Advice for 2 week CA road trip, incl DL and Universal

Another option would be to spend the night in Pismo Beach. Or drive on through Santa Barbara and stay in Carpinteria or Ventura.
 
Leave Disneyland about 8:30 pm, it will get you to San Marcos at about 10 pm. Leave around 8 pm, you get to San Marcos around 9:30 pm. Avoid anything between 4-7 pm.

Another option for seeing big redwood trees is to go to Roaring Camp in Felton. https://www.roaringcamp.com/. It's not an all day thing. Just part of a day.

Solvang is fun for part of an afternoon. It's fun to browse through the shops and it's a cute town. I think it's a good choice as a stop over on a road trip.

Great advice! Will leave DL after 8.

I looked at Roaring Camp! Looks fun! Seems like it's near or in Henry Cowell SP, which is what I'm planning.
 
I’m just reading your plans and love your trip! I’m a Calif native and my parents live in Cambria, I went to college in San Diego, and now live in the greater LA area.

Just going to throw a couple things out...

Cambria is a lovely little town I don’t think you could go wrong staying at any of the hotels on Moonstone beach, most are actually closer to motels but have a lot of charm. Another option is the Cambria Pines Lodge, a little older and not on the beach but clean spacious rooms and has some lovely gardens. If you want a casual dinner, Main Street Grill in Cambria has awesome BBQ, central coast is famous for their tri-tip bbq and this place is the best I’ve ever had.

I agree with comments about Solvang, it’s a 1-2 hour stop to stretch your legs and get a snack but that’s about it.

Santa Barbara is crazy expensive for hotels, but you may be able to stay in Carpinteria, I’ve stayed at the Holiday Inn there, it’s just a regular motel but it’s usually less expensive than SB and Carpinteris is one of my favorite little beach towns. Or keep driving to Ventura, lots of choices there for way less $$, try Ventura Marriott.

Even if you aren’t going to Universal, you might check prices at the Universal Hilton or Sheraton, from there you would be right on the Subway Red Line and could go directly to Hollywood and Vine and that night you could walk around Universal City Walk.

I’ll folow post for other questions you might have!
 
I’m just reading your plans and love your trip! I’m a Calif native and my parents live in Cambria, I went to college in San Diego, and now live in the greater LA area.

Just going to throw a couple things out...

Cambria is a lovely little town I don’t think you could go wrong staying at any of the hotels on Moonstone beach, most are actually closer to motels but have a lot of charm. Another option is the Cambria Pines Lodge, a little older and not on the beach but clean spacious rooms and has some lovely gardens. If you want a casual dinner, Main Street Grill in Cambria has awesome BBQ, central coast is famous for their tri-tip bbq and this place is the best I’ve ever had.

I agree with comments about Solvang, it’s a 1-2 hour stop to stretch your legs and get a snack but that’s about it.

Santa Barbara is crazy expensive for hotels, but you may be able to stay in Carpinteria, I’ve stayed at the Holiday Inn there, it’s just a regular motel but it’s usually less expensive than SB and Carpinteris is one of my favorite little beach towns. Or keep driving to Ventura, lots of choices there for way less $$, try Ventura Marriott.

Even if you aren’t going to Universal, you might check prices at the Universal Hilton or Sheraton, from there you would be right on the Subway Red Line and could go directly to Hollywood and Vine and that night you could walk around Universal City Walk.

I’ll folow post for other questions you might have!
Great - thanks! @CalifLynn
 


Thanks for the heads up about Solvang. I had a feeling that might be the case. I'm trying to break up the trip down the coast because I'm a solo driver and the hotels in Santa Barbara are so expensive. Any other ideas about places to stop about 2 hours from LA?
There are many little and nice beach towns. Ventura is very nice. I haven't been to Cambria, but after just googling the images, it looks like a very nice place to relax for a while and have some nice scenery.

We had lunch at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obisbo. If you look at their website, you'll see that there's a lot of really cool rooms that you can choose. Some have rock waterfall showers. We only had lunch and visited their gift shops. I don't know if there is anything else to do in area since we had bumper to bumper traffic that day and only stopped for a little break. That is more inland.
 
If you happen to arrive in SLO on a Thursday, they hold a farmers market downtown. There’s also Avila Beach nearby.

There’s several decent and not too costly hotels just south of SLO too, in what they call the five cities - Pismo Beach, Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach, Oceano, and Nipomo. Some nice beaches there too with big dunes.

