Help! LA,mammoth,Yosemite,SF,LA trip plan

[Luke Jaywalker]

Hi all,

Below I have started to plan our itinerary ,Which I have began to call "The Loop" at the moment all I do is think ,dream,mull over,ruminate and worry about how to plan "The Loop" any advice would be greatly appreciated, Thanks.

If it wasn't for the Norwegians I wouldn't have even dreamt that we would be able to holiday in California for the first time next year.So the plan is this ,Arrive in LA on Sunday 10th August (we fly out of LA on the 24th) the flight lands at around 1700 but I guess after immigration and baggage it will be more like 1900 when we leave the airport.

I was then thinking that we should head straight out of LA and find a hotel 30 to 60 miles north so that we don't have to battle the Monday morning traffic the next day.

Then on the Monday morning head up to towards Mammoth,stay there for how many nights? and which resort ? then head on to Yosemite should we stay there is it too late to book for next August as I know the national parks are booked well in advance ?.

Then the plan is to head for San Francisco,visit Alcatraz,Golden Gate Bridge,Fisherman's Wharf and any other places you might suggest.where should we stay , how long for ?

After that the plan is to drive back down via highway one ,any places you could recommend we visit/stay on the way back down to LA.We want to visit the aquarium at Monterey and any other ideas would be greatly appreciated .

Then we plan to spend a day at six flags Magic mountain and finally 2 days visiting Disneyland,1 at Universal and maybe a day or two in LA the Hollywood sign stars houses tour,star walk of fame,a beach Venice or Malibu ? .Do you think all of this is achievable in two weeks?

I will be travelling with my wife,daughter 15 ,son 13 and daughter 2 1/2 .How to keep them entertained on the driving part,they have laptops but I suppose as we are in a car driving there will be no wifi,should I stick with a fullsize car as we usually do in Florida or go for a fullsize SUV seeing as I will be driving on mountainous(if they are) roads ? .

Lastly will most of the hotels that have two double beds allow all 5 of us to share the one room as I don't really want to pay for two rooms each night. Thanks

[HappyGoLucky]

Hi,
I've gained a lot of information from the Trip Advisor forums too as planning a trip next year too.

Cant help with the travelling as we are doing LA, Anaheim, San Diego, and saving San Francisco and Yosemiti for another time

But regarding hotel rooms, I also want a rollaway bed as having 3 boys aged 4,11,16 , it does cause no end of arguments if they share. The best way to find out is to look the hotel up on Booking.com or Expedia and they tell you the extra fees for rollaways etc

[mickchick]

The Pacific Coast Highway is really rather boring after the first two or three hours, as the scenery, while spectacular at first, palls after a while because it is unchanging. And the road is quite slow because of all the sightseeing traffic, so the route can be a bit of a nightmare for passengers. Personally, I'd divert inland to the north-south freeway after half a day's driving on the PCH. Yosemite, too,is quite challenging - there are only so many trees that can hold your passengers' interest.
As for car size, go for the biggest you can get. You will be doing a lot of driving over some very long distances on some extremely busy roads, so your passengers will appreciate having a lot of room. I'd recommend booking one with a satellite radio, as the music choice is so much better.
As for driving north to get away from the traffic after you've landed at LA, bear in mind that the roads are busy 24/7, so you'll encounter a lot of it whatever time you travel. You really won't want to be driving too far after an almost eleven hour flight and a couple of hours in immigration. You will probably have been on your feet for almost 24 hours by then. Driving in California is not as easy or as relaxing as it is in Florida, but seeing all those road signs for place names you've only seen in the movies is fun.

[daytonababe]

We only do one 5 hour car journey and the kids (11 & 15) have never complained , they have their iPods my iPad etc but both take a lot of pictures which seems to occupy them,

That said I'm not convinced either would be up for long long journeys every few days .

Definitely get the biggest vehicle you can , I like SUVs but the only issue I find with them is they never ever have a boot cover so your luggage is constantly on show , not a problem if your going straight to a hotel , but it is if you want to stop off at places .
Last year we had a people carrier ( not my thing at all ) but it had loads of room for the kids and the boot was deeper so the luggage was out of sight , so more practical for a road trip I think .


As for your first night plan I personally wouldn't want to drive to far, I don't know if LA is 7 or 8 hours behind the UK but I find the time difference on the west coast much harder on me than when I fly to Florida . Chances are you will be up very early that first morning anyway so I'd be inclined to stay out the 1st night and then leave LA very early the next morning .

[Luke Jaywalker]

Originally Posted by HappyGoLucky

Hi,
I've gained a lot of information from the Trip Advisor forums too as planning a trip next year too.

