West Coast tips

[jpgreagsby]

Thanks everyone. Kids will be 12 and 16 so hopefully it will be a mix of parks and touring

[400ixl]

North to south may well work then, equally SoCal would as well, so plenty of choice for you.

How do they like scenery as Yosemite and PCH are really this on steroids.

Another option is to include Las Vegas and do Death Valley and the Grand Canyon.

[jdouds]

Hi California is fantastic and so much to do. As an example you could start in San Fran and with the kids , Alcatraz, cycle over bridge to sausilito and the Disney museum. After this drive to yosemite for 2/3 nights some great walks, as an example up vernal water falls, also you can float along the river on rafts. Then we would suggest drive to Monterey ,aquarium fantastic and a must for most is go out whale watching , fantastic. From Monterey then down the coast to perhaps Santa Barbara , you could spend a couple of days doing this part of the trip. This would then leave you 4 days for your Disney fix which is plenty of time as the parks are much smaller than orlando . This is just a brief idea of things to do and of course there is so much more in each location .

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by jdouds

Hi California is fantastic and so much to do. As an example you could start in San Fran and with the kids , Alcatraz, cycle over bridge to sausilito and the Disney museum. After this drive to yosemite for 2/3 nights some great walks, as an example up vernal water falls, also you can float along the river on rafts. Then we would suggest drive to Monterey ,aquarium fantastic and a must for most is go out whale watching , fantastic. From Monterey then down the coast to perhaps Santa Barbara , you could spend a couple of days doing this part of the trip. This would then leave you 4 days for your Disney fix which is plenty of time as the parks are much smaller than orlando . This is just a brief idea of things to do and of course there is so much more in each location .

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.. Aah!, but you missed out the surprise 'Jewel in the Crown'... San Diego.

As you said, there is so much to do and so many awesome options on the West Coast. That is why we are going back next year.. and not even venturing south of San Luis Obispo.

[jdouds]

Cornish yes San Diego is great but for a first trip wouldn't do it . The zoo and the coast around la Jolla is fantastic. For first timers I think the likes of yosemite etc are just to good to miss. But whatever anybody decides to do it will be awesome . We ventured a bit further last time and did yellowstone and Lake Tahoe and again just something we could not recommend enough.

[Colusox]

I would do San Diego if you have the chance, like others have said there is so much to see and do. I've just spent 6 days in San Diego, and it is one of the nicest citys I have ever visited.

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by Colusox

I would do San Diego if you have the chance, like others have said there is so much to see and do. I've just spent 6 days in San Diego, and it is one of the nicest citys I have ever visited.

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Likewise. I like living where I do (Falmouth), because I do not like crowds or cities. The biggest place that I have lived in 59 years was Detmold (40,000).

Despite this, I absolutely loved San Diego and in addition found it full of great things to do. I have never been to a ‘proper’ city anywhere near as nice.. even Boston.

[jpgreagsby]

So do you think we would be able to make use of the Go San Diego card? It looks really good value but not sur if we would have time to use it all

[cornishfrogboy]

The gosandiego card comes in different lengths of use for days... I.e 3.4,5 days.
We were there with a Gosandiego5 and certainly got great value as can be seen on my trip report.
Harbour trips N and South, Midway, All the Balboa Park stuff, Scripps, Legoland, off the top of my head. We would have visited most of those in any case.

Only you can work out what you intend seeing.

[berneslai]

Go San Diego card is useful - I’ve just used a 3-day card - but compare against the actual price you would pay (online rates, Groupon etc) vs the walk-up price they actually compare against. You’ll find your decision is touch and go. They also (naughtily) list some attractions of having a cost when they are actually free to enter.