If you like steak McClintocks is good for dinner, plus there’s lots of seafood places.
 
I agree with everyone above who said stay at DL until around 8:00; it will make your drive so much nicer and you'll have a full day to enjoy the park. Also agree on Solvang, it's a cute little town and a good place for a road trip stopover, but nothing amazing. My kids love staying at the Flying Flags Campground in Buellton (right next to Solvang) if you're looking for something different, it's "glamping" and you can stay in a safari tent, airstream or cabin, all of which are air conditioned and have amenities. For LA it sounds like your daughter wants the full experience, so I'd go ahead and stay in Hollywood. I like the Loew's Hollywood at Hollywood & Highland, which is right on Hollywood Blvd and has great views of the Hollywood sign, but it can get expensive in the summer. If you don't want to splurge the BLVD and Holiday Inn are both close and decent/clean/safe.
 


There are many little and nice beach towns. Ventura is very nice. I haven't been to Cambria, but after just googling the images, it looks like a very nice place to relax for a while and have some nice scenery.

We had lunch at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obisbo. If you look at their website, you'll see that there's a lot of really cool rooms that you can choose. Some have rock waterfall showers. We only had lunch and visited their gift shops. I don't know if there is anything else to do in area since we had bumper to bumper traffic that day and only stopped for a little break. That is more inland.
Madonna Inn looks like a fun place to visit or stay!

If you happen to arrive in SLO on a Thursday, they hold a farmers market downtown. There’s also Avila Beach nearby.

There’s several decent and not too costly hotels just south of SLO too, in what they call the five cities - Pismo Beach, Arroyo Grande, Grover Beach, Oceano, and Nipomo. Some nice beaches there too with big dunes.

If you like steak McClintocks is good for dinner, plus there’s lots of seafood places.

I'm really excited to see that part of California! Thanks for the dinner recommendation. I'm more of a seafood person, so if you know some good places, that would be great!

I agree with everyone above who said stay at DL until around 8:00; it will make your drive so much nicer and you'll have a full day to enjoy the park. Also agree on Solvang, it's a cute little town and a good place for a road trip stopover, but nothing amazing. My kids love staying at the Flying Flags Campground in Buellton (right next to Solvang) if you're looking for something different, it's "glamping" and you can stay in a safari tent, airstream or cabin, all of which are air conditioned and have amenities. For LA it sounds like your daughter wants the full experience, so I'd go ahead and stay in Hollywood. I like the Loew's Hollywood at Hollywood & Highland, which is right on Hollywood Blvd and has great views of the Hollywood sign, but it can get expensive in the summer. If you don't want to splurge the BLVD and Holiday Inn are both close and decent/clean/safe.
I will definitely check out that campground. That sounds like something my daughters would love!
 
I agree with everyone above who said stay at DL until around 8:00; it will make your drive so much nicer and you'll have a full day to enjoy the park. Also agree on Solvang, it's a cute little town and a good place for a road trip stopover, but nothing amazing. My kids love staying at the Flying Flags Campground in Buellton (right next to Solvang) if you're looking for something different, it's "glamping" and you can stay in a safari tent, airstream or cabin, all of which are air conditioned and have amenities. For LA it sounds like your daughter wants the full experience, so I'd go ahead and stay in Hollywood. I like the Loew's Hollywood at Hollywood & Highland, which is right on Hollywood Blvd and has great views of the Hollywood sign, but it can get expensive in the summer. If you don't want to splurge the BLVD and Holiday Inn are both close and decent/clean/safe.
I'm really leaning towards staying in Hollywood since it's only one night. Will check out all the hotel choices you mentioned!
 
Unfortunately many of the places I used to go when I lived around there are gone, and I don’t go down enough to keep track of the new ones. I remember going to Dorn’s in Morro Bay and my mom liked Fin’s in Grover Beach, but I think that was mostly because it was close to her beach house.
 
Unfortunately many of the places I used to go when I lived around there are gone, and I don’t go down enough to keep track of the new ones. I remember going to Dorn’s in Morro Bay and my mom liked Fin’s in Grover Beach, but I think that was mostly because it was close to her beach house.
Will check them out! Thanks.
 
You’ve gotten a lot of great advice and you’re smart to start planning well in advance.

