Suggestions needed for our upcoming California trip during Christmas

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Hey fellow parents…

An Expat NJ family here with 2 high school sons. It is our family tradition to visit a place in Europe every Christmas to celebrate my birthday and my wife’s birthday which happens to be right after Christmas.

This year, due to Covid and due to war in Ukraine, we decided to visit California for the first time. We are landing in San Francisco and then driving to LA and our return flight is from LA. Considering we will spend 6 days there, what would some of your suggestions be regarding California?

Thanks in advance for all the responses.

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Skip LA and keep going to San Diego. You might not want to leave.

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When driving from SF to LA, you have choices of routes, trading off scenery and speed.

If you want to spend a lot of time in SF proper, many places in SF proper would mean a car is more hassle than it is worth, so maybe go without a car the first day or two, then rent a car for going to places where driving makes sense.

BART subway goes from SFO or OAK airport to downtown SF.

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What are the main interests? Nature? Cultural sites? History? Architecture? Food and/or wine? Might help us give suggestions. Even within nature…do you have preferences for beach versus mountains versus unique features (sequoia trees, etc.)? For architecture, would you go out of the way to see Hearst Castle or out of the way to see celebrity homes? Etc. With a winter trip there might be pass issues (snow) but even taking mountain passes out of the picture there are many routes to choose from (as alluded to above, speed versus scenery in getting between SF and LA). Lots and lots of options that won’t all fit in just 6 days but you’ll be able to have a bunch of diverse experiences if you want. It’s truly a nation onto itself.

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This will be fun! Agree, it will help to know your interests. But also, do not set foot on I-5. It’s 101 and PCH for this kind of adventure. :slight_smile:

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i dont live in California; but have; and spent 3 weeks in the bay area this summer. it was great; did something new every day. My favorite thing was visiting Muir Woods where a grove of redwoods grows. it was wonderful; actually bought a pass and visited 3 times. we’ve been to LA before with our family; we liked the beaches south of LA and the tidepools and love San Diego for sure. You will have a great trip! (and my avatar is from San Diego. i smile at the pix!)

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Some thoughts & suggestions in no particular order:

  • if starting in SF, don’t get your rental car until you’re done w/touring SF. If you DO get a rental car in SF and park it at your SF hotel, then be aware that you might be directed to leave the car unlocked. Break ins are REALLY BAD all over SF.
  • Going to Muir Woods just north of SF now requires a reservation.
  • SF Chinatown has some amazing dim sum restaurants.
  • The Disney Family Museum in the Presidio in SF is pretty amazing.
  • the drive on PCH from SF to LA takes FOREVER.
  • You won’t be able to do it all in 6 days. So just plan on having some highlights.
  • For example…northern CA highlights would be: maybe 1 overnight in SF, do the touristy SF thing, THEN pick up rental car and drive Hwy 1 down to Monterey & Carmel. Spend part of the day visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Carmel Village has cute & expensive boutique-y shops. Then head toward Hwy 101.
  • Drive 101 south to Santa Barbara. Do an overnight or 2 in SB. Cheaper places to stay in Goleta. If you want primo place to stay, there’s a Ritz Carlton in Goleta. SB also has a 4 Seasons resort, I think. Eat at the original Hamburger Habit in downtown Goleta (before they spread everywhere in CA & AZ).
  • drive 101 south until you can break off to PCH/Hwy 1. Follow that through Malibu just for sight seeing purposes.
  • good friends of mine love visiting the Getty museum in Malibu. But if you have 2 HS sons, they won’t find this interesting at all.
  • Many 1st time visitors to LA think that Hollywood is going to be super glamorous, so if you want to see the Chinese theater and all that, go ahead, but Hollywood Blvd pretty much smells like urine and it’s grimy, full of homeless people and all that jazz.
  • Given your HS sons, spend 1 night at a hotel near Universal. Do 1 day at Universal Studios Hollywood.
  • If you want to have more theme park focus, then switch next day to Disneyland. Do 2 days at Disneyland. Buy park hopper tickets. Stay at a motel right across the street (walking distance). Closest one is Best Western Park Place Inn. If you’re doing Disneyland, pay extra for Genie+ (read about it online).
  • Drive to San Diego and do an overnight in San Diego. Go tour the aircraft carrier museum and shop around Seaport Village (very close by). There’s also Old Town San Diego which has some good Mexican restaurants. My teenagers now find the SD Zoo to be “boring.” Del Mar is kind of nearby as well…right on the beach, has some carnival rides and a roller coaster.
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Also, if you’re going to go to Disneyland around Christmas, you should expect to need park reservations. Make your decisions now and book the park reservations…it isn’t enough to just have a ticket. You need a ticket AND a reservation to enter a park for that day. If you have park hopper ticket, you can hop to the other park starting at either 1 or 2 pm (I can’t remember which time it is). And if you want sit-down restaurant eating, you can book that I believe 60 days beforehand. They go really fast, so plan accordingly. Quick service food at Disneyland is really good, though, so if you can’t get table service, it’s ok.

