Is this driving itinerary reasonable?

[melk]

Hi,
Trying to plan a trip for next summer, not sure yet of July or August (any opinions on that are welcome!). We are planning about 2 weeks and this is what I am thinking:

Day 1-fly into SF from East Coast, get rental car, drive to Yosemite (is this too much in one day??)
Days 2 & 3-Yosemite
Day 4-leave Yosemite for SF
Days 5 & 6- SF with family
Day 7-leave SF for Monterey
Day 8-leave Monterey for Santa Barbara
Day 9-leave Santa Barbara for Anaheim
Days 10-13-Anaheim
Day 14-fly home from LAX

Just wondering if these travel distances are reasonable? There are 5 (two teenagers and a tween) of us, making hotel plans a little bit trickier without getting 2 rooms for us.

Any suggestions, comments would be great! Thank you!

 

[wnissen]

The Yosemite drive is 4 hours according to Google, but I think a lot depends on timing. If you arrive on a Friday afternoon, I would add two hours. Otherwise, it's reasonable to do that drive. My concern would be that Yosemite hotels are really expensive, so you might save quite a bit by staying overnight somewhere cheap like Manteca or Modesto and then finishing the drive in the morning. While it's not twisty mountain roads, it's still easier to drive during the day, and that way you'll be rested and able to enjoy the scenery as you approach, which would be hard if you did it commando.

As for the rest of the itinerary, I think it's fine. Having been to Santa Barbara, I don't think it has too much to recommend it compared to Monterey or Carmel, so I would drop it, or substitute a trip to Hearst Castle. Whatever you do, try to arrive in LA around noon or after 8; getting all the way to Anaheim takes much longer if you're also battling commute traffic.

Four full days in Disneyland / California Adventure will let you see and ride pretty much everything, but for some people it might be overkill. We like to enjoy Anaheim commando style, since the parks are open so long. Depends on your tastes, but you might consider dropping one (or two? I hope I don't get kicked off the DIS) of those days in favor of more time in SF or driving down Highway 1. Definitely depends on your preferences.

 

[melk]

The Yosemite drive is 4 hours according to Google, but I think a lot depends on timing. If you arrive on a Friday afternoon, I would add two hours. Otherwise, it's reasonable to do that drive. My concern would be that Yosemite hotels are really expensive, so you might save quite a bit by staying overnight somewhere cheap like Manteca or Modesto and then finishing the drive in the morning. While it's not twisty mountain roads, it's still easier to drive during the day, and that way you'll be rested and able to enjoy the scenery as you approach, which would be hard if you did it commando.

As for the rest of the itinerary, I think it's fine. Having been to Santa Barbara, I don't think it has too much to recommend it compared to Monterey or Carmel, so I would drop it, or substitute a trip to Hearst Castle. Whatever you do, try to arrive in LA around noon or after 8; getting all the way to Anaheim takes much longer if you're also battling commute traffic.

Four full days in Disneyland / California Adventure will let you see and ride pretty much everything, but for some people it might be overkill. We like to enjoy Anaheim commando style, since the parks are open so long. Depends on your tastes, but you might consider dropping one (or two? I hope I don't get kicked off the DIS) of those days in favor of more time in SF or driving down Highway 1. Definitely depends on your preferences.

Thanks for the suggestions. I was a little concerned about making the long drive to Yosemite after a long flight, so I will look into Modesto or Manteca.

As for Santa Barbara, I considered the stop there simply because the kids are not crazy about car trips and I thought it would break up the ride down the coast. I thought about Hearst Castle but wanted to get further south for the night.

DH is definitely not crazy about 4 days at Disneyland, haha! I figured we would stay there though as we are DVC members and I am hoping to get a villa at GC. I thought we could take one of those days to maybe sightsee in Hollywood or LA. Then another half day just to lounge at the pool.

Thanks again for the comments .

 

[KCmike]

Do you know that there is a huge rental car return fee when you drop it off in another location? I can't remember the price exactly but it was alot. You might want to check that. We did the LAX to Monterey to SF to Yosemite to DL and back to LAX one year. It was cheaper to fly into LAX for us and do the big circle tour road trip.

 

[melk]

Do you know that there is a huge rental car return fee when you drop it off in another location? I can't remember the price exactly but it was alot. You might want to check that. We did the LAX to Monterey to SF to Yosemite to DL and back to LAX one year. It was cheaper to fly into LAX for us and do the big circle tour road trip.

I did not know that. I will definitely consider going that route then. Thanks.

