Looking for advice - What should we do in CA?

[disny_luvr]

Hi!

My family is planning our first trip to CA for next summer. This is a graduation gift for our twin sons. This trip first started as a trip to see some new ballparks to us (Petco Park, Dodger Stadium, and Oracle Park) and to visit Disneyland. Since then it has blossomed into also visiting Yosemite, Sequoia, and King's Canyon. This is mainly because last summer we visited four national parks - Badlands, Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Rocky Mountain - and we got bit by the national park bug bad! We've also been to Acadia and Smoky Mountain national parks so we love national parks and hope to one day be able to visit them all. That said, I am feeling very overwhelmed in what we should actually do when we are in CA. I'm a teacher so I have my whole summer off, but my husband is only able to take 10 days off of work, so we are looking at a two week trip. I'm on several CA FB pages and the recommendations that I am receiving are awesome, but I am so overwhelmed. People keep on mentioning that we should travel along the coast and visit Big Sur and after looking at pictures, it sure is beautiful, but I just don't know if we can fit all this in in two weeks. We want to be able to enjoy the places we visit and not be rushing from one place to another. I need some help piecing together our two week trip.

Here is what I know we want to do:
Visit San Diego and Petco Park
Visit LA and Dodger Stadium
Go to Disneyland (we plan on three days in the parks and staying in Anaheim for four nights)

We would like to visit San Francisco and Oracle Park (this is probably the #1 baseball park my boys want to visit), but I'm really starting to think maybe we should not visit San Francisco and just focus our two weeks in the LA/SD/Anaheim areas. This would also mean no national parks and/or Big Sur. We just do not know what to do. The other factor is cost. We have been saving for awhile, so we have money to spend, but wow, some of the prices of hotels in CA (especially SF - and not to mention parking) are expensive! So this is a factor, too.

So for those of you that are CA pros, what are some of your thoughts and ideas? I'm looking for anything to help us make up our minds. Also, if you have places we should consider staying (that won't break the bank), please share that info, too. As far as LA and SD, we know we want to go there, but what should we do?

Any help is much appreciated! Thank you!

 

[LKing]

It is too much to do in two weeks. You could do OC/SD/LA, fly to SF, for a couple of days and then book your return flight out of SFO or OAK. You would miss out on the national parks.

Have you already been to Angel Stadium and Oakland Coliseum?

 

[disny_luvr]

It is too much to do in two weeks. You could do OC/SD/LA, fly to SF, for a couple of days and then book your return flight out of SFO or OAK. You would miss out on the national parks.

Have you already been to Angel Stadium and Oakland Coliseum?

The Angels are not at home when we’d be in Anaheim. I haven’t looked at Oakland’s schedule, but that’s a possibility.

 

[Nike4000]

In SoCal, with 17-year-old boys, I'd suggest the following (in addition to the ballparks):

• San Diego Zoo & San Diego Zoo Safari Park
• Knott's Berry Farm, including a meal at Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner
• Six Flags Magic Mountain
• A day trip to Catalina
• Malibu with a tour of Pepperdine, including stops at Malibu Country Mart, Point Dume, and/or Zuma Beach
• Venice Beach for amazing people watching
• Take Amtrack from San Diego to Los Angeles
• Experience Tijuana
• Peterson Automotive Museum in LA
• A tour of Hollywood, Beverly Hills (don't forget the map to the Star's homes), and Rodeo Drive - including taking Sunset all the way to the beach, stopping for a meal at Gladstones. My dad used to do this when we had guests from out of town & it was always a highlight.
• Day trip to Santa Barbara

I'm sure I'll think of more. Lots of fun things to keep you occupied in SoCal for 2 weeks.

In San Francisco, you've got Carmel, Monterey, and a whole ton of other fun things to see and do.

