Itinerary help!
 

Hi,

I’m planning my first road trip with the kids (who will be 10 and 7).

I’m planning on flying to San Fran, then drive coastal route with a couple of stops (to be decided upon) to LA. We want to do Disney, universal and Hollywood, then to San Diego and finally to Las Vegas. I was planning on flying home from there.

But we want to try to fit in Yosemite. Any tips on when to fit that in please? Was thinking maybe after Vegas and then fly home from somewhere else, but I can’t work out if that’s the best place to put it!

We can do up to 3 weeks and will be summer holiday time.

Thank you.

Looking at Google Maps for your planned itinerary, you would be best returning to San Francisco from Yosemite (see map below) which would turn it into a “circular” tour.



Google Maps suggests around 490 miles/8 hours for Vegas to Yosemite, then 190 miles/4 hours Yosemite to SFO.

As an alternative, if you search for flights from Las Vegas to Fresno (about 95 miles from Yosemite) although there are no direct flights, you can get one stop flights via LA, SAN Diego etc for around £100pp, which may be preferable to an 8 hour plus drive.

Another option (albeit longer drive) would be direct flight from Vegas to Oakland (the east side of San Francisco) with a 177 mile/3h45m drive. We flew this route in 2017 with Southwest Airlines, which took around 90 minutes and cost us approx £70 each including two checked bags.

With regard to visiting Universal, Hollywood and Disney, most posts on the subject recommend splitting your stay due to the extreme traffic congestion around LA - can take 2 hours+ to get from one Universal/Hollywood to Disney.

Would suggest staying around Burbank, then drive over to Anaheim for Disney, which then puts you within a couple of hours of San Diego.

San Fran to Yosemite and then on to Monterey and the PCH is the most time efficient route.

Trying to cram that in with 3 more major places is too much in 3 weeks IMO.

You won't get enough time to see anywhere properly really.

Hi disagree with 400ixl, with three weeks you have a good amount of time. As tony mac suggests a circular route is good. We did a similar route 2 years ago.
Flew to LA cheaper flight?
1 n Santa Barbara
3 n Monterey
4 n San Fran
3 n yosemite
4 n vegas
2 n Palm Springs
So with another 4 night you can fit in Disney , we also did 2 x 4 n stops which could be 3. With your younger kids I would suggest a 1 night stop between vegas and yosemite,we did this on 1 day , 6.5 hours. Hope this gives you some ideas and a base for your trip.
Sorry forgot when are you planning this for.

Thank you. That’s all really helpful. Just need the dollar rate to improve!

Less is more imo

We go yearly for 3 weeks and never do more than 3 places . Specially with kids ( I’ve taken kids similar ages to yours and taking a baby next week )

If you try to cram in too much you spend a lot of time in the car and not much seeing places .

We are visiting those places for 3 weeks at the end of May (still haven't booked half of our hotels as plans fell through, eek). There's just the 2 of us though. Can't wait ! :)

You could easily adjust our itinerary by 2 or 3 days to fit in Disney. The dollar rate has made finances a bit tight so fingers crossed ;)

4 nights San Francisco (Alcatraz, Dylans tour, GG Bridge, Disney Museum)
3 nights Mariposa (visiting Yosemite)
3 nights Monterey (Whale watching, 17 mile drive, Aquarium etc)
1 night Pismo Beach (enjoy coastal route, Malibu, Santa Monica etc)
1 night Burbank (Warner Studio Tour)
1 night Long Beach (staying on Queen Mary)
5 nights San Diego (Zoo, Balboa Park, Trolley Tour, Coronado Beach)
3 nights Las Vegas (Mob Museum, Beatles Show, visit Hotels)

The itinerary I’m toying with for our Easter trip (15 nights is),
3 nights San Fran
2 nights Monterey & Carmel & Big Sur
1 night Yosemite (guided bus tour to maximise time there)
Long drive to Vegas via Death Valley
6 nights Vegas, Mandalay Bay (incl heli GC trip)
3 nights Disney/Anaheim (not fussed about LA)
Fly drive and most hotels booked but are cancellable to allow tweeking.
Booked to fly into San Fran and out of LA

You will need to be up very very early to get from Monterey to Yosemite in time to spend any time on the guided bus. Like 3-4am to get to the valley floor in time to find parking. Its a 4 hour drive to Yosemite from Monterey and you want to be parked up by 9am ideally.

Following that with a 10-12 day to Vegas would be a lot to cover.

Hi you would be better taking a couple of days of vegas and do yosemite properly and then drive to vegas.