Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for all the replies. The main reason for no interest in SF is not media-related; we just went to one of my favorite cities for 4 days and the kids were not huge fans of city touring. I’ve been to SF before and really liked it but I love just about any city. We think the kids want more of a big awe nature/windswept coastline kind of week. The idea of flying into Eugene isn’t something I had considered. Maybe we go in one city and out of SF/SJ.

Thank you all!

OK, now I'm curious what city this was you went to. If you are this close to SF, you should at least spend a day or two in the city if they've never been. Despite what you hear, San Francisco is still one of the great American cities.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d do Muir Woods, the aquarium in Monterey, and Carmel-By-the Sea. You only need 1/2 day in Monterey. Santana Row in San Jose is great.

Sorry, have to comment on this one- calling out Santana Row is so funny to me, it's like someone who has never been to the DC before and listing out Annapolis, the national Mall, Shenandoah NP, and then finishing by saying "Tysons Corner is great also". It's an upscale shopping mall.

Well since OP specifically asked about San Jose and someone earlier (maybe you) referred to San Jose like this “a hot asphalt nothingness of parking lots and office buildings” I thought it was helpful to point that Santana Row was nice. I’m not referring to the mall near that FYI.
OP the Hotel Valencia in Santana Row is great and teens definitely enjoy the vibe of Santana Row.

Just go to Palo Alto for nice strolling around shops/restaurants. Plenty of hotels there, nice spot to stay for a last night, within 25 minutes of either SFO or SJC to leave in the morning.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d do Muir Woods, the aquarium in Monterey, and Carmel-By-the Sea. You only need 1/2 day in Monterey. Santana Row in San Jose is great.

Sorry, have to comment on this one- calling out Santana Row is so funny to me, it's like someone who has never been to the DC before and listing out Annapolis, the national Mall, Shenandoah NP, and then finishing by saying "Tysons Corner is great also". It's an upscale shopping mall.

Well since OP specifically asked about San Jose and someone earlier (maybe you) referred to San Jose like this “a hot asphalt nothingness of parking lots and office buildings” I thought it was helpful to point that Santana Row was nice. I’m not referring to the mall near that FYI.
OP the Hotel Valencia in Santana Row is great and teens definitely enjoy the vibe of Santana Row.

Anonymous wrote:The aquarium in Monterey is amazing, but very crowded and pretty expensive. I think it was almost $250 for our family of four. Not an obscene amount, but coupled with the crowds, made it not a great experience. There are Whale watching trips out of Monterey, which are fun. Big Sur is amazing too. You can see a lot from your car, but I recommend doing some short hikes. Inland from Monterey is Pinnacles NP, which is supposed to be great. We haven’t been yet, but it’s on our list. We have family in Monterey and go out there often.

It sounds like you have no interest in SF, but if you kids haven’t been, you have to at least check out Golden Gate Bridge. There are multiple parks on both sides of the bridge. Our favorite is on the NW side of the bridge from the Battery, which has great bridge and city views. Also, we love SF. It’s a fantastic city, whose demise has been extremely exaggerated by the media. It’s a big city, so you do have to play it smart, but it’s not the wasteland that’s often reported.

We did Pinnacles last summer and it's really amazing! We saw 8 condors flying around. I was hoping to see one, but to see that many was just incredible. Absolutely made the trip worth it. There's nothing fancy about Pinnacles and there's not much to do besides hike. The Talus caves were amazingly cool to hike through, especially since we were there when it was pushing 100! We had to stay at a motel in King City (but CalFire was staying there, too; they were all so sweet with my son and let him check out some of the equipment and gave him a bunch of CalFire stickers) which was anything but the luxury experience. but, CalFire and a pool, so we made do.

Our trip was SF-Pinnacles-Monterey-SF. We stopped at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park just outside of Santa Cruz on the drive back from Monterey. Worked well with our schedule and scratched the "I need to see redwoods" itch.

Anonymous wrote:Since national parks may be a mess, consider the state parks. If you’re up for being really far from SF, Jedidiah Smith park is on my list.

Medford airport would be even closer than Eugene.

I think redwoods is co-managed by the state so it may be less impacted? Agreed with PP on the Oregon coast having a lot to offer. Crater lake is beautiful but may be a bit far away from anything else. The main road at crater lake wasn’t plowed when we visited in early July, so I gather it is a lot more enjoyable to visit in the late summer.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thank you for all the replies. The main reason for no interest in SF is not media-related; we just went to one of my favorite cities for 4 days and the kids were not huge fans of city touring. I’ve been to SF before and really liked it but I love just about any city. We think the kids want more of a big awe nature/windswept coastline kind of week. The idea of flying into Eugene isn’t something I had considered. Maybe we go in one city and out of SF/SJ.

