California Vacation

[RU848789]

Make plans to meet up with Caliknight at a high end restaurant. In cargo shorts.

 

[_dave_]

And then where would you drive from Yosimite?

I've driven Highway 50 to Lake Tahoe, and back on 80 -- but in my experience 50 is much slower and so would not be good for the OP.

80 and 50 split in Sacramento. Staying on 80 takes you through Truckee and then Reno. I suppose it all depends on which side of the lake you are going. Truckee is about 80 minutes from South Lake Tahoe, where I live. Reno is about 60 minutes from me.

But it all depends after that. Can continue the national park tour. Or back to 395 past Mono Lake and Bishop before either going left for Death Valley or a right towards LA.

California is vast with lots to do no matter which direction you want to go.

 

[Retired711]

haven't been on that road; sounds very interesting.

Your route makes sense for many visitors, but it sounds like the OP wants to focus on the coast. You are right that there is *plenty* to see in interior northern California.. I remember seeing the Donner party memorial along I-80- (I think.)

 

[ho26rus]

You will get a lot of information but let me interject one thought

If you go south on the PCH on your drive from about 10am on the sun will be in your eyes. South to north it is behind you

Secondarily on the cliffs your passenger side significant other will be looking at some huge drop-offs. Going south to north you are on the inside hugging the mountain

7-8 days seems like a lot but Cali is very photogenic with a lot to see . Do not overplay. My sentiment is you would be lucky to see 60-70 percent of the things to do list from San Francisco to LA San Diego makes it drive and sleep only with little time for anything

In Los angeles there are 2 gettys. The castle in malibu is greek, etruscan, roman and egyptian statuary with fountains, You should see it but you must prebook a parking spot, small lot, or be denied entry

The Getty center is inland and high up. On a clear day you have a 360 wrap of Los Angeles. Great cafeteria with outside tables and those views

Lacma is 6 art museums strung together and adjoining the LeB/rea tar pit



You would need close to 3/4 of a day but a all along Venice Beach from The Santa Monica pier on a Sat or Sun could be memorable

There is no way around it but be aware three are in LA, 6 stealth taxes
City tax
county tax
statetax
homeland security
and 2 others that escape me so even a 100 room would get to 150 quickly
The thing is proportionally a 300 room gets to 425-450 in a hurry

I have lived there , as others do, so if you have any questions just ask a general question in this thread and i am certain one of us would reply

One last thing is if you time lunch , or dinner, to be in Santa Barbara to me the best example of the California missions is the Santa Barbara Mission
If you did decide San Diego is too much you might , from Santa Barbara see San Ynez and Solvang

Ok have a great time

 

[rucoe89]

Hey all,

Thinking about taking a 7-8 day trip to Cali at the end of September with my girlfriend (we are 29 years old). Just wanted to get any advice from those who have been there. We want to fly into San Fran and explore the coast and leave from San Diego. Some of the things we want to see are:

San Francisco, 49ers game, Napa Valley tours, LA/Hollywood, San Diego..

Any insight/tips would be helpful, Thanks!!

Been living here over 20 years. Have mapped out a lot of different routes for folks based on interests. Do you prefer more touristy stuff, off the beaten path, or nature? Or a little bit of each within reason? Note 7-8 days is REAL short. The drive from SF to LA can be 5 to 8 hours and San Diego another 2 to 4 hours. Traffic is big question mark.

 

[_dave_]

haven't been on that road; sounds very interesting.

Your route makes sense for many visitors, but it sounds like the OP wants to focus on the coast. You are right that there is *plenty* to see in interior northern California.. I remember seeing the Donner party memorial along I-80- (I think.)

The Donner party got stuck just outside of Truckee. Truckee is northwest of the Lake, about 10 minutes north of Squaw Valley, home of the 1960 Winter Olympics.

 

[RU848789]

You will get a lot of information but let me interject one thought

If you go south on the PCH on your drive from about 10am on the sun will be in your eyes. South to north it is behind you

Secondarily on the cliffs your passenger side significant other will be looking at some huge drop-offs. Going south to north you are on the inside hugging the mountain

Great advice on the PCH. My wife and I did the drive from LA to SF back in the early 90s and she doesn't like heights, so being on the inland lane made a big difference and the sun was behind us mostly. An amazing drive - Big Sur, the Hearst Castle and the 17-mile drive in Carmel are all great side-trips. Also, was able to get in a round of golf at Pebble Beach, while my wife relaxed/shopped - way more awesome than on TV.