 

[disny_luvr]

In SoCal, with 17-year-old boys, I'd suggest the following (in addition to the ballparks):

• San Diego Zoo & San Diego Zoo Safari Park
• Knott's Berry Farm, including a meal at Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner
• Six Flags Magic Mountain
• A day trip to Catalina
• Malibu with a tour of Pepperdine, including stops at Malibu Country Mart, Point Dume, and/or Zuma Beach
• Venice Beach for amazing people watching
• Take Amtrack from San Diego to Los Angeles
• Experience Tijuana
• Peterson Automotive Museum in LA
• A tour of Hollywood, Beverly Hills (don't forget the map to the Star's homes), and Rodeo Drive - including taking Sunset all the way to the beach, stopping for a meal at Gladstones. My dad used to do this when we had guests from out of town & it was always a highlight.
• Day trip to Santa Barbara

I'm sure I'll think of more. Lots of fun things to keep you occupied in SoCal for 2 weeks.

In San Francisco, you've got Carmel, Monterey, and a whole ton of other fun things to see and do.

Wow! This is really great information, thank you!

 

[disny_luvr]

In SoCal, with 17-year-old boys, I'd suggest the following (in addition to the ballparks):

• San Diego Zoo & San Diego Zoo Safari Park
• Knott's Berry Farm, including a meal at Mrs. Knott's Chicken Dinner
• Six Flags Magic Mountain
• A day trip to Catalina
• Malibu with a tour of Pepperdine, including stops at Malibu Country Mart, Point Dume, and/or Zuma Beach
• Venice Beach for amazing people watching
• Take Amtrack from San Diego to Los Angeles
• Experience Tijuana
• Peterson Automotive Museum in LA
• A tour of Hollywood, Beverly Hills (don't forget the map to the Star's homes), and Rodeo Drive - including taking Sunset all the way to the beach, stopping for a meal at Gladstones. My dad used to do this when we had guests from out of town & it was always a highlight.
• Day trip to Santa Barbara

I'm sure I'll think of more. Lots of fun things to keep you occupied in SoCal for 2 weeks.

In San Francisco, you've got Carmel, Monterey, and a whole ton of other fun things to see and do.

The tour of Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and the stars’ homes, can we do that ourselves or actually with a tour company?

 

[sndral]

As a native & lifelong resident of California, specifically near the Bay Area, it always saddens me when people only visit SoCal, to me the north is so very different from the south.
Oracle park is awesome - stunning really, and looking out over the bay as you watch a Giants game is just beautiful, so I certainly understand why it’s your twin sons #1 pick. Since this is a trip to celebrate your sons’ graduation I’d start w/ their #1 pick. Be sure to pick seats w/ a ‘bay view’ .
Fly into SFO, spend 2 nights in the Bay Area & catch a baseball game, if you like you can try to catch a game at the Oakland coliseum too, but the coliseum is a pretty sad ballpark IMO - there’s a reason the A’s are moving to Las Vegas. Then head over to the coast spending a night in Santa Cruz or Monterey/Carmel, then drive down highway 1 which will take you through Big Sur (if Hwy 1 has re-opened - it’s currently still closed https://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/highway_conditions.html ) maybe overnighting in Pismo or Santa Barbara & then do your SoCal must dos (Petco park is a great ballpark IMO) & fly home from LAX or San Diego.
You’d still miss Yosemite, not to mention the redwoods of Northern CA, but CA is a big state & it’s impossible to do it all in 2 weeks.

 

[Nike4000]

The tour of Hollywood, Beverly Hills, and the stars’ homes, can we do that ourselves or actually with a tour company?

My dad would just bust out his handy old "Thomas Guide" map book and figure out a way to hit the major highlights. I'm sure you can do the same with Google maps.

• For Hollywood, look for something like Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and find nearby parking if you want to walk around. I've spent more time than I care to recall walking up and down Hollywood Blvd trying to find different celebrity's stars on the "Walk of Fame."
• Beverly Hills - I'd target the Beverly Hills Hotel and then explore the neighborhoods. I'm sure there are tour companies that will take you around the stars homes, but dad would always just pull over and find someone selling a map for $5. No clue if that's still a thing! Google Maps probably has a "Celebrity Home Tour" map already built out into the system these days!
• Rodeo Drive - easy enough
• Finally, just plug in Gladstone's Malibu and tell it to avoid highways. The drive through Brentwood is fantastic and then you get the curves coming down the hill to the coast. Amazing drive!

Most of dad's "tour" was just driving around until he found something interesting to point out. No real destination per se.

