10 days in California around Christmas time - Itinerary

direstraits88 · Post by **direstraits88** » Thu Jul 26, 2012 6:27 pm

Looking for suggestions for a 10 day trip to California , late December for a family of three which includes a pre-teen.

How about the weather?

Plan is to start trip in LA and spend 4-5 days including a trip to San Diego. Day trips to the original "disney land" and Universal studio is in the cards for the kid.

Next, drive up north along pacific highway to SFO and spend the next 4-5 days around SFO with a side trip to Yosemite.

Also any suggestions for any authentic desi food joints? Always looking for Bangalore style masala puri, benne dosai, real chettinad and kerala restaurants. (Not the kind with a name like Malabar and predominantly daal/roti menu).

Any suggestions?
TIA

RBee · Post by **RBee** » Fri Jul 27, 2012 12:20 am

desipardesi;467508How about the weather?

It rains during December in CA but last year was one of the driest. San Diego temp is higher than in bay area but may get chilly if the ocean breeze comes.

[QUOTE]Plan is to start trip in LA and spend 4-5 days including a trip to San Diego. Day trips to the original "disney land" and Universal studio is in the cards for the kid.
2 days in LA and 3 days in San Diego should be O.K. If you have seen Disney World, suggest skipping Disney Land as the lines are longer due to CA population and it's not better than DW. I like catalina island near LA but it's where the locals who can't go to tropical islands in winter end up going and not for the out-of-state tourists.
[QUOTE]
Next, drive up north along pacific highway to SFO and spend the next 4-5 days around SFO with a side trip to Yosemite.
Keep in mind that portions of Route 1 are dangerous to drive in winter due to slippery road conditions/poor visibility. But if you are careful, it's a very scenic drive.Suggest stopping at Big Sur, Carmel beach (Monterey 17 mile drive is overhyped among localites but it might be good for first time tourists). Yosemite in winter is nice but Christmas week all camp grounds will be overbooked plus you have to have chains in car to drive around.If it rains, it's no fun.

[QUOTE]
Looking for suggestions for any authentic desi food joints. Always looking for Bangalore style masala puri, benne dosai, real chettinad and kerala restaurants. (Not the kind with a name like Malabar and predominantly daal/roti menu).

Saravana Bhavan, Madras Cafe are in Sunnyvale (but are spread out from each other)

Saravana Bhavan Sunnyvale
1305, South Mary Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA- 94087.
Ph: 1 408 616 7755 Fax: 1 408 524 5577
[email protected]

Madras Cafe
1177, W.El camino Real,
Sunnyvale,
CA-94087
USA
Ph: 408-737-2323

Udupi Palace in sunnyvale is closed but they operate in Berkeley and Sanfrancisco. I heard it has opened in the Newpark Mall in Fremont/Newark but haven't gone myself.
UDUPI PALACE
1901 UNIVERSITY AVE,
BERKELEY, CA-94704
PH: 510-843-6600

1007 VALENCIA ST
SAN FRANCISCO, CA-94110
PH: 415-970-8000.

Chettiyar style food, You can try Ajjappar in Milpitas.
458 Barber Ln
Milpitas, CA 95035
(408) 435-5500
http://www.anjapparca.com

You are welcome to my house for spicy chilli chicken/Chicken65 and fish curry if I haven't R2Ied by then :)

r2k · Post by **r2k** » Fri Jul 27, 2012 5:06 am

http://www.myredchillies.com/ if you are non-vegetarian.

layman · Post by **layman** » Fri Jul 27, 2012 7:31 pm

Why restrict the trip to California? You can skip SF/Yosemite and instead do Las Vegas/Grand Canyon. That would be more bang for the buck. SF is just another city (like LA, NY etc .....) and most view points in Yosemite will be closed for winter.

desipardesi;467508Looking for suggestions for a 10 day trip to California , late December for a family of three which includes a pre-teen.

How about the weather?

Plan is to start trip in LA and spend 4-5 days including a trip to San Diego. Day trips to the original "disney land" and Universal studio is in the cards for the kid.

Next, drive up north along pacific highway to SFO and spend the next 4-5 days around SFO with a side trip to Yosemite.

Also any suggestions for any authentic desi food joints? Always looking for Bangalore style masala puri, benne dosai, real chettinad and kerala restaurants. (Not the kind with a name like Malabar and predominantly daal/roti menu).

Any suggestions?
TIA

direstraits88 · Post by **direstraits88** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 6:57 pm

RBee;467573It rains during December in CA but last year was one of the driest. San Diego temp is higher than in bay area but may get chilly if the ocean breeze comes.

