Help please with CA itinerary!

[melk]

Planning a trip next August to CA. Our dates are flexible but I have already managed to reserve two nights at the lodge in Yosemite Valley. So obviously I have to build the trip around that. The length of the trip can be from 10-14 days.

Basically I need help in knowing drive times as we would like to cover a lot of ground. But one way car rentals are insane so wondering if we can manage driving a big loop or are we still better off flying into one city and leaving from another.

These are the places we would like to visit:

Yosemite (2 nights already booked)
Kings Canyon/Sequoia
Disneyland (DVC members, hoping to get VGC for 3-4 nights)
San Francisco (to see family but also do some sightseeing)
Monterey

I realize this is a big trip and everything is so spread out. Not sure if it's better to fly from SF to Southern CA or vice versa, or just drive it all.

Any help or advice is appreciated!

 

[endy]

I'm certainly no expert as I haven't been to Yosemite or Sequoia but here's my thoughts.
Fly into SF, go to Yosemite, Sequoia.
Drive to Anaheim. I think it's only 6 or so hours, local experts will help here.
Drive up the coast if you have an extra day or 2.

I've done this twice in the last 2 years from LA. One trip we overnighted in San Simeon and did the night tour of Hearst Castle - loved it. Next day up to Monterey. We drove thru Carmel and wish we'd stopped and roamed around the shops, I think they were closed. The other trip we wre camping and stopped at Morro Bay and then on the coast close to SF. The drive is incredible and lots will say it's best to drive it north to south if you can. I say if you can squeeze it in whichever way works for your trip is the way to go.

Monterey to SF is only a couple of hours. Spend rest of time exploring SF.

Depending on flight and car costs you could also fly into LA and do this in reverse.

Have a great trip. You'll ind lots of helpful people on here.

 

[melk]

I'm certainly no expert as I haven't been to Yosemite or Sequoia but here's my thoughts.
Fly into SF, go to Yosemite, Sequoia.
Drive to Anaheim. I think it's only 6 or so hours, local experts will help here.
Drive up the coast if you have an extra day or 2.

I've done this twice in the last 2 years from LA. One trip we overnighted in San Simeon and did the night tour of Hearst Castle - loved it. Next day up to Monterey. We drove thru Carmel and wish we'd stopped and roamed around the shops, I think they were closed. The other trip we wre camping and stopped at Morro Bay and then on the coast close to SF. The drive is incredible and lots will say it's best to drive it north to south if you can. I say if you can squeeze it in whichever way works for your trip is the way to go.

Monterey to SF is only a couple of hours. Spend rest of time exploring SF.

Depending on flight and car costs you could also fly into LA and do this in reverse.

Have a great trip. You'll ind lots of helpful people on here.

Thanks for the feedback. So have you done the drive round trip? Or did you just go one way?

I'm looking at the calendar and thinking maybe this:
Days 1- 3 San Francisco
Days 4-5 Yosemite
Day 6 Kings Canyon/Sequoia
Days 7-10 Disneyland
Days 11-? Drive up the coast, eventually fly out of SF

Not sure how much time we would need to drive up the coast? Would like to stop for the night maybe in Monterey (too far?), then the next day get an early start to make it to SF for later flight.

Also, are there areas of heavy traffic on the Pacific Coast Highway that we should be aware of? Just not sure how much time to budget for it. We want to enjoy it, but don't have a super amount of time.

 

[endy]

Hi Melk
Your plan sounds doable.
If you are driving up the coast then Monterey is way too far in one day. IMO you would barely be able to enjoy the drive let alone stop anywhere. Both times we drove it northbound we took 2+ days and likely missed a lot. The first time (2014 with a friend) we only went as far as San Simeon then next day to Monterey and then returned back down the coast, kind of by accident because I missed the road that went back over to the interstate. Actually we did make it to Anaheim in one day but we didn't need to stop much as we just drove it 3 days before. The second trip 2015 with my DS we went all the way up to Seattle.

If you don't have an extra day maybe scratch the coast and bee line back up the I 5 and spend a day or 2 longer in SF. My DS19 and I spent close to a week last May around SF. Now that's where you need to worry about traffic.

As for traffic up the coast, maybe someone else could chime in. We weren't in a hurry and can't recall any heavy traffic. We did see lots of very antique cars on the road, amazing that there were dozens and in excellent shape.

I've been in CA 30 or 40 times and still find new places/things to do every trip. If I had the money I'd snowbird in the San Diego area every winter.
You have lots of time to plan, maybe send away for the California travel guides to give you ideas of what to see along the coast. If you have or know anyone with an AAA card you can pick up maps and a travel book for free.

 

[melk]

Hi Melk
Your plan sounds doable.
If you are driving up the coast then Monterey is way too far in one day. IMO you would barely be able to enjoy the drive let alone stop anywhere. Both times we drove it northbound we took 2+ days and likely missed a lot. The first time (2014 with a friend) we only went as far as San Simeon then next day to Monterey and then returned back down the coast, kind of by accident because I missed the road that went back over to the interstate. Actually we did make it to Anaheim in one day but we didn't need to stop much as we just drove it 3 days before. The second trip 2015 with my DS we went all the way up to Seattle.

