@ProfessorPlum168 That sounds very cool! Don;t think my kids would want to see every single church (they even got sick of them in Italy 
) but a few would be great!
Tenaya Lodge is nice, but not very convenient for Tioga Pass (its on the south side of the park). So from there it is probably easiest to drive down to Fresno and go to LA that way (possibly with a detour to Kings Canyon and Sequoia NPs - staying in the park is much easier there, either at John Muir Lodge or Wuksachi Lodge). Evergreen Lodge is a good option on the north side of the park, not too bad to go to either Tioga or Sonora Pass from there, and a short drive to Hetch Hetchy. Groveland is further out, but has a few nice B&Bs. Yosemite West is an enclave within the park, has a handful of VRBO/AirBnB rentals (an easy drive back after eating in the valley) and is often overlooked, definitely much preferable to the rather rundown motels at El Portal.
Monterrey Aquarium, fabulous. A drive to LA, forget it. Too far. (Not too far for people with a sense of purpose, who get down there via 101, which is inland, for an event or to see family. But the right sort of tourist view takes time.)
Yes, Rt 1 (the coastal route) is open all the way down, I did this trip last Sept. But Rt 1 is a winding road, through Big Sur, in parts, and even with extensive driving, down from SF to San Simeon/Cambria took us several days. The Big Sur views are spectacular. Did I say spectacular? Google Big Sur.
You can’t “do it all.” It’s a big state and I think some are underestimating drive times. OP has one week. It’s about 6 hours alone to San Simeon, via Rt 1 (Pacific Coast Hwy) and you’d likely want to stop several times to ogle the views.
My travel friend and I had lived in that part of CA before and even so, the bullets in and around SF are so satisfying. Sausalito is across the Golden Gate Bridge, great views. We took the Hop On bus in SF, to get the easy overview (parking can be a bear.) It goes through GG Park. The botanical gardens there are great, as is the De Young (and it has a nice cafe.)
Using an online map, see the Rt 1 path to Big Sur. Yes, to Monterrey, possibly Carmel, and Santa Cruz. Big Sur, if you can. Then ask yourselves if you can make it to San Simeon- and take at least one tour at Hearst Castle.
I vote for heading towards LA. I’ve never been, but the Big Sur stretch is supposed to be breath taking! That being said, in 2014 we headed north towards Oregon. We spent ~4 days doing SF, then headed south to see Stanford, then went back north. We stayed along the coast for awhile - around eureka maybe. And then we cut through and saw the Avenue of the Giants and made our way to cave junction, OR. There’s not much there except we stayed in a treehouse (with a bathroom, a must for old lady me) and went to the Great World of Cats (my s was obsessed with the big cats) and did a cave tour and some hiking. We flew home out of Medford, a smaller and more expensive airport, but we didn’t have enough time to get all the way to Portland or return to SF. My kids were younger at the time - 13&16 - but maybe a possibility. It certainly was different.
If you do decide to venture north to Oregon, the Cannon Beach and Netarts Bay areas, both of which are on the northern coast, are beautiful. Easy to fly out of Portland from there.
Not totally sure of your timing, but if you plan to head south to the Monterrey area, just remember that the US Open is at Pebble Beach June 13-16. 17 mile drive is closed to car & bike traffic starting June 9. Attendance during that time is expected to be 200,000+…
Driving to LA from SF in 3 days is super easy, even on the coast route. One small cautionary note on the coastal drive between SF and LA - most people drive north on the 1 because then you have the lane farthest from the edge! It’s a little more nerve wracking for the folks heading south, especially if you aren’t used to constant curves and steep drop offs. I love Morro Bay for a stopover or Cambria / Heart Castle. I love Monterey and Carmel but given that its summer I would personally head south of there quickly and spend more time enjoying the central coast. If you don’t want to take the 1 all the way down to LA you can cut over the the 101 any time after San Luis Obispo.
Mon - Drive to Monterey or further south to Big Sur
Tues - Do Heart Castle, stay in Cambria or Morro Bay
Weds - Drive through Morro Bay and Solvang, stay in Santa Barbara
Thurs - drive SB to LA and do stuff
Personally, with that time frame, I might skip Solvang. I think it’s a bit silly. Sorry to be a hater, lol. There’s a beach north of San Simeon where you can see the elephant seals herding. Pretty impressive. I forget the name. I do think you could do with a stop at the famous Pea Soup Andersen’s, which really is delicious. Driving through the wine country there on the way to Santa Barbara is lovely.
I do also love the idea of heading north to the redwoods and doing the Oregon Coast, which is really stunning. Oregon Dunes is gorgeous, great aquarium in Newport, Netarts, Oceanside, Cannon Beach and Astoria are all great. That’s a different road trip probably.
My boys both live in California … one in LA one in SF. I’ve spent a lot of time in the Golden State in the past seven years. Some highlights … Yosemite. Half Moon Bay. Ferry Building in SF. Walking/food tours in SF. Coit Tower (SF), downtown SF to gawk at Millenium Tower and Salesforce tower. In LA, Getty Museum, Hollywood Sign, Marciano Art Foundation Museum (free tix, get online) Disneyland, especially California Adventure Park, Terranea on Rancho Palos Verdes, Manhattan Beach, downtown LA, especially a restaurant called Perch (because it’s at the top of a building, not because it’s a fish joint).
