Anonymous
01/20/2026 19:02
Subject: California Road trip
Another no on the campervan.
We love campervanning and in CA road-tripping we rent convertibles.
We love campervanning and in CA road-tripping we rent convertibles.
Anonymous
01/20/2026 18:54
Subject: California Road trip
Anonymous wrote:I would think again about the camper van. It’s gojng to slow you down so much and will be a pain parking and going up mountains. With the price of renting I can’t imagine you’ll save much over hotels and you’ll be more more limited in where you can stay, losing out on convenience factor. California gas is really expensive too. I say this as someone who spent my childhood vacationing in a 20 foot Coleman trailer.
OP back. Thanks for all the great suggestions. I’m excited!
As for the Campervan, I’m not set on it but my kids seem to think it would be part of the adventure. I’m considering one that is a Sprinter (or similar in size to one) so that you can park them in a regular parking spot. We are very comfortable driving this vehicle and it’s maybe $700-800 more than a car rental. It’s also why we’d do a combination and some hotels too (cause it’s pretty small).
Anonymous
01/20/2026 16:11
Subject: Re:California Road trip
Anonymous wrote:I would start with Tahoe but fly into Sacramento or Reno. Stay in Incline Village, go to Sand Harbor. Drive to Yosemite. Stay in the lodge or Ahwanee. Drive to Santa Cruz, stay there. Drive to Big Sur for the day. Fly out of San Jose. SW has flights out of SJ and Sacremento to BWI.
Interesting, I didn't know they added nonstops on these routes, we had family in the Bay Area and Southwest only flew nonstop BWI-OAK for a long time.
Unfortunately I checked and looks like yes they do fly nonstop between BWI and SJC, SFO and Sacramento, but it's one flight a day, and the return flight to BWI from all 3 is a red eye leaving at 10 PM arriving at BWI around 6 AM.
United really has a strangehold now on the market from the Bay Area to DC, with only those Southwest flights and a daily DCA-SFO Alaska flight.
Anonymous
01/20/2026 15:53
Subject: California Road trip
I agree that campervan is not going to save you a lot of money of money.
Agree, Avenue of the giants is pretty cool, about 4.5 hours. If you can catch a low tide (at least -1 ft) at Salt Point State Park, the tidepooling there is awesome. Fort Bragg is a neat town, but glass beach is not what it used to be. If you are going early enough in October & weather cooperates, you could spend a night at the Hirz mountain look out at mt shasta (tough to get a reservation).
But all that is North of the bay and not in the same direction as your stated interests. Tahoe, Yosemite and Big Sur can fit in 3 days, but it will be busy. Definitely don’t miss Yosemite
Agree, Avenue of the giants is pretty cool, about 4.5 hours. If you can catch a low tide (at least -1 ft) at Salt Point State Park, the tidepooling there is awesome. Fort Bragg is a neat town, but glass beach is not what it used to be. If you are going early enough in October & weather cooperates, you could spend a night at the Hirz mountain look out at mt shasta (tough to get a reservation).
But all that is North of the bay and not in the same direction as your stated interests. Tahoe, Yosemite and Big Sur can fit in 3 days, but it will be busy. Definitely don’t miss Yosemite
Anonymous
01/20/2026 15:44
Subject: California Road trip
I would think again about the camper van. It’s gojng to slow you down so much and will be a pain parking and going up mountains. With the price of renting I can’t imagine you’ll save much over hotels and you’ll be more more limited in where you can stay, losing out on convenience factor. California gas is really expensive too. I say this as someone who spent my childhood vacationing in a 20 foot Coleman trailer.
Anonymous
01/20/2026 15:40
Subject: California Road trip
We did pretty much exactly this with kids that age. Here’s our itinerary—
Fly into SF. Stayed in Union square.