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There is so much to do and see on the SF-LA sector that six days will fly by. Great suggestions here already, but, because I am lazy, so I suggest you also google something like this: “six day trip san francisco los angeles”

TONS of itinerary suggestions pop up.

Have a great time!

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Are the 2 HS boys looking at colleges, or are you interested in seeing some campuses even if they don’t want to apply? Last Christmastime we swung by the Berkeley campus when meeting friends in SF, and when it’s empty like that (winter holidays) you can really appreciate the trees and beauty of the place. So many other campuses to consider as well: Stanford is great, UCLA/Westwood is great, too. There won’t be a student scene at that time, though, so won’t be able to catch the vibe.

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Echoing others - what do the kids like to do? (I have one that only wants to visit stadiums and swimming pools when we travel.)

As others said, campuses will be closed but you could just check out colleges along the way and see a lot of variety in the surrounding communities as well (Stanford, UC Santa Cruz, UC Santa Barbara, UCLA, USC)

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Note that you have two aircraft carrier museums to choose from on the trip:

  1. Hornet in Alameda (near Oakland/SF).
  2. Midway in San Diego.

Midway is a newer, bigger ship, although more out of the way if you were not planning to go further south than LA.

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Fun fact: the Hornet saw lots of action in WWII, but is also universally famous for being the recovery ship for Apollo 11 and Apollo 12. Both crews (including Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins) stayed in an Airstream trailer for several days to make sure they had not picked up any viruses or other nasty stuff on the Moon that could spread on Earth.

Quite possibly totally irrelevant to what OP and family wants to do, but this is one I would see if I were going!

Apollo 11 crew and President Nixon on the Hornet:

Michael Beschloss on Twitter: "Wearing buttons saying “Hornet Plus Three,” Apollo 11 astronauts are welcomed back by President Nixon, who calls it “the greatest week in the history of the world since
Michael Beschloss on Twitter: "Wearing buttons saying “Hornet Plus Three,” Apollo 11 astronauts are welcomed back by President Nixon, who calls it “the greatest week in the history of the world since1882×1342 477 KB

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I think @sbinaz meant Santa Monica or Mission Beach in San Diego.

Del Mar does NOT have carnival rides and a roller coaster. Del Mar has really strict environmental laws to reduce anything that can cause damage to the beach or bluffs. The beach is nice. The L’Auberge is a really nice hotel in Del Mar. It can get very chilly. The rooms are quaint and have fireplaces. The rooms go fast around Christmas.

SF has BART and good public transportation. The rest of the state does not. You will be in car country the minute you head south of SF.

California has lots of farmland as you drive south. It is a long drive during the holidays, I-5, PCH/101 can get very busy and slow. I-5 and S99 are full of semis and farm vehicles. If you’re going to only be here for 6 days, you may want to fly Southwest for $39 (the rate now) out of the San Jose airport and fly into John Wayne in Long Beach to avoid LAX and SF. You will save a full day of driving and our gas is hovering at ~$6.+/- per gallon. If you don’t rent a hybrid, your gas costs will be more than the flights going in and out of NorCal and SoCal.

Hint: Please don’t call it “Cali”. The locals hate that term that was invented by non-Californians. It’s either the name of the city, or SoCal/NorCal.

Daughter spent 4 years at UCSF. Her car was broken into ($600 window repair on a Sunday!) so everyone leaves their doors open to avoid having to pay for repairs. She parked in parking garages (assume $40 to $60 per day depending on the area) and someone side-swiped her car (driver’s side passenger door to back bumper)! It was a nice car, but every corner of her car still has damage from the parking garages in SF. She had internships all over the Bay area so she had to have a car. SF has become very seedy, so please be aware of where you are walking.

Everyone has already covered what to see and do. Please be aware that our state can range in extreme weather. It can be chilly weather (more common in Bay Area) or we may have hot temperatures (in the 90’s).

