California - thoughts on this itinerary

[Happydays95]

I’m in the early stages of planning a California Road Trip for myself and hubby to celebrate our silver wedding anniversary in 2020. Our anniversary will be in the June but we hope to go May or September.

This is our provisional itinerary. We want to be able to explore all that Highway 1 has to offer without having to rush. We get bored staying in one place for too long so like the idea of ever changing scenery and different places to explore. LAX doesn’t interest us so a couple of nights in Santa Monica seemed a good alternative before heading to Yosemite where we plan to hike and hire bikes.

SFO - 3 nights
Pick up car
Monterey - 1 night
Morro Bay - 1 night
Santa Barbara - 2 nights
Santa Monica - 2 nights
Yosemite - 4 nights
SFO vicinity - 1 night

What do you think? Any hotel suggestions?

The only thing that doesn’t appeal if living out of a suitcase and never unpacking fully, but I’m sure I can organise myself so it’s not too much of an issue.

[jdouds]

Hi looks goods , our only thought would be take one more night in Monterey . If you want to do a lot of walking then 4 n yosemite but if your happy doing what a lot of us do then 3 would be fine. Take the valley floor tour (2 hours ) this is great for getting your bearings and getting some basic park history. Glacier point,tioga pass and a walk up to the vernal falls and back down the john Muir trail are the main things to do unless you plan a little more exertion and want to walk to half dome etc.
In Monterey we would highly recommend whale watching ,17 mile dr, Carmel , the beach and if you like your sport or not then lunch or tea overlooking the 18 green at pebble beach.

[jdouds]

Oh and have you thought about air bnb or home away. We have used these on our 2 last visits and would recommend . In yosemite have a look at the the blue butterfly bb at El portal, very close to the park entrance . San Fran we used a great airbnb on chestnut st with of road parking.

[Happydays95]

Thanks for your comments. I’ve not considered air bnb but will take a look at your suggestion. Used HomeAway quite a few times for Orlando holidays so will look at that too.

[MsSparkles]

One suggestion: packing cubes! They're great for road trips and make living out of a suitcase just that little bit easier!

[jdouds]

Hi bbc2 programme tonight about whales in Monterey bay