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Wanted suggestions for summer trip plans. West Coast is the target land.

Las Vegas and GC are out of the plan as we've already been there.

Los Angeles - Yes for kids! In dilemma whether to include San Diego / San Francisco / Yosmite.

Will be travelling with 2 kids (5 and 1 1/2). Depending upon good plan the vacation can be planned from 5 days to 8 days. Got round trip tickets on hand. Can travel from any where to anywhere with in US.

Looking for some good suggestions and kids friendly vacation plan.

Any ideas.....?

Thanks in advance...

#41 RJ,

There are a couple of good itineraries in this thread. You can take a look at those, and remove the cities you decide not to go to. I would say go to LA, San Diego and SFO.

With kids of that age, and it being a longish 5-8 days trip, Yosemite is best skipped. It is my favorite destination, but as part of a longer trip, it is not worth the time and driving it takes. If you haven't already, you could go to Yellowstone Natl Park another time, instead of Yosemite. In addition, it will be almost impossible to find hotel accommodation within Yosemite at this time for any day in summer. Even in the nearby towns, it will be quite tough, and you might have to arrange the rest of your trip around the days you find accommodation. The problem with staying outside Yosemite Natl Park is that the drive is almost 45 min to one hour, and you cannot go back to hotel in the middle to rest. If there are old parents or in-laws also travelling, then Yosemite is even more not a good idea.

I would suggest treating LA and San Diego part of the trip as for the kids, and choosing things to do for kids there, and exploring SFO as adults : ) I guess you could fly to LA and fly back from SFO.

rimjhim;290404Wanted suggestions for summer trip plans. West Coast is the target land.

Got round trip tickets on hand. Can travel from any where to anywhere with in US.

Looking for some good suggestions and kids friendly vacation plan.

Any ideas.....?

RJ - First, I am not being sarcastic. Now,

This is similar to what a close relative of mine is planning for this summer.

Fly to Anchorage,
Take one way Cruise from Anchorage, Alaska to Vancouver, BC
Stay for a few days in Vancouver, Whistler, Victoria, etc in Canada (New hotels constructed for the Winter Olympics will have great deals now)
Drive to Seattle.. On the way visit San Juan Islands and Kayak in the Pacific Ocean
If not, Take the train from Vancouver to Seattle (Said to be very scenic)
Visit Mt. Rainier near Seattle
Fly back from Seattle.

Or, you can plan the trip other way round. Flying into Seattle and flying out from Anchorage.

(Leave SFO, LAX for business trips)

PS: If weather is good.. you can see Russia from Anchorage. Ask Sarah Palin. :~0)

Agree with #43. This itinerary is any time better than LA, SFO etc., unless the kids are old enough to insist on Disneyland.
Cyberabadi, it is interesting how the query and vacation plans can change when some parts are taken out!

MV / Cyberbadi thanks! :)

Checked our tickets again. Only round trip can be made. No Multi City. So that eliminates Cruise idea. :(

Yeah...even we are getting inclined towards skipping Yosemite. Might not be a feasible one now.

Kind of narrowing down the choices to Los Angeles and San Francisco. Need to find out more regarding San Diego tourist attractions.

We might have to drive to and fro between Los Angeles and San Francisco due to round trip tickets. Bit long drive. Not sure if kids would have that much of patience.
Are there any attractions between SFO and Los Angeles that we can cover with a night stop over?

rimjhim,

Last winter I did Las Vegas -> San Diego -> Los Angeles -> San Franscisco trip.

The best place was San Diego.
We visited SeaWorld and San Diego Zoo.
I took half a day bus tour of San Diego which pick us up from hotel and dropped back at hotel.

We stayed in Embassy Suites La Jolla
http://embassysuites1.hilton.com/en_US/es/hotel/SANLJES-Embassy-Suites-San-Diego-La-Jolla-California/index.do
It is little pricy but very kids friendly hotel.
La Jolla is posh neighborhood.

I drove along coast from LA to SFO and stayed overnight at Pismo Beach at ocean front hotel.
We stayed at Best Western Shelter Cove http://www.bwsheltercove.com/
very nice hotel with oceanview from your room balcony and complementary breakfast.

pm me if u need any info.

--ngj

Reviving the thread - we are planning a April last week trip to LA-SanDiego and if possible to LasVegas/GrandCanyon. Nice info on this thread, would really appreciate if anyone can give more info on:

(i) flying in from east coast with arrival and departure from LA. vacation is for 10 days/9 nights including the travelling days. Is it enough to add Las Vegas and Grand Canyon?
(ii) travelling with two kids (9 and 7) with main leg of trip being LA-San Diego with tentative plan of spending 2 days on Disneyland, 1 day on Universal, 1 day SeaWorld, 1 day zoo/safari, 1 day for misc or any other based on kids interest. That leaves us 3 more days - and we originally thought of driving to Las Vegas and spend that night in LV and next day go to Grand Canyon spend the night and comeback to LA on third day. My 9-yr son has a fascination for GC and that is why we thought of doing it - but now thinking it may be too hectic and not sure about the weather in GC. Also as we are going with kids not sure if the trip to Las Vegas is worth the trip. Any advice on this leg would be appreciated ( do kids enjoy Las Vegas trip).
(iii) Any advice on tickets for attractions (Disney+Universal+seaworld+zoo) is appreciated as well. Is it better to buy the SoCal ticket or buy individual tickets?

