Lake Tahoe and California during late December?

My husband wants to vacation in and near Cali for winter (no idea why Cali of all places)..... So we're planning for Dec. 22 - Jan. 3. We might do either Lake Tahoe or San Francisco for the first few days before we go to Orange County and do Disneyland and Universal Studios and stuff. Lake Tahoe is already getting snow right now so is it worth it to go during late December? I'm thinking we do Christmas in Disneyland. What would be good places to do New Year in California? Is Santa Monica a must see? Yosmite National Park? It's late December so I assume it's gonna be cold af where ever we choose.

Posted by Beerthirty

Lol you can’t get anything in Yosemite without a year in advance reservation

Geesh but it's like in the middle of nowhere

Posted by Black-Mamba

Beaches and sun

Disneyland? You best get a hotel there don’t drive from LA...Very far

I like the idea of Lake Tahoe early on

Beaches and sun where during winter? And ugh that's what I dread, getting to places in California is so ridiculous, everything's so far apart and then there's the traffic in LA.

Posted by Black-Mamba

I’m so jealous I love killa Cali



I really would love to go to LA I didn’t get enough of that city

Honestly I'd rather go to Mexico or Costa Rica but he's so eager to take me to Cali. Pls hype me for Cali. What's there worthy besides Didnywerl!!!

Posted by emeraldgem

If you only have a few days, skip Tahoe unless you wanna ski. Lotta snow and tricky driving. Yosemite is beautiful in the winter but roads going to it sometimes get closed but you can check on accommodations near the park and drive in.

Plenty to see and do in San Francisco! I would just stay there given the time of year. And Napa and Sonoma only about an hour and a half north.

We're from Texas so driving in the snow is out of the question :/ Napa and Sonoma sounds nice. Do you have any suggestions for New Years?

Posted by Beerthirty

Tahoe is a disaster for New Years so is San Francisco stay away

Why is San Franciso a disaster for New Years?

I'd avoid South Lake Tahoe. Unless you want to stay at a Reno hotel, good luck trying to find halfway decent accommodations.

Most stuff was booking up mid August.

Posted by Beerthirty

Posted by SassyKiwi

Posted by emeraldgem

If you only have a few days, skip Tahoe unless you wanna ski. Lotta snow and tricky driving. Yosemite is beautiful in the winter but roads going to it sometimes get closed but you can check on accommodations near the park and drive in.

Plenty to see and do in San Francisco! I would just stay there given the time of year. And Napa and Sonoma only about an hour and a half north.

We're from Texas so driving in the snow is out of the question :/ Napa and Sonoma sounds nice. Do you have any suggestions for New Years?

I live in Sonoma county and parents live in Napa unless you just want to go wine tasting and nice dinner then there’s nothing to do here

click to expand

Is there a place at all that you appreciate in Cali?

Fodors.com

Roads are closed in Tahoe right now because of all the snow. You should just check the weather when you come and plan around it. Tahoe is in between SF and Los Angeles so it’s doable.

I was in SF for New Years last year. Stayed 2 nights and paid $ 100 for parking on NYE.

It was alright. Not as packed as I’d hoped.

But you’re itinerary looks like a good one. You can also drive the coast to LA from here and hot up Monterey or Carmel beach. It looks like the hobbit in Carmel. It’s a cute little town.

It’s always sunnier in Southern California and cooler in Northen.

Near the mountains aka Lake Tahoe & Yosemite could be questionable in the winter. Storms hit & miss and around that time could be nice or not. Just had a massive storm in the last few days. Roads were a mess.. in the pass from Northern California to Oregon.. also heard there was snow on the Grapevine which is the pass into LA.. I’m guessing in the Sierras too which would be where your talking about.

Might be easier in the winter just to go to LA area/Orange County. San Diego Zoo is pretty cool too if you’re into animals. I love the beach in the winter too..

I’m from Orange County but now live in Southern Oregon. Very close to California border. Have driven a lot to LA from here and winter you just never know about the weather. Especially the weeks around Christmas.

Thank you guys for all the suggestions so far. I really want to go to Lake Tahoe but have to accept it's not an ideal time to go. Spring looks to be the best. We decided we'll just do San Franciso for a few days and then Orange County for the remainder of the trip. I think my husband wants to fly in-between, he doesn't want to do any long drives. He has relatives in Orange County so not sure how the accommodations will be but I wanna do Disneyland for a few days not just one day. I like Disney World better but Didny is Didny eek!

Posted by ClairDeLune

What are you hoping to see or experience?

Disneyland with very little crowds, Lake Tahoe not snowed up, Cali weather in the 70s. Basically the impossible during the time we're able to go there ;[ Last time I went to Cali was when I was 7 and it was during the summer. Still have fond memories of it. I even remember the bad traffic.