A California Coast road trip has been on our list since we moved to San Diego. We made it happen this March over Spring Break.

We flew from San Diego to Portland, rented a car, and then started South. All of our favorite, don’t miss stops along the way are below.

affiliate links are included

West Coast Road Trip

Beforehand: Getting the Kids Excited about California’s Coast

Before we go on a trip I like to give our kids a little context and get them excited about where we’re going. Below were their favorite books about California.

Booklist:

Our California
by Pam Munoz Ryan

This is a good place to start. It goes from San Diego, up the coast, and then inland hitting the major stops in California. It serves as a pleasant introduction to the state and what it has to offer. Bonus – it’s well written and vibrantly illustrated. FIND ONLINE

How to Draw California’s Sights and Symbols
by Jennifer Quasha

This won’t be for everyone, but my kids love step-by-step drawing direction videos right now so this was a hit in our house. Our favorites were learning to draw poppies (the state flower) and the Golden Gate Bridge. FIND ONLINE

California’s Redwood Forest
by Christy Mihaly

This is part of the Natural Wonders of the World series. It has beautiful photos and good information. I like this as an overview and it’s one that elementary school kids can read on their own. FIND ONLINE

Starting Location: Portland, Oregon

We started our trip by flying from San Diego to Portland. I’m a fan of road trips but the way back often bums me out. Plus, there is so much to see along the coast of California that we didn’t have enough time to do it all if we had to go up and back.

So we flew to Portland and spent two nights and full day exploring.

1. Portland, Oregon

There are plenty of things to do in Portland OR with kids. We really only scratched the surface. You can read more about our experience in Portland in this post: 24 Hours in Portland OR with Kids

But here are the highlights. In our brief stay we had time to:

• Visit Powell Bookstore (My favorite part of the trip)
• Eat Donuts from Voodoo Donut
• Wander and Eat at Portland’s Saturday Market
• Visit Washington Park and Hike
• Explore the Forestry Discovery Center

Also Read: 24 Hours in Portland with Kids

Then we headed south.

Activities for Car:

• New books from Powell’s Bookstore – Zita the Spacegirl for her, Plants Vs. Zombies for him.
• Harry Potter on Audiobook
• Games on their Kindles Kids Fire HD Edition
• The Big Sticker Book of the Blue activity book

2. Redwood National Forest

The Redwoods are incredible. I really wasn’t convinced they’d live up to the hype but for me they exceeded expectations. Go hike. Take photos. Be amazed.

For kids, I highly recommend stopping the ranger stations and getting the Junior Ranger guides and advice on the best hikes for your time frame.

Read More: A Visit to the Redwoods with Kids

Activities for Car:

We did a fair amount of driving between the various parts of the forest and then down the Avenue of Giants while we were at the Redwoods National & State Parks. I didn’t want my kids to miss everything with their noses pointed at a screen so we listened to Harry Potter on audio book and stared out the windows.

3. San Francisco

San Francisco was one of the highlights of our trip. We spent three nights and two full days in San Francisco. It was enough to get a good taste of the city but we’d love to go back and do more.

Here were our favorite things to do:

• See the Golden Gate Bridge
• Ride a Cable Car
• Visit the Exploratorium
• Drink Green Tea in the Japanese Tea Garden
• Enjoy the pretty parks

Also Read: 48 Hours in San Francisco with Kids

Activities for Car:

• Kids Travel Guide: San Francisco – great way to learn more about the city before or during your visit.
• Continued listening to Harry Potter on Audio

4. Monterey

In a word “stunning.” Monterey sits on a gorgeous piece of ocean front. The bluest of blues.

The highlight for kids however will probably be the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Make sure you check the schedule of feedings when you arrive and get there early for tank front views.

Other things for families to do in Monterey:

• 17 mile drive
• Lunch at Sticks
• Carmel beach

5. Big Sur

The Big Sur is stunning. Kind of like my reaction to the Redwoods – I don’t have words. All I can really say is that it truly is as incredible as everyone says. I can’t wait to get back.

Activities for Car:

• One note about driving in the Big Sur – it is windy! My daughter and I get pretty car sick so I would encourage you to take some Dramamine. My daughter likes the chewable kids version. On the bright side, if you do have to pull over and take a tummy twisting break there is no more lovely of a place to stop and rest for a bit.

6. Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara was a treat. Pretty beach. Darling streets with shops. Lots of restaurants. Don’t miss ice cream at McConnell’s Ice Cream shop. They even have incredible dairy free ice cream! So good.

and Oxnard

We spent the remainder of our weekend at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Mandalay Beach Resort. It was relaxing and fun and a wonderful way to end our vacation.

Final Destination!

from there we drove home. If home isn’t San Diego for you, then I’d recommend adding a couple of days to spend some time in Los Angeles and San Diego. Here are our favorites for both:

• Los Angeles CA
• San Diego CA

Find more top family road trip tips Here!

“Are we there yet?” my daughter asks from the backseat.

I look around at the empty, vast nothingness surrounding us unsure of how to answer her question. Of course we’re not there yet. We are nowhere.

“Nope, not yet.” I try to keep the irritation out of my voice. This isn’t the first time she’s asks.

I reach into the travel activity bag on the passenger side of the car feeling around for something interesting for her to do. My hand comes to rest on a tall paperback book that I’m pretty sure is a new activity book I picked out especially for this trip.

“Here sweetie. Why don’t you give this a try. It has tons of animals inside!” I tell her as I pass the book back.

She scrunches up her face at me, but I hear the pages start to flip and the backseat is quiet again.

Road trip mini-victory.

affiliate links are included below. purchasing through a link costs you nothing but helps support this blog. thank you!

9+ Best Activity Books for Family Trips

We have used a ton of activity books in the past half decade, but these are the ones that have held the attention of my twins. They are creative, engaging, unique and some of them are even reusable.

1. My First Wild Activity Book

I can’t think of a better activity book for kids who love animals. This one from Silver Dolphin takes you on an adventure through different habitats around the world with fun activities along the way. The first pages welcome your kiddo – an Explorer! – and has you create an “explorer profile” and portrait. The rest of the book is divided into seven different habitats. Each habitat has a fold out look and find page, space to finish a picture, and more.

My kids loved completing these activities and learned a little from the facts in each section along the way. I liked the inclusion of an art activity / craft in each section, but I will say since we used this as a travel activity book, these haven’t been done yet. The rest of it however was easy to do in the car and made for an excellent travel activity book for my kiddos.  ages 4-8

Find Online

2. Magic Velvet Activity Books

These books from Melissa and Doug are easy enough for preschoolers to do on their own but still fun for my seven year olds. You can buy ones in a huge variety of themes. ages 3-4+

Find Online

You May Also Like:
Top 10 Fine Motor Activities for Family Travel

3. National Geographic Road Trip Activity Book

If you’re going on a USA road trip with first graders and up I highly recommend this book. It is full of fun activities and interesting information about places around the country. We used this one when we drove from New York City to San Diego. ages 7+

Find Online

4. Usborne Activity Books

Usborne has a ton of activity books on a huge range of subjects and we have yet to buy one we don’t love. Our most recent was the SPACE ACTIVITY BOOK which was fascinating and fun. I highly recommend any in this series. ages 4+

Find Online

5. the Anti-Coloring Book

These are fun sort of coloring books for kids about second grade and up. They give your kiddo inspiration with a start of a picture, but leave you to fill in the details or story. I loved these as a kid and they are still fun decades later. ages 6+

Find Online

6. BIG FOOT Goes on Vacation

There are a couple in this series but this is our favorite. They are essentially WHERE’S WALDO books (also a great recommendation for travel activity book)

What I like about these book though for kids who can read to themselves are that in between the search for Big Foot pages they offer you fun, interesting facts about a topic.

This one has facts about carnivals, cruises, safaris, etc. ages 5+

Find Online

7. Melissa and Doug Reusable Stickers

I’m not sure if these count as “activity books” but they have pages and they are definitely an activity. My kids LOVE these and they are reusable which is awesome. You do have to remove the stickers and put them back on their starting page which is a little annoying but worth it to me to be able to reuse them.

