Expert: Ernest Tufft - 4/1/2008

Question
My husband and I are planning a trip at the end of July.  We have never been to California and we want to see as much as we can.  We definitely want to see the Redwoods, San Francisco (Alcatraz, Fisherman's Wharf), and then go down the coast to Los Angeles and do Disneyland and Universal.  We are thinking of flying into Sacramento b/c it is about 200 cheaper than San Francisco and then flying out of Los Angeles.  We have about 7 or 8 days to spend.  Can you give any advice on getting around or how to go about seeing all of this.  Thanks!

Answer
Kristy,

Sacramento is a good choice of airport entry because you can proceed south from there and make a broad survey of the state within your 7-8 day period.  You'll want to rent a car, though not necessarily at the airport--check prices and see if the rental office near the hotel gives the better deal.  You can then visit Sutter's Fort/Old Town Sacramento to get an idea of the Gold Rush heritage before heading south to the wine country in Napa Valley.  From there, proceed south on Hwy 101 to the Golden Gate Bridge and SF.  Muir Woods is a good stop along the way for old growth redwoods.  I personally think Alcatraz and Fisherman's Wharf more on the order of tourist traps than an authentic SF experience.  If you are open to the many other possibilities this world's great city has to offer, check out my tips at Virtualtourist.com, where I am #1 for SF.  Old growth redwoods can also be seen at Big Basin in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  Take 280 south through to the Santa Clara Valley (Silicon Valley), to Hwy 9 at Saratoga (home of Stanford University).  Then take the winding ridgeline south to Santa Cruz, visiting Big Basin along the way.  Santa Cruz and the Monterey Bay area in general is actually the better place to visit "the wharf" in July.  The Pacific water is warmest at Aptos and other beaches.  Moss Landing is a great place to eat fresh seafood.  Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, and Carmel offer scenic ocean front drives of a romantic quality.  Take Hwy 1 for more scenic beauty, down to San Luis Obispo/Morro Bay on the south central coast.  From there LA is just a few hours away.  I would choose either Universal Studios or Disneyland, but not both, on your short trip.  For a short time frame such as yours LA traffic will eat up too much time.  SF is the better adult urban attraction anyway, so provide more time for SF than LA, unless of course you prefer corporate branded attractions over authentic California.