No idea where to start 😕

[charleion]

Evening all

I had a little look through some of the other posts but am still pretty clueless so could with some help if possible

Looking at 14-16 nights next July for 2 adults and 2 teens. Would like to cover SF, Yosemite, LA, Disney/Universal, GrandCanyon and Vegas. Have no idea how long to be staying where but will be driving from place to place.

Any help or tips would be greatly appreciated

Tia

[jdouds]

Hi suggest a circular route, LA 3 n , Santa Barbara , 1 n , Monterey 2/3 nights and definately go whale watching, 3 n San Fran , 2 /3 yosemite, then onto vegas via tioga pass , hope this gives you a starting point and some ideas.

[400ixl]

Much prefer heading south on the Pacific Coast highway so you are on the right side of the road for the views.

I would do San Fran (3), Yosemite (2), Monterrey (1) and down the PCH with a stop (1), then LA (5) and onto Vegas (3) / Grand Canyon (1). Flying into SF/Oakland and out of Vegas.

Depending on what you want to do in some of these places, you are looking to cram a lot into 16 nights. You can adjust the nights to suite where you want to spend more time. If you could only do 14 nights I'd stick to South California and Vegas and do another trip for North California.

[Lily8]

I'm following this with interest. I'm in the very early stages of planning a similar trip (minus Las Vegas) but am finding it rather daunting. I'd be most grateful for any suggestions and/or pointers, including best time of year to travel (school holidays only I'm afraid). Thanks.

[charleion]

Thanks jdouds and 400ixl, definitely something to be starting with. It will be cramming a lot in, that's how most holidays work for us, our girls aren't much into doing nothing 😄

Lily8, we've booked several DIY holidays before now but this is mind blowing, trying to figure out timings, where to go, what to see, what not to see 😕

[pinkandfluffy]

We like to be on the go on holiday too but when I started planning I realised that trying to cram too much in would mean endless hours sat in the car as the area is soooo big! I really wanted to factor in a trip to San Diego and Palm Springs but that will have to wait for next time! After much research we settled on the following plan:

We have 15 nights, flying in and out of LA

2 nights at Seaview Inn Manhattan Beach (visit knotts berry farm theme park)
2 nights Fresno for Sequoia and Kings Canyon
3 nights Yosemite log cabin
3 nights San Francisco
2 nights Monterey for Whale watching
1 night Pismo Beach
2 nights Hermosa/Redondo Beach (visit six flags magic mountain)

It was overwhelming for a few months but Im happy with the plan and the longest car journey is 3.5 hours but most are around the 2 hour mark (in good traffic)!
Getting a map and plotting where we wanted to go and using a website to calculate distance/time travelling was key to planning for us. I didnt realise how big California was until after I booked the flights!

Good luck and enjoy the planning!

[400ixl]

You won't want to be trying to get to Six Flags from Redondo beach area. You will be looking at a long drive there and back as it is 20 minutes north of LA. You will be looking at 1-2 hours each way.

You'd be better off staying in the Santa Monica area if you want a beach as this will reduce the travel time to 30-60 minutes and save you crossing LA when coming down from Pismo.