isabel

I am planning a trip to the central California coast - from San Francisco down to about San Luis Obispo. I also want to see a little of the Napa Valley. I am a photographer and am mostly interested in scenery, cute towns, lighthouses, that kind of thing. I don't plan on any major hiking but rather lots of relatively short stops for walks - on the beach, in small towns, around the redwoods forests.

Questions: about how many days would you allow for this? I was thinking maybe 2-4 on the coast and 1-3 in the Napa valley. About 5-6 days total. After this driving portion I'll have another 3-4 days for San Francisco (although I'll be staying in Lafayette and doing day trips in). So any suggestions as to how you would structure the time, what would be the 'not to miss' places, where you might spend the nights, etc. I will probably be alone for this part of the trip if that makes any difference in your advice.

I know no one can predict the weather, and I have googled it and found average high temps in mid March are around 65 and it looks like about 30% chance of rain. But that doesn't really tell you much. So anything more you could add would be appreciated.

november_moon

March is one of those transitional months - still part of the rainy season, but you can never tell from year to year how rainy it will be. The good news is that stormy weather makes for some great photography along the coast and also by March the wild flowers and trees are usually in bloom and our hills will be nice and green. So it is a good time to come as long as you aren't made of sugar and melt in the rain.

Your basic plan sounds good - I would do at least 3 days on the coast rather than 2 because that will allow 2 overnight stops. I would overnight in the Monterey area and the Cambria/Morro Bay/SLO area. Pismo Beach and Avila Beach are other nice towns down that way. If you can manage 4 along the coast, so much the better. Maybe spend the extra night in Monterey.

For Napa - are you interested in Napa specifically or wine country in general? I ask because in addition to Napa, there is the Sonoma valley (very close to Napa), and there are also other wine regions in CA, most notably Carmel Valley and the Santa Ynez Valley, both of which will be on or near your route down the coast. So you have options.

qwovadis

treebonesresort.com
carmelcalifornia.com
my favs think your times are about right.
Did this a couple years back in March had a
wonderful time also added a couple of days at
the Ahwanee in Yosemite.com nature photographers
paradise and not far a pretty easy drive through
Steinbeck country. classic.mapquest.com directions
Have fun!

AllysonMonterey

It sounds like you should plan on stopping in around the Monterey Bay. Carmel Valley, Carmel, Pacific Grove and Big Sur in particular are very scenic destinations.

Carmel Valley is similar to Napa Valley in that there are several wineries and vineyards, very picturesque.

Point Lobos in Carmel has easy hikes that are well worth the views. Carmel-by-the-Sea is also a cute village with architecture resembling English cottages. Pacific Grove is also a quaint community with ocean front Victorian-era homes. Pacific Grove is also home to the Point Pinos Lighthouse.

For coastal views head to Big Sur. Bixby Bridge and McWay Falls at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park are popular photo opps. The Point Sur Light Station is also located in Big Sur.

Here's a list of Top 10 places to take photos:
http://www.seemonterey.com/tourist-a...snapshot-spots

MichelleY

Agree with November moon - do 4 on the coast between SLO and Monterey area/SF, spending two nights along the way. Pismo/Avila Beach is lovely and Pismo also has the dunes. Wine areas around SLO, Paso Robles, Carmel Valley, Monterey County. Different than Napa, but still very beautiful. Don't miss Hwy 1 from SLO to Monterey. Spend 2 days in the Napa/Sonoma area. If you run out of time, you could still get over to Napa easily from Lafayette.

bon_voyage

Also, Montaña de Oro State Park near Morro Bay for lovely, easy, by-the-sea hiking. Unless you're set on the Napa Valley, consider a stop in Healdsburg in Sonoma County. It's become very chic and trendy but is a real town at its core with a very pretty tree-lined central square. You can click on my name for a couple of short trip reports featuring some of the Central Coast.

isabel

Thanks for the replies. I will check out the places mentioned.

starrs

I have a trip report from my trip from SF to LA in March. It was a great trip. Loved the central coast wineries of Paso Robles

Tomsd

There are some classic wine estates/Chateaux/B&B's on the road from the Coast/near Cambria - over to Paso Robles, along hiway 46. http://www.pasowine.com/

And agree - if you really want to maximize your photography/nature experience - you might consider getting over to Yosemite for a couple of nights. Just amazing. http://www.nps.gov/yose/index.htm

And also - Hearst Castle by San Simeon is just amazing. http://www.hearstcastle.org/

Tomsd

If Yosemite did interest you - and you had decent weather (not a huge - several day storm) - you could drive a loop from Paso Robles up 41 to Fresno and on into Yo - and then it's about 4? hours back to the SF Bay area.

Michael

If the weather is clear you might want to take the little detour on the Nacimiento-Fergusson Rd to the crest of the mountain. The road is a couple miles south of Lucia. Or continue to the other side of the Big Sur mountains to visit the San Antonio de Padua Mission, one of the more isolated California missions. Warning: the road, while paved, is one of the scariest ones for those not used to narrow mountain roads.

november_moon

Mission San Antonio is definitely neat, and that road is great (for those who like narrow, twisty roads ) One thing to note - the mission is onFort Hunter-Ligget property. You may have to be a US citizen to go onto the military property - I am not sure, but if you aren't an American, that would be something to check out before going.