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If you are planning a California family vacation, this is a must-read article. Our family of 4 had an amazing time out west in April 2022 and I cannot wait to share the highlights with you.
It was my first “real” time in California. I had been there for work twice before but had not visited anything. So I call this my first time in California. It is such an amazing state with an incredible diversity of landscapes and activities. We will be back to visit more of this beautiful state.
Our California family vacation itinerary
Los Angeles
Day 1
Early start
We got up bright and early to catch a 7 am flight and start our California family vacation. We were scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles early and therefore chose to book our hotel room the night before. This is a good hack if you don’t want to be homeless until regular check-in time which is usually 3 or 4.
PRO TIP: If you chose to book for the night before, I recommend you call the hotel when you are supposed to check in to confirm that you are still coming but that won’t arrive until the following day. You will avoid the hotel staff giving away your hotel room if they think you are a no-show.
Where we stayed
We rented a car for this trip but we did not pick it up until we got to Hollywood. We took a Lyft ride to get from the airport to our hotel. During our time in Los Angeles, we stayed at Hollywood Celebrity Hotel. I would call the hotel average. It needs some work but the staff is absolutely amazing. We paid $225 per night for a large room which consisted of the main bedroom, a bathroom, an extra bedroom, and a kitchen area. They charged us $10 per day for parking. Additionally, breakfast was included which is always a plus. The woman in charge of the breakfast on the days we visited was outstanding. She would not let us “work” and would make and bring all of our food. She gave small gifts to guests and everyone got hugs from her on their last day.
What we did and ate
We had a delicious lunch at L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele. The outdoor seating is in a beautiful courtyard where you forget you are in the middle of Hollywood. If you like Italian pizza, I highly recommend it.
The hotel is right next to Hollywood boulevard. Therefore, day 1 was spent walking on the walk of fame and visiting the area. We enjoyed Madame Tussauds’ wax museum as well as the museum of illusions.
We finished day 1 with dinner at the oldest restaurant in Hollywood, Mossa & Frank grill. It is situated right on Hollywood boulevard and has a cool old ambiance inside. The food was good, probably a little overpriced but you pay for the location I suppose.
PRO TIP: I make all/most of our dinner reservations before we even leave our home. I find one of the most annoying things to do on vacation is to search for a restaurant everyone will like once you are hungry only to find out they have a 2-hour wait. This new habit I started a couple of years ago has been a game-changer.
Day 2
A California family vacation would not be complete without a movie studio tour. So, on our second day, we took a tour of the Warner Brothers Studios. This was a great visit. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and it was cool to see the behind the scene of many of our favorite movies and tv shows. We spent a good 3 hours there which we all felt was a good use of our time and we learned a lot.
We then found a restaurant called The Burbank pub for lunch which was near the Studios. My husband still calls it his favorite meal of the entire week. The pub is cute with a pirates theme and the food is great. We shared an appetizer of green beans tempura and that was delicious. I then had the lobster roll because I simply cannot pass on a lobster roll when it’s on the menu.
Later on, we went back to our hotel for a little bit, changed, and headed to Beverly Hills. We walked through the streets filled with boutiques we can’t buy from and just enjoyed people watching. Beverly Hills is full of fancy cars and beautifully outfitted people.
Every time we travel somewhere, my husband uses a site called Atlas Obscura. Over the years, he has led us to see so many fun and unique things we would not have found otherwise. In LA, he took us to see the Witch’s house. As you can see in the picture below, it is very unusual looking and is right next to all the normal houses in a neighborhood. That was cool to see!
We finished day 2 with a very good dinner and service at Grandville restaurant in West Hollywood. I liked that West Hollywood wasn’t as upscale as Beverly Hills but cleaner and prettier than Hollywood. If we return to LA, I’d like to explore West Hollywood some more.
Day 3
This was our last full day in Los Angeles. We decided to take a hike to the Hollywood sign. We went early, around 9 am, and had no problem finding parking. I did notice it was much busier when we finished the hike so I would recommend going early if you can. The hike took us about 2 hours including the stops for pictures and just looking at the beautiful views.
After the hike, we headed to the Farmer’s Market and had lunch at the Market tavern grill. We were all pretty hungry at that point and didn’t feel like spending time exploring the place to try different food. It probably defeated the purpose of going to the market but our lunch was good and we had a good time walking around.
Later that afternoon, we made our way to Santa Monica. We wanted to see the beach, and pier and enjoy a sunset dinner for our last night. Los Angeles was unseasonably cold while we were there. On that day, it did not reach 70 degrees and was quite windy. We still had a good time walking around and visiting the pier. I definitely would recommend Water Grill which was the restaurant we tried in Santa Monica. We had an amazing sunset view with great service and the food was delicious.
