SFO-Monterey-Hearst-Sequoia-Yosemit
 

Hi,
We are thinking of coming to California in early June next year. DH hasn't been there since he was young.
We are thinking of flying into SFO or Oakland and pick up car rental.
If we arrive early enough, we might drive to Santa Cruz to ride the Big Dipper (not sure), then drive to a Monterey hotel.
We want to go to Point Lobos, Aquarium, 17 mile drive (lunch or dinner Pebble Beach restaurant), whale watching.
We are staying in Monterey 3 nights.
We want to drive down to Big Sur, with visits at Bixby Bridge, Julia Pfeiffer State Park, maybe lunch at Nepenthe.
We plan on one night in Saint Luis Obispo to see elephant seals and Hearst castle tour the next morning (a bit nervous for my 9 yo daughter and her short attention span for the tour.)
One night at Sequoia at Waksuchi to see General Sherman and climb Morro Rock (I won't go up).
2 nights in Yosemite at the Majestic. I want to see Glacier Point and I don't know what else.
2-3 nights SFo-2 days of sightseeing-Alcatraz (I really don't want to go to a prison), Golden Gate Bridge & Park, Lombard St., Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf, Cable Car, Cliff House (DH wants to eat dinner there, is it any good?) fly home.
Any suggestions would be great.

>>One night at Sequoia at Waksuchi to see General Sherman and climb Morro Rock (I won't go up). <<

That really doesn't work. SLO to Waksuchi Lodge is about a 4.5 hour drive and from there to Yosemite Village is close to 5 hours so you really won't have much time at all in Sequoia after a LOT of driving.

By the time you are traveling the Mariposa Grove will have reopened so you can see Sequoias there.

I'd skip Sequoia/Kings Canyon unless you can add at least another nights there.

At the front end I'd try to stay one night in Santa Cruz before heading down to Monterey. That will give you enough time to visit the Boardwalk plus Henry Cowell Redwoods state park.

FYI, it's Moro Rock in Sequoia, and Morro Rock in Morro Bay on the coast. Each Hearst Castle tour (there are multiple) is only 60 minutes, but you may want to take 2 or even 3 which, when you include lunch, could take up a lot of the day. I also think SLO is too far south for your plans. Be aware, that the California coast can be quite foggy in June which can impact how much you enjoy the whale watching.

I think you're trying to do too much, drive too many miles, in the time you have. I think you should list your plans day by day, noting how much time you'd spend at each stop, how many miles and time between points, etc. And then decide if you want to maintain that pace for what I think is 10-11 days. One night in Sequoia and two nights in Yosemite are practically drive-bys.

Get your national park lodging reservations as soon as your itinerary is determined.

Stay in San Simeon or Cambria if you want to tour Hearst Castle and see the Elephant Seals. SLO is too far out of the way.

This trip is for 2018. I know about the need to reserve early. Majestic Hotel reservations is one year and one day out. Wuksachi is a year out.

Hearst Castle is a must do on our list. I am not sure if my 9 year old daughter can even withstand one tour (she has autism). But, my husband wants to go and he might not get back to California. So, two tours at Hearst are out.

I do not know if we want to devote a whole night to the Santa Cruz boardwalk. We live on the East Coast and there some fun boardwalks at the Jersey Shore. We are leaning toward making Santa Cruz a drive in quick stop, dh won't backtrack up from Monterey.
I just did a search on Google Maps.
Hearst to Wuksachi Lodge 4-4.5 hours
Wuksachi to Majestic Hotel Yosemite 4 hours
Hearst to Yosemite 5-5.5 hours
So, adding 3 hours driving time is fine for us.
So,
Day 1 Arrive SFO. If arrival is before 12:00, drive to Santa Cruz, enjoy boardwalk for 1-2 hours, drive to Monterey, check-in
Day 2 Monterey Aquarium, 17 mile drive
Day 3 Point Lobos, Whale Watch
Day 4 Drive through Big Sur, Bixby Bridge, Julia Pfeiffer State Park, Lunch at Nepenthe, check-in San Simeon hotelsee elephant seals if daylight
Day 5 Morning tour Hearst (somehow fit view of elephant seals night before) Drive to Moro Rock 4-4.5 hours Climb Moro Rock, photo at Tunnel log, night at Waksuchi
Day 6 See General Sherman, drive to Yosemite via General Grant grove check-in Majestic for 3 nights (I guess we arrive with Tunnel View-South entrance?)
Day 7 Glacier Point
Day 8 Yosemite Valley-easy hikes
Day 9 Drive to San Francisco-don't know where to stop along way
Day 10 Alcatraz, Golden Gate park, Chinatown walk, Fisherman's Wharf, sundae at Ghirardelli, cable car ride, dh wants to have dinner at Cliff House
Depart on Day 11 or 12

San Simeon or Cambria is a much better choice for visiting Hearst Castle.

