6 days is not very long for what you want to do. Just the drive (not a bit of sightseeing - just the drive time) from san Diego to San Francisco up the coast takes two full days.

That only leaves you 4 days for San Diego, maybe Disney (?), Los Angeles, all the coastal sites, and San Francisco. If you want to spend ANY time in SD, LA, or SF you need to add at least 4 days.

It would be much more doable/reasonable to limit yourselves to either the southern bits (San Diego/Orange County/LA) or the northern/mid bits (San Francisco/Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur)

Plus there is the weather issue. December is usually OK (our rainiest months are Jan/Feb) but a winter storm can play havoc w/ a road trip.

Oh - to clarify a bit. The drive all the way up the coast doesn't take 20 hours or anything like that. More like 12+ hours. But that is 'behind the wheel' time and when you factor in meals and breaks - it really is a 2 day drive.

Some mapping sites may calculate 10 or 11 hours-but in real life, it is hard to avoid heavy traffic/construction/delays.

Suggest you base yourself here in San Diego for a couple nights - where you can more easily get around - and/or to the beaches - Safari Park or the Zoo, Sea World, etc (check out the new roller coaster - Mantra) -

From here - it's an hour or so to Anaheim/Disneyland if that is of interest - and/or you could spend a night in LA (an hour's drive from Anaheim/Orange County if not during commute hours) - on the way north - maybe taking in the great Getty Museum, showing the "kids" Hollywood, etc - and then continue on your drive north.

I think the little town of Cambria (just south of San Simeon/Hearst Castle) is a cute stop - and check out Moonstone Beach - http://tinyurl.com/cpks6gb

and you might also enjoy the tour of Hearst Castle - http://www.hearstcastle.org/ which would take about half a day but if you could do it in the afternoon if you get to Cambria in time (it's about 3 hours from LA) - or do it in the morning.

Even if you took the Hearst Castle tour the next morning - you could still drive up to scenic Big Sur (hour plus) and maybe spend the night there - or continue another hour on into Carmel/Monterrey - and see the neat Aquarium, Cannery Row, etc.

From the Carmel area - it's about 3 hours to San Francisco, if you don't slug through commute traffic in San Jose.

Trust you will enjoy your drive up our beautiful California Coast. Double

And here is what I would suggest for your itinerary:

Arrive San Diego - stay two nights, see the sights, maybe have a night bonfire at the beach, whatever. (Check other posts under California for what to do in San Diego, etc)

On 3rd day - drive up to LA - 2 hours if you avoid morning commute hour traffic - which is generally between about 6:30 AM and say 8:30 AM - leaving SD anyway) - see what you want and continue on to Cambria, another 3 hours or so - assuming you avoid rush hour traffic in Santa Barbara - which starts around 4 PM or so - so try head out of LA on the 101 North by 3 PM if you can.

Yes, that's not much time in LA but you can always come back for a weekend in LA some other time. For just a whirlwind tour of LA - head up I-5 and get off at the downtown area if you want to see that and then take surface streets on to say Hollywood for lunch - or just take the 101 from I-5 to the Hollywood exit directly. http://www.mapquest.com/maps?1c=San%20Diego&1s=CA&2c=West%20Hollywood&2s=CA

You could get back on the 101 and head toward Santa Barbara - or you could drive Sunset out to the Beach and take the Coast hi way/Pacific Coast Hi way - up through beautiful Malibu and on to Ventura and then on into Santa Barbara.

Stay the 3rd night in Cambria - and take the Hearst Castle tour and then drive up to Big Sur/Carmel/Monterrey area for the 4th night.

After seeing the Monterrey Aquarium - maybe taking 17 mile drive etc - drive to SF for your 5th and 6th nights, and fly back from there.

Have a blast.

tom's plan is absolutely crazy making! San Diego to Cambria is a 7 hour drive if you don't hit even a bit of traffic (not likely unless you travel between 11PM and 6 AM.) There would be no time to stop in LA let alone "see" anything there.

And he suggests leaving LA by 3PM, but that you need to avoid the traffic in Santa Barbara starting at 4PM-ish. Guess what - if you Leave LA at 3PM you'll hit SB at 4:30 to 5PM.

That is simply not a 1-day drive. (but of course tom will now post that he has done it MANY times)

With that amount of time, I would pick either the LA/San Diego area or SF/ Monterey/Carmel. Not both. Not enough time to enjoy yourself. Too much driving.

To see anything in the LA area, like Disneyland or the Getty, you'd have to stay overnight.

You would be better, as others have advised, to stay in either So Cal or the Bay Area. In December, it will probably be a bit warmer and probably less rainy in So Cal, but this is going to be an El Nino year so all bets are off!

Your biggest problem is that there are enough "sights of California" to keep you busy for a month, and you'd still miss some. You need to decide what you realy want to see and organise your trip around them, taking long driving distances into account.

