Nicolesadig

Hi All,
My family and I have 3 nights to do a trip since we all work. My cousins family will be traveling with us in a van. We are 5 energetic girls age ranging from 19-27 and 4 parents.
We were planning on driving from LA thursday morning in June taking the 101 to Big Sur then doing the beatuiful Big Sur road having lunch there stopping at Point Lobos and few other gorgeous spots.. (this is all Thursday) then making our way to Carmel or Monterey for the night.. sleeping there .. waking up Friday enjoying a few hours there doing the 17 mile road .. and then driving to San Fran.. doing San fran friday night saturday and saturday night and driving back on Sunday.. the girls aka me and my cousins loved this idea.. the parents thing we should just do 3 nights in Monterey or Carmel and do day trips so we are not so rushed.. I just dont think theres enough things for us to do and we will get bored.. SUGGESTIONS Please.. and if so .. do you have any places we could stay.. My dad needs a nice hotel .. in big sur we looked up the post ranch inn and ventana but those were both $700 a night.. our price range is $280-$350 a night .. it seems like Monterey had the most hotels . Anything in Big Sur or Carmel.. bed and breakfasts.. any suggestions would be so helpful!

janisj

Just time for a quick comment -- driving up rom LA you won't be anywhere near Big Sur by lunch time. In a van it is easily a 7.5 hour drive, could take even longer. And that is w/o any stops.

>>I just dont think theres enough things for us to do and we will get bored.<<

The only 'boring' will be the HOURS and HOURS you girls will be stuck in the back of that van.

POlson

How about the reverse...leave early thursday and jet up the 5 to San Francisco, arrive early afternoon with time to see a little of the city, check-in (maybe a centrally located hotel off Union Square), ride a cable car and go to dinner. Enjoy SF during the day friday (but have a focused itinerary - know what you want to see and plot a thoughtful course) and leave around 3:00 for Carmel/Monterey (try to beat traffic out of the city). Check in for 2 nights in Carmel or Monterey, enjoy Friday night dinner and next day explore town, see Aquarium, enjoy 17 mile drive, shop a little in Carmel, stay second night at same place, wake-up Sunday morning eat early breakfast, and take the slow slow way coastal drive home with stops in Big Sur and other wonderful little towns and terrific vistas etc., probably a 12 - 14 hour day so plan accordingly. Drive, stop, stretch legs, take pictures of seals, enjoy lunch someplace with a view (try to have a plan as to where you want to stop for lunch - it gives you a goal to keep moving along). Repeat (replace lunch with ice-cream). That way if the day is really long, or traffic is tiresome, you can always try to make way back to the 5 or just get home really really late and suffer a little at work the next day. Bring books to read (I read an entire Harry Potter book on one of these long day drives), a cooler (with fresh fruit, soda, snacks), songs to sing, games to play, headphones for when your cousins or siblings bug you, a sense of humor and adventure.

POlson

As for hotels - you can check Four Sisters Inn. They operate a couple of Inns in Pacific Grove/Monterey (rates range $120 - 300 per website) and we enjoyed staying with them at several different locations over the years. Another option is Monterey Plaza Hotel (summer weekend rates looked to be $279 - $479 depending on whether view faced Bay). We had a lovely stay there once too.

SAB

It is at least 300 miles via 101 to 1 to Big Sur and without any stops can easily take 7 hours, so you won't be having lunch in Big Sur on Thursday.

You can do LA to SF and back in 3 nights if you spend one night in Cambria, one in Carmel and one in SF and then drive like bats out of hell back to LA on Sunday on I5.

Shar

agree with SAB Me thinks you are really not thinking this one thru. You need a reality check here....Heed some of the advice above.

clarkgriswold

Skip San Fran. Stay in Santa Barbara or Pismo or Paso Robles on Thursday night and then Fri and Sat in Monterey/Carmel.

If this is next week then in Pismo, The Seacrest Oceanfront, the Spyglass, Best Western Shelter Cove or the Cottage Inn all have openings. Lots of great spots for lunch and dinner nearby.

On Fri and Sat looks like you're in luck with that budget....go to HotelAbrego.com and click on "Manager's Special"

With a group that size you don't want to plan a lot to do, you won't agree on anything anyway. Hell it will take 3 hours just to get you all in and out of the the bathroom in the morning.

Nicolesadig

you guys are incredible.. im sorry i was not able to respond.. I never got the notifications and just logged in and saw all these great comments.. ahhh im planning this whole trip for both my fams.. im the eldest daughter so I guess i took the responsibility.. im so confused and i know you are all helping.. I just dont know what to do

janisj

Fodors doesn't have a notification feature.

