It's been years since I went to SF, but here's my advice. Get Alcatraz tickets way in advance, especially for the night tour,as they sell out.
Yes, I almost missed Alcatraz because I assumed you just buy them there. If you miss the window and they’re sold out you can get tickets as part of a 3rd-party tour but those are expensive. And even the tours will not be able to get you in last minute.
It's been years since I went to SF, but here's my advice. Get Alcatraz tickets way in advance, especially for the night tour,as they sell out.
Yes, I almost missed Alcatraz because I assumed you just buy them there. If you miss the window and they’re sold out you can get tickets as part of a 3rd-party tour but those are expensive. And even the tours will not be able to get you in last minute.
So is Alcatraz even worth it if we don't like scary/creepy? We have Eastern Penitentiary here which is just ghost tours and not something I will EVER do. If Alcatraz is the same thing, then we will totally skip it and just wave as we pass by on the ferry.
For Disney - if you just want to do Disneyland one day is plenty. If you want to do California Adventure I would put aside two days. If you are "Disney people" I think you could give up the day in Laguna/Huntington Beach for California Adventure.
You have got A LOT packed into a very short amount of time. You could easily spend three weeks doing this trip and still miss a ton. Of your whole trip my favorite part is the section between Monterrey and Santa Barbara. You will love it!
I know we have a lot jammed in, but that's why our plans are pretty loose. We plan to just stop wherever we feel like as we are driving down. But I'm also type A, so I at least need to plan and book hotels for each leg of the trip. Other than Disney tickets, we won't book anything else until we get there (unless we decide on Alcatraz- see my other post). Unfortunately for me and my mom, this is probably a once in a lifetime. I would hope DD can make it back one day when she's older and my sister gets to travel a lot for work.
I would skip Alcatraz then. There are great tasting rooms in downtown Carmel and Carmel valley (a few miles off highway one) and then further opportunities for wine on your drive to LA so if you don't really have time for Napa skip it.
Post by firedancer10288 on Oct 20, 2019 12:24:33 GMT -5
So this is where we're at right now. I talked with my friend that is a Disney travel agent. She is setting us up with hotel (Desert Palms), 2 day park tickets w/ max pass, and beach trip from hotel. We are used to WDW in July/August with crowds and going all day rope drop to closing so I'm not too worried about packing most of it in.
8/7 Friday- Fly into San Francisco, drive to Marin County
8/8 Saturday- Wine
8/9 Sunday- SF (Golden gate, Fishermans wharf/Alcatraz)
Drive to Monterey
8/10 Monday- Monterey, Carmel by the Sea, 17 mile, Big Sur/pfeiffer burns state park
Drive to San Luis Obispo
8/11 Tuesday- San Luis Obispo/Pismo beach, drive to Santa Barbara
8/12 Wednesday-Santa Barbara Wednesday evening drive to LA
8/13 Thursday- Warner Bros tour, Hollywood Stuff Drive to Anaheim
8/14 Friday- Disneyland
8/15 Saturday- Huntington Beach (bus trip from hotel 8:30am-2:30pm), Disneyland PM
Post by firedancer10288 on Oct 20, 2019 12:36:13 GMT -5
Is there a decent place to stay that's maybe between Santa Barbara and LA, or is the traffic that bad? Just trying to think if its better to stay in the middle for 2 nights instead of 1 night in each place.
Yes, I almost missed Alcatraz because I assumed you just buy them there. If you miss the window and they’re sold out you can get tickets as part of a 3rd-party tour but those are expensive. And even the tours will not be able to get you in last minute.
So is Alcatraz even worth it if we don't like scary/creepy? We have Eastern Penitentiary here which is just ghost tours and not something I will EVER do. If Alcatraz is the same thing, then we will totally skip it and just wave as we pass by on the ferry.
I enjoyed it. It’s more of factual historical tour. There aren’t any ghost stories (at least for the daytime tour). You wear headphones and walk around the main building, go outside briefly and then head back.
Is there a decent place to stay that's maybe between Santa Barbara and LA, or is the traffic that bad? Just trying to think if its better to stay in the middle for 2 nights instead of 1 night in each place.