However, I'm sure you can book tours that'll hit the highlights.

I'd be remiss if I didn't encourage you to drive through an In-N-Out to get burgers and shakes at some point during your visit to SoCal. I don't care if you've had them before outside of Southern California, there is just something different about the taste & experience of a home-grown Double Double.

 

[LKing]

San Francisco also has the Walt Disney Family Museum.

https://www.waltdisney.org/

 

[Rex1993]

Lifelong Bay Area residents so know that bias going in. You should definitely try and do the Bay Area. A Giants game is a great time and you should not miss it! There’s so much just in SF it’s hard to narrow down but I’ll second the Disney Museum. We’re actually headed there tomorrow. It’s an amazing museum and really is a must see for Disney addicts. The nice thing is the location makes it perfect to see the Golden Gate Bridge and head over to Muir Woods for the redwoods. Don’t let the headlines discourage you from SF. Is it filled with homeless, drug use and garbage? Yes! It’s still a world class destination that is worth it despite the problems. Just don’t stay or even go to Union Square. With a LA/SF vacation I’d strongly recommend looking into IHG Ambassador membership.

As much as I absolutely love Yosemite, don’t do it. Summer is a mad house and while it’s still worth it, you should make those three CA parks a trip in itself. If you really want to hit the parks skip Yosemite and do Sequoia/Kings Canyon.

 

[bennifer]

Last year we had 17 days for CA. We did 2 days in SD, 2 days Anaheim, 1 day in LA, 4 days driving the coast, 1 day SF, 1 day driving to Yosemite and seeing the big trees. 2 days in Yosemite, 1 day driving back to LA, 1 day in US. The last 2 days were travel (from the east) days. The only thing I would do differently is the trip back to LA at the end. I would have spent more time at either Yosemite or go to Sequoia. Busy, yes. Worth it? 100x yes!

We were also bitten by the NP bug recently, so I completely understand! We loved Yosemite and were sad about missing the others, but my opinion for you is to shorten your DL by 1 day and drive up the coast. It's not a NP but there is nothing like it. and that way you can see all 3 of the ballparks!

 

[Rex1993]

You can drive up 101 but you can’t drive 1 between Cambria and Big Sur until they repair the highway and I don’t believe there is any realistic timeline for that. Driving from LA up 101 is awesome though. You can stop in Santa Barbara or Pismo/Avila Beach to split up the trip.

Monterey/Carmel is one of my favorite places on Earth and the Aquarium is absolutely world class. It’s a long drive up 101 from LA but totally doable in one day and puts you only two hours from SF.

For Yosemite, the difference between this year and last is that reservations are no longer required and it has made things absolutely insane.

 

[LKing]

You can drive up 101 but you can’t drive 1 between Cambria and Big Sur until they repair the highway and I don’t believe there is any realistic timeline for that.

I was going to say the same thing, and then I noticed that OP isn't taking her trip until next summer. Fingers crossed it will be fixed by then. Regardless, she should have a back up plan, in case it isn't.

 

[wabbott]

We've done many of the things in CA that you mentioned on your list, except visit the baseball stadiums, and will be back out there in September. Here are some of my thoughts.

Hollywood stars homes: A big letdown to us, as you really can't see anything from the street due to high fences, walls and hedges. We located the "Beverly Hillbillies Mansion" and drove by very slowly, but never caught even a glance of the house.

One thing we've done a couple of time is drive up to the Griffith Observatory at sunset and see the nighttime view looking over the LA Basin. Quite memorable.

Yosemite, Sequoia, Kings Canyon: If I had to pick only one, it would be Yosemite - waterfalls, canyon view. The trees are the main attraction at the other two parks. They are impressive.

Big Sur, Hwy 1: A must see for us, over and over. Allocate plenty of time to stop and look and take pics. I agree with the poster upthread about the Monterrey Bay Aquarium. You'll se how it's the setting for much of Finding Dory.

If you're a true Disney fanatic, and since you're on these boards you must be, the Walt Disney Museum is good. Lots of history about the early years of the company and his family. A half a day will be plenty. Since you're close to the Golden Gate Bridge, a walk over to Fort Point at the south end is worth it. Take family pics with the bridge prominent in the background. Some of the best shots I've ever made were there.

