California Family Roadtrip

Zazie

Mon: San Fran (Raddison Fishermans Wharf) how much are taxi from airport to the wharf roughly?
Can't help you with that as we took the train (quick and easy), though if you have 2 tired children with you a taxi would probably be best. Btw, you really don't need a car in SF. We bought a MUNI pass at the airport (you buy for the number of days you are there) which gives you free travel on all the local public transport (underground, buses, trolley buses, and even the cable cars a 3-day adult ticket is $20 and a 7-day one $26, if I remember correctly)
Tue: SF (boat trip etc)
If you are going to Alcatraz, you will get a bit of a boat ride out to the island and back anyway, so you could do something else this day: walk across the Golden Gate Bridge? Visit Golden Gate Park? Pier 39?
Wed: SF (Alcatraz)
We did this in April and really enjoyed it. Did not book tickets in advance and the day we showed up they were sold out. So probably best to book via Internet (same cost whether online or in person, we never found any money off vouchers for Alcatraz).
Thu: Pick up hire car (should I arrange a pick up at Union Square or get a taxi to the airport depot?
WE braved it and picked up in the city centre and it what surprisingly OK to find our way out.
Fri: Yosemite
WE didn;t go this way - weent down Highway 1, along the coast.
Sat: Death Valley or somewhere in between yosemite and vegas (to break the journey up)
If you want to stay in Death Valley itself, there are really only 2 places to stay (Furnace Creek and Stovepipe Wells). Both need to be booked as far ahead as possible (though I think you can cancel up until the day befor you're due to arrive). We stayed at Stovepipe Wells http://www.stovepipewells.com/ and thought it was great. But in May it will be VERY hot in the desert. (it was over 100 degrees when we were there in April, and then the next week it was snowing at the Grand Canyon!)
ps You will have a brilliant time, just be sure you do leave a bit of relaxation time every few days.

laughingsheep

I'm researching a similar trip for next year as well and for the Yosemite to Las Vegas leg we are thinking of a stop over in Lone Pine just outside of Death Valley. Our plan is to drive through Death Valley in a day on the way to Vegas and have ear-marking Lone Pine for the overnight as we didn't fancy the cost/quality ratio of the accommodation in Death Valley itself and would prefer to spend our money on better hotels elsewhere.

HTH.

northwest1965

laughingsheep wrote: »

I'm researching a similar trip for next year as well and for the Yosemite to Las Vegas leg we are thinking of a stop over in Lone Pine just outside of Death Valley. Our plan is to drive through Death Valley in a day on the way to Vegas and have ear-marking Lone Pine for the overnight as we didn't fancy the cost/quality ratio of the accommodation in Death Valley itself and would prefer to spend our money on better hotels elsewhere.

HTH.

What is your itinery looking like?:D

laughingsheep

northwest1965 wrote: »

What is your itinery looking like?:D

My favourite topic, talking about my hols! We're planning on end of September, early October next year and the current itinery is as follows (subject to change depending on what I learn here and on Tripadvisor!)

LA 2 nights: Plan on doing a bus tour to catch the highlights and then picking up a car and heading of to ...
Palm Springs 3 nights: Joshua Tree National Park, Palm Springs Aerial Tramway and a bit of a chill out pool side. Then (thanks to Boatman on the MSE forums for this!) leaving via Palm Springs>Twentynine Palms>Amboy>Kelso>Cima to...
Las Vegas 3/4 nights: will include a day trip to the Grand Canyon, as yet undecided on whether to bus trip or drive it, plus taking in the strip and maybe Fire Valley as well. The latter part is DH's idea, it might be a bit of desert too far for me as we are then heading to...
Lone Pine 1 night: via Death Valley, a long days driving! Plan on hitting Rhyolite (the ghost town), bad water basin and the Mesquite sand dunes at Stovepipe Wells.
Yosemite 3 nights
Monterey 1 night: still debating on whether this is worth the one night stop over - have heard great things about the Pacific Coast Highway, but I also prefer to limit the one nighters.
San Francisco 4 nights: drop of the hire car on arrival and see Alcatraz, Golden Gate etc before flying out.

northwest1965

Wow 18 nights...lucky you:D

jackieblack

uncovered wrote: »

Hello all, been reading this forum for months now for ideas and I thought it was now time to ask some of you for your opinions.

