Hi All,
need some advise on this family trip (4 adults, 2 kids (6 & 2years old))
Day0 : SF (Touchdown 12noon, Union Square walkaround)
Day1 : SF (Fisherman Wharf, Lombard St, Golden Gate Bridge)
Day2 : SF (Shopping ? Gardens ?)
Day3 : Domestic Flight (morning) to Las Vegas (Visit Casinos,etc)
Day4 : Las Vegas (Attractions and Shows)
Day5 : Drive to Bryce (Overnight @ Bryce)
Day6 : Drive to Grand Canyon Village (GCV) (Overnight @ GCV)
Day7 : Back to Vegas (Shopping @ Premium outlet, overnight @ vegas)
Day8 : Domestic Flight (morning) to Los Angeles (pickup car @ lax, dump the luggage and visit another Premium Outlet at LA outskirts ??)
Day9: LAX drive to San Diego (Seaworld for kids), back to LAX
Day10: Disneyland @ LAX
Currently I have 2 more days but uncertain where to park them.
Looks pretty good to me; let's see if we can't make it even better.
Day 2: if the missus is gagging to shop, let her go for it and get it out of her system. You can take the kids and head out to Golden Gate Park: go to the Cal Academy of Science (the kids will love it), and then stop by the Japanese Tea Gardens to drum some culture into them. This'll take up most of a day, and then you can meet back at the hotel; the kids will love you, the missus will love you, you'll be a hero. (Also, tell her to check out the shops in Hayes Valley or Valencia Street - there's all sorts of cool, uniquely San Francisco things to buy there.)
Day 2a: Stick an extra day in San Francisco. Go to the zoo, or the Exploratorium and Pier 39, or hop on a ferry to Sausalito and go eat some icecream over there.
Day 5: Stick an extra day in here. Don't try to drive all the way to Bryce Canyon in one day - you'll miss all of the incredible scenery on the way at the Valley of Fire and Zion Canyon. Stop at Springdale instead, right at the door to Zion Canyon; then you can spend the morning in the park, and have a nice leisurely two-hour drive to Bryce the next afternoon.
Day 5a: On the Bryce-GCV drive, don't forget to stop at the Cameron Trading Post (just near the turnoff to GCV) to pick up some authentic native American souvenirs. And try the fry bread. It's goooooooood.
Also, make sure your GPS knows about the "89-T" diversion - the usual road from Bryce to GCV was washed away in a landslide a few months ago, and the road has been diverted between the little town of Page (about halfway along) and GCV. Stop in Page if you need to, and ask someone how to get to 89-T; they'll help you out.
Day 8: So here's a trick. Disneyland is in Anaheim, on the east side of Los Angeles, the side facing Las Vegas. LAX is on the west side, an hour's drive away on a good day (and it's never a good day in Los Angeles). It'll be quicker and cheaper to drive from LV to Anaheim (four hours) than it will be to dump the car, fly four people to LAX, pick up a new car, and drive two hours across LA to Anaheim. So - drive instead! Pay the one-way fee on the car rental if you have to; it'll still be cheaper than four one-way LAS-LAX flights.
Get a hotel in Anaheim, near the park, and that'll give you a fairly easy 90-minute drive down to San Diego if you still want to get down there to Sea World.
