Uncover the Wonders of California
We have been to California on 2 separate trips – both amazing and both left so much more to see and explore. Check out below to see our 2 different adventures:
- San Francisco – San Diego
- City exploring
- Big Sur
- Disney Land
- San Francisco – Seattle
- Redwoods
- Hiking
- Northern Cali small towns
It’s really hard to find a state in the USA that has more to offer than California. From gorgeous nature to vibrant cities, it has it all! Even though we’ve driven the entire Pacific Coast, we feel like we could do the same trip again and fill it with a totally new itinerary because there is so much to see and do. Not to mention the ever growing list of other amazing destinations we want to check out in California!
If you want to see the full vlog for both trips, check them out here:
San Francisco – San Diego
This trip was taken July 2019.
Checkout our YouTube video of the whole trip! Click Here!
This was our first real road trip where we explored the idea of moving hotels every night in order to see as much as possible. This is NOT a relaxing vacation, but we got to see so much and were excited to try this type of itinerary in the future. This was a super fast 7 day itinerary, but obviously if you have more time to do this route, take it! We have a huge list of things we wanted to see, but didn’t have time. Our itinerary went like this:
- Day 1: Arrive San Francisco 9am (so tired) and explore
- Day 2: Morning in San Francisco then drive to Monterey, making stop near Santa Cruz
- Day 3: Big Sur day, ending in San Luis Obispo
- Day 4: Drive towards Disneyland, making stops at Solvang and Venice Beach
- Day 5: Disneyland
- Day 6: Drive to San Diego, stopping in Laguna Beach and in La Jolla
- Day 7: San Diego Zoo
- Day 8: Leave
Day 1
Our first day in California started in San Francisco. After getting our rental car, we made a few quick stops on the drive to the hotel since we arrived before check in. We stopped at Twin Peaks for a great view of the city, and then drove through the famous Castro District. Finally, we stopped at the Painted Ladies houses – which was SO fun as a former Full House fan.
We stayed at the Columbus Motor Inn which ended up being perfect for us. It was a very basic hotel, but given the prices in San Francisco, this was a pretty good deal for a great location (walkable to lots of attractions). We were able to walk to a great breakfast at Pat’s Café which was delicious.
After checking in, we walked down to the dock to get ready for our Alcatraz tour. We bought our tickets as soon as they went on sale as they do sell out, and this was the thing we were most excited to do. The boat ride over was chilly but fun to see the city from the water.
Alcatraz was such a fun adventure. The jail is very eerie and the kids loved that you could walk into the jail cells (loved as in were totally freaked out by it). The audio guide was full of information and interesting stories. This is a must do if you’re in San Francisco!
Once we were done, we did a few other quick things on our walk back to the hotel to crash early that night…we stopped at Pier 39 to see the sea lions and walked up to Lombard Street.
Day 2
We had 2 final things to see in San Francisco before taking off down the coast: The Golden Gate Bridge and China Town! To see the Golden Gate Bridge, we made 3 stops – one at Battery East where there was a nice parking lot and park, the next was across the bridge at the very crowded ‘Vista Point’, and our favorite was at Fort Baker. It wasn’t crowded at all, and you get a sweeping view of the bridge and the city. AND – we saw a few sea lions in the water. We were glad we stopped at all of the various points though, because they each offer different views. See below for the views in order:
After a quick stop at In&Out Burger, we made our way down the coast. A favorite stop along the way was the Henry Cowell State Park where we got to see some redwoods for the first time. We did an easy 1 mile loop trail and got to explore these amazing trees. We would have loved to spend more time here, but (spoiler!) we come back to California a few years later and see even more!
Once we made it to Monterey, we checked into our Hotel – the Holiday Inn right on Cannery Row. We were able to walk everywhere that evening, and enjoyed the cute town of Monterey. It was so charming. We got some nice dinner, and ice cream from Ghirardelli.
Day 3
This day started bright and early with a quick stop at Lover’s Point Lookout. Monterey and the coastline there is really stunning. We then went to Point Lobos State Park which is another must visit. We did a few small trails there and were amazed by how gorgeous it was.