Not really. It’s only about 2 hours. The distance isn’t that far and most of the cities aren’t really places you “stay”. Keep in mind - there are people who commute from SB to La daily (my dad is one of them!). Just plan on leaving either early (say 6 am from SB) or after morning rush hour (9 am) or before 1 pm or after about 6 or 7 pm.
Yes, I almost missed Alcatraz because I assumed you just buy them there. If you miss the window and they’re sold out you can get tickets as part of a 3rd-party tour but those are expensive. And even the tours will not be able to get you in last minute.
So is Alcatraz even worth it if we don't like scary/creepy? We have Eastern Penitentiary here which is just ghost tours and not something I will EVER do. If Alcatraz is the same thing, then we will totally skip it and just wave as we pass by on the ferry.
Well Alcatraz is a historic landmark so it's not really about the scary/creepy - it's about the history. The evening tour is a little creepy just by default - but it's not a halloween house type thing.
It was one of the highlights for us when we visited, and we're not in anyway interested in scary stuff. But if it's worth it is in the eye of the beholder.
“With sorrow—for this Court, but more, for the many millions of American women who have today lost a fundamental constitutional protection—we dissent,”
Yes, I realize the whole trip is “tourist trap.” That’s kinda the vibe we are going for, coming from the east coast 🤷🏻♀️
I think we are going to combine SF into one day and spend the other day north of SF (but not as far as Napa) to do wine.
We could potentially do an overnight in somewhere like Santa Barbara on the way to LA, but again not knowing the area, we have no idea how long it’s going to take to get one place to another. Tv and movies have you believe it takes hours to go a few miles on the freeway, so is the walk of fame/Hollywood sign/Beverly hills really doable in one day? I figure the Warner Bros tour is at least half a day and that’s something we all want to do.
Napa is only about an hour or so past SF and the first stop to really drink wine. If you wanted hiking or views, there’s plenty of that right over the bridge, but I don’t know if I would go wine tasting in Marin County when you can drive another half hour for truly great wine. (Someone from the North Bay can correct me if I’m wrong.)
There is no wine tasting in Marin*, so I think she means Sonoma or Carneros. If you are driving via 101 and the Golden Gate bridge you hit those before Napa (101 to 37 is a more pleasant drive than heading across the bay bridge and messing with east bay traffic). (*technically we might have one or two subpar wineries. But what we do well is the cheese part of the wine and cheese and ice cream. We have cows and redwoods, not grapes).
If you want to stay on the north side of the bridge, consider the Waters Edge in Tiburon. Right now it looks like they have rooms listed for 250ish on some sort of deal. You can then take the ferry to Fisherman's Wharf and all of that for your SF day. And drop by the redwoods on the way to Sonoma.
1. You don't need a whole day for the GG Bridge. You can combine that with Fisherman's Wharf and Alcatraz. That way you can easily add a day on to Disneyland.
2. Buy your Alcatraz tickets EARLY. Go online and set a reminder for the day tickets for your desired date go on sale.
3. You can stop for wine tasting along the way as you drive south in the Paso Robles or Santa Barbara area. Cheaper and way more laid back than Napa, more convenient for your trip, and some truly great wineries.
4. Skip San Diego. It's a longer drive than it seems from LA and driving will eat up most of your time on just a day trip.
As for LA ... West Hollywood is a dump. I have never wanted to spend more than an hour in that part of Los Angeles.
Uh, thanks. It's a 4 square mile independent city, with a vibrant LGBT community (1/3rd of the population), several lovely and historic parks, the Pacific Design Center, important architecture, one of the best COLA libraries, and many of the best-reviewed restaurants in the Los Angeles area. And I can say that in the 5 years I lived in WeHo I never once went to the "touristy" clubs on the strip. Although the strip also includes historically important music venues. And the Hollywood sign isn't anywhere near WeHo.
OP, I totally recommend driving down Sunset from Hollywood, through West Hollywood, and into Beverly Hills. You'll get a kick out of seeing stuff you know from movies and celebrity hang out stories. Does traffic in LA suck? Yes, if you're trying to get somewhere by a specific time. But if you're driving for the sake of driving it's not bad. In fact, it was downright magical to see everything when I moved to LA as a 21 year old. My airport shuttle driver was sure to point out the Hollywood sign and capital records building to me (and I was on my way to Burbank, living in student apartments right by Warner Bros.).
