where to stay between yosemite and anaheim

phatbear

Im just in the throws of booking up a road trip on the west coast of america.

We have to fly into san francisco, and we're going to drive to yosemite after a few days and spend some time there.

We want to make our way down to anaheim for disney and then do la for couple of days and then san diego.

So given that its a schlep from yosemite to LA we are trying to break the drive up a bit I was considering Monterey for a couple of days, unless someone can come up with a better suggestion, but then i want somewhere between Montery and LA that would be ok for a night or two.

So any suggestions would be most welcome

PeacefulWaters

If you're planning a drive down the wonderful Highway One coast road keep an eye on which bits are accessible.

http://www.latimes.com/travel/deals/la-tr-california-highway-1-pauls-slide-reopens-20170720-htmlstory.html

Morro Bay, Ventura Beach etc are good locations to consider. But if access involves driving inland first you might not appreciate that!

phatbear

Thanks for that i did know about the closures but theres a potential it will be open by the time we go, they have opened some of it, you can drive down to big sur at the mo.

sew_what

Monteray is lovely - the Aquarium is fantastic and I can highly reccomend Sanctury Whale Watching tours from Moss Landing https://www.sanctuarycruises.com/. Pacific Grove is the next town to Monteray and we've stayed there twice, it's a lovely place with some beautiful arcitecture and a stunning coast. It's also the gateway to 17 mile drive and the coastal road.
Further down the coast San Luis Obispo is another lovely town - we stayed at the slightly bonkers Madonna Inn http://www.madonnainn.com/ Every room has a different theme, it has a popular (if expensive) restaurant and the pool is lovely. San Luis has some realy interesting independant restuarants - it's on my list of places to spend more time in when we next visit.
Pizmo Beach is OK - seaside resort done the American way, with a large sandy beach and pier.
Don't miss Hearst Castle (book ahead) and the beaches with elephant seals on the way!
Oh, and my top tips - don't pick your car up until you're ready to leave San Fran as you won't need it and it's expensive to park, and book way ahead for Yosemite - we stayed in Foresta - just outside the valley but inside the park so avoided the traffic queues every day!
Enjoy your trip!

phatbear

thanks for the post.

we were picking the car up as we leave san francisco as ive been before, first time for the other half, so i know what a pain parking can be.

Yosemite is being booked as we speak, some of the hotels/lodges are eye wateringly expensive, it looks like we are staying in west yosemite, which apart from el portal seems to be the closest we can get to the main valley entrance.

Top tips for places to stay driving to LA. i'll have a look at hotels, im trying to save a few quid on the drive down as san francisco and yosemite have taken a massive bite out of our holiday fund

Backbiter

We drove from LA to San Francisco in August. We stopped in Santa Barbara and Morro Bay. Really liked both places.
We also stopped to see the Elephant seals (amazing) just north of Hearst castle, which we didn't have time for. Had to head inland due to the closures, and stopped off at a nice town called Paso Robles en route to Monterey, where we stayed. Very touristy but nice.
The next day we went to Carmel, which is also touristy but very pretty, with a gorgeous beach. From there we headed south down the ocean highway, which is breathtaking, but had to turn back due to the closures. Our final night was in Santa Cruz, which is a nice but slightly underwhelming seaside town - more Blackpool than Cannes. The sea in August was colder than here n Wales.

Absolutely loved our trip. On our last night in San Fran we had the amazing luck to catch Tom Petty playing in Berkeley - one of his last ever shows before his very sad death three weeks ago.

jackieblack

We did exactly this trip a few years ago. Between Yosemite and LA we spent a few days in Monterey, staying just outside (in Seaside) as hotels were cheaper but only a few minutes drive away, two nights in Pismo Beach (DD & ex-h took a surf lesson), we stayed at Kon Tiki Inn on the recommendation of someone on here (it was lovely and we wished we'd had longer here), and in Ventura for easy access to Six Flags Magic Mountain.

hollie.weimeraner

Hi, we did a road trip last September (https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g1-i12567-k9891676-Trip_report_Sept_2016-Road_Trips.html) and had a great time but a bit different to yours as we went to Vegas from Yosemite but did stop at Monterey and Cambria prior to Yosemite. I can really recommend Lone Oak Lodge as a place to stay in Monterey as it is affordable and although about 10 to 15 minutes from the harbour there is also free parking. We drove down to Cambria along the Pacific Highway but encountered mist for quite a bit of the way.
We stayed over at Cambria Pines Hotel but if you do that then make sure you eat out in Cambria the hotel restaurant is shocking (the hotel rooms are great though) although the breakfast was good.
Enjoy your trip, the West coast people we encountered are really friendly and driving is very relaxed once you get out of SF.
Other advice would be to get your own US Sat Nav before you go, hire companies charge a fortune and also get your Collision Damage Insurance in the UK as well (http://www.insurance4carhire.com/guides/insurance/cdw-and-sli-explained)
Probably the best holiday we have ever had

John259

If the coastal highway isn't open, you might want to consider an inland route. You could stay in Porterville (which is a nice medium sized town) and use it as a base to visit Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks.
Map: https://goo.gl/maps/jQThHDmP3Ts
Just an idea.

For Yosemite, the further you stay from the park, the easier it is to find accommodation at a reasonable price. The town of Mariposa is worth considering (45 miles from Yosemite Valley). FWIW I've always stayed in Merced but most people seem to think that at 80 miles it's too far away.

michele-p

We did a road trip for our honeymoon 8 years ago

We drove from San Francisco to Carmel (via Monterey and Pebble beach), and stayed here; https://www.ticklepinkinn.com/ (think the prices may have gone up a lot!)

then drove inland to Yosemite and stayed here, it's just outside the park: http://www.stayyosemiteviewlodge.com/ it was a bit cheaper than the others

jackieblack

michele-p wrote: »

drove inland to Yosemite and stayed here, it's just outside the park: http://www.stayyosemiteviewlodge.com/ it was a bit cheaper than the others

We stayed here too.
It was cheaper than staying inside the park but only a short drive in each day