Cant help with the travelling as we are doing LA, Anaheim, San Diego, and saving San Francisco and Yosemiti for another time

But regarding hotel rooms, I also want a rollaway bed as having 3 boys aged 4,11,16 , it does cause no end of arguments if they share. The best way to find out is to look the hotel up on Booking.com or Expedia and they tell you the extra fees for rollaways etc

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Thanks, I also started this thread on the Tripadvisor forums last night and have received some replies one person suggested the following itinerary

Not enough time - too much to see. Mammoth is out of the way for the rest of the trip, and easy to eliminate.

Sun - LAX to Valencia
Monday - Do Six Flags - Overnight in Valencia
Tuesday -Drive to Yosemite - Overnight in Yosemite
Wednesday - Yosemite
Thursday - Yosemite to San Francisco
Friday - San Francisco
Saturday - San Francisco - Monterey
Sunday - Monterey - drive along the coast to?
Monday - ? Drive to Hollywood - Overnight Hollywood
Tuesday - Universal Studios or skip and move on to
Anaheim, and enjoy a bit more of Disney time.
Wednesday - Disney
Thursday - Disney
Friday - Anaheim to Santa Monica, Beach Cities
OR another day at Disney and leave Anaheim Sat. a.m.
Saturday - free time (or adjust schedule) Santa
Monica and the Beach cities are relatively close to
LAX for your Sunday flight out.

Anyway - you have time to figure it out! Enjoy.

But I don't know if I will miss out on a lot if we don't drive up through Mammoth ?

[MichelleS]

We are planning to drive 3 hours after the flight and stopping midway between La and San fran then get up early for 4 nights in San fran ,Yosemite for 2 nights ,San Diego for 4 nights and finish off in La ,we are just waiting for quotes on car hire and hotels

[Luke Jaywalker]

Originally Posted by MichelleS

We are planning to drive 3 hours after the flight and stopping midway between La and San fran then get up early for 4 nights in San fran ,Yosemite for 2 nights ,San Diego for 4 nights and finish off in La ,we are just waiting for quotes on car hire and hotels

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If you want to stay in Yosemite valley I would book soon as possible from what I have heard it gets booked out up to a year in advance.Saying that I have just booked 2 nights today at the Accommodation we wanted in Yosemite.

[KarenG]

I'd drop a theme park day for an extra San Francisco day.

[parisdisneyfan]

Originally Posted by Luke Jaywalker

Hi all,

Then on the Monday morning head up to towards Mammoth,stay there for how many nights? and which resort ? then head on to Yosemite should we stay there is it too late to book for next August as I know the national parks are booked well in advance ?.

We loved the Village Lodge, right in the centre of the resort near the pool and outside games areas for chn, sandpit , giant jenga type thing. We had a 2 bed/2 bath appartment with a balcony

Then the plan is to head for San Francisco,visit Alcatraz,Golden Gate Bridge,Fisherman's Wharf and any other places you might suggest.where should we stay , how long for ?
We stayed out of the city in Sausalito, good for a visit or to stay, very pretty and just a ferry ride to the city if you wanted to give the car a break

After that the plan is to drive back down via highway one ,any places you could recommend we visit/stay on the way back down to LA.We want to visit the aquarium at Monterey and any other ideas would be greatly appreciated .

mystery spot at Santa Cruz, Carmel very pretty, various stops on way down, Nepenthe Cafe, Madonna Inn for cake, Hearst Castle, looks so pretty on the hill and you can see zebras roaming, Elephant Seal Bay

LA the Hollywood sign stars houses tour,star walk of fame, .Do you think all of this is achievable in two weeks? You could drive past these on your first morning as you will probably be up early and they would be on your way out of the city. Griffith Park is also very nice and we enjoyed the Getty Museum albeit only for 1/2 hour.

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Originally Posted by Luke Jaywalker

If you want to stay in Yosemite valley I would book soon as possible from what I have heard it gets booked out up to a year in advance.Saying that I have just booked 2 nights today at the Accommodation we wanted in Yosemite.

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Where did you decide to stay in the end?

[Luke Jaywalker]

Originally Posted by parisdisneyfan

Where did you decide to stay in the end?

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Hi, Thanks for all your help We booked 2 nights in the Yosemite Lodge At The Falls. I am just glad that they still had space,we did not book the breakfast for $60 extra per night, from the reviews of the food court some likened it to dining at San Quentin .

We will buy some breakfast food from a supermarket,put it in a cool bag as you recommended and once we arrive at the lodge pop it in the fridge.

I am slightly surprised at the hotel prices in California,most hotels seem be between two to three times more expensive than Florida.