Yes, I almost missed Alcatraz because I assumed you just buy them there. If you miss the window and they’re sold out you can get tickets as part of a 3rd-party tour but those are expensive. And even the tours will not be able to get you in last minute.
So is Alcatraz even worth it if we don't like scary/creepy? We have Eastern Penitentiary here which is just ghost tours and not something I will EVER do. If Alcatraz is the same thing, then we will totally skip it and just wave as we pass by on the ferry.
FYI, Eastern State isn't just ghost tours. They do the ghost tour/haunted house in the fall, but they do regular tours throughout the year that goes into the history of the building.
So is Alcatraz even worth it if we don't like scary/creepy? We have Eastern Penitentiary here which is just ghost tours and not something I will EVER do. If Alcatraz is the same thing, then we will totally skip it and just wave as we pass by on the ferry.
FYI, Eastern State isn't just ghost tours. They do the ghost tour/haunted house in the fall, but they do regular tours throughout the year that goes into the history of the building.
I was just coming back to post this because even if it's not at all the point of the thread, Eastern State is an amazing and important museum and this comment was irking me.
In addition to the history of the site, Eastern State has a very heavy emphasis of the problem of mass incarceration, racial injustice in the criminal justice system, issues faced by LGBT prisoners, and how privilege effects outcomes for those who commit crimes. Hardly "just ghost tours." It is naturally spooky though, since so much of the site is still in a state of decay.
FYI, Eastern State isn't just ghost tours. They do the ghost tour/haunted house in the fall, but they do regular tours throughout the year that goes into the history of the building.
I was just coming back to post this because even if it's not at all the point of the thread, Eastern State is an amazing and important museum and this comment was irking me.
In addition to the history of the site, Eastern State has a very heavy emphasis of the problem of mass incarceration, racial injustice in the criminal justice system, issues faced by LGBT prisoners, and how privilege effects outcomes for those who commit crimes. Hardly "just ghost tours." It is naturally spooky though, since so much of the site is still in a state of decay.
Yes, very true! Even as I wrote it I was thinking, "Well, even 'historic tour' isn't necessarily all-encompassing." It's a GREAT place for a haunted house experience because it's so imposing and creepy looking, not just from the state of decay, but because of the architecture. It's bonkers that it's in a residential community. I've driven visitors past it and as soon as it's in sight, they usually gasp because the image of something that looks like an 18th or 19th century fortress juxtaposed with cute brick row homes is completely unexpected. Which is why they used to use it as a stand in for the Bastille.
It's also important for all the reasons you listed, and because other 19th century prisons in Philadelphia have largely been dismantled (I think the site of Moyamensing Prison, where H.H. Holmes was executed, is now an Acme). Philly is a hell of a lot worse than you'd think at preserving important historic structures.
A note on the weather: It won't be your stereotypical idea of "California sun"
August can be foggy and chilly in the bay area and big sur, etc. San Francisco proper is more likely to be in the 50s, overcast and very windy than 80 degrees. Sometimes the fog burns off over the course of the day and it warms up to the seventies. But not every day. The weather can change dramatically every time you go over a hill. The west side of SF can be socked in with fog while other parts are clear. Sometimes the land is all clear, while the bay itself is foggy.
After you drive north over the golden gate bridge, there is a tunnel through the hills with rainbows painted on it because so often you go from foggy gloom in to sun as you pass through. IF that doesn't bring sun, you drive another hill, or another. Each hill you go over the temperature goes up 5 degrees and your chance of sun improves.
SF is rarely t-shirt and shorts weather in the summer (maybe 5 days a year) while wine country is warm most days between june and late october.
As for LA ... West Hollywood is a dump. I have never wanted to spend more than an hour in that part of Los Angeles.
Uh, thanks. It's a 4 square mile independent city, with a vibrant LGBT community (1/3rd of the population), several lovely and historic parks, the Pacific Design Center, important architecture, one of the best COLA libraries, and many of the best-reviewed restaurants in the Los Angeles area. And I can say that in the 5 years I lived in WeHo I never once went to the "touristy" clubs on the strip. Although the strip also includes historically important music venues. And the Hollywood sign isn't anywhere near WeHo.