We liked SF the most (and I've been back a few times and still love SF), then SD, then LA, although at the time, LA did have some very cool rock/punk bars. SD Zoo was awesome, as was the Golden Gate, the funicular, Muir Woods, Napa, etc. Also, been to Santa Barbara a few times, which is simply gorgeous. Want to do a trip to interior California, including places like Yosemite and Death Valley; been to Tahoe a few times skiing, which I loved - great skiing and gambling.

 

[ho26rus]

but ru 8487889 thats 14-16 days and that might even be rushed Till some one gets there the first time its hard to quantify how much is worth seeing and theres no way to prepare you freeway traffic. But you seem to draw interesting itineraries

 

[Retired711]

There's a real limit to what one can do in the period the OP has. I'd be inclined to spend a few days in S.F. and the rest in L.A.). There's a lot the OP won't be able to do, but at least that will let him scratch the surface.

P.S. the suggestion just below -- that you spend the whole week in one area or the other -- is also quite sound.

 

[Crazed_RU]

you list san fran, la and sd but only list 7-8 days, my advice is decide on northern or southern cal to make the most of your time, it also gives you an excuse to come back for the other half of the state in the future. with east coast air travel you will have more to do's than time to do it, even if you pick northern or southern cal, but if you try to do it all, it will be too much for 7 days, so pick one and enjoy it

Agree strongly with this. It's similar to saying you are going to do NYC, Boston and DC in a week. Technically possible, but you won't see much of any one of them.

 

[RU848789]

but ru 8487889 thats 14-16 days and that might even be rushed Till some one gets there the first time its hard to quantify how much is worth seeing and theres no way to prepare you freeway traffic. But you seem to draw interesting itineraries

We did SD, LA, PCH, and the SF area in 8 days, but would've liked to have more time. The Santa Barbara and Tahoe trips were separate.

 

[17Q66]

While in SF, check out Tony's Pizza Napoletana. My wife and I stumbled upon it by accident. Tony won the 2011 world championship in Naples, Italy for best pizza. I had stromboli and it was amazing ...

Tony's works for a lot of people because it's right in the heart of North Beach, and there's a lot of other things to do while you're there -- mostly drinking -- but also a growing boutique retail area on Grant Streets. Tony's also has a Chicago-style Deep Dish location called "Capo's" just a few blocks from his spot on Washington Square Park.

That said, our installment of the Gothamist did a pretty good break-down of the pizza landscape in San Francisco, and it's worth checking out if San Francisco pizza is on your list. For a town that was an absolute pizza wasteland only a decade ago, things are looking up here, though -- interestingly -- most of the best pizzas out here are efforts to come as close to pizza in New Jersey (or New York) as you can with Hetch Hetchy water.

A couple of years ago, Anthony Mangieri relocated from New York to San Francisco, and re-started his Una Pizza Napoletana operation out here -- not to be confused with Tony's Pizza Napoletana. This 2009 story from NYMag gives you some insight into his operation, and if you could only eat one pizza while you were in San Francisco -- or as your last meal, for that matter -- I'd recommend his.

 

[Knightmoves]

but ru 8487889 thats 14-16 days and that might even be rushed Till some one gets there the first time its hard to quantify how much is worth seeing and theres no way to prepare you freeway traffic. But you seem to draw interesting itineraries

Agree. SF and San Diego are two separate trips unless you want to commit to 2 weeks for the whole trip.

I've met many people who have regretted doing too much driving during a vacation. You are there to enjoy yourself, not to compete in a Gumball Rally.

 

[Abester33]

After taking in all of these great suggestions, I think we are leaning towards doing the following:

1) taking a bike tour across golden gate bridge
2) booking an alcatraz tour early and doing the audio tour, then exploring SF area (trolleys etc)
3) taking the napa/sonoma wine tour
4) Going to 49ers game (I'm a big niners fan so this was a must)
5) Head down the coast to monterey - fisherman's wharf/big sur
6) Driving to Hollywood and exploring that area.
7) Making the rest of the trip to San Diego and seeing La Jolla, Coronado and relaxing for at least 2 days before heading back home.

We both wanted to see the coast so we're basing our trip on that and wanted to end up in San Diego with 2 days to relax before heading back. I think overall it's going to be hectic and exhausting, but we will hit most of the major things we wanted to do, and can always go back to explore the rest later on.

Thanks for all the suggestions and will definitely let you all know how it goes!!!

 

[RUnTeX]

Agree with several others above in that 7-8 days is not enough time for what you think you can get done, and you'll be disappointed by how many things you won't realistically have time for. For what you are seemingly trying to do, you need a couple weeks which I imagine you probably don't have. In the time you do have, even if a bit rushed you will have to prioritize some items and skip others, but you could reasonably do the SF to LA segment hitting the few primary highlights along the PCH on the way down (or going north if you are able to reverse your itinerary as suggested by others, i.e. fly into LA or Burbank, then make your way up to SF). On the two end-nodes, I would favor spending the few days in SF versus LA depending on what interests you and your travelmate.

