Advice for a SoCal'er
 

I am thinking of driving up to San Fran for spring break with my family. What advice can you give me for places to stay, things to do/eat/visit, etc for a family with two young girls. I also need advice on places to see while driving to San Fran, maybe stop in Monterey or something.

Thanks in advance.

Definitely stop at Fishermans Wharf in SF. Theres lots of cool places to check out and the food is some of the best. There are plenty of places in SF and nearby to visit.

take them to the aquarium!!!

Three good ones on the way up are Hearst Castle, Monterey Bay, and Mystery Spot. This will take you along HWY 1 which is an awesome scenic/twisty drive. Did this trip with the gf about a year ago :)

indeed.

i drove down 1 at 5am in fog and it was the worst drive of my life... so if you are driving it make sure you hit the coast late morning/early afternoon!!!

unless you want to do 10mph and not be able to see nothing but darkness on the sides hahaha. hella scary.

hearst is cool.

Alcatraz is neat too, just buy tix early! as in a week before or so.

Fisherman's Wharf Monterey is Better..SF take the kids to Pier 39..both choices offer different types of food..other then seafood. Stop off at the roaring railroad towards santa cruz...

We do have the largest mall west of the Mississippi in SF. We have alot of shopping here... I don't know how old your girls are, but if you drive up north to Santa Rosa area, we have the Charles Schultz museum. Everything there is Peanuts (you know, Snoopy, Charlie Brown, etc..) and there's also a train museum up that way too.. Plus for adults, wineries =)

Thanks for all the advice. The Mystery Spot sounds pretty interesting. I think I am going to have to plan out this trip with all the advice I am getting. Usually we just go and do the "What do you want to do today?" thing.

If you're driving through Monterey, drop the kids off and hit up Laguna Seca FTW!!

Otherwise, SF has a lot of spots, I always take my visiting relatives up to Twin Peaks, highest point in the city AMAZING VIEW of the whole bayarea and then some.

Don't forget the Exploratorium in SF. It has lots of hands on stuff for kids to do.
Here I've always had a good time "playing" here on dates too. :D

There's also the San Jose Children's museum. Its another hands on play kind of place.
Here It's geared to more 8 and under.

In Sausalito there's the Bay Area Discovery Museum.
Here It's geared to 5-6 and under.

+1 for Hearst's Castle... been there several times when i was younger.. i dont know if they still have guided tours through the castle but if they do make sure to catch at least one of them...

some of the architecture there is just amazing

hearsts castle.....where is that?!!

R
 

About half way to LA from here.

That's where they had a big SoCal/NorCal meet a while back.


Rage777: You try to cross the Golden Gate and visit Sausalito. It's nice over there.