 

[KCmike]

Please check it out on whatever rental car place your thinking to make sure I'm right but I unfortunately think I am. Good luck planning. BTW Yosemite is awesome.

 

[woody73]

BTW Yosemite is awesome.

I agree. We were there in June.

Woody

 

[wnissen]

I've found that the premium for a one-way rental is pretty small, $100 or so. Worth it to me to save a six-hour drive. Use http://kayak.com and check the route in both directions, because oftentimes there will be no surcharge in one direction.

Walt

 

[CPT Tripss]

After a long flight from the east coast, last thing I want to do is have a long drive. Particularly after navigating stopover and flight change if not flying non-stop.

Just another thought, have you looked at flights to airports other than SFO? Oakland, San Jose, Sacramento and Fresno all pop into my mind and are as close to YNP (or closer) than SFO.

 

[wnissen]

After a long flight from the east coast, last thing I want to do is have a long drive. Particularly after navigating stopover and flight change if not flying non-stop.

Just another thought, have you looked at flights to airports other than SFO? Oakland, San Jose, Sacramento and Fresno all pop into my mind and are as close to YNP (or closer) than SFO.

Good point. For your purposes Sacramento and Fresno are actually closer, and would avoid Bay Area traffic. SFO is my least favorite Bay Area airport, as it is the most frequently delayed. It has great food, and is located directly on a BART (metro) line, but pretty much everything else is inferior. If you're headed to Yosemite, OAK (Oakland) and SJC (San Jose, be extremely careful not to book San Jose, Puerto Rico) would definitely be better.

 

[CPT Tripss]

Good point. For your purposes Sacramento and Fresno are actually closer, and would avoid Bay Area traffic. SFO is my least favorite Bay Area airport, as it is the most frequently delayed. It has great food, and is located directly on a BART (metro) line, but pretty much everything else is inferior. If you're headed to Yosemite, OAK (Oakland) and SJC (San Jose, be extremely careful not to book San Jose, Puerto Rico) would definitely be better.

Sometime us "right" coasters get things correct.
As I usually go to the bay area on SWAir, all the othere San Joses in the world aren't an issue. But SJU might be now . . .

 

[melk]

I was thinking of flying into San Francisco as I hate to fly and just wanted a non-stop flight. Not sure if I could get nonstop to one of those smaller airports.

If we did fly into LAX and start the drive to Yosemite, where would be a good place to stop for the night(I am thinking after only an hour or two of driving, as it will be a long flight out)?

Thanks!

 

[wnissen]

I was thinking of flying into San Francisco as I hate to fly and just wanted a non-stop flight. Not sure if I could get nonstop to one of those smaller airports.

If we did fly into LAX and start the drive to Yosemite, where would be a good place to stop for the night(I am thinking after only an hour or two of driving, as it will be a long flight out)?

Thanks!

Absolutely, if you can get a non-stop for a reasonable price, that would be a strong vote in favor of an airport, but Jet Blue flies nonstop from JFK to OAK and LGB (Long Beach), so you don't have to go to SFO or LAX. Use Kayak and see what's available. Virgin America is a little more expensive, but I've heard very good things about it and they do a lot of nonstops.

 

[cyclenut]

Hi,
Trying to plan a trip for next summer, not sure yet of July or August (any opinions on that are welcome!). We are planning about 2 weeks and this is what I am thinking:

Day 1-fly into SF from East Coast, get rental car, drive to Yosemite (is this too much in one day??)
Days 2 & 3-Yosemite
Day 4-leave Yosemite for SF
Days 5 & 6- SF with family
Day 7-leave SF for Monterey
Day 8-leave Monterey for Santa Barbara
Day 9-leave Santa Barbara for Anaheim
Days 10-13-Anaheim
Day 14-fly home from LAX

Just wondering if these travel distances are reasonable? There are 5 (two teenagers and a tween) of us, making hotel plans a little bit trickier without getting 2 rooms for us.

Any suggestions, comments would be great! Thank you!

My suggestion.

