We are going to Califorina for a 2 weeks holiday at the beginning of Sept - we'll start in SanFran - stay there about 3 days - then we want to move on to the Yosemite Nat.Park for a day drive back - on the way back go to the Outlet in Gilroy - drive on to Montery and Carmel - go down HWY Nr1 and visit San Louis Opisbo (?), further on to Santa Barbara and then we end our Trip in LA where we will stay for 5 days (we want to see Disneyland, SixFlags and Universal Studios - and a day at the beach. For the trip from San Fran-Yosemite-LA we have 5 days. What do you think for the plan - will it be to much - or is okay??? To you have some mustsees?? I really want to ride the Cable Car, go to the Golden Gate Park, and eat loads of Seafood!!! Thx for the help...

can you help me????

PLEASE spend more time at Yosemite, you won't regret it.

well,...i would leave yosemite for another trip. one full day isn't really enough unless you do not plan on hiking. if you're only going to drive around the valley then 1 day is fine.

driving HWY1 to LA in 1 day is not something i would do....theres to much to see.....pt. lobos st. park; andrew molera st. park etc...

rob.. we want to leave sanfran on 5th of sept and want to be in LA on the 10th of sept (evening) - and in these days I want to visit yosemite, montery,big sur, carmel and so on.

what is and where "pt. lobos st. park; andrew molera st. park"?

Silvia, Do we understand you correctly? You are giviing yourself 5 days to get from SF to LA via Yosemite? If this is the case you should do 2 nights in Yosemite. That's because it will take a while to get there from SF and you'll want one full day to see what Yosemite has to offer. If you spend part of your arrival day plus the full next day in Yosemite you can leave after the second night and drive to Gilroy as you want to go to the outlets. That will still give you 3 nights to enjoy the coast. If I got it wrong please clear up the error and we can suggest other possibilities.

suzie - you got it right.. - I can't rely relate how far everything is away.. and someone told me it takes about 5 hrs from san fran to yosemite.. I'm very grateful for the advices...

if you're giving yourself 3 or 4 days for HWY1 you should have a fair amount of time to sightsee. the last time we went we based ourselves in carmel and made short, day trips down HWY1 and up to monterey.

pt. lobos is a great park about 4 or 5 miles south of carmel off of HWY1...its on the beach (really just a series of large rock formations) and there is an offshore rock where the sea lions hang out.

andrew molera park is further south; a more traditional beach with access to the water.....its a fairly long hike from the parking area to the beach.

there are other parks but these were the best on the coastline IMO.

It sounds like that is doable. I know others want to spend more time in Yosemite but you should be able to see most of the main sites in Yosemite in a day and a half. You won't really have time to hike but you'll be able to get a good look at the valley. September is quite nice in Yosemite. Last summer we drove from Yosemite's south entrance to Monterey and it was a reasonable drive. As you are breaking it up with shopping in Gilroy, you need to determine where you want to stay that night. If you are willing to drive another 45 minutes to an hour to Monterey you could stay there, or Pacific Grove which both have lovely accomodations. In yosemite you should try to stay in the valley. The Yosemite Lodge has nice accomodations.

If you give yourself the suggested extra day(s) in Yosemite, your trip plan sounds pretty good -- especially if you allow yourself to stop & stay anywhere you like along the way.

Must sees:
Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge (wear a jacket!).
Take a ferry to Alcatraz or Angel Island or Sausalito -- nothing beats the view of SF from the water.
See Chinatown and Haight-Ashbury.
My favorite SF restaurant: Delfina in the Mission.
Drive Highway One thru Big Sur.
Have a cocktail at Clint Eastwood's restaurant/bar, The Hog's Breath Inn in Carmel.
Stay at the Madonna Inn on Highway 101 and check out the men's room. www.madonnainn.com.
Hearst Castle in Cambria.
Linger in Santa Barbara -- visit the mission (at least one whilst in California).
Drive Highway One from Ventura into LA so you can see the beautful Malibu coastline.
Allow yourself flexibility -- don't rush to L.A.
For a day at the beach I'd suggest either Venice Beach for a view of L.A. culture or Hermosa Beach, where street parking might be tight but the beach will be less crowded.

You'll be spending some time in your car (just like the natives) so invest in a comfy one -- consider a convertible!

Enjoy!!

You really do need to stay overnight at Yosemite so you can check out the best sights in the Valley, but you need to make reservations ASAP; it is too late for reservations inside the park, but there are always cancelations. www.yosemitepark.com has info on accommodations in the park and nearby. If you plan to stay somewhere nice in the Monterey area, you should reserve soon, too. In Monterey, allow a few hours to see the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Allow plenty of time for the drive from Monterey to Cambria (the Big Sur coastline); Hwy 1 there is very twisty and two lanes, so you need to take it slow; plus, you'll want to stop along the way. Allow most of a day. The best stopping points for viewing the coastline are Pt. Lobos State Reserve, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park (walk the waterfall lookout trail from the parking lot--an easy half mile round trip; McWay Falls and cove are a stunning must see), and Ragged Point (listed from north to south). Go to http://jrabold.net/bigsur/index.htm and click on the driving maps; this is a list of all the stops and sights in Big Sur with mileage info. Also look for my Big Sur trip report tomorrow on this forum. If you are interested in touring Hearst Castle, you should spend the night in Cambria. Reserving your tour in advance will save you time. Then continue down Hwy 101 through SLO to Santa Barbara. Have fun--you'll probably get the best weather of the year in September.