San Francisco & LA

danny68 · 23 Jul 19, 09:25 AM

We are planning to visit San Francisco & LA next September, taking our son who will be 20 and are looking for a few pointers!

How long do you think we need in SF?
Any reccomendations where to stay?
Has anyone done Yosemite from SF?Any tips?
We will probably look to do an overnight stay so any reccomendations?

Not sure if we fly between the 2 or drive with an overnight stop.

Will we need a car in LA?
How many days?
Where to stay?
Any tips?

We are limited to 2 weeks and don't want to do Vegas this trip.

Thanks

Gryff · 23 Jul 19, 09:44 AM

We are off to SF in February for 5 nights

Staying in a king suite Holiday Inn Golden Gate
Plan to do Alcatraz Cycle the Bridge and a couple of other things
We won't have a car as we will walk most places andcwe are then off to Hawai for a week before flying on to Florida

400ixl · 23 Jul 19, 03:03 PM

3 nights on San Francisco is a typical punt to do the main sight's.

We prefer the Fisherman's wharf area as it is more touristy than Union Square which feels like any US city.

You won't need a car in SF itself. Driving down the Pacific Coast Highway has great scenery. You would need a couple of nights minimum to do it any justice.

La is best with a car, how long and where to stay is difficult to know without knowing what you intent to do. Most do a split stay for LA and the Disney as they have a long commute between them.

landandword17 · 23 Jul 19, 04:12 PM

With 2 weeks I would do SF- Yosemite-Drive down Highway 1 to LA.
How long for cities vs Yosemite and the coast depends on your interests and what you hope to see.

jdouds · 23 Jul 19, 07:18 PM

Hi we would recommend 4 nights San Fran as your first night will be , hotel and bed basically and on your last day there you will be leaving.so this gives you 3 full days. From San Fran then drive to yosemite 3.5/4 hours and would suggest min 2 nights. On arrival do the valley floor tour which gives you 2 hours of main sights and some history in a nice way. The main things to then do ,walk to el capitan, vernal falls, walk valley floor,drive to glacier point, drive to tioga pass and tunnel view. Before going watch the dawn wall and free solo as this will just give you a whole different slant to what you are seeing.
After yosemite drive to Monterey/Carmel for 2/3 nights ( 3.5 hours )and whale watching is a must for most, just one of the best things we have ever done . As others have said 2/3 days doing coast to LA. We stayed at Santa Barbara which we really enjoyed.
Hope this helps and gives you some ideas.
Ps as it's just 2 of us we did airbnb, but for yosemite have a look at yosemite view lodge at El portal. We stayed next door at the blue butterfly bb which was fantastic. Others will have good advice re hotels but just be aware west coast is much more expensive.

kirkdalewdw · 24 Jul 19, 11:50 AM

we are flying into San Francisco on this trip, only staying 3 nights. We are driving to Vallejo when we arrive to do Six flags, then back to San Francisco staying just off Lombard Street, so we can do Alcatraz, Walt Disney museum

Lisatink · 27 Jul 19, 06:46 AM

Originally Posted by jdouds

Hi we would recommend 4 nights San Fran as your first night will be , hotel and bed basically and on your last day there you will be leaving.so this gives you 3 full days. From San Fran then drive to yosemite 3.5/4 hours and would suggest min 2 nights. On arrival do the valley floor tour which gives you 2 hours of main sights and some history in a nice way. The main things to then do ,walk to el capitan, vernal falls, walk valley floor,drive to glacier point, drive to tioga pass and tunnel view. Before going watch the dawn wall and free solo as this will just give you a whole different slant to what you are seeing.
After yosemite drive to Monterey/Carmel for 2/3 nights ( 3.5 hours )and whale watching is a must for most, just one of the best things we have ever done . As others have said 2/3 days doing coast to LA. We stayed at Santa Barbara which we really enjoyed.
Hope this helps and gives you some ideas.
Ps as it's just 2 of us we did airbnb, but for yosemite have a look at yosemite view lodge at El portal. We stayed next door at the blue butterfly bb which was fantastic. Others will have good advice re hotels but just be aware west coast is much more expensive.

This sounds perfect for us to do next year. Two adults and two teenagers.
When you say the West coast is more expensive, do you mean cost of accommodation or just generally overall?
Thank you

landandword17 · 27 Jul 19, 10:18 AM

Originally Posted by Lisatink

This sounds perfect for us to do next year. Two adults and two teenagers.
When you say the West coast is more expensive, do you mean cost of accommodation or just generally overall?
Thank you

Everything is more expensive as it�s a very high cost of living state. But on the west coast we don�t have to pay for park tickets so on the whole it doesn�t work out that much more than Orlando.

jdouds · 27 Jul 19, 08:30 PM

Hi again generally hotels etc are more expensive. But if you can look at airbnb or home away. In San Fran we had a great apartment with of road parking in chestnut st that also had a roof terrace and views to the bridge.

23 Jul 19, 03:03 PM	#3
	23 Jul 19, 03:03 PM 400ixl Imagineer
400ixl Imagineer Join Date: Mar 12	3 nights on San Francisco is a typical punt to do the main sight's. We prefer the Fisherman's wharf area as it is more touristy than Union Square which feels like any US city. You won't need a car in SF itself. Driving down the Pacific Coast Highway has great scenery. You would need a couple of nights minimum to do it any justice. La is best with a car, how long and where to stay is difficult to know without knowing what you intent to do. Most do a split stay for LA and the Disney as they have a long commute between them.