Thank you all!

You could get this without venturing into California. Oregon coast is as dramatic. Consider Crater Lake too. You could fly to Portland or Medford also. As you know, SFO is south of the city. Seems a very long way to go unless you have things to see down there. I don’t think it’s worth going that far just for the Monterey aquarium, and I like the aquarium!

Anonymous wrote:I’d do Muir Woods, the aquarium in Monterey, and Carmel-By-the Sea. You only need 1/2 day in Monterey. Santana Row in San Jose is great.

Sorry, have to comment on this one- calling out Santana Row is so funny to me, it's like someone who has never been to the DC before and listing out Annapolis, the national Mall, Shenandoah NP, and then finishing by saying "Tysons Corner is great also". It's an upscale shopping mall.

OP here. Thank you for all the replies. The main reason for no interest in SF is not media-related; we just went to one of my favorite cities for 4 days and the kids were not huge fans of city touring. I’ve been to SF before and really liked it but I love just about any city. We think the kids want more of a big awe nature/windswept coastline kind of week. The idea of flying into Eugene isn’t something I had considered. Maybe we go in one city and out of SF/SJ.

Thank you all!

I like San Francisco but if you are trying to do a budget trip, and you want to go so far north, I would consider recasting this as an Oregon trip. The Oregon coast is beautiful. You could also check out the Ashland Shakespeare Festival if you are there in summer.

Do not underestimate driving times along the coast. The coastal routes require high concentration from the driver. It’s slow. We sat in traffic and had to stop for roadwork multiple times.

The aquarium in Monterey is amazing, but very crowded and pretty expensive. I think it was almost $250 for our family of four. Not an obscene amount, but coupled with the crowds, made it not a great experience. There are Whale watching trips out of Monterey, which are fun. Big Sur is amazing too. You can see a lot from your car, but I recommend doing some short hikes. Inland from Monterey is Pinnacles NP, which is supposed to be great. We haven’t been yet, but it’s on our list. We have family in Monterey and go out there often.

It sounds like you have no interest in SF, but if you kids haven’t been, you have to at least check out Golden Gate Bridge. There are multiple parks on both sides of the bridge. Our favorite is on the NW side of the bridge from the Battery, which has great bridge and city views. Also, we love SF. It’s a fantastic city, whose demise has been extremely exaggerated by the media. It’s a big city, so you do have to play it smart, but it’s not the wasteland that’s often reported.

I’d do Muir Woods, the aquarium in Monterey, and Carmel-By-the Sea. You only need 1/2 day in Monterey. Santana Row in San Jose is great.

I went to the redwood National Forest and state parks in the very northern end of California last summer driving from Portland down the Oregon coast. It’s about the same distance as from San Francisco and was a wonderful trip.

There are many coastal state parks along the way, some with sea lion viewing.

Because we came from the north we didn’t go any farther south, but the town of Eureka just south of the parks looks lovely with lots of Victorian architecture.

Since national parks may be a mess, consider the state parks. If you’re up for being really far from SF, Jedidiah Smith park is on my list.

Medford airport would be even closer than Eugene.

We have spent a lot of time in Northern California visiting family. San Francisco is great for teens (don't call it "SanFran"). I would go to the Japanese garden/teahouse, which my kids enjoy, and the California Academy museum (right nearby). Possibly the deYoung too if you like art.

I would go to Muir Woods, which is not far north of San Francisco and has wonderful redwoods.

San Jose has a technology museum my kids liked, but is otherwise is, as far as I have been able to tell, a hot asphalt nothingness of parking lots and office buildings.

Monterey has a great aquarium and a lot of tourist-trap restaurants and gift shops. The scenery along the coast is beautiful. My tolerance for Monterey is pretty low overall because of the crowds and cheezy vibe.

Are you planning to fly into SFO? That's a long drive north. Have you considered coming from Eugene instead? Coastal driving is scenic but slow and car-sick inducing if your kids have a tendency toward that. I have spent time in some of the towns north of SF. They tend to be expensive and windswept. Not much for teens.

Looking for some recommendations for a modest budget trip to Northern CA. Primary goal is to visit a redwood forest. No real interest in visiting SanFran but given that we’ll probably fly in/out of the Bay Area, I think we need to allow for one long driving day on either side of the Redwood National Park visit. Any suggestions for a driving route or a place to stay near the park?

Assuming the National park is a 4-day chunk, where should we spend the other 3 days? Monterey? San Jose?

Traveling with 2 younger teens.

Thank you!