If you don't have an extra day maybe scratch the coast and bee line back up the I 5 and spend a day or 2 longer in SF. My DS19 and I spent close to a week last May around SF. Now that's where you need to worry about traffic.

As for traffic up the coast, maybe someone else could chime in. We weren't in a hurry and can't recall any heavy traffic. We did see lots of very antique cars on the road, amazing that there were dozens and in excellent shape.

I've been in CA 30 or 40 times and still find new places/things to do every trip. If I had the money I'd snowbird in the San Diego area every winter.
You have lots of time to plan, maybe send away for the California travel guides to give you ideas of what to see along the coast. If you have or know anyone with an AAA card you can pick up maps and a travel book for free.

Thanks for the tips! I may need to look more closely at our schedule. There's just so much to see and not enough time as I am really trying to keep the trip to 12 days. We may have to drive from Anaheim to Monterey on the I5 and then maybe we can breathe a little bit when we get there, spend a night and do the 17 mile drive the next day. That should give us a good taste of the California coastline. Then we could fly home out of SF the next day.

I asked this on another thread as well but many people have said how foggy SF is in August. Should I be concerned about flight delays?

 

[Purrkins]

I'd do - fly into LAX and do Disney > Sequoia/Kings Canyon (I'd give yourself 2 days - SEKI is not easy to get to and keep in mind the big trees are about one hour driving from the entry gate) > Monterey > SF > Yosemite (and perhaps fly out of Reno).

 

[JimMIA]

I'd do - fly into LAX and do Disney > Sequoia/Kings Canyon (I'd give yourself 2 days - SEKI is not easy to get to and keep in mind the big trees are about one hour driving from the entry gate) > Monterey > SF > Yosemite

First, in this Centennial Year for the National Park Service (est. 1916), a little NPS shorthand.

If a park has a one-word name (Yellowstone, Yosemite, Everglades), use the first four letters: YELL, YOSE, EVER. If the park has two words in the name (Sequoia/Kings Canyon, Grand Canyon, Dry Tortugas), use the first two letters of each word: SEKI, GRCA, DRTO.

So, to go to a park's webpage, www.nps.gov/SEKI as an example.

(and perhaps fly out of Reno).

Or San Francisco...Oakland...San Jose...Sacramento...

 

[bcla]

First, in this Centennial Year for the National Park Service (est. 1916), a little NPS shorthand.

If a park has a one-word name (Yellowstone, Yosemite, Everglades), use the first four letters: YELL, YOSE, EVER. If the park has two words in the name (Sequoia/Kings Canyon, Grand Canyon, Dry Tortugas), use the first two letters of each word: SEKI, GRCA, DRTO.

So, to go to a park's webpage, www.nps.gov/SEKI as an example. Or San Francisco...Oakland...San Jose...Sacramento...

SEKI is technically two national parks (as authorized by Congress) but just one management and one fee. Some national parks spconsolidate fees, like Yellowstone and Grand Teton.

If the goal is Yosemite, then Fresno might be a good choice if one can find a reasonably priced flight with reasonable scheduling. They even went as far as to call it "Fresno-Yosemite Airport". However, it's a small airport and SFO or OAK are more likely to have direct flights. Oakland is particularly convenient since it's a Southwest hub.

 

[sndral]

Thanks for the feedback. So have you done the drive round trip? Or did you just go one way?

I'm looking at the calendar and thinking maybe this:
Days 1- 3 San Francisco
Days 4-5 Yosemite
Day 6 Kings Canyon/Sequoia
Days 7-10 Disneyland
Days 11-? Drive up the coast, eventually fly out of SF

Not sure how much time we would need to drive up the coast? Would like to stop for the night maybe in Monterey (too far?), then the next day get an early start to make it to SF for later flight.

Also, are there areas of heavy traffic on the Pacific Coast Highway that we should be aware of? Just not sure how much time to budget for it. We want to enjoy it, but don't have a super amount of time.

I think it's doable if you don't mind a bit of driving. Fly into SFO and spend your 3 days there.
Leave early and drive to Yosemite - this will take half a day.
Leave Yosemite and drive to Sequoia/Kings Canyon - realize you will drive west to Fresno only to head east back into the mountains again to get to Sequoia/Kings Canyon. Figure half a day driving for this, maybe a bit less. Spend your night here, then head out fairly early back to Fresno to head to Anaheim - this will be a solid 5+ hours or worse depending on traffic as you arrive in SoCal. I'd seriously consider adding a night to make it 2 nights at Sequoia/Kings Canyon, btw, just so you have a full day there.
3 nights at Disneyland.
Leaving day 11 (assuming you've spent that extra day at Sequoia/Kings Canyon) head to the coast spending the night in someplace like Morro Bay or a bit further north.
Day 12 up the coast highway towards Monterey - take time to stop in Big Sur (Cafe Kiva @ Nepenthe is a great lunch spot and the views are spectacular.)
Nights 12 & 13 in Monterey, lately August has had great humpback whale watching, btw. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is a must see. Carmel is fun for window shopping. Point Lobos state park is a nice place to hike, the beaches are nice in Carmel and Pacific Grove.
Leave day 14 and drive back to SFO for your flight home.