Seeking guidance on a week long LA to Bay Area trip
Hello Tildes travelers,
I'm sure questions like this get asked often, but I'm having a hard time cutting through the SEO spam and AI BS about travel and feeling a bit overwhelmed at the options.
I digress, as the title states, my wife and I are heading to California in early June for a wedding in the bay area. Neither of us have been to California and wanted to make a big trip out of it, roughly eight-ish days with two being dedicated to wedding activities. We both are from the Midwest and really want to see what California has to offer. Ideally we would love some help with making an itinerary of things to do and places to see since its such a big state and with so much to do. A Few things we'd love to try and do: see Palm Springs (wife is an architect), explore LA, drive the coast, explore the bay area and finally see some giant sequoia trees. It sounds like a lot so I'm not sure how that all might shake out, or even if its possible in the given time frame. Which is why I am appealing to you all for some help.
Roughly, and I mean roughly our plan is this:
- Day 1: Fly into California
- Arrive in Palm Springs (if we can) spend evening and the next day exploring the city
- Day 3: Drive into LA
- Explore the city for the day and spend the evening in LA
- Day 4: Drive up the coast
- Spend the day driving up the coast and end the evening staying in a coastal town (Stopping in Santa Barbra and staying Arroyo Grande or some similar town halfway to San Fran)
- Day 5: Arrive in San Fran
- Spend the morning driving the rest of the coast and arrive in the bay area
- Spend the early part of the day exploring San Fran then drive to Pleasanton (location of wedding)
- Spend evening doing wedding things
- Day 6: Day of the wedding
- Wedding stuff (woo!)
- Day 7: Drive from Fremont to Calaveras Big Trees State Park
- Spend the day exploring some of the inner portion of California and get our big tree fix
- Spend the evening driving home
- Day 8: Flyout of San Jose or Oakland
Does this seem doable? Is this stupid? Any thing you would change? Really we don't have anything done yet minus the RSVP and the dates specifically. I'm not looking for anything crazy specific, minute by minute to hour by hour. That is asking a lot for a random internet stranger but any help would be really appreciated.
Ok, hot takes in bound from someone who has designed and taken probably 15+ out of town friends on their "California Adventure". What you're talking about is a lot of driving. It's totally doable, but it depends on what kind of travel you like. I think the things for us to know how to help are:
What do you like to do? Get out in nature or experience urban settings? Are you a fan of the arts, or food, or shopping? Do you like "authentic" - i.e. the best street tacos, or "refined" i.e. James Beard or Michelin. Same for hotels. Do you prioritize value or comfort.
Looking at your itinerary I put together 2 potential trips: one that follows the path you've already set out and one that completely diverges from it. There are 2 great routes in California Hwy 1 and Hwy 395. Everyone does Hwy 1, very few do 395. By June the mountain passes should be open (especially this year where we've had almost no snow) and it means you can access things like Yosemite and Tahoe directly from Joshua Tree. So below are the two different trips.
Coastal Route
Day 1: Land in Palm Springs and drive to Joshua Tree. Grab a burger at the Joshua Tree Saloon and got get amongst the the weird formations. If you like hiking or rock climbing, Joshua tree is amazing. If you don't, it's still super weird. Most of my European friends ended up with it as their highlight because it's just so different than most ecosystems. But if you're from the dessert you might want to pass on it.
Also, Pappi and Harriet's is a cool venue in the area - think saloon vibes - that punches waaaay above their weight in terms of the acts that play there. They will frequently have my favorite artists, so I always check who will be there if I'm in the area.
For the evening I'd either suggest an Airbnb in the area, camping (personal favorite but not for everyone), or getting back out to your next destination. I'll assume you're staying in the area.
Day 2: Wake up at the buttcrack of dawn and get a sweet sunrise hike in. Now hightail it to LA (like 2 hour drive) and get yourself some amazing tacos. Everyone has their favorites, but mine are Villa's. Honestly, it's hard to go wrong. Otherwise you can get brunchy in Silverlake or Venice. The world is your oyster here. LA food scene is incredible. Once I'd eaten I would get the fuck out of LA. I love their food but LA is not for me. Listen to other's here when it comes to the rest of the city. My suggestion is to head north and get the majority of the driving out in 1 day. If you make it to Santa Barbara for the evening then you can take it easy driving wise (well kind of) for the remainder of the trip.
Santa Barbara is not as lively as LA, so unless it's a weekend expect to have an earlier evening. There are some pretty nice affordable hotels so do a little digging here.
