Planning a California Road Trip

Ekim · 8 Oct 2017 at 23:35

My wife, my daughter (who will be 10 months old when we leave) and I are going on holiday next year to California. The flights are booked and we are flying in to San Diego and flying out of San Francisco.

I have been to California a couple of times but this is a first for my wife. We have 14 nights in total arriving on 20th March and flying home on 3rd April.

This will be our first holiday with our daughter and trying to work out what the itinerary should look like. We've had a first stab and would be keen to get any feedback. We have been working on the premise that anywhere we stay we stay for at least two nights.

Our first draft looks like this:

* 20th March -> 22nd March - San Diego
* 23rd March -> 24th March - Santa Barbara
* 25th March -> 26th March - Monterey
* 27th March -> Currently undecided
* 28th March -> 30th March - Yosemite
* 31st March -> 3rd April - San Francisco

Not sure what we want to do with the night of the 27th yet we might add a night to one of the locations that we already have on the first half of the trip, but haven't ruled out breaking our one night rule and stopping somewhere for one night.

We'd get a hire car from San Diego and drop it off when we arrive in San Francisco. Have taken some inspiration from this guide:

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/t...-trip-san-diego-beach-yosemite-national-park/

Would be interested on hearing thoughts on this trip, are we trying to squeeze in too much? Or are we are missing anything. We've begun making a list of things that we want to do:

* San Diego Zoo
* Alcatraz
* Monterey Bay Aquarium
* Golden Gate Park
* Hollywood (I know we aren't staying in LA, however wife wants to see Hollywood - I've seen it before and don't think we'd need more than an a couple of hours for it, we would have to head there after San Diego)

ci_newman · 9 Oct 2017 at 02:26

I can't comment on the itinerary but the flights and that amount of driving are going to be a nightmare with a 10-month old :eek:

Ekim · 9 Oct 2017 at 06:55

ci_newman said:
I can't comment on the itinerary but the flights and that amount of driving are going to be a nightmare with a 10-month old

The flights I'm not too worried about as we have traded in a load of Avios and are flying both there and back First Class so will have plenty of space. The driving I am not so sure about! My gut instinct is that we might be being a little ambitious and need to restrict ourselves to like three locations.

Scrutinize · 9 Oct 2017 at 07:05

ci_newman said:
I can't comment on the itinerary but the flights and that amount of driving are going to be a nightmare with a 10-month old

This was my first thought too.

That age baby turns what would be an epic roadtrip holiday when single or pre kids into a waking nightmare of broken sleep and driving tired & grumpy and that's assuming your baby is well for the holiday.

dowie · 9 Oct 2017 at 07:38

Are you likely going to be able to get a full 8 hours sleep with a 10 month year old? If not then isn't all that driving a bit dangerous? I mean sleep deprivation can have very real effects on your ability to react on the road - I'd assume that most people wouldn't drive after a couple of pints but plenty of people don't tend to appreciate that they're also taking a bigger risk when driving after having very little sleep.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1739867/

Peerzy · 9 Oct 2017 at 09:04

There is a thread in Motors about US road trips and most of the content is about the places you are planning to visit.

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/road-tripping-in-the-usa.18227057/

I'd use the extra day to stay in San Diego, it's a brilliant city and plenty to do.

a1ex2001 · 9 Oct 2017 at 09:14

It's a fantastic itinerary but not a holiday i'd undertake with a ten month old, factor in jet leg messing with your babies sleep and your going to be driving round in a daze which is neither fun or safe. Personally I'd scrap the road trip and find a nice relaxing none long haul option go road tripping when they are a bit bigger and will happily watch finding nemo while your cruise the interstate.

Robi · 9 Oct 2017 at 09:25

Surely it makes sense to visit San Francisco and then Yosemite, flying back from Vegas maybe? What route are you taking between the two?

You also need to consider the heat, especially with a 10 year old. California is vast and a lot bigger than you think. I did a similar trip last year but with 3 other 27 year old blokes and the sheer amount of driving really does take it out of you. Driving in an unfamiliar country while extremely tired with a 10 month child and in high temperatures just seems like a dangerous combination to me personally.

Skillmister · 9 Oct 2017 at 13:16

Seeing as this is GD, sounds like a terrible idea..

Ekim · 9 Oct 2017 at 13:32

Done some thinking about this trip, probably going to reduce the scope of it a little and focus on three locations only - likely San Diego, Yosemite and San Francisco. Will cut down a lot of the driving by getting an internal flight from San Diego up to near Yosemite.