DLR/DCA: Three days should be enough to do everything, especially if you're a WDW expert and know how to plan your day. You'll find the parks much more compact than those at WDW.

Between LA and Anaheim, we always set aside time to drive around Palos Verdes. It takes more time than the freeways, but you get to see some of the beach towns (Redondo, Hermosa, Manhattan) along the way. It's no comparison to me, driving on the freeway vs a couple or 3 hours longer while looking out at at the Pacific Ocean and Santa Catalina. Quite a bit less stressful.

 

[disny_luvr]

As a native & lifelong resident of California, specifically near the Bay Area, it always saddens me when people only visit SoCal, to me the north is so very different from the south.
Oracle park is awesome - stunning really, and looking out over the bay as you watch a Giants game is just beautiful, so I certainly understand why it’s your twin sons #1 pick. Since this is a trip to celebrate your sons’ graduation I’d start w/ their #1 pick. Be sure to pick seats w/ a ‘bay view’ .
Fly into SFO, spend 2 nights in the Bay Area & catch a baseball game, if you like you can try to catch a game at the Oakland coliseum too, but the coliseum is a pretty sad ballpark IMO - there’s a reason the A’s are moving to Las Vegas. Then head over to the coast spending a night in Santa Cruz or Monterey/Carmel, then drive down highway 1 which will take you through Big Sur (if Hwy 1 has re-opened - it’s currently still closed https://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/highway_conditions.html ) maybe overnighting in Pismo or Santa Barbara & then do your SoCal must dos (Petco park is a great ballpark IMO) & fly home from LAX or San Diego.
You’d still miss Yosemite, not to mention the redwoods of Northern CA, but CA is a big state & it’s impossible to do it all in 2 weeks.

We were talking about our trip last night and both my boys said again how much they want to go to Oracle Park, so I am pretty sure we'll be heading to SF, and I'm fine with that! Good idea on picking seats with a bay view. I hadn't even thought about that, although I'm sure once it's time to buy our tickets, someone will say "hey, let's get seats that face the bay!"

 

[disny_luvr]

My dad would just bust out his handy old "Thomas Guide" map book and figure out a way to hit the major highlights. I'm sure you can do the same with Google maps.

• For Hollywood, look for something like Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and find nearby parking if you want to walk around. I've spent more time than I care to recall walking up and down Hollywood Blvd trying to find different celebrity's stars on the "Walk of Fame."
• Beverly Hills - I'd target the Beverly Hills Hotel and then explore the neighborhoods. I'm sure there are tour companies that will take you around the stars homes, but dad would always just pull over and find someone selling a map for $5. No clue if that's still a thing! Google Maps probably has a "Celebrity Home Tour" map already built out into the system these days!
• Rodeo Drive - easy enough
• Finally, just plug in Gladstone's Malibu and tell it to avoid highways. The drive through Brentwood is fantastic and then you get the curves coming down the hill to the coast. Amazing drive!

Most of dad's "tour" was just driving around until he found something interesting to point out. No real destination per se.

However, I'm sure you can book tours that'll hit the highlights.

I'd be remiss if I didn't encourage you to drive through an In-N-Out to get burgers and shakes at some point during your visit to SoCal. I don't care if you've had them before outside of Southern California, there is just something different about the taste & experience of a home-grown Double Double.

This is all great information. Thank you again!

 

[disny_luvr]

San Francisco also has the Walt Disney Family Museum.

https://www.waltdisney.org/

Yes! I hadn't even though about this! Thank you for the reminder!

 

[disny_luvr]

Lifelong Bay Area residents so know that bias going in. You should definitely try and do the Bay Area. A Giants game is a great time and you should not miss it! There’s so much just in SF it’s hard to narrow down but I’ll second the Disney Museum. We’re actually headed there tomorrow. It’s an amazing museum and really is a must see for Disney addicts. The nice thing is the location makes it perfect to see the Golden Gate Bridge and head over to Muir Woods for the redwoods. Don’t let the headlines discourage you from SF. Is it filled with homeless, drug use and garbage? Yes! It’s still a world class destination that is worth it despite the problems. Just don’t stay or even go to Union Square. With a LA/SF vacation I’d strongly recommend looking into IHG Ambassador membership.

