What time of yr?

[Lalilu]

We are family of 5 (3 teenagers) our options are July ,August and last week September 2020
Planning a 16 day trip san Fran, san Diego,Disney & universal.
What time of yr and how many days at each destination? 😊

[cornishfrogboy]

16 days..
Day 1. Fly into SFO and get the BART into town. Union Sq and bed.
Day 2. Alcatraz, Fishermens Wharf and cable car back up to Union Sq
Day 3 . Walk to Dylan's and see Lombard St before Dylan's ultimate cycle tour (look it up).
Day 4 collect car from Budget at Union Sq then drive over bay bridge and out, cutting down to Monterey. Walk around, aquarium and Bubba Gumps.
Day 5 Monterey Bay whale watch then drive down PCH seeing Seal Sanctuary, Hearst Castle and stay at the Madonna Inn.
Day 6. Pismo beach Monarch butterfly area, More PCH and cut in just above Santa Monica to see Reagan library before staying at Valencia.
Day 7. 6 flags from ropedrop then drive to Anaheim.
Day 8 Disney
Day 9 Disney
Day 10 drive down to Oceanside and pick up Gosandiego5 tickets before seeing Pier and Kelly McGillis house in top gun. Drive on to Seaport San Diego.
Day11 (all are now Gosandiego5). Harbour cruise both ways and then USS Midway. Dine in Kansas City Bar and grill (topgun bar).
Day12 Over the bridge to Coronado beach for the day.
Day13 Seaworld .
Day 14 then Balboa park, take your pick of best attractions within (free parking here). Zoo is particularly good.
Day 15 walk down to Mexico border where it meets the sea. Then a walk on the beach (take passports). Really interesting. Premium outlets for shopping.
Day 16 drive through La Jolla, see Legoland at Carlsbad then stop for night on RMS Queen Mary.
Day 17 drive to Santa Monica as it is near to LAX, park on beach then take a 6 hour LA/Hollywood tour before moving on to LAX for flight home which will in probability be in the evening.

You will find my trip report (with images) in the reports section (California N to South at Easter). Any comments good or bad would be welcome as it will enable me to refine my next one!

Time of year? Can't help, but look into the possibility of smog over LA in summer. I can't help with Universal as I have never been. Possible a preposition there instead of at Valencia and then do Universal instead of 6 flags? (6 flags is awesome if you like the very biggest rides).

[jdouds]

Hi lots of good advice above. Would also consider yosemite 2 nights. Union square quite a few negative about the area. Monterey add 17 mile dr and Carmel and for whale watching we have gone twice with sanctuary cruises, first class with marine biologist on board.as for time , any of your dates. Sept might be a little cheaper.

[cornishfrogboy]

We stayed in Union Sq. We had no problems at all. It offers 3 routes down to Fishermens Wharf, namely Powell (with or without Cable car, through Chinatown (not so nice in daytime as it grubby) or the emarcadero, a pleasant walk. The advantages are that the prices were better and also that it meant we only had to drive a block and a half from the car hire onto the bay bridge. It was also very easy to get to on the BART The areas that I was told to avoid was the Tenderloin and Haight at night.

Re the whale watch, Monterey worked for us because we went out over the bay bridge and to Atwater for the Castle AFB museum. We then tracked back to the coast as we particularly wanted to see Monterey cannery row. Monterey bay Whale Watch was certainly excellent (as is, I believe, Sanctuary). Both get great reviews and seem of a similar quality.

I would also agree that Sept would in probability save over August without compromising on weather. Easter certainly saved us loads.

[Lalilu]

Ok Easter may be an option too so going to look into that, thanks for the tips guys.
Not looking at seaworld or LEGOLAND as there our least favourite parks in Florida.
Looking at aquatica and san Diego zoo defiantly.
So looks like most people go with flying into san Fran and out of Lax?

[400ixl]

Not a fan of Union Square, you could be in any US city. Much prefer Fisherman's wharf where it feels more like a holiday.

16 days is not a lot for San Fran, LA and San Diego, so adding places like Yosemite would make everything far too rushed.

I would do:

3 nights San Fran
2 Nights Monterrey
1 Night Santa Barbara on the drive into LA I would do the coastal towns (Malibu, Santa Monica, Venice Beach etc)
3 nights North LA (Six Flags 1 day, Universal 1 day, Warner Bros, Hollywood etc 1 day)
3 nights South LA (Disney)
5 nights San Diego

Should give you the time to do things teenager would want to see ans well as you.

[Lalilu]

Yes we're leaving Yosemite and other places for another trip!
Don't want to do to many different hotels/ stop overs as it becomes tiring.
Not looked into Monterrey so will Definitely check that out, thankyou😊
Love the idea of checking out beaches on the way even though were from the Algarve and have some of the most beautiful beaches 😉

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by Lalilu

Ok Easter may be an option too so going to look into that, thanks for the tips guys.
Not looking at seaworld or LEGOLAND as there our least favourite parks in Florida.
Looking at aquatica and san Diego zoo defiantly.
So looks like most people go with flying into san Fran and out of Lax?

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Whilst a big fan of Seaworld, the one in California does not have as many big rides and is generally smaller.
I have loved Lego since childhood, but the parks don't do it for me.

It is worth pointing out that the Gosandiego 5 is a very good value ticket that you are likely to buy anyway (IIf staying 5 days). Seaworld and Lego come free on that card. If they hadn't, I wouldn't have bothered, however they become very good value when they are free!