Santa Cruz / Capitola / Felton
An old-fashioned seaside amusement park at one end and a steam train through redwoods at the other.
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Trips you can do for under $1,500
20 destinations from the Dublin, CA area. Under $1,500 at the low end of the range, measured against the same yardstick as every other cost on this site: two nights for a family of four, lodging, food and activities included.
| Destination | Kids | Drive | Days | Cost (2 nights, family of four) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Santa Cruz / Capitola / Felton | 4.4 | 1h 17m | 2–4 days | $1,200–2,500 |
| Sonoma / Santa Rosa | 4.3 | 1h 18m | 1–2 days | $1,200–2,500 |
| Half Moon Bay / Pacifica | 4.2 | 56 min | 1–2 days | $1,000–2,200 |
| Petaluma | 4.1 | 1h 23m | 1–2 days | $1,200–2,500 |
| Pismo Beach | 4.0 | 4h 23m | 2–3 days | $1,200–2,500 |
| Reno, NV | 3.8 | 4h 17m | 1–2 days | $1,000–2,500 |
| Sonora / Columbia State Park | 3.7 | 2h 14m | 1–2 days | $1,000–2,000 |
| Morro Bay | 3.7 | 4h 15m | 1–2 days | $1,200–2,500 |
| Nevada City / Grass Valley | 3.7 | 2h 59m | 1–2 days | $1,000–2,000 |
| Fort Bragg | 3.5 | 4h 10m | 1–2 days | $1,000–2,500 |
| Bodega Bay | 3.4 | 2h 01m | 1–2 days | $1,200–2,500 |
| Humboldt Redwoods / Avenue of the Giants | 3.2 | 5h 04m | 1–2 days | $1,200–2,500 |
| Virginia City, NV | 3.2 | 4h 51m | 1–2 days | $1,000–2,000 |
| Carson City, NV | 3.2 | 4h 32m | 1–2 days | $1,000–2,000 |
| Cambria | 3.2 | 4h 16m | 1–2 days | $1,200–2,500 |
| Kings Canyon / Sequoia National Parks | 2.9 | 5h 04m | 2–3 days | $1,000–2,500 |
| Calaveras Big Trees State Park | 2.8 | 2h 40m | 1–2 days | $800–1,500 |
| Pinnacles National Park | 2.7 | 2h 23m | 1–2 days | $800–1,500 |
| Mount Shasta | 2.6 | 5h 10m | 1–2 days | $1,000–2,500 |
| Lassen Volcanic National Park | 2.4 | 4h 46m | 1–2 days | $800–1,500 |
Sonoma / Santa Rosa
A miniature railroad children can ride and a Peanuts museum, in a walkable plaza town.
Half Moon Bay / Pacifica
A farm with pony rides, a working fishing harbour and tide pools, all within a few miles.
Petaluma
A walkable Victorian downtown with a swim centre and an adobe fort - a base town more than a destination.
Pismo Beach
A wide flat beach you can drive onto, a dinosaur-themed playground and a monarch grove.
Reno, NV
Cheap rooms, a good children's museum and a wildlife sanctuary - a casino town used sideways.
Sonora / Columbia State Park
A Gold Rush town preserved as it stood, with stagecoaches, gold panning and a working steam railroad.
Morro Bay
A harbour town under a volcanic plug, with sea otters rafting in the bay below it.
Nevada City / Grass Valley
Victorian streets, a hard-rock mine you can go down, and swimming holes on the Yuba.
Fort Bragg
A beach of sea-polished glass and a steam train into the redwoods, in a plain working town.
Bodega Bay
A working crab port with a sheltered beach - the best seafood on the coast road, and little else.
Humboldt Redwoods / Avenue of the Giants
A parkway through old-growth redwoods, and a drive-through tree on the way.
Virginia City, NV
The best-preserved Wild West mining town in America, with a steam train and a mine tour.
Carson City, NV
A cheap, central base for Tahoe and Virginia City, with two state museums and a replica mine.
Cambria
Pine-backed coast next to an elephant seal colony you can watch, free, from a boardwalk.
Kings Canyon / Sequoia National Parks
The largest living things on Earth, reached on flat paved trails a small child can manage.
Calaveras Big Trees State Park
The nearest giant sequoias, on a flat paved loop a small child can walk, with a river to wade.
Pinnacles National Park
Volcanic spires with talus caves you walk through by torchlight, and condors overhead.
Mount Shasta
A 14,000-foot volcano over a swimming lake, with a waterfall you can walk behind.
Lassen Volcanic National Park
Boiling mud pots and a lava tube you walk through by torchlight - Yellowstone in miniature.
Costs are a fixed yardstick: 2 nights, family of four, lodging, food and activities. Not the cost of the stay we recommend.