The other thing I love about these is that they grow with your kid. My twins loved just sticking the stickers when they were toddlers. When they got to around age 4 they started to make up stories about the pages and stickers.  ages 2+

Find Online

8. Mini-Mega Activity Book

These were a huge hit on our cross country moving road trip and they still had more pages left that we finished on the next two flights they took. They have a big variety of activities inside which helps to keep their attention. ages 5+

Find Online

9. Don’t Let the Pigeon Finish This Activity Book

This one I don’t love for in the car, BUT I do love it for in the hotel. It has lots of activities that are fun and doable with just scissors, tape, and crayons. Throw this in the suitcase and you barely need anything else for your kids to do. It’s just good silly fun. I used one book for my twins. There are some pages where it would have been nice to have one for each of them, but it’s not necessary and for the most part it is way more fun if you do it all together. ages 3+

Find Online

Find All Family Travel Tips Here

On January 5, 2018 our family started our move from New York City to San Diego.

After school, we loaded up the car, said some final goodbyes, and road across the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge out of Brooklyn NY headed to San Diego with tears in our eyes.

New York City is a hard city to say goodbye to, but in truth saying goodbye to any place we’ve lived is always hard.

Our little family kicked off the new year by moving from the Atlantic Coast to the Pacific Coast. Our 5th move in 7 years.

We were prepared as we could be – my tips for getting kids ready to move are in this post – but moving is hard. Every single time.

This is our story of getting from one coast to the other.

Warning: This is a long one so grab a cup of tea or mug of cocoa before you dive in.

Affiliate links are included below. Thanks for your support.

The Road Trip Plan

This is the map that hung in our kitchen for about a month before our move. It always looks so easy when it’s drawn out on a map, doesn’t it?

This is the longest road trip and most continuous time in the car we have ever attempted with our kids. They have a lot of practice at traveling, but I was still a little nervous when we mapped out our plan.

Due to Google Maps suggestions and Winter in the North, we decided to swing South pretty quickly as we headed West.

Our route took us:

• Ocean to ocean
• Into 13 states
• 45 hours of driving
• 3,097 miles
• and 9 days

Activities for the Car

I had a massive tote bag in the car filled with all kinds of toys and activities and games for us to play in the car. We ended up only using a fraction of what I packed. Below are the items we actually used in the 45+ hours in the car with two six year olds.

• Kids Amazon Kindles with these Headphones
• DVD player, same headphones, and DVDs of Bambi and a few favorite TV shows.
• Melissa and Doug 50 States Game license plate game (We found ALL 50 plates!)
• Melissa and Doug Magic Velvet activity books
• BrainQuest activity books (mostly to make me feel less guilty about all the time in school they missed during the move.)
• National Geographic Road trip activity book
• Coloring books and crayons and colored pencils
• Highlight Magazine
• Mom and Dad listened Ready Player One on audiobook (the Mom’s Nook Bookclub book for January)
• Audiobooks: Our favorite was How to Train a Dragon.

Read Also: Quality, Engaging, and Creative Activity Books to Bring on Family Trips

New York to Pennsylvania

The first day we left immediately after their last day of school and we drove to Harrisburg PA.

There we pulled in around bedtime so we quickly got everything set up and the kids in pajamas. We read them Baby Monkey Private Eye and then all quickly fell asleep.

If you have more time I would highly recommend stopping in Philly for a day or half day.

Cincinnati OH

The next morning we got up early to drive the rest of the way across Pennsylvania. This was when I lost any remaining doubt about our decision to head South soon.

Originally I had pushed to drive straight west and then South. We haven’t been to the western part of the US much yet and I am eager to explore it, but Winter is not the time to drive across the northern part of the country.

Our wiper fluid froze. We had to stop a few times to clear the windows so we could proceed safely. It was frigid cold outside every time we had to stop.

We finally made it to our friends’ home in Cincinnati a little before dinnertime.

We stayed an extra day to enjoy the weekend with friends.

They took us to the Newport Aquarium in Kentucky just outside of Cincinnati. The highlights for us were the touch tank and the shark walk which is one of the oddest things we’ve ever done and yet fascinating to my kids.

Afterwards we had brunch at Taste of Belgium which is incredible. I had the Nutella crepe and it was one of the best I’ve ever tasted – Paris included. Our Dairy Free allergy kiddo had eggs and bacon.

Nashville TN

On Monday morning we headed South through Kentucky towards Nashville. We stopped briefly at Carmichaels Kids in Louisville, Kentucky.

