We planned our wedding right around Marcelo’s spring break, knowing that every year, he’d have a week off and we could plan a nice vacation to celebrate another year of marriage. Genius. We weren’t sure where or if we wanted to travel this year. Between our infertility struggles and a 3 year old toddler, this year has been hectic to say the least.  We’re trying to keep our expenses down to budget for fertility treatments, but also know how much travel is worth to us and decided it was time to have a family trip.

Last year, we found a great deal at an all-inclusive in Cozumel, which was great. But alas, no great deals to be found this year. And nothing to any other beach accessible within a direct 3-4 flight from Dallas that was reasonable. I started looking into California. We have been to San Diego in the past and loved it, but have been wanting to do a road trip on the famous Highway 1 for years. It seems early-mid March (when Texas has their Spring Break) is not a busy time for the famous Pacific Coast Highway, as weather can be finicky, but we often prefer traveling during low season for less crowds and cheaper prices.

Trying to figure out an itinerary to do this was challenging, but here is where airline points came in clutch. We have found that booking one way flights is typically *very* expensive if paying cash. However, if using miles/points you can find great deals this way. We’ve done this in Europe too, frequently flying into one airport and out of another in order to maximize our itinerary and see as many cities as possible.

We were able to use Southwest and American Airlines points to book a flight into San Diego and out of San Francisco completely with points – big win! Full disclosure, we also used hotel points to book a lot of our hotels. We opted to rent an electric car, as charging stations are easy to come by in California and gas is expensive! All of this helped to cut down on costs significantly, making this a very budget-friendly trip!

This trip was done over a full 7 days. If doing the full San Diego to San Francisco trip, I highly recommend at least 7 days to complete, more if able. Anything less would have been far too much moving/driving in a short time with a child.

The Itinerary:

5 stops in 7 days!

San Diego –> Malibu –> Pismo Beach –> Monterey –> San Francisco

Day 1: San Diego

Day 2: San Diego/Malibu

Day 3: Pismo Beach

Day 4: Monterey

Day 5: Monterey

Day 6: San Francisco

Day 7: San Francisco

San Diego:

First stop – San Diego Zoo. We booked an early morning flight and literally headed directly from the airport to the zoo. The San Diego zoo is world famous for a reason and what toddler isn’t obsessed with a zoo. We knew this would be a great way to kick off the trip. We pre-booked our tickets online (fair warning, it’s pricey but we felt it was worth it) and got there right at opening time, 9 AM. Anticipate a full day here, as there is SO much to see. I highly recommend to download their app and you can add your “must see” exhibits/animals and the app maps out an itinerary.

Our favorites:

-Polar bear exhibit

-Koalas

-Giraffes

-Grizzly Bear

-Parker Aviary

-Wildlife Explorers Basecamp

We were surprised with the many dining options and had a decent lunch. Mila took a little nap in the stroller after lunch while we got ourselves a much earned coffee. Then we finished up with some time at the Wildlife Explorers Basecamp with a huge play area for the kiddos, including some water play before packing up and heading to our hotel for check in.

We opted to stay in the Gaslamp district, at the Hotel Indigo. The location is walking distance to many restaurants and coffee shops. There was easy access street parking as well. After checking in and getting cleaned up, we headed to dinner at Buona Forchetta (South Park location) for some delicious Italian pasta and pizza. I recommend a reservation here, as it gets pretty busy. Overall, a great introduction to San Diego. Afterwards, we were all pooped and with the time change, ready for bed.

The next morning, we all woke up quite early, again with the time change. We took advantage and packed up our stuff into the car and left towards La Jolla for breakfast. We popped into Dodo Bird Donuts for some donuts and coffee/matcha and then walked down to the end of the street and enjoyed breakfast on the bench overlooking the cove.

Next, we drove onto La Jolla Cove and walked along the coastal path to view the sea lions and other wildlife. After a nice walk, we said goodbye to San Diego and made our way towards Malibu.

Malibu/Westlake

Fair warning: This is the longest leg of the trip, mostly due to the LA traffic. We kept checking traffic to see if there was an optimal time to leave San Diego, but couldn’t really find one. We left around 10:30 or so and stopped in Laguna Beach for lunch, skipping over LA entirely. We have been to LA before and decided to skip it on this trip. With only one day to afford there, we felt like battling the traffic and parking, it wouldn’t be worth it. We used our points to stay at the Hyatt Regency Westlake — this is about 20-30 minutes away from Malibu’s main beaches. If able, I’d recommend to stay closer to the beach area, as there isn’t much to see in Westlake.

Laguna Beach:

We left San Diego and first stopped in Laguna beach. We picked up some lunch at La Sirena Grill for burritos and tacos and then hit the beach. We picked Aliso Beach, as it was pretty empty and had a great playground as well. We stayed and played here for over an hour. Then we packed up and made our way to our final destination of Westlake. We needed to charge the car at this point and we were all quite tired, so we found a charging station in the nearby shopping center and found a quick but tasty dinner at The Kebab Shop. We headed back to our hotel and had an early bedtime.

We opted for breakfast at our hotel and then head out to explore Malibu. We stopped at Point Dume and did a very short trail and enjoyed seeing all the beautiful homes in the area. Then we drove to El Matador Beach and descended the steps down to the beach area and set up a small area for sand castles and seashell searching. Afterwards, we went to the nearby Neptune’s Net for a delicious seafood lunch. The fried shrimp were delicious. They are cash only but do have an ATM on site.

Onto Pismo Beach!

Pismo Beach

This was probably the stop we had looked into the least but actually liked the most! I highly recommend stopping in this little town. The beach views are outstanding and they have tons of cute shops and restaurants near the pier. We stayed at the Cottage Inn and they were so sweet, upgrading us to their best ocean view room on the first floor with direct access to the fire pits right outside our patio. After check in, we headed straight to the heated pool for some splash time. We went into the downtown area and had delicious burgers at the Cool Cat Café and did some quick shopping for souvenirs before heading back to the hotel for sunset.

The hotel staff were so kind and even gave us a smore’s kit for free, so we all cuddled up by the fire pit, roasted some marshmallows and settled in for one of the most impressive sunsets I’ve ever seen. After we put Mila down, we were even able to sneak out onto the patio right outside for a glass of wine by the fire pit and some fabulous star gazing. Note that the bathrooms at the inn are a bit dated, but we really enjoyed this spot and would definitely come back again.

The next morning, we stopped at Beachin’ Biscuits to pick up some biscuits and jam and coffees for the road. We wanted to head out early as we wanted to get the Monterey Bay Aquarium shortly after opening. Onto Monterey! We were hoping to drive the whole way along Highway one, through Big Sur, but be aware that a large portion of the highway is closed, so we had to go inland and around the closure.

Monterey

Day 1:

We dropped off our stuff and the car at the Intercontinental The Clement Hotel just after 10 AM and walked right over to aquarium. We pre-booked tickets online, which is recommended. Children 4 and under are free. Tickets for adults are $59.95. I would allow for at least 2-3 hours minimum to explore everything here, but know they do allow you to come and go, so if you need to leave for a nap or lunch, you can and you can return after. Here are the highlights for us:

-Watching the feeding sessions in the “Deep Sea”

-The jellyfish

-The hands-on areas and play areas which were numerous throughout the aquarium

-Hammerhead sharks

-Giant Octopus

After we finished up at the aquarium, we grabbed some lunch at the Coniglio Brother’s Italian Deli next to our hotel. Then we took some time to rest and relax at the hotel for a couple hours. Mila enjoyed splashing around in the hotel’s outdoor heated pool. They had a pretty ample gym and a hot tub as well.

After relaxation time, we walked to Vivolo’s Chowder House and had a lovely seafood dinner. Mila enjoyed their kids menu and some calamari we shared. We loved the fresh local fish options and the clam chowder was outstanding. It was just a short walk from our hotel, which made things easy. Afterwards, we got some ice cream at the Ghirardelli shop on Cannery Row and enjoyed the sunset by the beach before heading to bed.

Day 2:

We awoke early the next morning to head to First Awakenings for a big breakfast. Such a cute and inexpensive diner type spot. We booked a 10 AM whale watching tour that departed from Fisherman’s wharf. It was about a 30 minute walk from the hotel, which is doable, but we didn’t want to bring the stroller onto the boat and a 30 minute walk is nearly impossible with a toddler, so we drove there. They had ample parking that was reasonable so this wasn’t an issue. We booked our tour through Discovery Whale Watch and had a great experience. We saw SO many dolphins and humpback whales as well as some sea otters and sea lions. They had snacks and drinks available for purchase and free coffee/hot chocolate which was nice. It was a bit bumpy, so if you are prone to seasickness, may be best to avoid this excursion.

Afterwards, we grabbed a quick lunch on the pier and headed out for a drive along the coast. Since we missed out on driving through Big Sur on our way into Monterey, we wanted to explore a small portion of it as well as the areas surrounding Monterey.

First, we did the famous 17 mile drive in Pebble Beach. Entry was $12 per vehicle, which was worth it in my opinion. The views were spectacular. You can spend as much time at each spot as you like. It wasn’t the warmest day so we didn’t do sunbathing at the beach, but did thoroughly enjoy the views, especially the famous lone cypress tree. We stopped for bathroom breaks in their visitor center, which has a lot of golf memorabilia if you are into that and grabbed some snacks and drinks for the road.

Next, we continued on towards Big Sur, hoping to get some views of the Bixby bridge. This drive was absolutely stunning. While parking was tricky as we neared the bridge, we were able to get out and get breathtaking views of the coast with the Bixby bridge in the background. Afterwards, we packed up and headed back towards Carmel for dinner. I will say that parking was a huge challenge in Carmel, especially on a Saturday night. Be prepared to circle around for quite a while to find a spot.

