Epic California vacation: Where should we stop?
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Anonymous
They are #26 by poverty rate: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_poverty_rate They are #5 in homelessness, if you include DC....which is way ahead of California: https://usafacts.org/articles/which-states-have-the-highest-and-lowest-rates-of-homelessness/ |
Anonymous
This X1000. The lines to get in, parking and chance the gates will close because there are too many visitors can be a problem. The park is amazing! |
Anonymous
I suppose if you love staying around crowds and overpriced lodging, this is the best option. We were there for three days, and chose to drive in each day from our private three bedroom house Airbnb in Mariposa. Sure, they drive was long, but we just got up early and did it and beat the long lines. |
Anonymous
| San Diego doesn't have a national park. Other than the quick visit to Cabrillo. There's really not much there |
Anonymous
Visit Point Loma, La Jolla, Torrey Pines State Natural Preserve. |
Anonymous
I'm from there . I don't see any reason to spend any time in San Diego. |
Anonymous
| Do you have kids and if so how old are they? |
Anonymous
| Five weeks is a very long time in Cali. You have plenty of time to see all. Do not skip LA, Yosemite or Mendocino. |
Anonymous
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I'm from CA and live in Santa Cruz -- I love Southern CA and would absolutely not skip LA. Especially with teenagers, it's just kind of fun to see all the pop culture stuff.
Heading north, Santa Barbara is a beautiful town -- would teenagers like it? I dunno... Hearst Castle is very very cool, worth the trip. They have elephant seals nearby, as well, if you've never seen them. We have them up here too, at Ano Nuevo State Beach, about 30 mins north of SC (the drive between SC and SF is really beautiful). San Francisco is great and like others have said, leave LITERALLY NOTHING in your rental car. John Muir for the redwoods just north of the Golden Gate Bridge. Up here in SC, pending time of year, my local beach is called the Shark Park because of the juvenile great whites that congregate just offshore in the summer. We have the Beach Boardwalk (as seen in The Lost Boys), a decent food scene on the west side, and lot of nice beaches. Surf lessons! Sea otters! Whale-watching. Beach concerts in Capitola on Wednesdays, in SC at the Harbor on Thursdays. Sometimes 80s bands play at the Boardwalk on weekend evenings. If your kids are into/open to live music, you might want to check what's playing at the Hollywood Bowl (LA), Frost Amphitheater (Stanford), the Greek Theatre (Cal Berkeley), Golden Gate Park (SF) -- epic places to see a show and they all have some pretty great acts coming through, depending on your taste. |
Anonymous
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We did two weeks and did the following:
sf including Alcatraz, Chinatown, bicycling around Golden Gate Park, science museum Yosemite Santa Barbara including biking along the beach and boat trip to Channel Islands national park with kayaking. I would have added the missio with more time Disneyland With more time, I would have added: Redwoods Monterrey Getty museum Santa Monica pier I wouldn’t dip down to San Diego unless you have a kid obsessed with the zoo. Disneyland really is fun especially if you can time it for after west coast kids start school. And it’s a nice finish to a vacation that is heavy on national parks and history. Think about getting the NPS passport book if you’ll be doing a bunch of parks, and also consider the junior ranger badge program if you have younger kids. |
Anonymous
| Add Santa Barbara and Tahoe. |
Anonymous
We are 30 minutes north of Santa Cruz. I’ll add that the ropes course at Mt Hermon, the mystery spot and the tide pools at Natural bridges were our go to activities with teens. I haven’t been to Big Basin since the fires but that was great too. |
Anonymous
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Santa Cruz PP -- I have never been to the Mystery Spot! It's like I'm masquerading as a local.
Forgot about the ropes course -- good call -- I agree on that. https://mounthermonadventures.com/ |
Anonymous
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LA Native now elsewhere. Have young kids, tweens. They love LA. They’ve been all over the state..a lot.
Don’t skip it. LA is for the young. The energy, the sunshine…nothing like it. |
Anonymous
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We lived in San Jose for a few years and always preferred Big Basin (near Santa Cruz) to Muir Woods. A fire went through the park a few years ago, and during our visit last summer it was interesting to see the big trees partially charred yet growing and thriving. Plus the park currently limits visitors (you have to get a parking pass online) which means it's not crowded at all. So peaceful. (Muir can get madness especially on weekends.)
The drive from SF down to Big Sur is indeed incredible. Though check ahead because sometimes the road is messed up. Hearst Castle was fun to visit. Monterey and Carmel is lovely to visit too. You can also drive around Pebble Beach and gawk at the mega houses. We took my parents to lunch at the restaurant on the golf course which my dad loved since he enjoys watching golf. If you do Muir Woods, continue driving to the coast to Stinson Beach. It's a unique drive (cliffs, views, etc) and the beach was chilly but nice. There's been a couple of restaurants/food trucks down there when we went. Sausalito is a cute town to visit just on the other side of the Golden Gate. Half Moon Bay is yet another cute town south of SF. There used to be this amazing sandwich shop there. We would pick up sandwiches then drive to the beach to eat them. (Just looked: San Benito House, still there!) I know this is mostly Northern CA and like a brain dump, I was just thinking of the things I remember doing and wouldn't mind doing again. Have fun! P.S. Last summer we also did Alcatraz, which I'd never done, with our preteen son. We all enjoyed it so much! And the bay was crystal clear that day and warm which was unusual. |