Taking 2 young adults on a road trip that includes avoiding rush hour traffic from SD to LA and then from LA to Cambria, while taking time to take in the sites over 350 miles is akin to strapping Seamus on the roof of the station wagon.

Coastal CA:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/sets/72157624512998387/show/

Maybe some people in here drive slowly - and/or others who don't live in Califorenia - are sadly mis-informed - but the distance from San Diego to Cambria is only 300 miles - and you can do 70+ mph on a lot of that stretch. From Santa Barbara up to Solvang - the going is a little slower - but then it picks up again on into San Luis Obisbo and on into Cambria.

During the past two years - my sister traveled from SD to San Luis Obisbo at least a dozen times to take her daughter to college there - or visit her - and the average driving time from SD to SLO - or return - was about 4 and a half to 5 hours driving time.

She planned her travel to miss the commute traffic - but once did get caught in Santa Barbara evening rush hour traffic and that cost an extra half an hour.

As there will be more than one person in the car - you can also use the commuter lanes which can help save time if you do hit some traffic.

From San Luis Obisbo on to Cambria is about another 30 miles - half hour or so - so it's easily doable in a day.

If one left San Diego at say 8:30 -they could be in LA by 10:30 - see some of the sights - and leave there by 3 PM to be safe - and be in Cambria about 3 hours later. No problemo.

Tom STOP IT! Your itinerary is insane . . . Is it physically possible - just. Is it reasonable - no.

And if you even TRY 70 mph on hwy 1 (or even parts of 101) you'll end up being hauled back up on to the roadside in pieces by emergency services.

Your passive aggressive schtick is getting really REALLY old.

Just to be sure - you could leave SD by say 8:30 am - and heading north - you would pretty much miss the commute traffic and in two hours - you could be visiting Hollywood and have lunch there - and easily be on your way by 3 PM.

Or you could head up the 405 - past the LA airport - and see the Getty center - which is free but you do have to reserve parking and there is a nominal charge for that.

If you left either Hollywood (by say 1:30) - or the Getty by 2 PM - you could take the 10 freeway over to the beach - and drive up along the beautiful Malibu coastline - arriving in Santa Barbara by 3:30-3:45 or so - and still be ahead of the afternoon commute.

See: http://gocalifornia.about.com/od/topcalifornia/l/bl_malibu_hwy1.htm

putz . . .

Now - as this will be in Dec - you could experience a big rain storm - but they are still relatively rare then - and if you watched the weather report - you could probably plan around it.

But hey - if a big one was blowing in for a few days - well - hey - just hang in San Diego.

BTW janis - where do you live again? Bay Area?

No idea why you think you are so knowledgeable about So Cal freeways/driving - but I/we have friends in Encino and Calabasas - and my brother in law lived in Westlake Village - with both Calabasas and Westlake being further out the 101 - so my wife and I have visited them/that area on average - twice a year for the past 30 years - and have driven 70 on the 101 many times, including past Hollywood.

That's different than going up PCH/Hiway 1 - but you can still hit 60 plus in places along there - especially once you get out by Pepperine - and from Malibu to Santa Barbara is easily doable in an hour and a half, even less.

Ergo - if you are on the PCH/hi way 1 by Malibu by 2:15 or so - you can be in Santa Barbara before the heavy afternoon traffic builds. Or - if you are on the 101 by 3 PM - same story - in Santa Barbara before the evening commute gets heavy. http://tinyurl.com/bq2ldau

And to be very conservative about driving times, if you were leaving from Hollywood - to take the 101 to Santa Barbara - I would try to be on the freeway by 2:30 - as you are further away than if you are at the Getty - where you just zip up the 405 and are at the 101. Even at the Getty - to be uber cafeful - try to head out by 2:45 or so and it should be smooth sailing.

When driving around the greater LA area - I/we also tune into radio station AM 1070 - which gives traffic updates every six minutes during the day. Try and get a good road map of not only Cal but also the LA freeways - and it will help you if you have to navigate around a freeway that has a bad accident or some kind of serious backup.

Tiresome ......

But factual!!!! At least my input.

6 days with 4 people (two of them your 'kids' at ages 17 and 20) to cover San Diego to San Francisco? Waste of time, IMHO. You will be driving by all the great sites, and sitting in the car getting on each others' nerves. Awful.

You need to prioritize: Southern Cal, Central Coast, or Bay Area/Napa? There is so much to see in California, you would be happy spending 6 days in any of those areas depending on your preferences.

Well OP has not returned to post, so no idea what they have decided upon, but agree she either needs more time or concentrate on north or south.

Just because you can turn a vacation into a death march doesn't mean you should.

Different strokes for different folks. I think nothing of driving 500 - even 700 plus miles in a day, and once did 1,100. Love looking at the scenery pass by, and even if you happen to hit heavy traffic here or there - just enjoy some music and chill.

The type of trip I think the visitors were contemplating was to take an general overall/survey type look at California - from San Diego to San Francisco - and then decide where to spend more time during their next visit.