As much as I absolutely love Yosemite, don’t do it. Summer is a mad house and while it’s still worth it, you should make those three CA parks a trip in itself. If you really want to hit the parks skip Yosemite and do Sequoia/Kings Canyon.

I have heard of Muir Woods but didn't think about visiting there, so I will look into it. Bonus that it is close to the Disney Museum.

I've read so much about all that you mentioned about SF, but I'm not discouraged. We live about 90 minutes from Philly and three hours from NYC and frequent both enough that we have seen some really strange things, but just like any big city, we'll just use our common sense. We were thinking of staying in the Fisherman's Wharf area. From what I've read, it seems like a pretty good area.

 

[disny_luvr]

Last year we had 17 days for CA. We did 2 days in SD, 2 days Anaheim, 1 day in LA, 4 days driving the coast, 1 day SF, 1 day driving to Yosemite and seeing the big trees. 2 days in Yosemite, 1 day driving back to LA, 1 day in US. The last 2 days were travel (from the east) days. The only thing I would do differently is the trip back to LA at the end. I would have spent more time at either Yosemite or go to Sequoia. Busy, yes. Worth it? 100x yes!

We were also bitten by the NP bug recently, so I completely understand! We loved Yosemite and were sad about missing the others, but my opinion for you is to shorten your DL by 1 day and drive up the coast. It's not a NP but there is nothing like it. and that way you can see all 3 of the ballparks!

Thanks fo much for sharing your itinerary with me! It kind of gives me an idea of how much time to spend in some of the areas. I'm going to have a really, really hard time convincing my family to not go to Yosemite while we are out there, but we'll see.

 

[disny_luvr]

We've done many of the things in CA that you mentioned on your list, except visit the baseball stadiums, and will be back out there in September. Here are some of my thoughts.

Hollywood stars homes: A big letdown to us, as you really can't see anything from the street due to high fences, walls and hedges. We located the "Beverly Hillbillies Mansion" and drove by very slowly, but never caught even a glance of the house.

One thing we've done a couple of time is drive up to the Griffith Observatory at sunset and see the nighttime view looking over the LA Basin. Quite memorable.

Yosemite, Sequoia, Kings Canyon: If I had to pick only one, it would be Yosemite - waterfalls, canyon view. The trees are the main attraction at the other two parks. They are impressive.

Big Sur, Hwy 1: A must see for us, over and over. Allocate plenty of time to stop and look and take pics. I agree with the poster upthread about the Monterrey Bay Aquarium. You'll se how it's the setting for much of Finding Dory.

If you're a true Disney fanatic, and since you're on these boards you must be, the Walt Disney Museum is good. Lots of history about the early years of the company and his family. A half a day will be plenty. Since you're close to the Golden Gate Bridge, a walk over to Fort Point at the south end is worth it. Take family pics with the bridge prominent in the background. Some of the best shots I've ever made were there.

DLR/DCA: Three days should be enough to do everything, especially if you're a WDW expert and know how to plan your day. You'll find the parks much more compact than those at WDW.

Between LA and Anaheim, we always set aside time to drive around Palos Verdes. It takes more time than the freeways, but you get to see some of the beach towns (Redondo, Hermosa, Manhattan) along the way. It's no comparison to me, driving on the freeway vs a couple or 3 hours longer while looking out at at the Pacific Ocean and Santa Catalina. Quite a bit less stressful.

Griffith Observatory is the one thing that I know we actually want to do, aside from the ballparks and Disneyland. I'm not even sure how my boys know about the Griffith Observatory, but they already mentioned they want to go there.

Good information on the stars' homes. Honestly, I think we would all be content with just driving around and seeing some of the touristy things like Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive, that kind of stuff.

If driving along the coast, should we plan on spending a night somewhere? I know it can take several hours to get from SF to LA, and I'm assuming that is without stopping. Can you recommend a good place to stop? Would Monterrey be a good stopping place? I will definitely look into the Monterrey Bay Aquarium.

I will also look into Palos Verdes. I have not heard of it before. Thank you!