Day 1, China town dim sum, walked around piers, Alcatraz
Day 2, science museum, took bus across town to Golden Gate Park, bike ride around park
Day 3, Embarcadero and drive to Yosemite, stayed at lodge in valley
Day 4, bike ride in valley, ranger programs, swim at pool
Day 4, hikes to waterfall, ranger programs
Day 5, drive to big trees, stayed at that lodge, di more hiking, and finished junior ranger badge
Day 6 drove to Santa Barbara stopped in a cute wine country town for lunch
Day 7 Channel Islands national park, kayaking, dinner in the old town area of Santa Barbara
Day 8 — bike ride on beach, drove to Anaheim
Day 9 — Disneyland
Day 10 — depart
This was a pretty good trip. I feel like we also could have done Monterrey aquarium etc but couldn’t do that plus both Yosemite and Santa Barbara. I also thought about the Guggenheim and Santa Monica but we opted for a disney day after all that history/culture/natural world stuff.
Fly into SF. Stayed in Union square.
Day 1, China town dim sum, walked around piers, Alcatraz
Day 2, science museum, took bus across town to Golden Gate Park, bike ride around park
Day 3, Embarcadero and drive to Yosemite, stayed at lodge in valley
Day 4, bike ride in valley, ranger programs, swim at pool
Day 4, hikes to waterfall, ranger programs
Day 5, drive to big trees, stayed at that lodge, di more hiking, and finished junior ranger badge
Day 6 drove to Santa Barbara stopped in a cute wine country town for lunch
Day 7 Channel Islands national park, kayaking, dinner in the old town area of Santa Barbara
Day 8 — bike ride on beach, drove to Anaheim
Day 9 — Disneyland
Day 10 — depart
This was a pretty good trip. I feel like we also could have done Monterrey aquarium etc but couldn’t do that plus both Yosemite and Santa Barbara. I also thought about the Guggenheim and Santa Monica but we opted for a disney day after all that history/culture/natural world stuff.
Anonymous
01/20/2026 15:33
Subject: Re:California Road trip
I would start with Tahoe but fly into Sacramento or Reno. Stay in Incline Village, go to Sand Harbor. Drive to Yosemite. Stay in the lodge or Ahwanee. Drive to Santa Cruz, stay there. Drive to Big Sur for the day. Fly out of San Jose. SW has flights out of SJ and Sacremento to BWI.
Anonymous
01/20/2026 15:18
Subject: California Road trip
Anonymous wrote:I live on the west coast now. The most special places to visit in California to me are: 1. Yosemite Valley (do not listen to people who say to stay outside the valley for less crowds. There’s crowds because it’s one of the most stunning places in the U.S. It won’t be too crowded to enjoy, especially in the fall. Stay anywhere- Curry Village cabin, etc, but stay in the valley. I like the Yosemite Valley Lodge). Valley altitude is low enough that snow is very very unlikely. Hike every day, rent bikes, try rock climbing with a guide. There’s sequoias there as well. 2. Lake Tahoe. But I don’t know about October; like another poster stated it could have snow. California has strict chain laws which are problematic with a rental car. 3. Pebble Beach/Big Sur are nice. Not a lot to do as others have noted.
For 9 days in Oct I’d do something like 1-2 days in San Fran if you want (I personally didn’t care for Muir Woods; it felt like nature for city people and you’re going to Yosemite so..), 2 days to hike the coast (point lobos, mcway falls- frequent road closures so check) and drive (17 mi drive) the Carmel area, then bliss out in Yosemite for the rest of the trip. Fly home from Fresno if prices are reasonable or back to sfo. Tahoe is one of my favorite places but I might skip in October and come back in August. Too much weather risk.
I’m excited for you OP! Hope your kids love seeing these beautiful places.
Great post, good advice, and yes Yosemite is a very special place. October should be a good time of year to be there. One note- I would go back to SFO to fly back instead of Fresno, it's an extra 1.5 hours drive yes, but then you have multiple non-stop flight options, versus having to do stop once is flying from Fresno, with pretty limited options depending on time of day, etc.