(iv) one specific question - if we go for disneyland resort, do we still need to rent the car? one advice we got is to stay in disney resorts for the disneyland part of the trip (2 or 3 nights) and rent the car after wards. is it doable?

(v) any more recos for LA/Anaheim/San Diego area hotels in <150 price range would be appreciated as well.

thanks and sorry for the long post.

soxfan;382818Reviving the thread - we are planning a April last week trip to LA-SanDiego and if possible to LasVegas/GrandCanyon. Nice info on this thread, would really appreciate if anyone can give more info on:
(i) flying in from east coast with arrival and departure from LA. vacation is for 10 days/9 nights including the travelling days. Is it enough to add Las Vegas and Grand Canyon?.

Yes, it is enough. 2 days in LA, 2 in SD, 2 in LV, 1 for GC and rest for driving.

Here is my suggestion - fly into San Diego. After completing SD, drive to LA, then to LV and fly out from there. This way your driving is minimised and you save time. Get car rental for the entire trip as distances are vast in that region.

soxfan;382818(ii) travelling with two kids (9 and 7) with main leg of trip being LA-San Diego with tentative plan of spending 2 days on Disneyland, 1 day on Universal, 1 day SeaWorld, 1 day zoo/safari, 1 day for misc or any other based on kids interest. That leaves us 3 more days - and we originally thought of driving to Las Vegas and spend that night in LV and next day go to Grand Canyon spend the night and comeback to LA on third day. My 9-yr son has a fascination for GC and that is why we thought of doing it - but now thinking it may be too hectic and not sure about the weather in GC. Also as we are going with kids not sure if the trip to Las Vegas is worth the trip. Any advice on this leg would be appreciated ( do kids enjoy Las Vegas trip)..

Skip Safari in SD. It is just a storage place for excess animals that can not be accomodated in SD Zoo. LV used to be kid friendly once, but now it has gone back to be an adult entertainment place. Leave the kids in the hotel room with a babysitter and you two can go out for some naughty shows. One night is enough for LV as the city is dead during daytime.

soxfan;382818(iii) Any advice on tickets for attractions (Disney+Universal+seaworld+zoo) is appreciated as well. Is it better to buy the SoCal ticket or buy individual tickets??.

Check with your company, many of them have discounted tickets. Or use your AAA membership.

soxfan;382818(iv) one specific question - if we go for disneyland resort, do we still need to rent the car? one advice we got is to stay in disney resorts for the disneyland part of the trip (2 or 3 nights) and rent the car after wards. is it doable???.

It is too much of a hassle to return a car and get it back in the middle of a vacation.

soxfan;382818
(i) flying in from east coast with arrival and departure from LA. vacation is for 10 days/9 nights including the travelling days. Is it enough to add Las Vegas and Grand Canyon?
(ii) travelling with two kids (9 and 7) with main leg of trip being LA-San Diego with tentative plan of spending 2 days on Disneyland, 1 day on Universal, 1 day SeaWorld, 1 day zoo/safari, 1 day for misc or any other based on kids interest. That leaves us 3 more days - and we originally thought of driving to Las Vegas and spend that night in LV and next day go to Grand Canyon spend the night and comeback to LA on third day. My 9-yr son has a fascination for GC and that is why we thought of doing it - but now thinking it may be too hectic and not sure about the weather in GC. Also as we are going with kids not sure if the trip to Las Vegas is worth the trip. Any advice on this leg would be appreciated ( do kids enjoy Las Vegas trip).
(iii) Any advice on tickets for attractions (Disney+Universal+seaworld+zoo) is appreciated as well. Is it better to buy the SoCal ticket or buy individual tickets?

(iv) one specific question - if we go for disneyland resort, do we still need to rent the car? one advice we got is to stay in disney resorts for the disneyland part of the trip (2 or 3 nights) and rent the car after wards. is it doable?

(v) any more recos for LA/Anaheim/San Diego area hotels in <150 price range would be appreciated as well.

thanks and sorry for the long post.

- You should have enough time to visit vegas/GC. Be prepared for two long drives LV->GC GC->LA.
- Highly recommend spending few hours visiting Hoover Dam (near LV)
- Go to vegas only if you enjoy gambling & shows. Kids will not be allowed on casino floors & probably won't have much fun outside.
- Weather in GC should be nice end of April.
- If you skip LV, you can also take grand canyon train from LA and save the driving - I'm not sure how it is since I never took it.
- I would probably skip both the zoo and wild animal park in SD. They are nice for locals but not worth spending a day for tourists IMHO. Instead I would recommend Legoland (if your kids are into Legos), one of the many fine beaches around and spending some time downtown or Balboa park.
- Don't forget to check ticket prices on craigslist. Many times people sell theirs cheaper.
- You don't need car to visit Disneyland if you are staying in their resort. Besides all hotels/motels near Disneyland offer shuttles/buses to the park anyway. But you need to get to them somehow :)

Are there any places worth seeing en-route to LA from LV? Or is the drive in that stretch somewhat like what is depicted in Breakdown? :emdgust: