SF or Southern CA for summer vacation?

[Paul]

planning a summer vacation for one week to CA with spouse and two teenagers, 17 & 15, and need some help as to which area family would enjoy more...any and all input would be greatly appreciated.

[mc michael]

Given the teenage factor, I'd opt for SoCal. It's been said that the coldest winter one can spend in California can be summer in San Francisco. That's an exaggeration and ignores the city's obvious charms. If you think less is more, SF is for you. If vice versa, come to LA.

[Chandavkl]

Tough choice. As an Angelino you might expect me to recommend Los Angeles without hesitation. But having visited San Francisco dozens of times I still probably didn't appreciate it fully until my European tour guide commented that San Francisco was one of the greatest, if not the greatest city in the world. In the end I agree the difference is probably with the kids, who would appreciate Los Angeles more. What teenager wouldn't want to go to Disneyland, Universal, Venice Beach, Melrose Ave., Hollywood and so on. But either way you can't go wrong.

[dixieday]

SoCal, for sure. SF is better for adults, plus it's freezing cold, windy and foggy here in the summer. Take the teens to Venice Beach, Hollywood, etc. Then come out here with your partner once the kids are off to college.

[maggie-mae]

Definitely SF IMHO. I bring my three teens every summer from D.C. We eat our way through Chinatown - take cable cars to Ghirardelli for treats at the ice cream parlor, rollerblade or skateboard in Golden Gate Park or along the Marina - gawk in the Haight, etc. Yes, it can be foggy, so let them buy hoodies as souveniers. We like to drive up the coast for the beaches (starting with Ft. Cronkite and working up to Muir, Stinson, Bolinas and Pt. Reyes, (fresh oysters, cheeses, etc. and a hang-town fry at Pt. Reyes Station.) From there we obviously skip the wine country, but it's easy to get to the gold country/Placerville for a day or two of awesome white-water rafting on the south fork of the American River(that'll keep any teenager occupied) and up to Tahoe for mountain biking or hiking in the Desolation Wilderness, or swimming. Camp Richardson in S. Lake Tahoe is a good jumping off place, with bike rentals, restaurant and small beach area and reasonable room rates. Never had any complaints of boredom!

[ankimo]

what has this or any of the responses got to do with food?

[Nathan Landau]

I won't assume what you guys like. I'd say it depends what you like. If you like beaches, theme parks, beautiful people, museums, and/or theatre, and don't mind doing a lot of driving go for LA. If you like historic neighborhoods, walking around, bookstores, hill parks, and nature preserves--and would like to park the car at least some days--come north. The weather in Southern California will almost certainly never get too cold, but might get too hot; in Northern California you probably won't get too hot, but you might get cold. The South has smog, San Francisco has fog.

Both the SF and LA areas are wonderful for food, but they're different. Geographically, of course, there's a big concentration of good (and fine) restaurants in Downtown San Francisco, which has no parallel in LA. I know I'm going to get in trouble in here--but the Bay Area was the birthplace of California cuisine while LA is awash in wonderful Latino/Mexican/Southwestern food. There's good Chinese and Vietnamese food in both places, but in LA the biggest concentrations of it are in suburbs which are distant from the main tourist neighborhoods.

It's a legitimate Chowhound question. It's really hard to get this kind of information--I just went through this kind of decision. Have a good time and eat well either way.

[mc michael]

You surely put a lot of thought into your post. It does, however, have a Northern California gloss. It seems we've moved beyond the original inquiry of where to take the kids for summer vacation to a broader consideration of the relative merits of SF and LA. In that sense, I certainly agree that SF has an enviable concentration of fine restaurants. LA, OTOH, has far greater diversity of cuisines--and altho you may have to drive to some, the amount of time spent may not be any greater than say trying to get to Chez Panise from the city.
LA has restaurants of the following types: American, Ethiopian, Mexican, Middle Eastern/Lebanese/Armenian, Greek, Japanese, Indian, Korean, Soul, Steakhouses, Brazilian and Argentine, French, Italian, Chinese, Cuban, Salvadorean, Malaysian, Oaxacan, Peruvian, Polish, Spanish, tons of Thai, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Russian, and all sorts of fusions.
The weather is better. It's warmer and less overcast. Smog (originally, a contraction of smoke and fog) has declined. Meanwhile there is smog (altho less) in SF.
Museums are more plentiful in LA. There's the County Museum (LACMA), 2 branches of MOCA (a Warhol exhibit which will apear only in LA in this country opens in May), the Getty, the Hammer, the Norton Simon, etc.
The beach. Enuf said.
Parks. Altho you can go to Golden Gate Park or drive to Muir Woods, etc. in Northern California, there are parks and hikes a plenty in the Santa Monica and San Gabriel Mountains. Griffith Park is the largest urban park in America (unfortunately, the Observatory is closed for an extensive remodeling).
If you want theme parks, glitz, Hollywood Blvd & the sign, Frederick's, Rodeo Drive, Hollywood & Highland, City Walk, the remains of the Farmers Market, TV studios, yes, we have all that.
We've also got Gehry's Disney Concert Hall substantially completed, City Hall restored, the San Gabriel and San Fernando missions, the controversial new cathedral and the remains of the old St. Vibiana's, the Gamble House, lots of Frank Lloyd Wrights, LLoyd Wrights, Schindlers, Neutras, Greene & Greenes, Irving Gills, Paul Williams creations, etc.
It's a dilemma for the Chowhound or any traveller, but there are so many things to see and do in each city, they each merit a trip of their own.

[Melanie Wong]

If you want to talk about the relative merits of SF vs. LA for touring, please take this to the Not About Food board.

Let's keep posts on the SF Bay Area board about local chow.

Link: http://chowhound.com/chowmarket/index...