California is huge, but if you plan it well, you can see a bit of everything from south to north in just 7 days.
And I don’t just mean the big cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco. I mean the real highlight of the United States: the National Parks.
This is the exact route I did:
- Los Angeles
- Sequoia National Park
- Yosemite National Park
- San Francisco
- Big Sur
- Los Angeles (Universal Studios)
- San Diego
You can tweak this however you like. Add stops, remove Universal, slow it down. This is simply the version I did and what I think gives you a solid overall feel for California in one week.
In this guide, I break everything down day by day, including driving times and where I stayed (budget-friendly options, don’t expect luxury resorts).
All prices, schedules, and reservation requirements in this itinerary are accurate as of 2026 (please please please double-check official websites before your trip). This post may contain affiliate links. If you book through them, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for supporting the blog!
Index
🔎 Overview
Duration: 7 days (+ 2 days for travel)
Route: San Diego → Los Angeles → Sequoia National Park → Yosemite National Park → San Francisco → Big Sur → Los Angeles (Universal Studios) → San Diego
Total Spent: $592.64 per person* (split between 4 people)
* This includes accommodations, 8-day car rental, gas, National Parks pass, and Universal Studios entry ticket. Full breakdown below.
🗺️ TLDR Itinerary
Day 1: Los Angeles
Day 2: Sequoia National Park
Day 3: Yosemite National Park
Day 4: San Francisco
Day 5: Big Sur
Day 6: Los Angeles (Universal Studios)
Day 7: San Diego
Fast? Yes. Doable? Also yes. Relaxing? Not really, but think about all the fun you’ll have.
💰 Budget Breakdown
Everything was booked and split between 4 people. This is the cost per person.
Total: 592.64€
Transport - $125
- Car rental: $75
- Gas: $50
Accommodations - $261.14
- Sequoia area: $17.75
- Yosemite area: $31
- San Francisco area: $43.36
- Big Sur area: $41.25
- Los Angeles (2 nights): $84.93
- San Diego: $42.85
Activities - $206.50
- National Parks Pass: $62.50
- Universal Studios: $144
For car rentals, I usually compare options through booking since it aggregates multiple brands in one place: Booking Car Rental
If you want the exact hotels I stayed in, they’re listed under each day in the itinerary section!
🗺️ General Logistics
📌 Where to Start This Trip?
We started and ended in San Diego because I was studying abroad there. That made it the easiest (and cheapest) option for us.
That said, if you’re flying in you can start in any of these international airports:
- San Diego (SAN)
- Los Angeles (LAX)
- San Francisco (SFO)
I strongly recommend starting and ending in the same city. One-way car rentals can get expensive, and round-trip flights are often cheaper too.
💡 Tip: Before booking anything, compare the full combination: Flights + car rent total, not just flight price.
📅 How Long Do You Actually Need?
The road trip itself is 7 days.
If you’re flying in, add:
- Day 0: Arrival in the evening
- Day 8: Departure
That way you’re not landing jet-lagged and immediately driving four hours into the wilderness.
If you travel Saturday to the following Sunday, you can make it work with just 5 PTO days!
☀️ Best Time to Do This Trip
Because this route includes hiking in National Parks, I recommend avoiding winter. Trail closures and chain controls are not fun surprises.
Best months:
- April to June
- September to October
Summer is doable, but it gets hot. I personally did it in late June and it was already warm in some areas.
🚗 Driving Time
This is an intense itinerary. There’s no way around that.
To make it manageable, I tried to:
- Split driving between morning and evening
- Stay halfway between major destinations
- Avoid doing 6-7 hours in one stretch
It still requires energy. But if you’re sharing driving between multiple people, it’s very doable.
🎬 Not Interested in Universal Studios?
You don’t have to include Universal.
If theme parks aren’t your thing, you could:
- Shorten the trip by one day
- Add an extra night in Yosemite (you already paid for the pass, may as well make it worth it)
- Slow down the trip (add an extra day where you feel you might need it)
🗺️ National Parks Disclaimer
This itinerary includes stops in some National Parks because, in my opinion, they are one of the best things in the United States and absolutely a must-visit.
However, the pricing policy changed after my trip in 2024, and it is now $170 more expensive for non-residents, bringing the total to $250 for the annual pass.
This $250 is for the non-resident annual pass, valid for the entire car, which is what you would need if you plan to visit both:
- Sequoia National Park
- Yosemite National Park
If you don’t buy the pass, you would need to pay the regular entrance fee plus an additional $100 non-resident fee per park. That adds up quickly.
So yes, even if you’re only visiting two parks for two days, the yearly pass still makes more financial sense.