I have booked up my flights for next year with BA and will be flying into San Francisco on Monday May 16th and out of San Francisco on Thursday June 2nd.

Plenty of time to now think about our itinery, although got this years Portugal holiday to get out of the way first!

Our party includes Mammy, Daddy and my two lads who will be 11 and 7 when we go.

So here is my current plan:

Mon: San Fran (Raddison Fishermans Wharf) how much are taxi from airport to the wharf roughly? IIRC it was abot $42 to Holiday inn FW so we gave cabbie $50 inc tip
Tue: SF (boat trip etc)
Wed: SF (Alcatraz)
Thu: Pick up hire car (should I arrange a pick up at Union Square or get a taxi to the airport depot? and then off to Yosemite (curry village)
Fri: Yosemite
Sat: Death Valley or somewhere in between yosemite and vegas (to break the journey up)
Sun: Vegas
Mon: Vegas (helicopter up and down the strip (I have been with the OH to Vegas before so think one day is enough for us and the kids, just to say they have been there and they will like the hotels, venetian, NYNY etc)
Tues: Grand Canyon via Hoover Dam: I fancy staying at the Maswik Lodge.
Wed: Gran Canyon
Thurs: heading to Los Angeles, again long journey so am wanted to stay over somewhere half way but have yet found anywhere kind of interesting. We stayed overnight in Lake Havasu City, and drive on the old road (Rt 66) rather than the interstate, it's a much more interesting road and doesn't take that much longer.
Fri: Los Angeles
Sat: Los Angeles (bus tour of the stars, hollywood etc)
Sun: Universal Studios (we were going to do disney but I think the lads will prefer Universal as it looks more exciting for them and ofcourse it is cheaper!)
Mon:-Thurs Nothing really planned, maybe could extend our stay by a day or two at some previous stops but would possibly like a couple of days chilling at the end of the holiday near a beach.

We fly at 5pm on the Thursday and I wouldn't mind staying at a hotel near the airport on the wednesday night.

During the holiday we wouldn't mind a couple of rest days, just chilling around a pool or something, but it may be worth keeping those chill out days to the end as there appears to be some nice beaches between LA and SF which we could hit at the end of the holiday as we try to recouperate. Loads of great places up Rt1, we stayed in Ventura (easy route in to Six Flags Magic Mountain) and Pismo Beach but you are spoilt for choice along the coast. (Santa Barbara is lovely, but more expensive.)

Any advise, tips etc would be appreciated. The car journeys at the most I would like to be 4 or 5 hours.

I am not loaded either, so am wondering how expensive it is to eat out etc. I was hoping around $100 a day for food. Hotel wise, top limit $180 a night, with stays at Circus Circus or the likes in Vegas bringing the average nightly rate down. We budget $100 per day for 3 of us (DD is 14), but if you can get accomodation which gives free breakfast this helps stretch the budget!

cheers


scott

My answers in red. Hope some of this helps

Zazie

Monterey 1 night: still debating on whether this is worth the one night stop over - have heard great things about the Pacific Coast Highway, but I also prefer to limit the one nighters.
.[/QUOTE]
It's a great drive. The Monterey peninsula is good for an overnight as you can see Monterey (the aquarium is really world-class), Carmel (quaint upmarket village with little shops and nice beach - we went in the evening after the aquarium to see the sunset on the beach and have dinner), and there is also Point Lobos National park just a couple of miles south of Carmel with lovely walks and sea lions playing on the beach.

laughingsheep

Thanks Zazie, the aquarium and sea lions are definately swaying me in favour of it!

rmiller

I was born and raised in SF, California so let me see if I can help.

Getting a cab from the airport can sometimes be crazy. Look into BART (the train system). You can get BART direct from the airport to Embarcadero Station. Get off here and then get a cab. A lot quicker cause traffic can be insane!

In Yosemite you can stay in tent cabins which are quite cool expierence. They are located in Yosemite in Curry Village.

At the last part of your trip in LA, try and visit Santa Barbara. It's about 1 hour and 45 min drive from LA. It's a pretty great place to go and visit for a day if you have the access to a car.

I hope this helps a little...Have a great trip!

westiea

Hi
just wanted to say if you are not set on Fishermans Wharf - very very touristy - The Chancellor Hotel on Union Square is great - very reasonable, right in the centre and they do cheap packages where they include off site parking. Check it out on Tripadvisor.