Three Rivers/Sequoia National park
Day 4 and 5
Where we stayed
We took one last walk on Hollywood boulevard early on the morning of Day 5. The street was really quiet and we were able to get some really good pictures of the handprints at the Chinese museum. We finally left Hollywood around 11 am to head towards Three Rivers. It was an easy 3-hour or so car ride. We stopped for lunch along the way and arrived at our vrbo rental right around 3 pm. The house we rented was perfect. It was right outside of the entrance to the national park and was clean, comfortable, and well equipped. We went to the local grocery store and found everything we needed for our 2 dinners and breakfasts.
What we did
On day 5, we were up and ready to go by 8:30 am. I agree this California family vacation was not the most relaxing with many early wake-ups. However, I strongly encourage anyone interested in hiking in National Park to get an early start. It is so much more pleasant to hike with small crowds not to mention you don’t have to sit in a long car line to enter the park.
PRO TIP: If you plan to visit more than 3 national parks during your visit (or in the next 12 months), consider buying the America the beautiful annual pass to save money.
One of the main attractions in Sequoia National park is General Sherman tree which is the largest tree in the world from a volume perspective. The drive to just get to that trail is a good 45-60 minutes of twisty roads with gorgeous views. We did a total of 3 easy trails (General Sherman, Congress, and Big Trees) and spend about 2.5 hours doing so. Unfortunately, we were visiting during the park off-season and several trails were closed as well as all of the food services. We had not prepared well and only had light snacks with us. Therefore, we ended up leaving the park around 1 pm and stopped for lunch at Totem Market in Three Rivers. I have to say, it was not very good and we probably should have grabbed something at the grocery store instead.
San Francisco
Day 6
The drive from Three Rivers to San Francisco was long but easy. It took us about 4.5-5 hours to complete the drive and this included a lunch stop along the way. We arrived at our hotel, the Courtyard by Marriott next to the Wharf around 2 pm. This hotel is well situated and clean.
PRO TIP: If you know you will arrive before check-in time, call ahead to see if they can accommodate an early check-in.
We checked in unpacked and went for a walk in the Wharf area. Later, we had dinner at Pier Market seafood restaurant and we did not enjoy the experience. We found that the service was rushed and the food very average. I supposed we should have expected this as this was in a very touristy area.
After dinner, we were able to go see the sea lions and watch a beautiful sunset.
Day 7
This was another early morning for us because we had 9:10 am tickets to go visit Alcatraz. We were all very excited about this part of our trip due to the history behind the place. The audio tour is excellent. Because we don’t usually love pre-recorded tour we were a little skeptical. However, this one is extremely well done. Also, the number of different species of birds that have made Alcatraz Island their home was quite surprising to us.
After the visit, we took the car and headed to the west side of San Francisco to eat lunch at Hook Fish Co. It was so good! You can see information about your fish before you order such as when, where and by what fishing boat it was caught. It was a great find in a little beach community.
After lunch, we drove over the Golden Gate Bridge and took a scenic drive. The day was so clear and beautiful. Just look at the picture below to see for yourself.
We then drove down the famous Lombard Street.
We had a delicious dinner at Luisa Italian restaurant. This restaurant was founded in 1959 by Luisa who is still alive in her 90s. My husband even got to talk to her on the phone! The food was absolutely amazing. I had the spinach lasagna and we tried their tiramisu for dessert. I highly recommend giving this restaurant a try if you are in the area.
Day 8
On day 8, we finally slept in a little as this was the last day of our California family vacation. We had a red-eye flight at 10:30 pm and I’d say we did not plan this day very well. We ask for a late check-out from the hotel which was helpful. It meant we had a “home” until 2 pm. We walked some more around the Wharf and did a little bit of shopping. Check out the store Solve it. We bought a few cool wooden puzzles. The owner was great.
We then had lunch at Boudin before checking out of our hotel. This is where our lack of preparation showed. We did not have enough to entertain us for the entire day. We went to see a bunch of random things. First, we drove to see the Yoda statue. Then, we drove to the top of Twin Peaks to get a great look at the entire city. Finally, we went to see the Wind Harp in South San Francis.
In the late afternoon, we headed to an area south of the airport by the water. We shared an appetizer at Benihana and went to dinner at New England Lobster. This place was so good for our last dinner. My husband had a full lobster, I had a lobster roll again and the kids had lobster mac n’ cheese. It was very random that we found this place but I highly recommend it if you find yourself in that area.
Finally, we spent an hour or so at the mall before heading to the airport. We had an uneventful flight home. Everyone had an amazing time and we made great memories.
I hope this blog post is making you consider a California family vacation or is helping you plan an upcoming trip.
Thank you for reading and safe travel.
Cat xx