Day 3: Head up the nicest part of Hwy 1. Santa Barbara to Monterey is the nicest, least populated stretch of Hwy 1. All of the iconic "coastal view" photos you've seen online were probably taken in this area. I'd spend the time to take a leisurely drive and assume if you leave around 10am (after a very nice coffee/breakfast in Santa Barbara) you can comfortably get to Monterey by about 5pm, just enough time to shower before your dinner at Stokes Adobe. The food in this area is very missable, but Stokes is fantastic and doesn't break the bank too much. Buut back to the drive. Pop into the little beaches along the way. Check out the first mile of the tin hut hike as it'll take you into redwoods and along a little river with nice little pools to soak in. Then turn around and head back out (the hike is lovely but it's 4 hours and there are better uses of your time, the first mile is the best). Continue up, stop if anything draws you in. Nepenthe is an excellent view and a great place for a beer or glass of wine. But the food is bad, don't eat there. Big Sur Taphouse is decent, but if you're not starving keep heading up to Stokes. I'd suggest Mission Ranch Inn for a place to stay. It's owned by Clint Eastwood and is the only hotel in the area that is both affordable and quite fancy. Stay the night.
Day 4. Time to get up unreasonable early again. Drive the like 2 miles to Point Lobos. It's one of the loveliest state parks on the coast and was the inspiration for Treasure Island. head towards the Whaler's Hut (to the right) and then hike over the coastal ridges to the middle cove with the visitors center. Ok now back to the car! Drive from There to Monterey following the coast and drive through 17 mile drive. It's a very scenic drive and worth the admission. Continue through Pacific Grove and back to Monterey. If you haven't eaten yet, grab breakfast/brunch at Alta Bakery and enjoy the historic buildings and back patio. Now head north. Drive Hwy 1 up to Santa Cruz. If you like Mountain biking this is your chance to get onto some amazing trails and on some hot new bikes at the Santa Cruz factory store - $60 for a half day. If you're into surfing, go rent a board at Cowells. Otherwise, go to Henry Cowell State Park and go check out the 1000+ year old [Redwood trees](https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=546. They are mindbogglingly big. Now head north again and stay at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse. It's kind of crummy, but the location is unbeatable and the hottub is very fun. Otherwise stay across from there at Coastanoa Lodge. If you have the energy drive the 30 minutes to Apple Jacks for a nightcap. It's one of the only bars I've been at where people arrive on horseback.
Day 5. Drive up the coast to SF. Stop off in Halfmoon Bay for fish and chip breakfast at Barbara's Fish Trap but split it as today is another eating day! Head to the Mission district in SF for some good togo food (maybe Taqueria Cancun (personal favorite over the hyped up El Farolito or La Taqueria) or some chinese (from Mission Chinese) and take it to Dolores Park. Sit near the highest point near the back and look over the whole city. Stop at Bi-Rite for icecream on the way out. Maybe stick your head into a bar for a quick drink, I'd suggest Shotwells or the Libertine. Now, get your DD to take you to Pleasanton and do the wedding bit.
Day 6: Wedding
Day 7: This is the one day I'd say you're oversubscribed on. Thats a pretty long haul for a short trip and while you're potentially hung over. I'd say go check out Berkeley instead. Great food, fun events, and even some good hiking in Tilden Park. I can totally understand why you'd like to get into the Sierras, but I think this is going to be a push for the end of the trip and after a wedding day. My own hot take, you do you.
Ok, now that we've checked out the coast, let's look at the inland route.
Inland Route
Day 1: The exact same thing. Land in Palm Springs and drive to Joshua Tree. Grab a burger at the Joshua Tree Saloon and got get amongst the the weird formations. If you like hiking or rock climbing, Joshua tree is amazing. If you don't, it's still super weird. Most of my European friends ended up with it as their highlight because it's just so different than most ecosystems. But if you're from the dessert you might want to pass on it. For the evening I'd either suggest an Airbnb in the area, camping (personal favorite but not for everyone), or getting back out to your next destination. I'll assume you're staying in the area.
Day 2: Wake up at the buttcrack of dawn and get a sweet sunrise hike in and start the journey north. This will be one of two big driving days. You'll be aiming to end in the backside of Yosemite at Tuolumne Meadows. The valley in incredible, but I think Tuolumne is the most beautiful area and is also visited by far fewer tourists. The pass will have just opened so it'll be all yours. Before we get there for the evening though, we'll might be stopping in the White Mountains to see the up to 14,000 year old Bristlecone Pines (the oldest trees on the planet) or taking at dip at the Hotsprings in Mammoth. Again, today is an adventure day not a food day so eat up the scenery and grab some great snacks where you can. The Mobil Station in Lee Vining is an institution and grabbing dinner there (or at one of the restaurants in Mammoth) is a good idea. Grab a little shut eye in Tuolumne Meadows, either at the campsite or at Tenaya Lodge, and get ready for tomorrow.