I’ll let you know what we did when we went two summers ago. We had 12 days, three kids and a whole lot to see.
We flew into LAX only because that gave us the best fare. We drove to Burbank and stayed for a night, visiting Santa Monica Pier and doing the Warner Bros Studio tour. From there we went to Disneyland for three nights, stayed at the Grand Californian with our DVC points.

After Disney we drove inland to Sequoia/Kings Canyon for a couple of nights. Then on to Yosemite for two more nights, one in a tent cabin in Curry Village, the second night at the Awhanee. That section of the trip was definitely the highlight and most memorable. Some of the prettiest places on earth.

Then we drove to SF. We stayed in Half Moon Bay, just south of SF, but used that as our home base for the remainder of the trip. We visited with family, spent a day in SF, drove down to Big Sur and back, went to Monterey aquarium, did 17 mile drive and visited Santa Cruz. Took the red eye home from San Jose. In total we drove 1516 miles.

We all still talk about that trip as our best ever and we only scratched the surface of what CA has to offer.

Please ask if you want to know where we stayed or any other questions. Happy planning!
 
You’ve gotten a lot of great advice and you’re smart to start planning well in advance.

I’ll let you know what we did when we went two summers ago. We had 12 days, three kids and a whole lot to see.
We flew into LAX only because that gave us the best fare. We drove to Burbank and stayed for a night, visiting Santa Monica Pier and doing the Warner Bros Studio tour. From there we went to Disneyland for three nights, stayed at the Grand Californian with our DVC points.

After Disney we drove inland to Sequoia/Kings Canyon for a couple of nights. Then on to Yosemite for two more nights, one in a tent cabin in Curry Village, the second night at the Awhanee. That section of the trip was definitely the highlight and most memorable. Some of the prettiest places on earth.

Then we drove to SF. We stayed in Half Moon Bay, just south of SF, but used that as our home base for the remainder of the trip. We visited with family, spent a day in SF, drove down to Big Sur and back, went to Monterey aquarium, did 17 mile drive and visited Santa Cruz. Took the red eye home from San Jose. In total we drove 1516 miles.

We all still talk about that trip as our best ever and we only scratched the surface of what CA has to offer.

Please ask if you want to know where we stayed or any other questions. Happy planning!
Wow. That seems like an amazing trip and great itinerary. I really like your plan! I really would love to go to Sequoia and Yosemite. You've given me some food for thought! The non negotiable for me is staying with my family in San Diego. That would need to be about 4 nights. I'm going to play around with my itinerary to see if what you did might make sense for me.
 
You’ve gotten a lot of great advice and you’re smart to start planning well in advance.

I’ll let you know what we did when we went two summers ago. We had 12 days, three kids and a whole lot to see.
We flew into LAX only because that gave us the best fare. We drove to Burbank and stayed for a night, visiting Santa Monica Pier and doing the Warner Bros Studio tour. From there we went to Disneyland for three nights, stayed at the Grand Californian with our DVC points.

After Disney we drove inland to Sequoia/Kings Canyon for a couple of nights. Then on to Yosemite for two more nights, one in a tent cabin in Curry Village, the second night at the Awhanee. That section of the trip was definitely the highlight and most memorable. Some of the prettiest places on earth.

Then we drove to SF. We stayed in Half Moon Bay, just south of SF, but used that as our home base for the remainder of the trip. We visited with family, spent a day in SF, drove down to Big Sur and back, went to Monterey aquarium, did 17 mile drive and visited Santa Cruz. Took the red eye home from San Jose. In total we drove 1516 miles.

We all still talk about that trip as our best ever and we only scratched the surface of what CA has to offer.

Please ask if you want to know where we stayed or any other questions. Happy planning!
I really like this plan. Going to see if I can talk my cousins into going to sequoia np and Yosemite with me to help with the driving. Re- SF. Where did you stay in Moon Bay? I might be able to stay with a friend in SF but not 100% sure.
 
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Half Moon Bay is beautiful, but I associate it with traffic. We come from the east though, down the mountain road. On a nice beach weather weekend, virtually guaranteed to be bumper to bumper, stop and go traffic. Maybe it's better along the coastal road to/from San Francisco, we've never tried it that way.
 
Half Moon Bay is beautiful, but I associate it with traffic. We come from the east though, down the mountain road. On a nice beach weather weekend, virtually guaranteed to be bumper to bumper, stop and go traffic. Maybe it's better along the coastal road to/from San Francisco, we've never tried it that way.

