TrevS

Hi all

I am going on a fly drive holiday in a few weeks and am trying to plan how long it will take us to get from Carmel to LA and the best places to stop along the way.

We have 3 nights (4days) to explore and make our way to LA and I am trying to work out the best places for us to stop off.

Could anyone suggest the must see places and good overnight stops. I was thinking of stopping somewhere between Carmel and Santa Barbara for 1 night and then continuing to down to Santa Barbara and staying there for 2 nights.

Would this be a good option and is 2 days too long/too short in Santa Barbara?

Thanks

Trevorc

AustinTraveler

You should make your first stop Cambria. Stay at one of the cute inns on Moonstone Beach and have dinner at the Sea Chest or Moonstone Beach Bar and Grill. The village is a few minutes' drive away and has lots of cute shops and wine tasting bars.

mlgb

San Luis Obispo, Cambria, Pismo Beach, Cayucos, Morro Bay. Be aware that in summer a weekend at the coast may have a minimum 2 night stay. If so you may have to go a bit inland or go to a chain like Motel 6 (which started in Santa Barbara).

If you want to see Hearst Castle there are a few lodgings in San Simeon, or Cambria has more.

This assumes you are taking the road thru Big Sur.

If you are going via 101 it's really easy to get to Santa Barbara in one day, or you could stop between Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo. The former is just too hot in summer for me.

jamie99

Cambria is very nice stayed there before at Sand Pebbles Inn.

Michael

Must see places:

Big Sur coast
Hearst Castle
the elephant seals just north of Hearst Castle
http://www.mtycounty.com/pgs-missions/13la-puris.html