California's trick is that it refuses to make you choose. In a single trip a family can ride Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland, stand under a two-thousand-year-old sequoia in Yosemite, and watch sea otters at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the only thing connecting them is a tank of gas. The south does the theme-park heavy lifting, with Disneyland and Universal Studios for the thrill-seekers, LEGOLAND for the younger set, and San Diego's zoo and safari park for the animal-obsessed. None of it needs an apology: this is the part of the trip the kids will narrate for years, and the adults tend to cave and enjoy it too.

The other California rewards anyone who likes their awe outdoors. Yosemite's waterfalls and the rock scrambling and dark skies of Joshua Tree turn a national park into a playground, the redwoods up north reduce everyone to the same open-mouthed stare, and Lake Tahoe flips between skiing and lake swimming by season. The coast ties it together, the Pacific Coast Highway unspooling past Santa Monica, Malibu, and Carmel, while San Francisco offers Alcatraz, cable cars, and the hands-on Exploratorium for a city day that earns its keep. The hotels stretch to fit: Disneyland-area resorts with pools and character breakfasts, coastal hotels with beach access, and mountain lodges near Yosemite and Tahoe, most with kids' programs and connecting rooms. The honest advice is to pick one or two regions per trip, because trying to do all of California in a week is how a family ends up needing a holiday from the holiday.