Also agree with one of the posts above, even if you are a Niners fan, going to a game at Levi's stadium is a half-day or more that you could be seeing/doing something that is potentially once in a lifetime (never know when you'll get back there) on an admittedly tight schedule so why waste it at a football game. If it's possible, go watch them when they come play a team local to you/at a stadium near you instead.

 

[RUDOC6]

While in SF strongly recommend going to Tartine (try to go off hours to avoid a long line) and Delfina (make reservations a few weeks out). You won't be disappointed!

 

[BigRnj]

In late June I just did an 8 day San Diego - Yosemite - San Francisco trip with my wife and 3 sons in their 20's. The driving was not bad. I have been to all 3 before so we zeroed in on the highlights. San Diego gaslight district, Petco Park, Cabrillo National Monument, Maritime Museum, USS Midway, ... Yosemite Vernal Mist Trail, Nevada Falls, Upper Yosemite Falls, Nelder Grove Sequoias (Mariposa Grove is closed till 2017), swimming in the Merced at Swinging Bridge... San Francisco (including a drive through Napa Valley, a stop at the Russian River Brewery in Santa Rosa, and Sausalito), the Presidio, Battery Spencer, fishermans's Wharf, ferry around Alcatraz, Lombard Street, AT&T Park, and a tour of Levi's Field ( Niners).

 

[Knightmoves]

In late June I just did an 8 day San Diego - Yosemite - San Francisco trip with my wife and 3 sons in their 20's. The driving was not bad. I have been to all 3 before so we zeroed in on the highlights. San Diego gaslight district, Petco Park, Cabrillo National Monument, Maritime Museum, USS Midway, ... Yosemite Vernal Mist Trail, Nevada Falls, Upper Yosemite Falls, Nelder Grove Sequoias (Mariposa Grove is closed till 2017), swimming in the Merced at Swinging Bridge... San Francisco (including a drive through Napa Valley, a stop at the Russian River Brewery in Santa Rosa, and Sausalito), the Presidio, Battery Spencer, fishermans's Wharf, ferry around Alcatraz, Lombard Street, AT&T Park, and a tour of Levi's Field ( Niners).

That's an amazingly productive itinerary for 8 days. Can you estimate the total number of hours you were in the car during the 8 days ?

 

[BigRnj]

That's an amazingly productive itinerary for 8 days. Can you estimate the total number of hours you were in the car during the 8 days ?

The only long stretch was SD to Yosemite with a stop in LA for coffee and Fresno for lunch and gas. That was a 10 hour stretch, but he ride through the Central Valley was a cool part of the trip. Yosemite to Napa/ Santa Rosa was another 3-4 hours (est). And of course there were the small day drives (Mariposa to Nelder Grove for example) so there was an hour or two in the each day otherwise.

 

[RUBOB72]

Respectfully to all who claim doing this itinerary in 7-8 days is doable are not being totally honest with the OP... If you expect to do the bike across the Golden Gate Bridge...Alcatraz Island...a Napa / Sonoma winery tour and a 49 er's game ...this in itself would take 2 -3 days... the fact is you want to see the city and it is a beautiful one...to your advantage the city of San Francisco has a great transit system and it is easy to navigate all the districts...the drive out of San Francisco down the coast PCH is spectacular but to reach Monterrey Bay / Carmel ( 17 mile Drive ) is a 2- 2 1/2 hr. drive and you will want to stop along the way for pictures etc. ....Big Sur and the Hearst Castle are still further at least several hours...so now you are approaching days 3-4...The only way to do it quicker is taking Interstate 5...it is a good 7 hour trip to L.A. by that alone...you are realistically looking at day 4-5....are you going to eat , sleep , relax?
L.A. is a big place and to see the sites is at least 2 days...a 3 hour minimum drive ( on the 5) to La Jolla and San Diego ...I wish you a great trip but as some others including myself have suggested try to add 2-3 days...If you are flying from another part of the country...Did you calculate this travel time...We have traveled to California many times over 45 years and have learned to concentrate on a specific area in order to enjoy a beautiful state...Good luck on the trip.

 

[76Scarlet]

If you drive up PCH then I would check out San Luis Obispo. A nice little town to walk around with good restaurants and Spanish style architecture of its historic buildings. Google it to get more info.

 

[RUinPAC10land]

If you have children, make sure you check out Legoland in Carlsbad. It's a little cheaper than Disneyland. You can stay at the Legoland hotel and there's even a little cute outlet nearby although it's not as nice as Woodbury Commons. Come to think of it, don't do any shopping in LA. The sales taxes are high.