We are looking to plan a trip in July. I know it’ll be hot but that’s the only time we will have time for a 10 day trip. We have two adults and two kids 9 & 7. The kids have never been out west. We will be flying in to Phoenix on a Friday and driving up to Sedona for the night. Our flight is early so we should be able to see some things that night and finish up the next morning before we head to the Grand Canyon. We will see some of the Grand Canyon and only allow a day to be spent here as we will make our way to Lake Havasu City to meet up with some family for a day or two.

We plan to stay a night or two in LHC then drive over to the west coast where we have more family in Orange County. My question is - where do we go from there. What should be our destination for the remainder of the week? We will be flying out of John Wayne airport the following Sunday. We were thinking Santa Barbara (we’ve been there and loved it) but we want to be sure the kids enjoy the trip too. We definitely want to sight see and have beach time. We’d love to see some beach caves as well...

Side note: the kids do great traveling so road trips aren’t an issue. They are used to long road trips.

Any suggestions or advice would be great!

Do you know your drop fee to rent in Phoenix and drop in Santa Ana? If you could find the shuttle from the Phoenix airport to Flagstaff you could rent and return there and take the Amtrak Southwest Chief into Los Angeles. The Pacific Surfliner trains run between Santa Barbara and San Diego with a stop in Santa Ana. I let Amtrak do my driving through the deserts of California.

Sorry tom, but trains make no sense at all for this itinerary. How do you suppose they would get to Lake Havasu to meet up with their family? Not to mention the convoluted round about/zig zagging they'd have to do.

ashevans: >>My question is - where do we go from there

Since your 10 days includes travel days at the beginning & end, early flight or not, you have 8 full days to tour. Counting the nights is much more useful for planning. One night in Sedona then 1 or 2 at the Grand Canyon? Then 1 or 2 at Lake Havasu to catch your breath before the tedium of the desert in the heat to San Diego. That's about half your trip before you head to CA. I suspect the cool ocean breezes and wealth of things to do in San Diego will convince you there's no need to hit the road yet again. Spend 4 nights, only 3 days, there and have an easy drive (not passing through LA) to the airport. Even at that, you won't have time to do everything there is to do in the San Diego area.

I love Santa Barbara but with kids I would also vote for San Diego, nice beaches and the water is a bit warmer. There are some caves there also near La Jolla, seals to watch, and the kids might like the small but well done Birch Aquarium.

Hi - my vote would be Santa Barbara of even Monterey/Carmel etc...however, with kids and the fact that you are flying out of John Wayne, San Diego area might be a good bet as it's only about 1.5 hours drive. There's a lot of family things to do in that area: San Diego Zoo, Balboa Park, Sea World, La Jolla, Coronado Island, beaches, etc....We did a family trip in Carlsbad one year, with the entire extended family - stayed in a smaller resort on the beach (can't recall the name of it as it was years ago, but might have been something like Carlsbad Inn), and it was fun for everyone - ages ranging from 2-72 - as there were things to do in the area for all ages/interests. There are also alot of family oriented lodging choices. Just a few ideas....

Santa Barbara went through some major damage recently, fires, mudslides though mostly in Montecito. With children I would happily stay in San Diego. There is so much for all of you to enjoy there.

Santa Barbara is nice but not much for kids to do there. I recommend San Diego too. With the zoo, a former aircraft carrier museum the kids can sit in fighter jets, there is a lot more to do. You mentioned caves.
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