I've taken Highway 1 before on the weekend through HMB. It's typically bumper to bumper starting at maybe a mile before getting to the intersection with CA 92. It's a major coastal artery with a traffic light, so of course that will slow things down immensely when there are a lot of people on the weekend. It's spectacular scenery though.
 
If you don’t want to stay in SF, the best bet might be to stay somewhere close to a BART station, then take the train into the City.
 
I really like this plan. Going to see if I can talk my cousins into going to sequoia np and Yosemite with me to help with the driving. Re- SF. Where did you stay in Moon Bay? I might be able to stay with a friend in SF but not 100% sure.

We stayed at The Beach House which was a little more than we would normally spend but it was a beautiful spot right on the water. It included a continental breakfast and every morning we could watch whales in the bay while we ate. The hotel itself was very nice, rooms even had a small kitchenette. We never found the traffic to be too bad. We're used to Boston traffic and nothing will ever compare to the traffic in LA. That was the worst.
 
What do you really want to see on your trip to CA? What would you want to do in SF? It sounds like a trip to LA/Hollywood is a definite, as well as Disneyland and SD, but the other areas are not set. If I could add an opinion, drop SF from your trip. I live in the bay area so I'm coming from a place of experience, SF is typical of big cities (that includes grim, dirt, homelessness, the constant smell of urine and other unfortunate ills)...to be honest, SF is good for a day and that day would be best spent at the Walt Disney Museum and then lunch at the Presidio Social Club (personal favorite). Of course this is my opinion but I feel like SF is not the best that CA has to offer, to me that would be Yosemite or Sequoia, or really any outdoor/park-like setting (including the beach).

Maybe after arriving at SFO you spend one night in SF and then drive out to Yosemite. Or if the thought of driving out to Yosemite is not what you want to do, you can jam down to Santa Cruz/Capitola and get a beach day in. Then the next day go to the Santa Cruz Mountains (Henry Cowell). Alternatively, you can stay in a cabin (at Cotillion Garden RV Park) and then walk right into Henry Cowell park. In the summer the RV park puts up a walking bridge that you can take to Roaring Railroads. Big Basin is an easy drive up highway 9 to Big Basin Way(from Cotillion it's about a 30 minute drive) both Big Basin and Henry Cowell have really easy "hikes" that are situated around old-growth redwoods. And, from the RV park it's only a 15 minute drive to the beach or the Santa Cruz Boardwalk.

From there it's less than an hour to Monterey/Carmel. This is a lovely area to visit and I think a much better representation of CA (especially because Monterey has so much CA history). Big Sur is close by as well, so you could get your visit in and then head down to the central coast. I will say this, if highway 1 is back open, the ride is crazy long and to be honest, pretty to view for adults, kind of boring for teens (and adults with the patience of teens). It would probably make more sense to drive back to 101 and then head to SLO, a visit to the Madonna Inn is easy (right off the freeway) and the food is decent. If you can stay there (it can get kind of pricey), the rooms are fun and the pool area is nice. If you want another beach day, any of the hotels in Pismo usually have good access to the beach and typically in August the weather is nice. Solvang is a good stop over and it's only about a 15 minute drive in from 101, so close enough to the freeway but not right off the freeway. If you want to skip Solvang but need a bathroom break, stop at Anderson Split Pea Soup (right off 101), the bathroom is clean and afterwards you can grab free crackers and cheese (a tradition for us).

Santa Barbara is also really nice and really expensive (hotel)....but Carpinteria is definitely less expensive and has nice beaches. And if you like a delicious fried chicken meal and homemade pie, try Clementine's....yummers!

I was recently in Pasadena (stayed at the Courtyard) and had to drive to Kaiser Sunset (hospital on Sunset in Hollywood)....it was relatively easy and took me right past Griffith Park. Plus, Pasadena is a nice place and if you like architecture, it's top-notch.
 
I would consider a day or two in San Diego. It's a very nice area, and it offers the world class San Diego Zoo, Sea World, Balboa Park (which has a lot of museums) and the beach. We made San Diego part of our last few California trips, and were very glad we did.

Also, I would seriously consider adding more days at Disneyland Resort. One day is far too little to really enjoy both parks. We usually do five days plus a Halloween Party, and still miss some attractions.
 
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