OP, I totally recommend driving down Sunset from Hollywood, through West Hollywood, and into Beverly Hills. You'll get a kick out of seeing stuff you know from movies and celebrity hang out stories. Does traffic in LA suck? Yes, if you're trying to get somewhere by a specific time. But if you're driving for the sake of driving it's not bad. In fact, it was downright magical to see everything when I moved to LA as a 21 year old. My airport shuttle driver was sure to point out the Hollywood sign and capital records building to me (and I was on my way to Burbank, living in student apartments right by Warner Bros.).
Thank you for responding. I live adjacent to West Hollywood and this comment has been bothering me. West Hollywood is far from a dump and a great place to visit.
As for LA ... West Hollywood is a dump. I have never wanted to spend more than an hour in that part of Los Angeles.
Uh, thanks. It's a 4 square mile independent city, with a vibrant LGBT community (1/3rd of the population), several lovely and historic parks, the Pacific Design Center, important architecture, one of the best COLA libraries, and many of the best-reviewed restaurants in the Los Angeles area. And I can say that in the 5 years I lived in WeHo I never once went to the "touristy" clubs on the strip. Although the strip also includes historically important music venues. And the Hollywood sign isn't anywhere near WeHo.
OP, I totally recommend driving down Sunset from Hollywood, through West Hollywood, and into Beverly Hills. You'll get a kick out of seeing stuff you know from movies and celebrity hang out stories. Does traffic in LA suck? Yes, if you're trying to get somewhere by a specific time. But if you're driving for the sake of driving it's not bad. In fact, it was downright magical to see everything when I moved to LA as a 21 year old. My airport shuttle driver was sure to point out the Hollywood sign and capital records building to me (and I was on my way to Burbank, living in student apartments right by Warner Bros.).
Thanks for this! This is what I want to hear. My cousin lived in West Hollywood for 5 years, and family always raved about visiting there. (I had a baby/toddler during those years, so traveling to CA was not on my radar at the time).
FYI, Eastern State isn't just ghost tours. They do the ghost tour/haunted house in the fall, but they do regular tours throughout the year that goes into the history of the building.
I was just coming back to post this because even if it's not at all the point of the thread, Eastern State is an amazing and important museum and this comment was irking me.
In addition to the history of the site, Eastern State has a very heavy emphasis of the problem of mass incarceration, racial injustice in the criminal justice system, issues faced by LGBT prisoners, and how privilege effects outcomes for those who commit crimes. Hardly "just ghost tours." It is naturally spooky though, since so much of the site is still in a state of decay.
Sorry if I offended anyone. I've only heard of it from friends that have gone ghost hunting, so I wrongly assumed that's what it was.
Regardless, old creepy buildings are not my cup of tea (haunted or not).
By evening, I assume you mean after dinner time, leaving at 7 or so. In general, I would try to avoid trying to cover long distances around or through CA cities during rush hour.
Similarly, SF to Monterrey takes you passed Silicon Valley and San Jose. Leave SF early enough that you either pass San Jose before 5 or late enough that you don't drive south from SF until 7.
Post by pinkdutchtulips on Oct 23, 2019 23:03:22 GMT -5
SF 'native' who was raised out east then moved back to SF when i was 16 and never left (30 years and counting)
get Alcatraz tickets WAY in advance ! i got tickets in Nov for late Jan and i had to be flexible w/ the departure times
I'd steer clear of Fisherman's Wharf and hit the Ferry Building instead. Def combine the GGB with Marin - stop and eat at FISH in Sausaito
Def stop at Cafe Rustica en route to Big Sur but before Big Sur stop in Monterey for the aquarium and Cannery Row
SLO to LA and you're missing a TON !!! Cambria. San Simeon, Solvang, Santa Barbara, Pt Hueme
Most of LA you can skip .... Warner Bros lot would be fun, West Hollywood skip, DL i'd do over 2 days (1 day each park) then i would travel down to the Orange County beaches - Huntington aka Surf City and Laguna
I had a friend visit from NJ and we did SF in a day - BARTed in and took the Cable Cars to FW for Boudin's bakery then walked to Ghiradelhi Sq. Hyde St. Pier. Aquatic Park, Pier 39 - the seals !!, then took the F line vintage trolley cars back to BART