Anonymous
01/19/2026 20:29
Subject: California Road trip
I live on the west coast now. The most special places to visit in California to me are: 1. Yosemite Valley (do not listen to people who say to stay outside the valley for less crowds. There’s crowds because it’s one of the most stunning places in the U.S. It won’t be too crowded to enjoy, especially in the fall. Stay anywhere- Curry Village cabin, etc, but stay in the valley. I like the Yosemite Valley Lodge). Valley altitude is low enough that snow is very very unlikely. Hike every day, rent bikes, try rock climbing with a guide. There’s sequoias there as well. 2. Lake Tahoe. But I don’t know about October; like another poster stated it could have snow. California has strict chain laws which are problematic with a rental car. 3. Pebble Beach/Big Sur are nice. Not a lot to do as others have noted.
For 9 days in Oct I’d do something like 1-2 days in San Fran if you want (I personally didn’t care for Muir Woods; it felt like nature for city people and you’re going to Yosemite so..), 2 days to hike the coast (point lobos, mcway falls- frequent road closures so check) and drive (17 mi drive) the Carmel area, then bliss out in Yosemite for the rest of the trip. Fly home from Fresno if prices are reasonable or back to sfo. Tahoe is one of my favorite places but I might skip in October and come back in August. Too much weather risk.
I’m excited for you OP! Hope your kids love seeing these beautiful places.
For 9 days in Oct I’d do something like 1-2 days in San Fran if you want (I personally didn’t care for Muir Woods; it felt like nature for city people and you’re going to Yosemite so..), 2 days to hike the coast (point lobos, mcway falls- frequent road closures so check) and drive (17 mi drive) the Carmel area, then bliss out in Yosemite for the rest of the trip. Fly home from Fresno if prices are reasonable or back to sfo. Tahoe is one of my favorite places but I might skip in October and come back in August. Too much weather risk.
I’m excited for you OP! Hope your kids love seeing these beautiful places.
Anonymous
01/18/2026 15:29
Subject: California Road trip
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Skip Death Valley. It's too far out of the way of the other things you want to see/do.
Op here and seems like we will drop Death Valley and go in and out of SF. Going to rent a small campervan and do a combination of campervan and hotels (because it sounds fun but I think I will tire of it and want a real hot shower every couple of days).
Would love to hear how many days you would spend in Yosemite versus Tahoe versus Big Sur.
Big Sur is amazing, and one of my favorite places on earth.
That said, it isn't big, and you don't need much time there. It's basically beautiful cliff coastline.
Anonymous
01/18/2026 15:26
Subject: California Road trip
Anonymous wrote:Skip Death Valley. It's too far out of the way of the other things you want to see/do.
Op here and seems like we will drop Death Valley and go in and out of SF. Going to rent a small campervan and do a combination of campervan and hotels (because it sounds fun but I think I will tire of it and want a real hot shower every couple of days).
Would love to hear how many days you would spend in Yosemite versus Tahoe versus Big Sur.
Anonymous
01/18/2026 13:58
Subject: California Road trip
Skip Death Valley. It's too far out of the way of the other things you want to see/do.
Anonymous
01/18/2026 08:01
Subject: Re:California Road trip
Adding-
Avenue of the Giants
17-Mile Drive in Pebble Beach
Point Lobos State Natural Reserve
Pfeiffer
Grotto in Monterey
Do not miss Avenue of the Giants
Avenue of the Giants
17-Mile Drive in Pebble Beach
Point Lobos State Natural Reserve
Pfeiffer
Grotto in Monterey
Do not miss Avenue of the Giants
Anonymous
01/18/2026 07:31
Subject: California Road trip
We did the following one recent summer:
Fly into LA, one day at Disneyland, brief stop at coast, Seauoia/Kings Canyon, Yosemite, fly out of Fresno. It was a great one week trip. It was summertime— Sequoia is often snowed in at spring break time. We camped the whole time except first two nights in LA area.
Fly into LA, one day at Disneyland, brief stop at coast, Seauoia/Kings Canyon, Yosemite, fly out of Fresno. It was a great one week trip. It was summertime— Sequoia is often snowed in at spring break time. We camped the whole time except first two nights in LA area.
Anonymous
01/17/2026 21:26
Subject: California Road trip
Anonymous wrote:Schedule things so that you can stop to eat at Nepenthe in Big Sur.
Fantastic location and views. Overpriced food, which I guess is expected for the area.