Just know that the Google estimated driving times are almost always optimistic and don't include stops, photo ops, etc. I see you've been generous with the times, but I'm not sure you've remembered lunch on those long drives.

Yes, we are going to stay in San Simeon or Cambria.
Is there anything interesting between San Simeon and Sequoia?

I just wanted to get the itinerary together so that I could make my reservation at the Majestic (Ahwahnee) this June. Mapping this out is helping me to figure what dates to book. Will I need two full days in Yosemite or three? DH thinks that since we are staying central to the park that two full days will be enough. I also want to take the shuttle to Glacier Point. But, we have a handicapped placard and dh thinks that we might be able to park (it worked for Yellowstone last summer).

Nothing interesting along the way unless you are into farming.

I live in Hershey, and there are tons of dairy farms here for the chocolate.

If you're concerned about your daughter on a one hour tour, do you think she'll be OK on the boat for 3 hours? Some of that time will be spent motoring to and from where the whales are or looking for whales.

>>I do not know if we want to devote a whole night to the Santa Cruz boardwalk. <<

I certainly wasn't suggesting a whole night on the Boardwalk. You mentioned wanting to ride the rollercoaster. My suggestion was to spend the night in Santa Cruz - using the day to visit the wonderful Henry Cowell state park and ride the Roaring Camp railway. That will take most of the day, then you can ride the Big Dipper that evening (plus walk on the beach and anything else you might enjoy on the Boardwalk), sleep in Santa Cruz then head to Monterey the next morning.

Or sure, you could drive on to Monterey instead.

"Is there anything interesting between San Simeon and Sequoia?"

Cambria is an old, small seaside town with an artistic bent. Several art galleries and local crafts shops, a few good cafes/restaurants, a couple of tasting rooms for wine and local craft beer, a lovely beach.

Paso Robles and neighboring Atascadero are the heart of California's central coast wine (and increasingly olive oil) production. Old Paso is centered on the old-fashioned town square. Lots of interesting shops, boutiques, galleries, antiques, restaurants, etc. You'll pass dozens of wineries as you drive through the area on Hwy. 46.

If you click on my user name, you will see my spring break trip report for San Fran and Monterey with kids. We had a great time! Doesn't cover your entire itinerary but it gives good recommendations for part of it. I would highly recommend staying in the cottage we stayed in Pacific Grove. It was lovely and had the best location!

StantonHyde I read your report. I might consider your rental. Have you taken the kids to Hearst Castle. Dd does great with nature and science, but she has a hard time grasping history. We are beginning to teach her.

Some things to consider about Hearst Castle: You drive and walk into a visitor center where there is a gift shop, a cafeteria and a theater which shows a movie about Young Mr. Hearst and how the castle was built. It is quite informative and may be something that your daughter would like. Then you take a tram up to the castle with your tour. The tours last for an hour each , there are usually many stairs and it is expected that you will stay with the tour and be quiet, as about 25 people are straining to hear what the tour guide is saying.

If this won't be easy for your daughter, I wouldn't take her. If one of you is particularly interested in the castle, they might want to do this one solo. I hope this helps.

I have three boys and I'd never take them because I think they'd be bored silly. One went on a field trip for school and he said it was " alright,"

<neighboring Atascadero>

fantastic bread (and sandwiches on that bread) at Hush Harbor Bakery in Atascadero.

I agree -- and of course it totally depends on your daughter's capabilities/limitations/location on the spectrum -- but in general I don't think any of the San Simeon tours would be a good for a child w/ autism. It might be hard on her.

We didn't take our kids to Hearst Castle. They have limited attention spans on tours. We really do better with an audio guide type set up. Or with reading in a museum or hiking with a guide book. More at our own pace kind of thing. *I* have a hard time with tours!