You'll need to check in every day or so to see if there are any new posts.

Surfergirl

Follow the parents' advice. I guarantee you won't be bored -- or rushed. LA - Monterey on the 101 takes 6.5 hours if you leave AFTER morning rush hour, and don't speed and get a ticket.

You could stop for lunch in Santa Barbara or San Luis Obispo. Or just stop to pee and grab some fast food at one of the zillion fast food places.

For your large group, and the need for "action", I'd recommend staying in Monterey and using that as your base.

You could drive from Monterey to Big Sur in 30 minutes. I do this every year, in every kind of weather and, except when the road is out on HWY 1, it's always 30 minutes to Nepenthe. Have lunch there. You might want to stop at Pt. Lobos BEFORE going further south on the 1 to Big Sur, since early in the day it's easier to get in and park so you can walk around.

Afternoon you can stop in Carmel -- make sure you go down to the Dog's Beach there -- it is beautiful and fun.

In Monterey itself, there's really so much to do, from renting a bike and biking down through Pacific Grove and do the whole 17 mile drive on bike (if you had the energy) or just riding to the start of Cannery row and going down the breakers where you'll see a ton of harbor seals, jellies, and other amazing sea life, to renting a kayak to going whale watching, to visiting the Aquarium (which is better than ever and now has a whole seahorse exhibit) -- may sound boring to you, but I can almost guarantee you will not be! Fisherman's wharf is a good walk, Cannery Row is a great hang out for the young and old. Downtown Monterey is also fun with bars packed to the gills, sometimes the State Theatre has a good rock band playing, and lots of places to eat. It's a university town.

You could also drive to the north part of Monterey Bay to Santa Cruz, another university town about 35 minutes drive. It is my favorite place on the California coast, with amazing beaches, spectacular surfing, old time amusement park, and great hiking trails. Not to mention UC Santa Cruz, an amazing place to visit.

If you're running all day and all night, you still wouldn't be able to see everything that area has to offer in 2 1/2 days. So, yeah, you won't get bored.

Nicolesadig

you are all wonderful.. thanks so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nicolesadig

so the kids spoke and we are doing 3 nights in san fran and spending a day in napa.. should we drive to napa or take a tour.. any must dos in san fran.. cool restaurants.. we are staying at the cliff

sunbum1944

Some of my friends did a Segway tour of San Francisco- they thought it was a blast

http://sanfrancisco.citysegwaytours.com

sf7307

There's a very good sort of upscale Mexican restaurant right near your hotel - Colibri.

A new favorite is Coqueta on the Embarcadero.

elnap29

You can easily drive to Napa in an hour , as long as you wait for commute traffic to subside a bit. However, this plan works best if you have a designated driver. If everyone plans to drink, then maybe you'd like a tour. There are many wine tour companies. I am only familiar with one, Platypus Tours. You can take a pleasant one-hour ferry ride to Vallejo where Platypus Tours will pick you up (with prior arrangement). Www.platypustours.com

rjw_lgb_ca

My last big trip up the the City, we utilized a great tour service: Wine Country Tour Shuttle (www.winecountrytourshuttle.com).

You're picked up in the morning out front of the Ferry Building (go in for coffee and pastry, walk around and check out the produce being set up!), they van you across the Golden Gate bridge and then schlepp you around between four wineries; you get a catered lunch on the way, a guide to give you some info on the region, and then the tour ends with a ferry ride from Vallejo back to the Ferry Building. The wineries on this tour are all pretty good; they used to have Domaine Chandon on the tour, but it looks like they don't this year. That's a shame; Chandon champagnes are wonderful (I'm a member of their club and get a few bottles every couple of months-- and IT'S NEVER ENOUGH).

As you can see, the main difference between this and the Platypus tour is that you'll be ferrying to and from Vallejo (a short, lovely ride across the Bay), and the wineries will probably be different. It also looks like Platypus doesn't cover all of the tasting fees; the Wine Shuttle covers most of them (in fact, one winery where we were supposed to pay ended up covering us for free that day). That's a small consideration. Platypus sounds very charming. I don't see how you can go wrong with either one.

The pourers can be a big part of the show, by the way. In Sonoma, our pourer at Imagery Winery was knowledgeable, friendly and generous with her pours. We were a group of four, and we got extra tastes as well. On a Napa tour, we went to Black Stallion and enjoyed the spectacle of a party of tipsy bachelorettes flirting with the pourer, who was funny and flirtatious and as gay as a pink Prada clutch full of Judy Garland CDs and White Party tickets. Oh, just kidding!! (Not really.) ;-)

Whichever you choose, you'll have a wonderful time. Enjoy!!!!