Have a great time!

Edited to add: if you want to see the California coast from PCH, it is very scenic and beautiful but be patient, bring snacks, get gas when you see a gas station, and remember, the roads are narrow and may have construction going on.

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Yeah, it was Mission Beach I was thinking of.

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If you’re in SF, get on a ferry or boat tour. No better way to see the area than being out on the water. If you are staying in the City, it really depends on what you like, but you gotta ride the cable cars, eat in Chinatown, walk in Golden Gate Park–see the Palace of Fine Arts, maybe a museum? The MoMA is my favorite.

Yes, do not drive in SF proper to activities. There is plenty of public transit and you can walk to a lot.

If you have a car, you can drive across the Golden Gate and go to Sausalito. Or out to Berkeley and up to Cal for a great view of the City.

I don’t think Muir Woods is worth the traffic and crowds. Big Basin or Henry Cowell State Parks, just outside Santa Cruz are just as nice without the crowds. You have great food choices in downtown Santa Cruz (which I think high school kids would like the main drag). Pop up to UC campus, park by the gym and walk out to the track for a great view of Monterey Bay. If you want redwoods without real trekking, just follow the footpaths and bridges around the campus.

Monterey Bay Aquarium is filled with the stroller-crowd, but it is worth it. Make a reservation at the restaurant. If you can, start as late as possible. Everyone with a stroller is there at opening.

Yes, don’t take the 5.

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John Wayne is in Santa Ana (airport code SNA), and Long Beach (LGB) is a different airport. Just pointing this out in case they start searching for flights. Both are very easy to navigate airports.

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John Wayne airport is about 20 min from Disneyland. Long Beach airport is about 45 min to an hour from Disneyland. If starting LA portion of trip in Hollywood area, though, I’d recommend flying from SF to Burbank airport.

Anaheim to San Diego will take you about 2 hr to drive.

Also, if you’re a museum sort of family, the California Sciences Center in the middle of LA is pretty great. An actual space shuttle is there. It’s pretty amazing to stand underneath it. Right next door is the LA Museum of Natural History…parts of Night At The Museum were filmed there.

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Thank you @twoinanddone! I was thinking John Wayne and then added Long Beach! What the heck was I thinking!

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If you’re looking for a fun way to see SF with your teen boys, try renting these fun little yellow cars for a half day:

We live in Marin and did this for fun a few years ago. You can go at your own pace, and driving the little cars feels special and different. Since you don’t have a lot of time, it’s also helpful to cover a lot of ground.

The Golden Gate Park and Presidio Park tour will take you through some of my favorite parts of the city.

If you do want to hit up Muir Woods but don’t want to deal with the reservations and the crowds, you can dip into the park through Mount Tam State Park. Only do this if you’re into hiking and ok with a workout on the way out. Here’s the trail that we’ve taken:

Reward your climb with a stop at the Mountain Home In.

To me, Muir is worth seeing. The old growth redwoods are spectacular and a must-see in any trip to CA. If you want to spend more time in Marin, head over to Stinson Beach—a sweet little beach town. Get a loaf of freshly baked bread and dip it in the best pesto ever at Parkside Cafe.

The drive from SF—take the 280 (not the 101) out of town to head through the peninsula. You’ll pass over the San Andreas fault (the statue of Junipero Serra pointing to the fault line is visible from the freeway, but easy to miss this bit of local history). Depending on your appetite for more stops, Half Moon Bay is great. Weather is often moody there—as it is in many of the areas right on the coast in CA. It’s beautiful—the fog and mist create are a definite Northern CA vibe.

I’d head down to Monterey from here. The aquarium is fun and the town is good for a stop. If you’re going lux, Carmel by the sea is the place to stay. If you’re looking for a little more funk, Monterey itself is great. But so is a little town called Pacific Grove. In late Dec and early Jan, the butterflies settle to winter in Pacific Grove. Take a pair of binoculars to the sanctuary, it’s free and good for a quick stop. Last year, the butterfly population there was enormous. They hang in the trees and can be mistaken for branches and leaves, but a good pair of binoculars will help you see the clumps for what they are—thousands of sleeping butterflies.

I’ll write more later as I have time. I’m a fourth generation Californian who spent decades driving between the Bay Area and Santa Barbara, went to school in San Diego and now have a daughter at UCLA. It’s a nice walk down memory lane to think about the places we’ve loved.

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