3 weeks in california

[scaryguy]

hi myself and my wife ,3 kids boys age 12,10,and 6 are going to california for 21 days we plan 3 days at disney and wondering about the other parks and doing a lot of sightseeing any advice please

 

[lcasa]

There's so much! A drive up the coast is beautiful - with stops in Santa Monica/Malibu (Santa Monica has a cool pier with carnival type rides), maybe Solvang ( little dutch city - lots of cute shops ) Santa Barbara, Big Sur, and finally San Francisco - one of the world's great cities. From SF it's an easy hour or so to Napa for wine tasting. Or over the Golden Gate to Muir Woods to see giant redwoods.
You'd want to spread that over a few days to keep the 6 year old from going car crazy. It's about 10 hours non stop between DL and SF via the coast I'd say.

San Diego is very cool as well - in the opposite direction- about 2 hr south of DL. World-class zoo, Sea World, "Old Town" Mexican village. Between DL and SD is Legoland, but the older kids are too old unless they're really into lego - and the San Diego Wild Animal Park, which is well worth the extra trip.

Don't forget the beaches too - you'll see a lot of beach on a PCH trip. But you may want to linger for a day or 2 at a beach hotel ( or near beach hotel). Huntington Beach is great for watching surfers - nice big beach with a mix of activities.

There's a lot of tourism info available now - seems the state is putting some advertising money out there. So I'm sure you can get some info - google around.

 

[LavenderPeach]

There's also the monteray bay aquarium and carmel, and don't forget Yosemite! Okay, i'll admit that i'm a california native and have never been to Yosemite but I know a lot of people really enjoy it and hopefully I'll make it up there some day. And there's the missions in california. You should try to stop at one since it's a big part of California's history. There's a good one down in san juan capistrano but there are other good ones too.

Hope that helps and feel free to ask more questions!

 

[Sherry E]

Oh goodness! You can't make a 3-week trip to California and not visit Catalina Island for a day (at least), if not overnight. The Island is located less than 26 miles off the coast and it is just gorgeous. The ferry ride across the ocean takes about one hour. One of the best things to do on Catalina is rent a golf cart and drive around, taking in the wonderful panoramic views and scenery. You can take tours to the inside of the island to see buffalo. You can take a boat out to what they call Seal Rock. If you are there during May - September, you can take a tour to see flying fish (my favorite). There is also a great semi-sub tour where you can see all kinds of undersea life, including sharks here and there. You can hike, rent a bike, rent a kayak, rent a pedal boat. Catalina is alternately fun and relaxing. I have done a few one-day trips there, and I even stayed there for a full 8 days once. I love it - it's my 'other' favorite place in Southern California (besides DLR, of course).

Start out by ordering the free Visitors Guide online (it is like a magazine):

http://www.catalinachamber.com/catalina/vacation-planner

And also, if you check out the first page of my TR (link to TR below, in signature), there is a sort of Table of Contents, and you will see links to two pages in my TR with lots of Catalina photos. You must visit there if you are going to be in California for 3 weeks!!

The Catalina Express (the ferry that takes you over to the Island) is right next to the Queen Mary in Long Beach. Also, the Aquarium of the Pacific is right there as well. That's worth seeing.

Also, I would suggest LACMA (Los Angeles County Museum of Art) and perhaps the Original Farmers Market (near CBS, so lots of celebrities go there to eat lunch). The La Brea Tar Pits are right next to LACMA, so that's good too. Sunset Blvd., Melrose, Santa Monica Blvd. and Hollywood Blvd. are all a short jaunt up Fairfax, which very close to LACMA and the Tar Pits. Beverly Hills/Rodeo Drive is just down Wilshire Blvd from LACMA, so everything is very close together.

 

[perlster]

Solvang ( little dutch city

Ay, carumba!

You'd need to watch out for flying aebleskiver if you said that in Solvang - which is Danish.

 

[scaryguy]

thanx for the advice we stayed in florida last year what is the average temp in anaheim ?

 

[lcasa]

Ay, carumba!

You'd need to watch out for flying aebleskiver if you said that in Solvang - which is Danish.

Oops! As I wrote that I thought it sounded wrong.

For weather - weather.com shows averages over a bunch of years - so you can check based on when you'll be there. It's usually pretty pleasant. Summer gets warm, but rarely over 100 and not humid like FL. Northern Cal and San Diego are a lot cooler.