Day 1: Fly into LAX and drive up to Santa Barbara to stay there the first night. Don't plan on doing much but you could choose dinner at Pea Soup Andersens.
Day 2: Drive to SF. This is a long drive up (about 6 hours) but you can get there in time for dinner at Fisherman's Warf. It all depends on when you leave and how many stops you want to take. Take 101 instead of the coast.
Day 3 & 4: All day 3 and spend the morning of Day 4 in SF and leave for Yosemite in the early afternoon.
Day 5 & 6: Yosemite.
Day 7: Leave Yosemite for Monterey (about 6 hours). You can get there in time for dinner down by the bay.
Day 8: Enjoy the morning in Monterey. Visit the Aquarium for sure. Leave Monterey for Santa Barbara after lunch.
Day 9: Head down the coast. Stop at Hearst Castle (about half way down). Take your time and enjoy the views.
Day 10: Spend the morning in Santa Barbara. Visit Solvang, etc. then leave after lunch for Anaheim. You'll probably get there around 4pm. That is enough time to enjoy the parks which close after midnight or you can hang round DTD and rest up in your hotel for the next few days.
Day 11-13: You get three full days at DLR. OR ... you can leave Santa Barbara early and get to DLR after what should be about a 2 hour drive and spend most of Day 10 there for what would be 4 full days at DLR.
Day 14: Return to LAX for your flight home.

You save on the one-way charge for rental return and there is flexibility in that schedule for you to spend more or less time in a particular location. The only place you'll stop in twice is Santa Barbara, mostly because of the location. You'll end up taking one set of roads northbound and a different route southbound.

There are other options too. You could leave Yosemite for Las Vegas (long 8+ hour drive) and spend time there on the way south, but you are introducing longer drives which you expressed concern about.

 

[melk]

My suggestion.

Day 1: Fly into LAX and drive up to Santa Barbara to stay there the first night. Don't plan on doing much but you could choose dinner at Pea Soup Andersens.
Day 2: Drive to SF. This is a long drive up (about 6 hours) but you can get there in time for dinner at Fisherman's Warf. It all depends on when you leave and how many stops you want to take. Take 101 instead of the coast.
Day 3 & 4: All day 3 and spend the morning of Day 4 in SF and leave for Yosemite in the early afternoon.
Day 5 & 6: Yosemite.
Day 7: Leave Yosemite for Monterey (about 6 hours). You can get there in time for dinner down by the bay.
Day 8: Enjoy the morning in Monterey. Visit the Aquarium for sure. Leave Monterey for Santa Barbara after lunch.
Day 9: Head down the coast. Stop at Hearst Castle (about half way down). Take your time and enjoy the views.
Day 10: Spend the morning in Santa Barbara. Visit Solvang, etc. then leave after lunch for Anaheim. You'll probably get there around 4pm. That is enough time to enjoy the parks which close after midnight or you can hang round DTD and rest up in your hotel for the next few days.
Day 11-13: You get three full days at DLR. OR ... you can leave Santa Barbara early and get to DLR after what should be about a 2 hour drive and spend most of Day 10 there for what would be 4 full days at DLR.
Day 14: Return to LAX for your flight home.

You save on the one-way charge for rental return and there is flexibility in that schedule for you to spend more or less time in a particular location. The only place you'll stop in twice is Santa Barbara, mostly because of the location. You'll end up taking one set of roads northbound and a different route southbound.

There are other options too. You could leave Yosemite for Las Vegas (long 8+ hour drive) and spend time there on the way south, but you are introducing longer drives which you expressed concern about.

Thanks for the suggestion. I will definitely consider this. I should look into rental cars now to see just what kind of rental return charge we are looking at and then plan accordingly.

I had considered Las Vegas but I knew it was another long drive and honestly we're just not really interested in visiting there. I would have liked to see the Grand Canyon as well but that's going to have to be another trip!

 

[CPT Tripss]

Thanks for the suggestion. I will definitely consider this. I should look into rental cars now to see just what kind of rental return charge we are looking at and then plan accordingly.

I had considered Las Vegas but I knew it was another long drive and honestly we're just not really interested in visiting there. I would have liked to see the Grand Canyon as well but that's going to have to be another trip!

Las Vegas is a good start/end point for another National Park trip. Grand Canyon (both Rims), Zion, Bryce as well as Glen Canyon Dam and some of the other southern Utah parks are an easy two week trip. Death Valley is also an easy shorter trip.

 

[cyclenut]

Las Vegas is a good start/end point for another National Park trip. Grand Canyon (both Rims), Zion, Bryce as well as Glen Canyon Dam and some of the other southern Utah parks are an easy two week trip. Death Valley is also an easy shorter trip.

Totally agree. If there is another trip to the west in the plan, flying into Vegas adn then visiting those locations is a great idea. I just posted in another thread about a place we enjoyed called the Zion Ponderosa.
http://www.zionponderosa.com/index.htm

That location can work as a good base for Zion/Bryce. I wouldn't stay in Vegas ... just use it for flying into/out of.