefer San Diego - and the Zoo/Safari Park, SeaWorld, an hour or so from Disneyland, etc.

Also check out Julian - for bicycling, and lots of fun things to do at about 4,000 feet and an hour from San Diego. Apple Pie to die for, old mines to explore, and on and on. https://www.google.com/search?q=juli...g&ved=0CD0QsAQ

With kids that age, head to San Diego. You will have the zoo, wild animal park, Seaworld, beaches. Fits in easier with Disneyland. What time of year?

What time of year? I would opt for San Diego with children those ages - as Michelle noted you can do a number of different things and also get to Disneyland.

I much prefer Northern California . . . But in your situation I'd do San Diego. There is a LOT of things for the kids and it is MUCH closer/more convenient to Orange County. As long as you can fly to Hawaii out of SoCal and haven't already booked a flight out of San Francisco.

You just don't have enough time to explore the great places on the coast (Big Sur, Redwoods, Carmel, Monterey Bay Aquarium etc. plus time IN SF)

Since you are going to Hawaii, I'd recommend San Francisco. But you only have 4-5 days? Maybe you should stay in one place for that short amount of time. Choose LA, San Diego or San Francisco and you will have plenty to do for those days.

I agree with Tabernash that given the other things you are doing on the trip, the coast up to SF would be my choice as well - BUT - with only 4-5 days, this would be rushed. Would you consider flying up to SF? The flight is only about an hour and Southwest has inexpensive airfare. You'd miss the great CA coastline, but you'd have several days in SF, which would make for a nice visit.

As an alternative, if you wanted to include the coastal drive and don't mind a rushed trip, you could do this:

Day 1: LA to Pismo Beach
Day 2: Pismo Beach to Monterey or Santa Cruz - through the Big Sur coast
Day 3: In Monterey or Santa Cruz
Day 4: Morning drive to SF, afternoon in SF
Day 5: SF

I'm please to see you plan to do either San Diego OR San Francisco and not insist on doing both..............

What do your kids want to do? Since you're already going to do Hawaii, San Francisco would give your trip a bit more variety. There is plenty to do for kids in San Francisco~the Exploratorium, the matinee of Beach Blanket Babylon, riding a cable car, and a walk down Lombard Street (these are things my daughter enjoyed).

You really can't go wrong with either choice!

Thank you everyone for your advice. We will be heading over around June 2015 so plenty of time to decide and we may decide to add another week and go to both places yet. It's a hard choice as I think I would prefer SF but the kids would prefer SD.

You might research weather in June. They call it "June gloom", which may alter your plans regarding driving up the coast.

Actually, I think they only call it June Gloom in southern CA. They have May Grey as well. I think Southern Californians just like things that rhyme :) In northern CA we just call it summer. But coastal fog is a factor all along the CA coast. It generally manifests itself as overcast skies in the morning that burn off mid-day and return late afternoon or evening. It keeps temperatures cool, but doesn't really impact sightseeing or anything. This isn't a ground-level pea soup fog.

Yes, add another week and do it all! You have come this far so enjoy!

I think we will pick out all the activities we really want to do and see if the majority are SF or SD and make the decision that way (or save a little harder and do both!). Thanks Tomsd for your suggestion of Julian, it looks fantastic.

We loved SF and it has such a colorful history - but the living is definitely better in San Diego :)

Here are some other things to do in San Diego - and the Marine layer/aka fog - usually burns off by mid-morning - or if it's particularly heavy one day - just head inland to do fun things in the sun.

http://www.smartdestinations.com/san...FQqCfgod_GAAcA

sherylflexman:

Add another 5 days if you can after coming that far and do both. If not possible I would choose San Diego

Go to http://www.sandiego.org for lots of information.

Start another thread once you decide if you need help with picking a hotel etc.

Sandy

Here are my ideas for stuff to do in/around San Francisco:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...mendations.cfm

>> but the living is definitely better in San Diego <<

My opinion is just the opposite.

Stu Dudley

If you can add 5-7 days you can do it all. Otherwise SD makes most sense. (I'd REALLY try to add the extra time)

Great info on SD -

http://www.localwally.com

As someone from the East Coast who has been to both places many times, SF is more interesting place to visit and if I had to live in CA, it would be in the Bay Area. SF is a great walking city, with wonderful residential architecture, better museums, better restaurants, a quirky population and spectacular vistas.

SD has more outdoorsy things to do and if you like that than SD is for you. But why travel 7,000 miles to do what you can do at home?

If you can add time to your trip, both destinations are spectacular. Otherwise, it could be true that San Francisco is a world-class city, and offers the most contrast to what you might be used to.

<<SD has more outdoorsy things to do and if you like that than SD is for you. But why travel 7,000 miles to do what you can do at home?>>

That's simplistic. San Diego has beaches and pleasant weather that Kiwis would not normally get at home.

Considering the kids and their ages, I'd choose San Diego. If they were each about 5-7 years older and you still had one choice, then it's at least a coin flip.

San Diego is much more fun for the kids. Your kids are at an age where in a few years many of the San Diego attractions will not interest them as much. Can you save San Francisco for your next US adventure? While San Diego has similarities to Hawaii, it is a different type of destination because of the Zoo, SeaWorld, Safari Experience, etc.

San Francisco is the type of trip your husband and you can take, once your kids are in college or off on their own adventures. You can really soak up the city then.

By the way, Disneyland is not that close to San Diego. With traffic, it is easily two hour drive each way. Anaheim is where you want to stay if you are doing Disneyland. you will be so exhausted to drive and to see anything else in SD after a day at Disneyland.

Sorry, I re-read your original post and I see that you are going to Disneyland first and then either to SD or to SF. I understand now. Don't clobber me all at once, Fodorites.

A side note on the Golden Gate Bridge: while the Golden Gate National Recreation area is beautiful, the bridge is still just a bridge. Yes, it is very picturesque in the fog of San Francisco depending on the time of day and the weather. Still, you will have to fly from Anaheim to San Fran, whereas you can drive to San Diego.

Sorry, I re-read your original post and I see that you are going to Disneyland first and then either to SD or to SF. I understand now. Don't clobber me all at once, Fodorites.

A side note on the Golden Gate Bridge: while the Golden Gate National Recreation area is beautiful, the bridge is still just a bridge. Yes, it is very picturesque in the fog of San Francisco depending on the time of day and the weather. Still, you will have to fly from Anaheim to San Fran, whereas you can drive to San Diego.

>>Golden Gate Bridge: while the Golden Gate National Recreation area is beautiful, the bridge is still just a bridge<<

And the Statue of Liberty is just a statue. Mona Lisa is just a painting.

Stu Dudley

Let the stoning begin.

Pintxos- I agree with you. With kids that age, SD attractions are perfect. I do hope you can add a week and do it all!

Thank you all for your very useful information. At this stage I think we will head to San Diego after Anaheim as I think the children would enjoy it more, and we all know if the kids are happy then everyone is happy. We are planning on stopping in Hawaii on the way home as I would like to visit Pearl Harbour and have a few days of relaxation before heading back to reality. Thank you all for your links to attractions etc which I have looked through and added a few things to my "must do" list. I think if we don't get the San Fran this time (still hoping to add another week but will be money dependent)then we will return the following year without the children to go to SF and then to Vegas. This is my first time on a Travel website and I have found it really interesting. I have even added a few comments to people looking to come to NZ. Thanks again and I am sure I will have more questions closer to the time.

who knew that San Diego was more of a party town than San Francisco! That's news to me, but kids aren't going to be partying anyway. I find San Francisco more attractive but I also agree with the kids, San Diego is probably a better choice for them.