This is such a cozy little children’s bookstore. There is a quality collection of all kinds of books for kids and some games and toys.

We arrived in Nashville to spend the afternoon and evening with dear friends. There are a million family friendly things to do in the area so even if you don’t have people to visit I highly recommend a stop in Nashville.

Jackson MS

In the morning we headed a little further South through Memphis to Jackson MS. This was our home before New York.

We stayed with dear friends near Jackson MS and they gave our kids the best gift – time outside. It was our first rain free few hours and they took full advantage racing around outside. By dinner time they were covered in mud and completely delighted.

Read Also:  20+ Best Things to do in Jackson MS with Kids.

Dallas/Fort Worth TX

We were now about halfway and we turned West towards Texas and the West Coast.

From Mississippi we drove to the Dallas – Fort Worth area.

It is a long, flat drive across Louisiana and into Texas. We’ve made this drive many times because when we lived in MS my Cystic Fibrosis doctor was near Dallas, but that probably only made it a little more dull.

We stopped at a playground near our hotel to run around a bit.

Note to Self: packing a football in the car to throw around was a genius idea. It got us all running around and laughing.

El Paso TX

The next day was one of the longest. We drove from Dallas to El Paso across the rest of Texas.

We saw endless sky and cattle farms and long freight trains and listened to several audiobooks.

That night we all went to bed super early. The time changes were started to catch up with us.

The flip side of the time changes of course is that our kids were waking up SUPER early. The bonus of this is that we got on the road before the sun rose the next day.

We saw this gorgeous sunrise from the first rest stop inside New Mexico. Desert sunrises are now one of my favorite things.

New Mexico was a lot more endless flat desert and big skies, but the drive to Phoenix was quicker.

This was one of my favorite days. The sunrise was spectacular. The drive wasn’t too long and when we got to Phoenix we still had plenty of time to explore.

Phoenix AZ

My sweet friend from high school lives near Phoenix and she recommended hiking at Papago Park. We loved it.

The path itself is pretty easy and gives you a nice view of Tempe and Phoenix. My kids of course “needed” to climb up the rocks so our hike was a little more strenuous, but a ton of fun.

Then we met my friend and her family for dinner at a fun little spot in Tempe called The Lodge Sasquatch Kitchen. The food was good (and had good allergy options) and there were fun things to do on the outside patio for our kids which the grown ups chatted.

finally onto California.

The next day we were up before the sun again and headed West one last time.

This drive was fascinating. We had never driven through this part of the country at all and the hills and rocks and mountains were so cool.

It took us about 6 hours to weave through the mountains and desert, but it felt quicker despite our serious desire to be out of the car once and for all.

Also Read: Family Road Trip from Portland to San Diego

and we have arrived in San Diego CA!

Finally, around lunch time, we pulled into San Diego. We found tacos and walked a few blocks to the beach. We all looked around kind of in disbelief.

We are here.

If you’ve made it all the way to the bottom here – wow. Thank you!

Thanks for reading.

Thanks for all the comments and love on Instagram and Facebook and everywhere as we made our way across the country.

We can’t thank you enough for your support of our little family.

“Isn’t it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive–it’s such an interesting world. It wouldn’t be half so interesting if we know all about everything, would it? There’d be no scope for imagination then, would there?” ― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

In August of 2017 we took a family road trip to one of my bucket list destinations: Prince Edward Island.

I’m a huge Anne of Green Gables fan so that was part of the allure, but also from reading those books and watching the movies, I have been obsessed with the gorgeous, natural beauty of PEI for years.

We figured New York City was the closest we would ever live to the eastern edge of Canada so this was the time to take a trip there. So, we pulled out a map and started planning our big road trip.

affiliate links are included in this post. Thanks for your support!

New Brunswick with Kids

We started our big road trip in New York City. We spent a night in Maine to break things up a little and then got back in the car to drive 4 hours to St. John New Brunswick.

STAY.

St. John

This is a cute little area not too far from the Bay of Fundy that begins near St Martin.

TO DO.

Bay of Fundy

We went both at High Tide and Low Tide. It was SO cool to see everything appear in the morning where it had been covered in ocean the evening before.