Day 3. Tuolumne Meadows and Yosemite. Take today easy, the National Park is Huge. If you head to the valley make sure to check out the Mist Trail, it's like 3-4 miles round trip but a very fun experience. You can also check out all the of the falls along the valley floor. If you're in for a bigger day, go check out Glacier Point or the Sentinel. Both of those are like 4-10 miles depending on which loop you take. If you take the longer routes they are much more strenuous because you ascend to the valley rim. Yosemite Falls trail is awful, it's just switchbacks. In Tuolumne Meadows there are sections of the JMT you can follow. Ask at the visitor center. Spend the night here.
Day 4. Grab a breakfast sandwich at the Tuolumne General store and drive up to Tahoe. It's another gorgeous drive and you'll pass a few really interesting old towns along the way. I'd recommend at stopping in Genoa right before you get to Tahoe and having a pint in Genoa Bar, Nevada's oldest bar. Raquel Welsh's bra hangs from the antlers there. Play some quick pool and head over the hill for maximum lake time or head to Virginia City if you like wild west vibes and history (that website is awful, the town is awesome). If you headed to Tahoe make your way to Emerald Bay and hike part of Desolation Wilderness. Gorgeous terrain and views if you make it up past Eagle Lake. Celebrate your hike with some Ice Cream at Camp Richardson. You can find a nice lodge or Airbnb in south lake tahoe to stay at, or really drive that day and finish in downtown Truckee. There is good food and a few nice hotels.
Day 5. Get breakfast in Truckee at Cornerstone Kitchen or wherever you stayed in south lake. Now head to Nevada City for Lunch and checkout the downtown. On the way, stop off and swim in the swimming hole at... I'll need to find the location. Make your way to Pleasanton from there for the wedding stuff. Maybe stop at In and Out along the way.
Day 6. Wedding Day
Day 7. Head to Sf for the day and repeat the original advice. Maybe check out the Dogpatch or other areas you're interested in. If you are in town on a Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday, think about checking out the farmers market at the Ferry Building. Berkeley or Oakland are also fun areas to check out. +1 for going to Berkeley Bowl if you have time.
Have tons of fun, try to minimize the driving, and feel free to follow up if you want any other suggestions! Enjoy!!!!
I'll speak to the coast drive. I went to school in San Luis Obispo, so Im biased towards staying there rather than arroyo grande. The downtown is pretty nice. If you like wine, stop in paso robles instead. There's a cool tourist stop called Hearst Castle north of there on highway 1. Taking that drive up highway 1 will definitely give you some nice views and makes it easier to stop in Monterrey Bay for the aquarium, or Santa Cruz before the bay. Speaking of aquarium, the one in Long Beach just south of LA is great too. There's also the Queen Mary in Long Beach if you like old boats.
For LA, there's lots of good museums and misc other stuff. I like to recommend the Tar Pits since it's a bit of natural history that is local to the area smack dab in the middle of the city. Get Mexican food. Choose a place that almost feels like a whole in the wall or taco truck. Santa Monica pier or Venice beach for the experience on the ocean. I love deep in the suburbs of LA, so let me know if you have any questions.
I would say as someone from here, you should probably switch the time for LA and Palm Springs. You can do Palm Springs in a day. If you want to "see LA," you can spend a few days here as it is a large city. Avoid the walk of fame, it sucks. If you want to see the Hollywood sign, go to the Bronson Caves (free to park), hike up the hill (5-10mins) and then go up into the canyon area. There is a direct shot to the sign with none of the tourists. Added bonus this is a batcave filming location.
Staying in Santa Barbara, keep in mind that's about an hour or two up the coast from LA. That will be maybe another 6 hours to SF from there. You wouldn't be able to have time to explore SF if you spent the day driving, but that's up to you I suppose. Plan ahead for the location of where you plan to stay, as I don't think there are many hotels.
For the rest, it seems plausible, just double check the driving times. You can estimate the traffic at a certain time of day on google and apple maps. The cities are usually extremely trafficked around rush hours, so keep that in mind. California is huge. Have fun!
