Clousie

Plan to spend approx 11 days on central coast of CA in late October.

First question: To visit the area between Monterey and Santa Barbara, would you suggest flying into LAX or SFO? We do not plan to spend any time in either city except for final night before flight home. Arriving in afternoon, is the traffic any worse from LAX heading north or SFO heading south?

Would like to spend 2-3 nights in 3 or 4 places. We prefer B&B's or unique places, such as Asilomar, rather than chain hotels or resorts. Any suggestions of several towns to stay in? Don't have to stay in Monterey, but perhaps in one of the towns a bit inland, such as Ojai, Santa Ynez, San Luis Obispo or Paso Robles. Really don't know much about these towns so wonder if any would be a good base for a few days. Maybe someone knows a "hidden" town in the area.

We hope to just kick back, enjoy the wine, scenery, short hikes, anything agricultural (markets, harvesting, festivals) perhaps visit Pinnacles, if October is a good time of year to go there.

Open to all suggestions.

spirobulldog

I'd fly into San Jose. I haven't been to Pinnacles, but it is high on my list.

Tomsd

Plenty of posts in here under California - and much info - and different opinions.

If you have the choice - I would suggest you fly into SF or San Jose (or even Oakalnd) and start south from there - as the lane closer to the ocean/heading south gives you better views.

Between the cute little town of Cambria (by San Simeon/Hearst Castle) and Paso Robles - hiway 46 is it - only about 30? miles - it goes along a number of very scenic/beautiful wineries and there are a number of B & B's along there.

Also check out Moonstone Beach by Cambria - just beautiful.

Tomsd

And October is usually a great time. Even if an early fall/winter storm blows in - it should clear out fairly fast - and you probably won't have too much fog/marine layer.

tomfuller

Either SFO or Oakland or San Jose. Traveling south on 1/101 you have all right turns toward the ocean views. You want to avoid left turns across traffic.
Spend the first night in Monterey or Carmel. I've never stayed in any of the towns between Monterey and Santa Barbara so will defer to others.
To save a bit of money we stayed in Carpenteria and commuted to Santa Barbara and the UCSB student housing in Isla Vista where DS, DIL and GS's now live.
If you don't find what you want in SLO, check Pismo Beach. We had a good lunch there at Marie Callendar.

PeaceOut

You can fly into Santa Barbara. It's a great little airport. Limited flights, though. United serves it, for one.

bluestar

re: LAX or SFO?

Both Santa Barbara and Monterey have airports. Here are the current daily flight schedules for each airport:

http://www.flysba.com/flight_schedule

http://www.montereyairport.com/docum...2012fltsch.pdf

If you want to use only LAX or SFO, I'd probably go with LAX and drive to Santa Barbara that first day.

sf7307

I don't think it makes any difference whether you fly into SFO and drive to Konterey the first day, or Fly into LAX and drive to Santa Barbara the first day. It WOULD make a difference if you could fly to San Jose, which will cut out 30 miles and a bunch of bad commute traffic.

tracys2cents

The best way to do it is to fly into one city and fly home from another. No backtracking. There are airports in SBarbara, Santa Maria, San Luis Obispo, San Jose, Monterey...but not all have good flight service from all cities in the U.S. Where are you flying in from?

As to one of your questions, arriving at LAX if it's a weekday, brings terrible traffic heading north after 3:30pm.

janisj

Definitely do open jaw if you can. Into SFO (or better - San Jose) and home from LAX (or Burbank) or vice versa.

Or, IF you can get reasonable fares into any of the smaller coastal airports mentioned, in to one of them and home from LAX/SFO/SJC/BUR

Kal

We did the SF to Santa Barb tour this past May.

Mission Ranch in Carmel.
Lovely place and you never know who you may run into in the restaurant/bar. We stayed in a Main Barn room but when we go back it will be one of the Meadow View buildings.

In Cambria we stayed at one of the many and nice hotels/motels on Moonstone Dr. We stayed at The Sea Otter Inn. Huge room/firelace and a nice sunset view. Beach is right across the street.

Short walk to Moonstone Beach Bar and Grill. Prior poster is right. Nice stretch of road.
Short ride to "Downtown Cambria".

d_claude_bear

I suggest SLO, Ventura/Ojai (about 15 miles apart), and Monterey/Pacific Grove (even closer together), but unless you have already been there, you should not miss SF.

Clousie

Your suggestions for different airports are just what I needed. Will definitely consider San Jose and Burbank. Unexpectedly low fares, too. Unfortunately, Delta, which we must use, doesn't fly into SB or SLO.

We did a similar trip for our 25th anniversary, but only had 5 days. Now that we're up to 40 years, we have more time to explore without rushing. We want to include both coastal scenery/walks as well as interesting places a bit inland. I love everything about food and remember that Salinas and Watsonville are big agricultural areas. Anything of interest in that area or is it all purely production? Any thoughts on Pinnacles?


Had lunch at Mission Ranch and have thought of staying there as Kal suggested. Any other places (either to stay or visit) that a person from the east coast may not find on her own? Any "best" wineries to visit in that area? Hear that the wineries are more like Napa/Sonoma were years ago. Also love eating outside at wineries or other spots. Too many restaurants in the east have al fresco dining on noisy, smelly, busy streets and I yearn for places like I've experienced in CA.

Thanks for any more suggestions you can think of.

spirobulldog

San Jose airport is pretty much brand new. Nice and easy.

We've only been twice, but we do enjoy stopping at Falafel's Drive In (not far from airport)and is on you way to/from coast.

Places we enjoyed dining on coast:
Sardine Factory (Sand Dabs and ice cream bon bons for desert)
The Tuck Box (breakfast or afternoon tea-scones are the thing)
Cafe Dametra(Moussaka-what I call Greek Lasagna)
First Awakenings(breakfast-huge pancakes and crepeeggs)

We really enjoyed kayaking in Elkhorn Slough(just north of Monterey a bit)

McWay Falls and Heart Castle were both great

I don't really see what all the hype is about Nepenthe. I know many would disagree with me. It does have great views. The food was nice, but super small portions and pretty pricey for what you got. Expect a wait.

I haven't been to Channel Islands National Park, but it is also high on my list. Not for sure what the weather would be there in Oct.

Sounds like a good trip

spirobulldog

I should have also mentioned Point Lobos, it is really nice.

tracys2cents

If you decide on doing the one-way thing, like flying into Burbank and flying home from San Jose, check car rental rates before booking your flights. The rates are wacky and change all the time, it could be twice as much to drive north as it would be to drive southbound....and at other times of the month it is the opposite. Kayak.com lets you check one-way car rental rates when you have your dates.

5alive

I stumbled upon this network of independent hotels, which includes quite a few in California:

http://www.stashrewards.com/hotels

Clousie

DH just had back surgery 3 months ago, so thinking that we may have to do a "closer to home" trip. By that I mean, in the area between Monterey and SB, what would be a good location to possibly rent a small cottage/condo for a week and use that as a base for easy, do as we want, day trips? He would be content to do easy thereputic strolls and drink coffee at an outdoor cafe while I explore further afield.

Patty

How about Carmel? Lots of restaurants and cafes your DH can walk to and many day trip possibilities for you (Point Lobos, Big Sur, Carmel Valley, etc).

easytraveler

I was going to say that Pinnacles is an all-day trip, but given your husband's situation, this would not be a good time to climb the Pinnacles.

Yes, to staying in Carmel - cute town. We rented a wee little cottage one year for a week and had a great time.