California in November?

[kris.c]

We are planning our 1st trip to Disneyland for mid-November. We will have 3 days at the parks then another 5 days to explore the rest of California. We are thinking of taking a short flight from the Disney area to San Fransisco (to save time vs. driving), renting a car and eventually return to LAX 5 days later. Any suggestions on what to do for those 5 days? (anything north of LA)

We do want to stay at least 1 night in San Fransisco and do Alcatraz. We were also considering Yosemite, but thought it might be too cold and not much to see that time of year? But I really don't know. What about the vineyards? Are they worth seeing in November? Maybe something outdoorsy?

Any suggestions at all on what to see & do would be much appreciated!!
Thanks in advance!

 

[Mabel67]

We are planning our 1st trip to Disneyland for mid-November. We will have 3 days at the parks then another 5 days to explore the rest of California. We are thinking of taking a short flight from the Disney area to San Fransisco (to save time vs. driving), renting a car and eventually return to LAX 5 days later. Any suggestions on what to do for those 5 days? (anything north of LA)

We do want to stay at least 1 night in San Fransisco and do Alcatraz. We were also considering Yosemite, but thought it might be too cold and not much to see that time of year? But I really don't know. What about the vineyards? Are they worth seeing in November? Maybe something outdoorsy?

Any suggestions at all on what to see & do would be much appreciated!!
Thanks in advance!

I know you said anything north of LA, but at that time of year, I would much prefer San Diego to San Francisco. Much warmer. And it's a short drive from DL to San Diego as well. It is so much more than Seaworld/Zoo too.... a great city to visit any time of the year.

 

[usnuzuloose]

November can vary in the weather in SF. But there is a lot to do. Order tickets for Alcatraz online in advance as it usually gets sold out.

 

[southlakejr]

Renting a car may not save as much time as you think- the flight is a little over an hour, but after you get transportation to the airport, check in, check bags, get through security, board, land, get bags, get rental car, etc- you are not too far off from the driving time (about 5.5 hours) Then again- I'm probably just biased because our last flight from LA took way longer than a drive would have due to delays.

In Northern CA- it all depends on what you want to do most. If you want to see SF and Alcatraz- it's a little chilly, but it's that way even in summer. Golden Gate Park in SF has a little bit of everything, and is a pretty cool place as well.

If you were driving, you could do the drive along the coast and stop in Monterey- the aquarium is pretty fantastic, the scenery is beautiful, and the food is great. There are also quite a few wineries in the area and there's a wine pass that you can get for a good price on tastings.

Yosemite is beautiful year round, but admittedly best in the spring when the waterfalls are running. If you like gorgeous outdoor areas- Lake Tahoe is also fantastic (but I'm admittedly quite biased)

How many people in your party and ages? What type of outdoorsy do you like? What kind of scenery are you looking for?
What types of activities do you normally enjoy? Museums? Zoos? Wine tasting? (We have wineries all over the state so there will always be some to choose from)

 

[usnuzuloose]

Yosemite could be hit or miss during November. It is a high climb and a very winding road. It could be full of snow. Be aware with SF a lot of places do charge for parking. Including the hotels. I second the motion for Monterey, I am biased as well for that area. Tahoe again could be hit or miss for snow and driving there.

 

[bcla]

Yosemite could be hit or miss during November. It is a high climb and a very winding road. It could be full of snow. Be aware with SF a lot of places do charge for parking. Including the hotels. I second the motion for Monterey, I am biased as well for that area. Tahoe again could be hit or miss for snow and driving there.

I've been to Yosemite several times during the winter. One time it was unseasonably warm in December and there was zero snow on the valley floor. Then I proceeded to drive home and saw blue skies, rain, then light snow in a span of 5 minutes. I think part of it was the elevation change as I was going higher in elevation on the way to Hetch Hetchy.

It is beautiful in the snow however. The waterfalls are actually fuller than when I've visited in late summer.

This might give an idea of the weather:

http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/CANPYOSE:13

And yes the weather can be freakish in fall, although you'll be able to find some place warm if you stay on the ground. There was a Japanese couple that were climbing up El Capitan in October. The weather was actually quite acceptable when the started and they didn't bring cold weather gear to save weight. Then a freakish snowstorm hit and they froze to death on the side. They apparently knew the storm was coming but thought it would be over quickly.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0502/excerpt3.html

Two mountain climbers were found dangling lifeless on the side of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park on Wednesday after snowstorms stranded hikers throughout the Central Sierra.

The climbers were spotted Tuesday by Yosemite rangers but could not be reached because of driving wind and snow brought by a storm from the Gulf of Alaska that swooped across much of California over the weekend.

A helicopter crew took off Wednesday as the storm began to clear and spotted the climbers about two-thirds of the way up the 3,200-foot face, Park Ranger Deb Schweizer said.

"They were not equipped for a winter storm," she said.

The bodies of the man and woman, who were from Japan and whose names weren't released, were expected to be retrieved today.

It should be easier to find lodging in November, but it still tends to sell out. However, summer booking often fill up as soon as they're available, while winter/late fall bookings might still be available months to weeks in advance. I've even heard of walk-up bookings at the Ahwahnee Hotel being half price, although you never know if they'll be available.

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

I would also vote for the coastal drive up to SF from LA. It's really lovely, and you can stop in any number of towns along the way - Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo is just a bit inland and has a very cute downtown area, Solvang is another city just a little inland with a Danish themed downtown, then farther up the coast there's San Simeon (Hearst Castle), Big Sur, Monterey, Santa Cruz...all really lovely and each with their own unique flavor.

For outdoorsy stuff near SF, I recommend Muir Woods. It's just north of the golden gate bridge and has some beautiful trails in the redwoods. A great place to visit big trees!

Another good place for seeing coastal redwoods is Henry Cowell state park in the Santa Cruz mountains between San Jose and Santa Cruz. It's right next to Roaring Camp Railroad, so if you have any train buffs it's fun to check that out, too.

As a PP mentioned, Golden Gate Park in SF has tons of things to do - lots of museums. There's also Pier 39/Fisherman's Wharf, Ghiradelli Square, The Exploratorium, etc.

Hope that helps!

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

Oh, and as for the flying vs. driving thing, the Mythbusters just did an episode where they tested flying from SF to LA vs driving, and they found that flying was slightly faster, but not by much! I think it was less than an hour difference in total. We've done both, and for us it just depends on what kind of trip we're doing. If the point of our trip is to get down to LA and we have a scheduled time we need to arrive, we usually fly. If we're having a vacation where we want to explore and enjoy the journey as much as the destination, then we drive and stop along the way. Occasionally we drive just to save money on not renting a car when we get down there, and then we usually are taking the not-so-scenic route along I-5.

 

[bcla]

Oh, and as for the flying vs. driving thing, the Mythbusters just did an episode where they tested flying from SF to LA vs driving, and they found that flying was slightly faster, but not by much! I think it was less than an hour difference in total. We've done both, and for us it just depends on what kind of trip we're doing. If the point of our trip is to get down to LA and we have a scheduled time we need to arrive, we usually fly. If we're having a vacation where we want to explore and enjoy the journey as much as the destination, then we drive and stop along the way. Occasionally we drive just to save money on not renting a car when we get down there, and then we usually are taking the not-so-scenic route along I-5.

I've mentioned in another thread that I met up with my cousin's family who flew to San Francisco from Southern California. They've driven up here many times before and I asked why they didn't this time. They said their kid gets carsick and in fact got airsick on the way over. They also had no car so they took the bus, which couldn't have been very good for her motion sickness either.