Honestly, don’t recommend this plan. It’s a long drive with a kid and there’s not much for kids, unless you think she’d like Hearst Castle. The drive is romantic/scenic but places to stop are few and far between.

I really like the Monterey Aquarium and grew up going there, but unless you guys are aquarium super fans, I wouldn’t go that far out of my way to go. It is a really cool place but around that age my kids lasted about an hour before they wanted to leave. It was a very expensive hour.

Anonymous wrote:Carmel, Big Sur, Hearst Castle, and Santa Barbara are on the way. Santa Barbara has a nice zoo.

SB also has the moxi children’s museum and a natural history museum

San Luis Obispo is a good stopping point. In addition to Hearst Castle, my kids love the tide pools at Montana de Oro state park, the drive in movie theater in SLO, and the "architecture graveyard" on the Cal Poly campus
https://whimsysoul.com/exactly-how-to-find-the-cal-poly-architecture-graveyard-a-playground-of-design-in-slo/#:~:text=What%20Is%20The%20Cal%20Poly,design%20through%20an%20annual%20competition.

Anonymous wrote:Santa Cruz for mexican food....hard to go wrong, but like taqueria vallarta best.

No way. Morenos 4 life.

Anonymous wrote:Hope she’s good in the car for that 5 1/2 hour drive…why not Aquarium of the Pacific, Carrillo or Scripps? Those are excellent options and so much closer
Hate hassle of toting luggage all over with flying in/out different airports, too vagabond-y for my taste.

It’s 5.5 hours spaced out over 2-3 days depending how OP breaks it up. Can your 7 year old really not hand 2-3 hours driving? That doesn’t seem unreasonable to me.

Hearst Castle, Solvang, Santa Barbara, Channel Islands national park, etc.

Hope she’s good in the car for that 5 1/2 hour drive…why not Aquarium of the Pacific, Carrillo or Scripps? Those are excellent options and so much closer
Hate hassle of toting luggage all over with flying in/out different airports, too vagabond-y for my taste.

Drive up the coast and check out state parks, Nature, hiking

^Mission location

red wood forrest its on my bucket list

Santa Cruz for mexican food....hard to go wrong, but like taqueria vallarta best.

Mt Hermon ropes course in the redwoods in Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz boardwalk, Natural Bridges beach and tide pools in Santa Cruz.

For the Bay Area if you fly out of San Jose, you could go to the Tech Museum. If you fly out of SFO , you could stay at a hotel near the airport and Caltrain into SF. Exploratorium, Pier39, Golden Gate Bridge.

If you fly out or into Oakland , there is the Oakland zoo.

Are you planning to break the drive from LA to Monterey into several days? What airport near Monterey will you fly out of?

I wouldn’t spend too long in Monterey/Carmel, there’s not much to do for a 7 yr old in my opinion. You could go spend a day or two in San Francisco, see the redwoods, etc..

Carmel, Big Sur, Hearst Castle, and Santa Barbara are on the way. Santa Barbara has a nice zoo.

Looking into taking our 7 year old to Disneyland and driving up to Monterey for the aquarium. We’d fly into one area and out the other. Where do you suggest visiting in between these two places? We probably have 7-10 days total and would be looking in April so not swimming weather.