SWOhioan

I am searching for the fastest, most direct road trip from southwest Ohio to Monterey Ca. I am traveling in June and want to avoid the worst of the mountains and find the quickest, most direct route. Since I have the rest of my trip planned for sightseeing, just want to be able to get there in the quickest, least demanding but direct route possible. Any help or suggested route, anyone? Thanks!

Stewbear

Interstate 80 to The SF Bay area then 880 to highway 17 & you will soon be there.

MichelleY

I-80 but I would then take I-5 in Sacramento, south to Hwy 152. Take Hwy 152/156 west to Monterey. This avoids Bay Area traffic. More scenic plus you could stop in the mission town of San Juan Bautista.

janisj

Absolutely avoid I-80 between Sacramento and San Francisco if at all possible -- the traffic is often just too gruesome for words.

Follow MichelleY's suggestion unless you also want to visit SF on this leg of your trip.

SWOhioan

Thanks for the suggestions. I was looking at maps again this morning and wondered if MichelleY's suggested route would be ok. Sounds like it is the winning plan. So glad I posted to this forum. Feeling good about this trip��

tomfuller

How would you feel about driving or taking a bus to Indianapolis and taking trains from there?
The route would be Hoosier State IND to CHI with 5 hour layover.
Southwest Chief Chicago to Los Angeles 1.5 hour layover.
Coast Starlight LAX north to Salinas to get on a bus for 1 hour to Monterey Aquarium.
The whole trip would be slightly less than 3 days. 57.5 hours on train and bus with about 7 hours of layovers.
The good thing is that you don't have to drive over any mountains and you don't have at least 2 nights in motels in places like Iowa or Wyoming.
The fare for coach seats would be $241 to $300.
Adding the cost of gas to the motel rooms, you would come up with a similar figure.