The flights are already booked so the start and end points are already fixed. Just the middle to work out.

Django x2 · 9 Oct 2017 at 13:37

I've driven thousands of kilometres with a 3month, 6month and 12 month old child and they never let out so much as a peep (and this was solo too for the 12 month old). I just stopped when I wanted to, or I could smell poo.

PS, for views, you're doing the trip upside down. You want to come down from San Fran, not drive up to San Fran

Ekim · 9 Oct 2017 at 13:41

Django x2 said:
I've driven thousands of kilometres with a 3month, 6month and 12 month old child and they never let out so much as a peep (and this was solo too for the 12 month old). I just stopped when I wanted to, or I could smell poo.

PS, for views, you're doing the trip upside down. You want to come down from San Fran, not drive up to San Fran

Glad to hear someone with positive experiences of driving with children! In terms of the order of things I am locked in on that front as that was the only way round I could do with with the availability for the reward flights on Avios.

wolfie138 · 9 Oct 2017 at 14:31

Ekim said:
The flights I'm not too worried about as we have traded in a load of Avios and are flying both there and back First Class so will have plenty of space. The driving I am not so sure about! My gut instinct is that we might be being a little ambitious and need to restrict ourselves to like three locations.

the others in first class who have forked out that kinda price are going to be well happy to have a 10mnth old beside them.

Scam · 9 Oct 2017 at 14:36

wolfie138 said:
the others in first class who have forked out that kinda price are going to be well happy to have a 10mnth old beside them.

Ekim · 9 Oct 2017 at 14:46

wolfie138 said:
the others in first class who have forked out that kinda price are going to be well happy to have a 10mnth old beside them.

We flew first class on our honeymoon and another couple had a child of a similar age who was no hassle. Flying First Class doesn't allow for you to choose who will be flying with you.

Scam · 9 Oct 2017 at 14:51

Ekim said:
We flew first class on our honeymoon and another couple had a child of a similar age who was no hassle.

But had the child been crying for 10hrs solid I'd expect people would be rather annoyed... It's a tricky one but people often fly business/first for a variety or reasons. Sometimes it's a "treat", mostly for others it's because you're flying for work and have to go straight into the office either that day or the next. Not getting the sleep you would expect would be rather annoying. I don't know what the solution is though...

Ekim · 9 Oct 2017 at 14:57

Scam said:
But had the child been crying for 10hrs solid I'd expect people would be rather annoyed... It's a tricky one but people often fly business/first for a variety or reasons. Sometimes it's a "treat", mostly for others it's because you're flying for work and have to go straight into the office either that day or the next. Not getting the sleep you would expect would be rather annoying. I don't know what the solution is though...

I appreciate that, and know that there will likely be some groans when we board. We will do our best to keep her settled however and hopefully she won't be too much of a bother. To be fair an adult passenger who has drunk too much can be just as much of an annoyance.

The best solution is probably earplugs and noise cancelling headphones. Either that or fly private so you can choose who flies with you

!

Andybtsn · 9 Oct 2017 at 15:29

I would have waited a year and gone when child was just turning 2, we did this with our eldest and it was a fantastic holiday, our itinerary was very similar to yours.

yer_averagejoe · 9 Oct 2017 at 18:46

Honestly if you're looking at Monterey for the sea life centre I wouldn't bother.. It's not that great and there's nothing else to do in town (there's whale watching trips but they're very hit and miss and probably no fun with a 10 month old as the sea can be choppy). Cut up from Santa Barbara and see Sequoia on the way to Yosemite. Sequoia and Kings Canyon National parks are well worth the visit! Lake Tahoe and Napa/Sonoma are worth a mention too, but doesn't sound like you'll want to be coming back down to San Fran.

Marzipanogram · 9 Oct 2017 at 19:37

At that time of year some of the roads in Yosemite will still be closed due to snow.
Glacier Point Road and Tioga Road, as examples.
If Glacier Point Road is open, drive it to the end.

The towns Oakhurst and Mariposa are a two locations for accommodations. But they're quite far away.
El Portal is pretty close, but more expensive. Staying in the park is usually very expensive, unless you stay at a campsite and use tented accommodation.

San Francisco: Drive over the Golden Gate Bridge to the Marin Headlands, to see the bridge in the foreground and the city in the background.
Also, Treasure Island is worth a trip, to see the city from another perspective.
Baker Beach for views of the GGB.