I have also had a wonderful time in Wine Country, Napa and Sonoma, visited the Hearst Castle, Pasadena and the Rose Bowl.
I’m not a big fan of driving all day. We went to Monterrey a few years ago tacked on to an SF trip. Day 1 we spent the better part of a day kayaking. Day 2 we spent the better part of the day hiking at Point Lobos. We also went out to Carmel Valley where lots of the area vineyards had tasting rooms. Carmel’s beach and mission are also worth a visit. We didn’t even find time for the Monterrey aquarium.
I go on free walking tours every time I’m in SF. These guys are great: http://www.sfcityguides.org/current_schedule.html
I’ve also done one fun eating tour of the South Beach neighborhood. A little pricey but I thought worth it: https://www.sffoodtour.com/
I just have to do this here…
Monterrey … is in Mexico.
Monterey (one r) is in California.
as you were…
On the Oregon end - after just driving my daughter home from her college in Oregon, you definitely need more time than you have to do it the way you want to do it (I think you know that already). It’s a full day drive, like 10 hours, just from SF to Eugene on I5 (with stops for lunch and snacks but no sightseeing). Add in 2 more hours to Portland just on I-5 and then detours to the coast at any point and I think you’d want to make that a trip where you either take a full week for the road trip or fly to Portland first and just see Oregon on its own.
(We’ve done a similar trip from the Bay Area seeing a lot of Oregon but we spent 2 weeks on it total.)
@Lindagaf - I agree, Solvang is silly! But fun for a stopover. The elephant seals are great and the vista point is right on the route. Driving over 3 days gives lots of time for exploring - so many fun and beautiful spots. I love the Central coast.
OP only has a week. That includes time in SF and with the brother.
I saw dolphins in Cambria, near San Simeon. Northern CA is so rich in beauty and offerings. Imo, on a short trip, you don’t need to go south all the way to Santa Barbara.
You can see seals in SF or Monterey, btw.
Sorry about the misspelling. I continually have to look it up, lol.
For us, after SF, one day/night in Monterey, the PCH drive, with stops, then a night in Cambria. Remember, in less Oap flues home from SB, they do still need to drive back to SF. PCH is best, imo, driving south through Big Sur. Yes, it’s treacherous. But incomparable beauty.
Yes, the Central Coast wine area is my fav. But you can’t do it all.
Btw, Solvang is much more interesting than it used to be. Less one-note.
@washugrad…yep. I knew that…failed on my last post of the night…
So many helpful suggestions - thank you!! Totally forgot about the US Open, as much as S23 would love to be there I will make sure we are far away. Also was thinking in the back of my head that I might not like going south along the coast and but I wasn’t sure how bad it would be. I did not love the road coming south out of Muir Woods a few years ago even though there were insane people riding their bikes down the same scary hills!
I am starting to think maybe I could do a few days in SF, head to Yosemite West for 2 nights (1.5 days visiting, I know not nearly enough but this will have to be a CA highlights trip), head to Big Sur area for a night then drive north back to SF including the 17 mile drive. At the tail end we would have about a day left in SF. Another wrinkle is that I may be able to stretch the whole thing by a day or two if D19 and I fly straight from CA to New Orleans. Today I will price it out more and see how much this trip might cost us.
Maybe you need to ask your brother how feasible it is to do 3.5 hours east to Yosemite and back, then 3 hours into Big Sur. The route from Y to Big Sur is 4 hours.
Does he live in SF or just getting into the city takes time? I figure 2 days in SF, 2 nights in Yosemite, a day along BS, then a night, is already 6 days. A lot of hours in the car.
Anyway, enjoy.
@Twoin18 I am nervous that Tioga pass will not be open, I looked at the historical opening dates and when there has been as much snow as this year it usually doesn’t open until later in June. Looks like Sonora Pass isn’t even fully open right now. That’s ok though, I did find a great house in West Yosemite that happens to be available Sunday - Tuesday so we would be able to at least see some of the park.
@lookingforward I am going to call him this afternoon, he does live right in the city. I was thinking SF to Yosemite(about 4 hours?) then Yosemite to Big Sur area (another 4.5ish hours?) then back to SF all on different days. Something like this (might still be too much but I keep trying to tweak it to see what we could do.) We love road trips so a few 4-5 hour days are fine with us, especially if we get to see pretty things on the way. In Yellowstone we would easily drive 5-6 hours a day some days as we just drove around exploring.
Friday - fly to SF
Saturday - SF
Sunday - SF morning, drive to Yosemite and explore a little in the late afternoon/evening
Monday - Yosemite all day
Tuesday - Drive to Big Sur in the AM, explore in the afternoon (or around there - not sure where exactly)
Wednesday - Drive the coast back up to SF
Thursday - either spend the night somewhere along the coast again of head back to SF
Friday - either fly home or spend the day in SF
Saturday - fly home if we didn’t Friday
I think the most likely opening date for Tioga is Friday June 14 (they usually open at midday on Friday, occasionally on the Thursday) so that may be just too late for you. 4-5 hours is about right for the drive from SF to Yosemite via Hwy 120, depending on traffic.
I love to drive and don’t mind curves but I would personally hesitate to drive from Yosemite to Big Sur for one night. That’s a whole lotta driving on small roads and in the summer, you’ll hit traffic.