Trip itinerary, thoughts please

[Bazinga 39]

So we are finally ready to book flights to the west coast for next year, and wanted some opinions on our route, it originally included Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon but I’ve decided to leave those for another trip, this is what I’m thinking of
Fly into San Francisco - 3 nights
4th day pick up hire car and drive to Yosemite - 3 nights, drive back to coast, Monterey - 2 nights, Santa Barbara 1 night, LA 3 nights, San Diego 3 nights, Anaheim 3 nights, fly home from LA
The only bit I’m unsure off is the doubling back on ourselves from Yosemite but I don’t know how else to do it

[loldis]

Depending how far into Yosemite you plan on driving, you won't be doubling back as much as you think. If you're coming through say the Mariposa area, that's still actually above Monterey.

Personally I would look at flights back from SD instead of LA, and flip Anaheim and SD around. Mainly because I'd want to avoid LA traffic as much as possible and this way you're only driving through once. BA do a direct SAN>LHR, or a return indirect is pretty painless.

Rest looks good to me.

[jdouds]

Hi again go for it. There’s no doubling back in reality from Yosemite. 3.5 hours approx to Monterey, as I mentioned before if you can go whale watching. The aquarium is also very good in Monterey, lots to do and if you arrive mid day it doesn’t give you a lot of time, 17 m dr, Carmel, coast ,beach and pebble beach if your into your sport.

[Bazinga 39]

Originally Posted by jdouds

Hi again go for it. There’s no doubling back in reality from Yosemite. 3.5 hours approx to Monterey, as I mentioned before if you can go whale watching. The aquarium is also very good in Monterey, lots to do and if you arrive mid day it doesn’t give you a lot of time, 17 m dr, Carmel, coast ,beach and pebble beach if your into your sport.

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Hi again, whale watching and the aquarium are definitely on the list, Monterey is actually one of the places I’m looking forward to the most😀

[Bazinga 39]

Thanks very much for that reply, some good info there and I’ll definitely look into the San Diego option👍

[jdouds]

Forgot to mention make sure to stop at San Simeon to see the elephant seals

[miked1e]

All looks great.

We didn’t find the traffic bad from Anaheim to LAX.

Worst traffic was from Santa Barbara to Anahrim via the kardashian shop. Can’t think what it was called and don’t ask….

Eat at Schooners in Monterey Plaza hotel and spa (and stay if you can). Best meal and service we had on our trip!

[cornishfrogboy]

A bit of lateral thinking..

I don’t know how big your family group is and this may cost you out.. but..
The PCH flattens out considerably once you get below San Luis Obispo/Pismo Beach.
There is an airport at SL Obispo (not many U.K. tourists perhaps know this) and you could save a lot of travelling time by flying from there (after a night in the Madonna Inn of course, to either John Wayne (Anaheim), Bob Hope (Warner bros and Universal) or even San Diego. Those flights are cheap.

With what you have initially said, I would be tempted to fly from SL Obispo to San Diego (airport is very close to Seaport etc in San Diego) and not even bother with a car whilst there as you don’t need one, saving 4-5 days car hire plus the sometimes extortionate parking in the City.

You could then either pick up a car as you leave S Diego or fly once again to John Wayne. If you drove it, then La Jolla and also Oceanside are interesting stops (Oceanside has Kelly McGillis house from ‘Top Gun’ in it and a lovely pier).
You would still be well positioned in Anaheim and I believe that there is no problem with day tours into LA from there?.

Have a look on a map and you may pick up the gist of what I am suggesting. You would save on a lot of driving and time whilst seeing the best bit of the driving, (Monterey to Pismo Beach).

[Aims]

Originally Posted by cornishfrogboy

(Oceanside has Kelly McGillis house from ‘Top Gun’ in it and a lovely pier).

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I apologize for going a bit off-topic here, but I had to respond to CFB on this. The Top Gun house has been moved from it's original spot to the grounds of a new hotel just up the street, across the road from the Oceanside Pier. It's rumored that it is going to be turned into a dessert bar. Check out the story here, if you're iinterested: patch/california/oceansi...repainted-blue

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by Aims

I apologize for going a bit off-topic here, but I had to respond to CFB on this. The Top Gun house has been moved from it's original spot to the grounds of a new hotel just up the street, across the road from the Oceanside Pier. It's rumored that it is going to be turned into a dessert bar. Check out the story here, if you're iinterested: patch/california/oceansi...repainted-blue

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Hmm. Thanks for that Aims.. It looks like they have done an awful lot of work on it. It was looking a little sad when I last saw it and I feared that it’s days may have been numbered.

We only became aware of it when the lovely ladies in the tourist information centre told us about it as we picked up our Gosandiego cards at Oceanside.