I would recommend stopping in Santa Cruz on Day 4, or just going all the way north to SF. Make sure you take Highway 1 either way! I5 is fast but has nothing to look at. Santa Barbara is not that far north, and you’ll end up with a lot of downtime there (which is okay if you like it, but IMO there’s more to do in other parts of California), and then have to drive really far the next day to make it up north. You are already short on time, so I’d just get the driving done all at once.
It depends what you want to see and what your travel style is, but CA is big and there’s lots to see. In the North Bay, I’d recommend deciding what you might like most (San Francisco or the nature parks) and committing a solid day to that. Personally, I’d get really tired on that itinerary, but that’s just me.
I'm local to northern California and Calaveras Big Trees is a place I love and have visited many times. Are you prepared for the steep windy mountain driving to get there and back the day after a wedding? Will you wake up refreshed and ready for an adventure?
You didn't mention Yosemite at all. Yosemite Valley views are iconic and amazing.
June in Palm Springs will be hot! Make sure your rental car has effective air conditioning before you leave the rental place.
There is interesting architecture in San Francisco.
Bottom line, it's going to be a great trip, but you might be trying to do too much in one week.
Edit - if you do go to Calaveras Big Trees, consider flying out of Sacramento. That will reduce your driving time by roughly 2 hours
If you can make it, go to the Marin County Civic Center designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Honestly not sure what to recommend with so little time. Maybe walking around North Beach?
My two cents as another San Luis Obispo fan, stop here, not Santa Barbara. SB is kind of crowded and expensive, and genuinely not as pretty as the SLO area.
Avila and Pismo beach are classic California “Beach Towns”. Depending on budget, there are some fantastic cliff-side hotels in the area. Or, you can always enjoy the towns and stay overnight in SLO city, 15 minutes away. Can also go out to Morro Bay and see Sea Otters and Morro Rock.
In the area, I recommend Splash Cafe for chowder and High Street Deli for a comically large sandwich.
If you are into wine, then you can’t skip Paso Robles (near SLO), Napa Valley, or the criminally underrated Livermore (next to Pleasanton) wine country. California also has a lot of craft beer if that’s your thing.
For big trees, I think Muir Woods is closer than Calaveras. Haven’t been to Calaveras, but Muir Woods is always lovely, if a bit crowded. You could feasibly do a short day in San Francisco combined with a half day in Muir Woods (hour-ish north).
Happy to elaborate on anything or add recommendations!
Edit: forgot to say, don’t stay in Fremont if you can avoid it lol. It’s boring and has bad traffic. Sounds like that is combined with the Wedding in some way, so stay in Pleasanton if you can.
As someone who hates driving, I recommend trying a Waymo while you're in SF. There's tons to do and see, especially if you want to do touristy or outdoorsy stuff. I recommend checking out the Sunset Dunes park (formerly part of The Great Highway) and wandering around there. Lots to see, do, and eat in the Outer Sunset. Plus, you can walk all the way to Golden Gate Park.
When are you going to be out here? because I agree with avoiding Fremont, but there are things to do inland in the East Bay that are great in the summer, like fruit picking in Brentwood, not too far from Pleasanton.
Also, avoid Oakland Airport. AVOID. SFO and SJC are the way to go.
Gotta disagree on the OAK hate. If I can get a flight out of OAK instead of SFO, I’m taking OAK every time. SFO is so much more annoying to get to. And if your final destination is downtown SF, OAK is the same travel time. OAK always has short lines for TSA, and SFO is much more variable.
Never tried San Jose though.
Big Basin Redwoods State Park would be less out of your way than Calveras Big Tree Park. If you did that before the wedding, maybe you could go to San Francisco after and fly out of SFO?
Schedule your trip around traffic. If you drive from SF to Pleasanton during rush hour, the 40 minute trip is now two hours. And by rush hour, I mean 7am-11am or 2pm-7pm. I expect the same is true of L.A. Also, always be using Google Maps. I wont even drive down the street without asking Google Maps if there is a faster route.
You are doing too much. Overnight in either L.A. or S.F. Pick one. I would pick S.F. You could spend an entire day in S.F. It is unlike anything else you have ever experienced. Just bring a jacket. L.A. has better beaches, but is mostly strip malls, and you will get your fill of CA strip malls in Pleasanton.
Avoid the crowds. You will be driving up the coast. Past some absolutely beautiful (and frigidly cold) beaches. Don't stop at Santa Barbra. Stop at Big Sur. Pfiffer State Beach. Get some photos of yourselves freezing your asses off. Schedule time to stop and enjoy the views along the way.