mikeado

My wife and I are planning a trip to California in April. We have booked Accomodation in Yosemite and plan to head straight from there across to Monterey on the coast. I believe this is approx a 6/7 hour journey and so we'd like to break it up with a stopover for one night somewhere roughly in between.

Can anybody suggest anywhere nice to stay for a night roughly halfway between Yosemite and Monterey? Looked at Merced or Fresno but not sure how nice they are.

All suggestions, both rural and urban, will be welcome.

Thanks in advance.

Mike

mikeado

Should have said, we are driving so are quite flexible.

Thanks!

Jean

6-7 hours??

I've never driven this route, but google.maps estimates the fastest route at 3.5 hours. I always add time to google estimates, but even if it's 4.5 hours there isn't anywhere in between that I would consider worth losing a night in Monterey for.

lynni

You will do better to drive straight through.

montereybob

If you are taking a direct route, Jean is right about the travel time. You will be traveling thru agricultural country so it doesn't matter where you stop. Any motel that looks clean and fairly new would do.

StuDudley

>> Looked at Merced or Fresno but not sure how nice they are

MmePerdu

It's a 3+ hour drive, about what you'd planned to do. Just drive to Monterey.

janisj

No way you can take 6 - 7 hours for this trip. There is nothing to stop and visit except maybe San Juan Bautista -- and definitely nowhere worth stopping over.

happytrailstoyou

Yosemite Village to Monterey is 200 miles--about a 4-hour drive. If somebody told you the drive takes 6 to 7 hours, they have never driven the route, or they drive at less than 35 miles per hour.

HTtY

MichelleY

4 hours at the most, so drive straight thru. You could stop by my mom's in Los Banos

Michael

Visit the San Juan Bautista Mission to break up your drive.

bear900

The only 7 hour route is if you were going through Fresno on the 41 and then the 46 to Cambria (4.5 hrs), then hiway 1 through Big Sur to Monterey (2.5 hrs).
Otherwise the others are correct. We also don't know if you are leaving late in the day or have small children that may want you to think about an overnighter.

janisj

Even if you are leaving in the evening - I'd still drive through. You don't want to be staying over in Merced or Fresno or Chowchilla or Los Banos or Hollister or anywhere else you might suggest . . .