Next – the main attraction – Big Sur! We could have spent so much more time here making stops, but we only made a couple. Main highlights were McWay Falls, Bixby Bridge and a lesser known stop at Salmon Creek Falls. The parking lots at some of the places were very crowded, so it would have been hard to stop at everything, but we enjoyed our time on the drive. Even just doing the drive itself with no stops is worth it – it’s stunning. Tip: I brought printed maps and marked down the exact distance between the various places we wanted to see, because often times the parking lot is a tiny turn off right off the road, or hidden a bit, and it’s not a place you can quickly turn around and come back if you miss it. We lost phone coverage through here also, so having the paper maps was critical. We also packed PB&J to eat on the road, which saved us time and there were not many restaurants. We just stopped at a random pull out and have a picnic with a view!
We then made our was into San Luis Obispo. Right before the town, there was an elephant seal lookout. Wow – those animals are huge and so funny to watch. I would LOVE to see these guys during the busy season, but even during times where there were not as many, it was still amazing. We also got to see Morrow Rock, which is a huge rock former as a volcanic plug!
This evening, we stayed at one of our favorite hotels of all time, the Madonna Inn. This place is magical. Each room is decorated differently, and its just so quirky and kitschy. It has a pink basketball court, horses on site, beautiful views and an awesome pool. I never wanted to leave! We ventured out for dinner in downtown SLO but then came right back to soak up our one night at the Madonna Inn. Our room had a 2nd story with 2 twin beds, so the kids got to walk up stairs to their little ‘room’. I still dream of this hotel and the whole town of SLO.
Day 4
Off for another jam packed day! We stopped in the cute town of Pismo Beach to get some insanely yummy, and huge cinnamon rolls.
Then we made our way to Solvang! This is such a cute Danish town! We grabbed some baked goods to take on the road and walked through some of the charming stores. There is an ostrich farm nearby that we would have loved to stop at if we had more time.
Adding to the list of ‘if we had more time’… we visited the Channel Islands National Park visitor center which had a few small exhibits. Obviously visiting the National Park would have taken a lot more time than we have, but it was a nice stop for a picnic lunch as well.
We stopped once more at a little lookout and small beach area before making our way to Malibu and then Venice Beach. We were super tired by the time we got there – tired of driving and of rushing. We stopped at the Pier but I wouldn’t go there again if I had the choice. It was expensive, hot and super crowded. We did however, enjoy Venice Beach because my son and husband wanted to play basketball there and check out muscle beach.
Then made our way to Anaheim (i.e. sat in traffic for what felt like hours).
Day 5
Disneyland Day! This was the only reason we were in this area. We really enjoyed Disneyland, but I’m not sure I would have done this again. Mainly because it cost us 2 nights staying in Anaheim and we missed some of the other things to see along the coast of California. We also have Disneyworld a bit closer to us, which is bigger and better. But – the kids had a great time, and it was a fun stop for them along the way!
Day 6
First stop of the day – Laguna Beach. This town was way more charming than I expected. We made a quick stop here for some coffee and mostly to let my son and husband play basketball at a court right on the beach 🙂
On the drive to San Diego, we made a stop in La Jolla. Seeing the sea lions up close was a dream. They were so loud and funny. There were a ton of people getting right up next to them. I didn’t really do my research ahead of time and understand now that getting that close is dangerous and harmful to them. There were probably 100 people all standing on the rocks by them when we went. So, the pictures are cute, but I realize now that we got too close. Still, even if not standing close to them – there are lots of viewing points in La Jolla that make it worth a stop.
Our final stop of the day was at the USS Midway. This was SO awesome. The ship is huge with lots of fun exhibits. At one point we got to see where the captain sits and my son got to hold the telephone that they would use. You could see their living quarters, get into some planes and see the huge top deck.
Our lodging for the night was the Best Western Hacienda in Old Town. This was another amazing location for a hotel. The hotel itself was cute and had a nice pool. The best part was that we could walk to restaurants and through old town each night. Would highly recommend staying here if in San Diego!
Day 7
The highlight of today was the San Diego Zoo! Obviously it’s an amazing zoo and has so much to see. The kids loved everything about it! We then finished the afternoon at Pacific Beach and then enjoyed Old Town in the evening.
One final stop at La Jolla to see the sea lions again, and then we left the beautiful state of California. We had an amazing time, and left thinking of all the things we wanted to come back and see again. It also inspired us to think of other states we could visit in the same way, where we could venture out to see a lot of different sites and attractions, rather than limiting ourselves to one location. California, we will be back!!