We reserved a table at Dametra Cafe right along the main street. They had delicious Middle Eastern food, live music, and so very friendly with kids. After dinner, we walked down towards Carmel Sunset Beach to catch a glimpse of the sun going down before heading back to our car and driving back to Monterey for the evening. A busy but amazing day!

Day 3:

In the morning, we opted for a lighter breakfast at Happy Girl Kitchen Café enjoying delicious homemade yogurts, fresh sourdough, and jams. We picked up a few items for gifts too. Then we checkout out of our hotel and made a pit stop at Coniglio Deli again for some sandwiches and chips to take along with us for a picnic lunch at Big Basin State Park, on our way to San Francisco.

Big Basin State Park/San Francisco:

Day 1:

I highly recommend to pre-book your parking for Big Basin Redwoods State Park  at least 24 hours prior to your intended arrival. This guarantees you a spot. It is $6 per vehicle plus a $2 reservation fee if you pre-book, and $10 per vehicle if you did not make a reservation. We picked Big Basin because it was on our way into San Francisco and we really wanted to see some of the famous redwood trees. However, these are not the tallest/biggest redwood trees in Northern California. Also, a large portion of the trees were burned by the 2020 wildfire. It was still a beautiful area to hike, be surrounded by nature, and enjoy a picnic.

We just did the short Redwood Loop Trail — which was about 20 minutes. This was perfect for a toddler and easy path to follow. I highly recommend to stop by the visitor center to take a look at the map and take pictures, as there is no cell service in the park. The park ranger was also very kind and gave Mila a cute “scavenger hunt” card to do while we hiked, which helped keep her entertained. There are also decently clean port-a-potty bathrooms at the visitor center, so this makes for a good rest stop. After our little pit stop, we got back on the road and drove to our San Francisco hotel — The Argonaut to check-in.

After checking in and leaving our things, we headed towards the nearby Maritime Garden park right by our hotel and enjoyed the view of the Golden Gate Bridge in the background before walking along Jefferson Street towards Fisherman’s Wharf. This area was very touristy and probably our least favorite spot of the trip, so I would honestly skip this. We did grab some snacks — fruit and a hot dog for Mila, and then we slowly made our way back towards Ghirardelli Square for dinner at Palette Tea House for delicious Dim Sum. Then, we stopped by The Ghirardelli Experience to explore and buy some yummy chocolates for souvenirs before turning in for the night.

Day 2:

The next morning, we woke up early and had breakfast at the hotel before heading out to Battery Spencer Overlook to get a beautiful view of the Golden Gate Bridge. We actually drove on the bridge to get there, which was an experience in and of itself. Getting there early helps to avoid parking difficulties and sure enough at 8:30 AM, there was only 1 other car parked when we arrived. We took in the breathtaking view of the bridge and got some great family photos before packing back up and heading to our next stop: Golden Gate Park.

Golden Gate Park is massive (bigger than Central Park!) and full of so so many things to do and see. We were there on a Tuesday and read that the Japanese Tea Garden has free entrance before 10 AM on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so we went straight there. Parking was ample and free at that time. The gardens are stunning and we even enjoyed some traditional green tea and fortune cookies for the toddler, in their small outdoor café.

Next, we headed to the Koret Children’s Quarter to get some playground time. This is thought to be that nation’s first public playground! We were hoping for a ride on the carousel next door, but unfortunately it’s only open on Saturday and Sunday. After the playground, we stopped for a quick view of the famous windmills and the Queen Wilhelmina tulip garden before searching for lunch. We found a great Peruvian spot not too far from the park called Mixto Latin Cuisine. We had some delicious Lomo Saltado and ceviche and Mila thoroughly enjoyed her quesadilla.

Afterwards, we did a little driving around, enjoying the hills and exploring the views. We ended up in the North Beach neighborhood and walked around, getting some coffee and sweet treats at the Stella Pastry and Café and browsing books at City Lights Booksellers and Publishers before getting in yet more playtime at another fun playground in nearby Washington Square. For dinner, we found a local Roman style pizza place called Barbara, serving delicious pizza and Italian cocktails.  We ended our night here before getting back to our hotel for bed.

Day 3:

For our last day, we had a quick bite at a Brazilian coffee shop near our hotel called Cafe de Casa and then proceeded over to Hyde and Beach St right outside Ghirardelli square to board onto the cable car for a quick ride on the Hyde-Powell route. We pre-bought tickets on the Muni Mobile App — it’s $13 for a day pass (unlimited rides), free for children under 5. We rode down to Union Square and walked around a bit before hopping back on and stopping again at Lombard Street to see the famous winding street. After this, we walked back to our hotel to finish packing up and made our way to the airport!

And there you have it! A very full week in California with a toddler! It was totally worth it and a once-in-a-lifetime trip. We hope to do it again someday, because there is truly so much we didn’t get to see or do. We talked about even making it an annual thing because of how much we loved it. Hope this guide on