LA to San Francisco

K P & J's Grandma

Now there are 4 grandchildren - K, P, J & A!!!
Joined
Mar 29, 2002
We are wondering if it would make sense to make a LONG day trip from Disneyland up the coast to San Francisco & back??? Mainly interested in seeing the Golden Gate Bridge & the wharf area & of course the ocean along the way. We will be traveling with 2 grandchildren that are 8 yrs. old - princess: pirate:
Are we NUTS to even consider this???? :confused3
Any input will be great.

Thanks ----
 
I am from No. Cal & have done that trip many times, and I would say don't even think about trying it in a day! San Francisco is an entire day by itself easily if you've never seen it before (or more than one day), and that is a really long drive round trip in one day. Maybe you could do a day trip in the LA area - go to Catalina or something?

I assumed you were driving. There are flights from LA to SF obviously, but that would be so much hassle. I can't think of a way to make it workable (unless you happen to have your own private jet :rotfl: )
 
It would take 7+ hours just to drive it, so no, it's not doable. There are plenty of places in S CA to consider for day trips. If you're thinking about flying, that might be different, but it's not a drivable day trip.
 
It is a day's drive each way to SF. Cannot imagine driving to SF and back in the same day much less trying to see anything in the City.
 


Thanks for the input - that is what we really thought -- NOT a good idea!! We will be renting a car --- so we will be checking on different ideas of places to go to. Is 3 days at Disney enough ( we have been to Disney World many times)?? Were also thinking about Knott's Berry Farm for one day. Any idea's for 8 yr olds???
Thanks -----
 
If you're going to have a car, check out some of the San Diego offerings. Between the SD Zoo, Balboa Park, SeaWorld & LegoLand, you should be able to find a few things to interest an 8yo.

If Disney is first on your agenda, then Knotts is kind of disappointing. Doing Knotts first is ok.
 
Definitely NOT a day's adventure. But I am going to be a goof and post some photos if you are not able to see the warf.

downtown/Union Square area:
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Entrance to Chinatown:
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At the end of the Pier you can see Alcatraz:
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Bay Bridge:
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Thanks for the great Pictures! We have family there and have only been to Alcatraz. I now want to see more!
 
denyd: thanks for the ideas --- will check into them.

hermosa11 : thanks for being a 'goof' & posting the great pictures. I noticed that you spent 3 weeks in Oahu, where are those pictures??
 
3 days is enough at DL. Before DCA, we used to go from rope drop to close and did everything in 2 days with a little bit of time to hit the highlights again. IMO, DCA is not yet a full day park. It's getting better with Tower of Terror and Monsters, Inc.(thought I have yet to ride MI), but I think you can hit the highlights of the park in a little over half a day. If you don't do thrill rides, than you could do it in even less time.
 
If you are doing 3 days at Disneyland and want more- why not look into the Southern Cal. Citypass. You get the 3 days at both Disneyland parks, Universal Studio's, and one day at either Wild Animal Park or San Diego Zoo, and one day at Sea World. Costco is the best place to buy those. $175 for adults and $140 for children. You do not need a Costco membership to buy them, they do charge you a bit more though.

Have a great time!
 
its about an 8 hour drive, but on the plus side, you only have to take one highway (101) the entire way.
 
Uuaww said:
its about an 8 hour drive, but on the plus side, you only have to take one highway (101) the entire way.

Yep and hope that there is no accidents or traffic jams crossing Salinas, Gilroy, Morgan Hill, San Jose, Cupertino, Palo Alto, Redwood City, Burlingame, South San Francisco and then San Francisco... just to name a few.

I would go Hwy 101 to Hwy 280 (the forgotten highway) that takes you into SF. A little more mileage but more scenic...

Taz
CA_Stitch
 
salinas, gilroy and morgan hill never have traffic. (i make the trip up from slo many times a year.) San Jose though, yeah your screwed there bout 80% of the time.
 
I commuted every day from Monterey/Prunedale through Gilroy and Morgan Hill to San Jose/Silicon Valley for the last 8 years.. and if you are crossing at 7:30am to 9:30am... there is traffic/traffic jam going to Silicon Valley and add an accident on 101... a good reason to work from home on that day because there is no good alternative to 101 in that section. Rt 1 would take forever...
 
Santa Barbara would be a more realistic day trip option, SFO is way too far. You should be able to make it to Santa Barbara in about 2 hours (assuming minimal traffic), there's a nice beach, the mission, lots of food and shopping. I don't know how much the kids would find to do though, so San Diego might be a better bet.
 
That trip is unrealistic, if you were to leave at 5am, you might make it to SF by noon or 1pm, then you might get a couple hours to just see a couple of things before you have to be thinking about coming back for another 7 HOUR trip.If the drive were more like 3-4 hours I would say go for it, but even then you won't see much in that time.San Francisco has WAY too many things to see and do.We just spent 4 1/2 days in San Francisco and 2 in Lake Tahoe and we saw the main things in SF, but not everything we would have liked in almost 5 days.
 

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