2 days in LA and 3 days in San Diego should be O.K. If you have seen Disney World, suggest skipping Disney Land as the lines are longer due to CA population and it's not better than DW. I like catalina island near LA but it's where the locals who can't go to tropical islands in winter end up going and not for the out-of-state tourists.

Keep in mind that portions of Route 1 are dangerous to drive in winter due to slippery road conditions/poor visibility. But if you are careful, it's a very scenic drive.Suggest stopping at Big Sur, Carmel beach (Monterey 17 mile drive is overhyped among localites but it might be good for first time tourists). Yosemite in winter is nice but Christmas week all camp grounds will be overbooked plus you have to have chains in car to drive around.If it rains, it's no fun.

Saravana Bhavan, Madras Cafe are in Sunnyvale (but are spread out from each other)

Saravana Bhavan Sunnyvale
1305, South Mary Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA- 94087.
Ph: 1 408 616 7755 Fax: 1 408 524 5577
[email protected]

Madras Cafe
1177, W.El camino Real,
Sunnyvale,
CA-94087
USA
Ph: 408-737-2323

Udupi Palace in sunnyvale is closed but they operate in Berkeley and Sanfrancisco. I heard it has opened in the Newpark Mall in Fremont/Newark but haven't gone myself.
UDUPI PALACE
1901 UNIVERSITY AVE,
BERKELEY, CA-94704
PH: 510-843-6600

1007 VALENCIA ST
SAN FRANCISCO, CA-94110
PH: 415-970-8000.

Chettiyar style food, You can try Ajjappar in Milpitas.
458 Barber Ln
Milpitas, CA 95035
(408) 435-5500
http://www.anjapparca.com

You are welcome to my house for spicy chilli chicken/Chicken65 and fish curry if I haven't R2Ied by then :)

Thanks for the suggestions and the invite ! The fish curry does sound inviting. :-)

I've stayed away from Saravanas. The owner is a creepy dude. I've visited the Anjappar in NJ. It's a disappointment.

Compared to places in Toronto and UK, the Indian food scene in US is boring with almost identical menus and taste.

direstraits88 · Post by **direstraits88** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 7:01 pm

layman;467690Why restrict the trip to California? You can skip SF/Yosemite and instead do Las Vegas/Grand Canyon. That would be more bang for the buck. SF is just another city (like LA, NY etc .....) and most view points in Yosemite will be closed for winter.

We've visited LV and Grand canyon earlier. We might still visit based on the weather. The plan is hang out in southern CA for 10-12 days and plan visits based on weather. Got umpteen cousins/friends to stop by but trying to keep a pre-teen interested in the trip is hard.

layman · Post by **layman** » Sat Jul 28, 2012 7:17 pm

desipardesi;467803We've visited LV and Grand canyon earlier. We might still visit based on the weather. The plan is hang out in southern CA for 10-12 days and plan visits based on weather. Got umpteen cousins/friends to stop by but trying to keep a pre-teen interested in the trip is hard.

Southern CA itself has too many places to visit itself. I visited SD last December. Pre-teen kid will be interested in museums inside Balboa park in addition to theme parks/zoos. Don't miss the car, airplane and railroad museums inside it. I mentioned the places I visited in http://www.r2iclubforums.com/forums/showthread.php/23787-Visiting-San-Diego-CA-amp-Looking-for-Hotel-Recommendation

If you are looking for Bangalore style food there is one Dasaprakash in Santa Clara - 2636 Homestead Road Santa Clara, CA 95051. I don't know how the quality is though.

If you are looking for South Indian vegetarian in general, in addition to Rbee's list

Thirupathi Bheemas 1208 S Abel St Milpitas
Dosa hut, Fremont

pnq2012 · Post by **pnq2012** » Sun Jul 29, 2012 12:38 am

You should order the California visitors guide for free & plan the trip. CA is a beautiful state but in the end everything depends on what you like & the best way to find that is by looking at the guide. Order the free guide from
http://www.visitcalifornia.com/Visitors-Guide/Step-1/

Some good suggestions already provided by people above but one place I always visit when in SFO is Muir Woods (http://www.nps.gov/muwo/index.htm) . If you have time and are ok with a long drive, then head to Redwood National Park (http://www.nps.gov/redw/index.htm). Depends on whether your kid would enjoy the drive or not.

If you decide to visit multiple national parks, might be worth buying a National Park annual pass.

I agree with Rbee above that if you want to see Disney Park then plan a trip to DisneyWorld in Florida unless your purpose is to keep your child interested. Maybe visit Legoland too then.