California newbie need advise from the locals please

[Tinydancer34]

I'm trying to plan a trip for my 40th birthday, we've been to Florida a lot and coming from the UK I also go to Disneyland Paris every year. So we've decided this time we're going to try Disneyland. I'm looking at hotels in Anaheim and would like to use this as our base and travel around. I would like to know from people with experience how far we can travel whilst returning to Anaheim every night.
Mostly I'd like to know if it's possible to get to San Francisco in a day? How long is it? Is it fairly easy to drive? We have lots of driving experience in America so we can find our way around but is it possible? Is Sea World San Diego easy to get to?
Am I being over optimistic thinking that we can travel the length of California from 1 place?
Any advise you can give me would be great
Thanks

 

[sheetz]

Haha, no way is San Francisco a day trip! That's a good 7 hr drive each way, not including traffic.

 

[Mateo]

I'm trying to plan a trip for my 40th birthday, we've been to Florida a lot and coming from the UK I also go to Disneyland Paris every year. So we've decided this time we're going to try Disneyland. I'm looking at hotels in Anaheim and would like to use this as our base and travel around. I would like to know from people with experience how far we can travel whilst returning to Anaheim every night.
Mostly I'd like to know if it's possible to get to San Francisco in a day? How long is it? Is it fairly easy to drive? We have lots of driving experience in America so we can find our way around but is it possible? Is Sea World San Diego easy to get to?
Am I being over optimistic thinking that we can travel the length of California from 1 place?
Any advise you can give me would be great
Thanks

San Francisco and the area are beautiful and magic in their own right, they deserve their own vacation and special planning. San Fran is not a day trip from Anaheim however San Diego is an option.

Check out the San Diego Zoo or Sea world. Balboa Park has loads to do

 

[finchy3]

Sea World is an easy drive down the 5,or you can do the Pacific Surfliner (Amtrak).

 

[Tinydancer34]

Thanks for the replies! San Diego sounds fantastic, San Francisco will have to be another time then! That's fine with me there's so much more of the USA I want to see. Such an amazing country Thanks guys x

 

[Nichola]

How long is your holiday ?

 

[Tinydancer34]

2-3 weeks depending on what we have planned to do

How long is your holiday ?

 

[Nichola]

We have been to California many times. It's fab ! One of our trips: flew into LA drove to Aneheim. Disney .... brilliant. Then drove to san Diego. Stayed there. Then drove up the coastal road stopping over in monterery ( lovely place. Couple of nights here ) then drove to San Francisco. SF is just great. Need 4 nights at least for a first timer.

Or. Another trip. We flew into SF. then drove down the coastal road to monterery. Then onto big sur. then drove inland to Yosemite. The coastral road is stunning.

 

[Plasticletters]

LA an San Diego are easy day trips. Lots to do in both cities (and lots of threads about them)

 

[Tinydancer34]

Thanks guys, I'm so excited there's so much I want to see. It's great to have people that know there area to help me plan

 

[VandVsmama]

The drive from Anaheim to San Francisco will take you all day. 6.5 hours according to Google Maps, but that's if you don't encounter any rush hour traffic either in LA or in the SF Bay Area.

SF is definitely not a day trip as in "Hey, let's drive over to San Francisco for the day and come back tonight to stay in our hotel here in Anaheim." I grew up in the SF Bay Area and I agree that you'd need 3-4 days in San Francisco to do it justice.

If you do go to SF, have dim sum in Chinatown. There are some very helpful reviews of places on Yelp.com. I had dim sum in Chinatown once a couple of years ago (can't remember the name of the place at the moment) and it was so good...my sister and I ate until we were stuffed and the whole bill came to $30.00, including tip. We were the only Caucasian people in the place and there were tons of Asian families eating there (it was a Saturday afternoon). It was a culinary adventure and the food was excellent.

 

[LisaT91403]

If you really want to visit San Francisco and money is no object...you can catch a quick flight on Southwest Airlines to SFO. You can fly SNA to SFO non-stop, and flights are as little as $198 roundtrip if you book far enough in advance. The flight takes a little less than an hour and a half. You do not need a car in San Francisco -- you can use public transportation for everything.

 

[CAFarmerGirl]

What about flying into LA and out of SF? Of course, this would assume changing hotels along the way.

 

[GromMom]

To piggyback off of CA Farmer girl, I would highly recommend flying into LA, doing all of your Disney stuff and driving up the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway). You could spend about 3 days driving up the coast, touring, it's one of my favorite drives/vacations, we will leave from San Diego but we've driven up to San Luis Obisbo and stayed at the famous Madonna Inn (Super tacky hotel with pink theming in the restaurant and each room is uniquely themed, some rooms look like caves, some rooms look like spanish villas, one room we stayed in looked very Chinese and the other room was completely round, including a round bed. They have a great resort like infinity pool and they make the best cakes, I'd recommend just going there to eat cake if you don't want to stay in the hotel as it is more expensive than the other hotels down the street. Then we drove up to near Monterey/Carmel and did hiking at two favorite spots, Point lobos and Garrapada state park. We stayed in Monterey and did the touristy thing and then headed up to SF. You could easily spend a week in Disneyland, go up the coast for 3-4 days and spend a week in SF if you have 3 weeks of vacation, it would be pretty amazing

 

[Rosebud123]

To piggyback off of CA Farmer girl, I would highly recommend flying into LA, doing all of your Disney stuff and driving up the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway). You could spend about 3 days driving up the coast, touring, it's one of my favorite drives/vacations, we will leave from San Diego but we've driven up to San Luis Obisbo and stayed at the famous Madonna Inn (Super tacky hotel with pink theming in the restaurant and each room is uniquely themed, some rooms look like caves, some rooms look like spanish villas, one room we stayed in looked very Chinese and the other room was completely round, including a round bed. They have a great resort like infinity pool and they make the best cakes, I'd recommend just going there to eat cake if you don't want to stay in the hotel as it is more expensive than the other hotels down the street. Then we drove up to near Monterey/Carmel and did hiking at two favorite spots, Point lobos and Garrapada state park. We stayed in Monterey and did the touristy thing and then headed up to SF. You could easily spend a week in Disneyland, go up the coast for 3-4 days and spend a week in SF if you have 3 weeks of vacation, it would be pretty amazing

Hi! We're in the initial stages of a California trip next summer. Like to start with a stay in SF for 3 nights and finish in Anaheim for 4 nights, stopping for 1 or possibly two nights along the way (either 2 nights in one place or 1 and 1). Are the two places you suggested your favorite stops? We'll be a family of 4 - 2 adults and a 12 and 14 year old.

 

[VandVsmama]

Just to put things into perspective, it's 405 miles from Anaheim to San Francisco. Or approximately 652 km. It's about the equivalent of driving from London to Glasgow.

 

[GromMom]

Hi! We're in the initial stages of a California trip next summer. Like to start with a stay in SF for 3 nights and finish in Anaheim for 4 nights, stopping for 1 or possibly two nights along the way (either 2 nights in one place or 1 and 1). Are the two places you suggested your favorite stops? We'll be a family of 4 - 2 adults and a 12 and 14 year old.

Point lobos is my #1 recommendation for a casual hike with scenic movie like views, imagine a cave being hit by a wave framed by beautiful trees. The Madonna Inn is really just a place to stay, yes theres hiking and tennis etc but i think of it more like a resort or spa than a pave for sight seeing. Is just convenient and fun if you like kitschy or tacky. My other recommendation is Hearst castle if you like beautiful architecture. Since we've been to Hearst castle we normally skip it but we always go hiking at point lobos because it's so beautiful.
Have a wonderful trip!