TIP: Where closed toe sandals like these Keens are best. The ground is rocky and wet. Shoes that won’t slip off but are good in water are best. My kids have this pair and this one.

Fundy Trail

This National Park is a gorgeous stretch of land and water. The cliffs offer breathtaking views and the park has tons of trails for biking and hiking.

Stop at the Visitor’s Center, near the bridge, for additional tips and information.

Prince Edward Island with Kids

After dragging ourselves away from the beautiful Fundy Trail, we drove the roughly 3 hours to Prince Edward Island.

STAY.

Kindred Spirits Inn

This delightful spot was one of our favorite parts of the area. It has an Inn and several cottages that surround it. I can’t imagine a more perfect spot for the kids with the playground, pool, and green space.

Oh! And don’t miss the breakfast! Amazing every day.

EAT.

Avonlea Village

Lots of good options and cute little tourist spot. The pizza place was one of our favorites.

TO DO.

Green Gables National Park

This was one of the highlights for me. Getting to see the house and grounds was amazing. Fortunately my kids loved it too!!!!!

TIPS:

*Stop in the building to the right of the barn for an activity book for your kids to work on while you tour the premise.

*Look for the actor pretending to be Anne.

*Don’t miss the trails through the surrounding wood.

Plan to spend at least a couple hours at the Green Gables property.

Prince Edward Island National Park

PEI has beautiful beaches with gorgeous views and clear water. Drive along the shore and keep your eye out for beaches. There are several little ones, along with some busier beaches.

Thunder Cove

This little nook is beautiful. Climb the rocks, play on the red sand beach, and splash in the clear water. Don’t miss the Teapot Rock.

Charlottetown

The highlight of this little town for us was the cute storybook hunt that takes you around the town starting at Founders Hall / Visitors Center. When you finish, grab a Beavers Tail and stop in one of the bookstores.

Nova Scotia with Kids

We couldn’t head home without at least peeking at gorgeous Nova Scotia. We only scratched the surface – so obviously I immediately started plotting another trip – but here are a few things not to miss.

STAY.

We spent the evening in Halifax. It was a vibrant town with tons of restaurants and spots to explore.

EAT.

Ice Cream Shop

Imagine my surprise when a tiny little hole in the wall in the town by Peggy’s Cove had Dairy Free Ice Cream!

TO DO.

Peggy’s Cove

This was spectacular. I originally thought we were a little nuts to drive out there, but the view is incredible. The water more blue and powerful than anything I’ve ever seen.

The adorable lighthouse and cute little town are just icing on the cake.

Oh and the rocks. My kids could have climbed rocks for hours.

Halifax Waterfront

Walk along the water. There are little shops and plenty of places to eat with a view.

Find more top family road trip tips Here!

I think it’s totally normal to feel all the feels about family travel, but after 6 years of road trips with our twins we have built up a hefty set of reliable tricks so that I’m usually at least mostly excited when we have a road trip coming up.

We just got back home after a road trip from New York City to Prince Edward Island and back. Our trip, like all events involving small children, had ups and downs but the road trip part was actually a highlight.

Below are tips on how to plan for and enjoy a family road trip with preschoolers and up (infants and toddlers involve an entirely different kind of plan).

affiliate links are included

How to Plan Family Road Trip Activities

In August of 2017 we took a family road trip to one of my bucket list destinations: Prince Edward Island.

I’m a huge Anne of Green Gables fan so that was part of the allure, but also from reading those books and watching the movies, I have been obsessed with the gorgeous, natural beauty of PEI for years.

We figured this was the closest we would ever live to the eastern edge of Canada so this was the time to take a trip there. So, we pulled out a map and started planning.

Some Stats:

• Our road trip took us from New York City to Prince Edward Island with 2 stops in both directions.
• Our driving legs varied from 4 hours to 9 hours. Our 6 year old twins have managed a 13 hour drive at once before (at ages 4 and 5), but we like to avoid super long drives when possible.
• We were in the car for a total of 2,244 miles and about 35 hours total over the course of 7 days.

Planning Road Trip Activities

Three important pieces of advice.