And if you’re debating between spending that money on Universal Studios or on the National Parks, do yourself a favor: choose the parks and add an extra day in Yosemite instead.
🌴 Los Angeles (Day 1)
🚗 Driving + Accommodation
🌅 Morning: ~2h (traffic dependent)
🚗 During day: ~40min
🌆 Evening: 2h 40min
🛌 Motel 6 Porterville - Not great but not bad either. Very affordable and fine for one night
📌 Itinerary
- Beverly Hills
- Hollywood Walk of Fame
- TCL Chinese Theatre
- Hollywood Sign Hike
- Griffith Observatory
If you want full parking tips (including how to park cheaply or free) and more information on the Hollywood Sign Hike, I break everything down in my detailed Perfect One-Day LA Itinerary.
🌳 Sequoia National Park (Day 2)
🚗 Driving + Accommodation
🌅 Morning: 1h 10min
🚗 Inside park: 2h 40min (enter south, exit north)
🌆 Evening: 1h 40min
🛌 Rodeo Lodge - Honestly pretty great, the room was huge and great value
⚠️ Important: When searching for accommodation before Yosemite, always measure the distance to “Yosemite Valley”, NOT just “Yosemite National Park”. They are not the same location.
📌 What We Did
- Foothills Visitor Center
- Crescent Meadow Trail
- Big Trees Trail
- General Sherman Tree
- General Grant Tree
- Panoramic Point Overlook (small detour but great views)
This is what we chose to do, but you’re free to select your own routes!
🏔️ Yosemite National Park (Day 3)
🚗 Driving + Accommodation
🌅 Morning: 2h 10min
🚗 Inside valley: ~1h (one-way loop)
🌆 Evening: 4h 10min
🛌 Presidio Parkway Inn - Great
location, great value for money, but beware of limited parking
📌 What We Did
- Tunnel View (lookout point)
- Lower Yosemite Falls (easy)
- Vernal Fall (medium)
- Bridalveil Fall (very easy)
Yosemite Valley is compact but packed. If you can add an extra day anywhere in this itinerary, add it here, you’ll thank me later.
P.S.: I will be making an in-detail breakdown of all the hikes I’ve done in Yosemite Valley, so be on the lookout for it if you wish to know more about it all!
🌉 San Francisco (Day 4)
🚗 Driving + Accommodation
🌅 Morning: none!
🚗 During day: ~20min
🌆 Evening: 1h 50min
🛌 Super 8 by Wyndham Salinas -
Easy parking, free breakfast, but noisy
📌 Itinerary
- Palace of Fine Arts
- Golden Gate Bridge
- Lombard Street (drive down!)
- Pier 39
- Chinatown
- Painted Ladies
San Francisco is compact enough to see a lot in one day if you plan your route carefully.
If you want more information about these stops and everything you can’t miss, check out my post on the Highlights of San Francisco - What to Do in One Day.
🌅 Big Sur (Day 5)
🚗 Driving + Accommodation
This is more of a scenic drive day than a city day.
🌅 Morning: 40min
🚗 During itinerary: ~1h (minimum)
🌆 Evening: 6h
🛌 Studio City Inn - Great
location, very small room
📌 Stops
- Point Lobos State Natural Reserve
- Soberanes Point
- Bixby Bridge
- Henry Miller Memorial Library
- McWay Falls
When I did this route, a portion of the highway was under repair due to a landslide caused by extreme weather. Because of that, we had to turn back and only made it as far as McWay Falls.
The highway has since reopened, so you can continue driving south beyond that point and explore more stops along the way.
That kind of closure isn’t the norm, but it’s always smart to double-check conditions before you drive!
🎬 Universal Studios (Day 6)
🚗 Driving + Accommodation
~ 20 min to and from Universal
🛌 Studio City Inn (second
night)
📌 Activity
Universal Studios Hollywood
Fun? Yes. Essential to understanding California? Debatable.
🏖️ San Diego (Day 7)
🚗 Driving + Accommodation
🌅 Morning: 2h 40min (with LA stops)
🚗 During day: ~30min
🛌 The Atwood Hotel - Convenient
if you’re flying out the next day
📌 Itinerary
- Santa Monica Pier (LA)
- Venice Beach (LA)
- La Jolla Cove
- Seaport Village
- Kansas City Barbeque (Top Gun bar)
- Unconditional Surrender Statue
⭐ Final Thoughts
This is the exact 7-day road trip I did.
It fit my budget, my pace, and my mission to show my parents as much as California as humanly possible in one week without skipping the National Parks.
Would I slow it down if I had more time? Absolutely.
But if you only have 7 days and you want cities, coastline, giant trees, waterfalls, and at least one theme park thrown in for good measure, this route works.
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