1. Variety is the spice of life. Movies, activity books, printables, coloring books – they’re all great for the car but too much of any one thing ensures crabbiness and boredom eventually.
2. Make sure to plan for the trip home and anticipate more restlessness on the later parts of the trip so save fun new stuff or trusted favorites for this part of your trip.
3. You can never pack too many snacks. We are not huge snack people in general – but all of our good meal eating habits go out the window in the car and I’m certain it helps to keep the peace.

Find more top family road trip tips Here!

Now, what did I pack for 35 hours in the car with two 6 year olds?

Best Road Trip Activities for Kids ages 3-8

1. The license plate game.
   We spotted 38 of 50 license plates spotted on this trip. We use the Melissa and Doug Flip Board to make it extra fun and visible. My kids started getting into this around age 5 – I think they were finally tall enough to see out the window.
2. Picture Books with CDs and Audio Books
   We started using picture books with CDs when our kids were toddlers and they are always a huge hit.For this trip I brought Miss Rumphius Book and Audible Book and BLUEBERRIES FOR SAL since we were driving through Maine, but they are not always related to where we are going.Audio chapter books are new to us. We started with the Magic Treehouse series – which are read by the author – when my kids were about 4. I wasn’t sure how they’d do without any pictures, but they did great.

   On this trip I planned to listen to the Anne of Green Gables audiobook. I should have bought it, but I requested it from the library and it didn’t come in on time. Instead we listened to the Ramona Quimby series narrated by Stockard Channing. It is AMAZING! By far, it was the favorite thing to do in the car. It had all four of us laughing out loud.

3. Activities about the Places we are visiting.
   To help get my kids excited about where we are stopping along the way I like to find printables or other activities that discuss our stops. These I pull out in the morning when we head towards our next destination.For this road trip from New York City to Maine to New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island (to see Green Gables from the Anne books) to Nova Scotia and back home through Maine – here are the ones I used:
   *Miss Rumphius Printables from Free Homeschool Deals
   *Maine Coloring Page from Crayola
   *Coloring Pages and Activity Packet Printables from Boston Kid Friendly
   *Canadian Paper Dolls Printables from Adventure in a Box
   *Anne of Green Gables Printables from Homeschool Giveaways
   *Blueberries for Sal Printable Pack from Teaching with Children’s Books
4. General Activity Books or Printables
   There are a lot of decent activity books for kids (some of our favorites are listed below) and also tons of free road trip printables available online. I use a combination of both. Here are some favorites:
   *Road Trip Printables from KCEdventures
   *General Road Trip Printables from Playdough to Plato
   *Usborne Activity Books are my favorites. We have used a dozen over the past 3 years.
   *For more also read: Quality, Engaging, and Creative Activity Books to Bring on Family Trips
   
5. Other Activities
   Along with listening to stories and doing pen and paper type activities I always bring some other things that involve a little more movement. Obviously you’re limited by seatbelts and safety, but listening and coloring gets boring for anyone after a while. Here is what I packed for this trip:*Melissa and Doug Reusable Sticker Pads
6. Screens
   I am not a screens whenever person, but also not anti-screens. I know there are some strong opinions on this, so obviously do what makes you comfortable.On our family travels, we usually allow more screen time than at home but try to use it more at the end of the day and especially the end of the last day when energy and enthusiasm is falling apart. I typically pack:* Their Kindles (don’t forget to charge the night before and bring the charging cable). My kids have each had one since they were 3.
   * Headphones (we love these kid ones!)
   * Movie player
   * New movie – I often buy a new DVD for a long trip like this one. I bought Bambi and Beauty and the Beast as surprises for the last day.
7. Snacks
   As I said above, pack WAY more snacks than you think you’ll need. We tend towards healthy-ish things like apple sauce pouches and granola bars, but my main tip is to aim for a balance between salty and sweet. Let your kids have input and they’ll be happier.Some snack ideas:*Applesauce Pouches (fruit, always a crowd pleaser – my kids ate an entire box on our trip, and relatively mess free)
   *This post on Family Road Trips has more great snack ideas
   *Ingredients for Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches (and plastic knives) – between driving in remote areas and our son’s dairy allergy we like to have a back up meal with us. We went through two loaves of bread on this trip.
   *Important tip: Pack a container for each child to hold food (we use these) or pre-pack everything in snack sized ziplocks.

Subscribe Below for Weekly Family Travel Tips!