And you can easily drive from San Diego/LA up to San Francisco in two days - stopping some places along the way - so what's the big deal? They still have four more days to spend where they choose.

Stupidity knows no bounds. Sheesh!!!!

Well, there are certainly enough timid travelers who freely express their bounds.

Driving 1100 miles in one day is just plain stupid.

Hey - sometimes you do what you have to do. Some 8 years ago - decided to drive back to a class reunion at the AF Academy - and also make it a Northwest visit/tour - so after leaving from here in SD - went up to visit friends in Oregon (took two days getting up there - stopping in Sacto - actually Folsom - on the way).

After a couple days in Oregon - left from Bend - and drove over to Sun Valley, Idaho to see some more friends.

The next day - it was up through beautiful central Idaho - and while heading on into Montana - stopped at the great museum at the the Big Hole River/Battleground - http://www.nps.gov/biho/index.htm . Really enjoyed reading about the great Chief Joseph and his trying to take his band of Nez Perce Indians up into Canada. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chief_Joseph

It's the same old story in the West - when after putting the Native Americans on a reservation - the government tried to further encroach on their lands - and the forced march/retreat showed how clever Chief Joseph and his Nez Perce tribe was - and why they called one Union General - "General Day after Tomorrow."

Actually - we studied this campaign at the Academy - what - holding off a superior force - with the full tribe along - women and children - as it is one of the great military accomplishments of all time - and the Nez Perce almost made it to their ancestral grounds in Canada (going some 1,170 miles all total) - while being pursued by many more US troops, who were continually supplied while the Indians had to live off the land, etc.

Years before - Lewis and Clark said on their historic trip out to Oregon/the Pacific - the Nez Perce were like royalty among all the tribes they encountered, and they had a "tribal council" - who somewhat democratically administered the tribe, although Chief Joseph was in charge for this campaign.

But I digress - so as for my 1,100 mile day - from oh dark thirty until early evening - it started in Montana one clear summer am - and after I drove over across part the state to take the great drive south of Bozeman - the Beartooth Hiway http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beartooth_Highway into Yellowstone - up and over, just magnificent scenery - it continued on down through uber scenic Yellowstone (waving at the Grand Tetons) - on into Jackson - where I stopped for a snack and enjoyed one of the places where they have a huge accumulation of antlers over the door, etc.

Then it was on down through Wyoming (taking the route through the pristine Star Valley - http://www.starvalleychamber.com/ stopping in Afton - where I bought some huge firecrackers - almost cherry bomb size - legal there) - and then down to the Flaming Gorge area (http://www.utah.com/nationalsites/flaming_gorge.htm/ which is very pretty to drive along.

Even stopped above the big reservoir (for a sandwich) to enjoy the view - and then further on into Northern Utah - where I finally pulled into a motel in Naples, Utah. http://utah.hometownlocator.com/ut/uintah/naples.cfm

It was really about 1,075 miles that day - but I round it up to 1,100, and for the overall trip - it was about 3,300 miles.

Slept very good that night - and then it was on to Grand Junction to stay with an Oregon friend of mine for a night - and then on into Aspen - before heading down to Colorado Springs for the class reunion, and later - drove to Park City/Deer Valley, Utah - spending the night with friends - and then back to SD.

It took about two weeks and I would do it again at the drop of a hat.

You might be alone in your love for 1100/mile driving days. Fine if you must do it, but not a good choice for a family vacation!

Beyond what you CAN do is what it makes good sense to do. I concur that the best advice is to stay either in the SD area (with a day trip to do something in LA) OR the SF area, with maybe an overnight in Monterey/Pacific Beach. CA is a very large state (there's a lot of geography north of SF, too) with an abundance of substantially different climates (coastal, mountain, etc.) and tourist attractions--six days is time for a very selective, short visit.

Why do some of you make such a big deal out of driving say 500 miles in a day. Prepare for it - have water and snacks in the car (good maps of course in addition to possibly having a GPS) - and let the kids snooze in the back seat, and wake them up when you come to some attractions you have planned to see.

Can easily get from SD - to/through LA and up to Cambria in one day. No problemo. Period.

And if the first time you want to see California from San Deigo to San Francisco, I say - GO FOR IT!!!!

You are talking about 'commuting' from SoCal to places you insist you've been so many times that you are the ONLY expert. . . . The folks we are trying to help have never been here before.

So do you actually advise them to dash through like bats out of Hell w/ the kids missing everything sleeping in the back seat? That is a forced march, not a vacation.

But why do we even try -- you'll just come back and post 13 more times and flood the thread w/ verbal diarrhea.

Why should they spend one of their six days on the road when they don't need to?

Most of the drive would be very uninteresting.

Here - we go again. Seemingly tired old folks thinking first time visitors to California could not drive 500 miles in one day - even with making a couple of stops enroute.

You either go for it and see as much as you can - from SD to SF in six days - which I think is sufficient time, or you decide to split it up.

Simple really - but from some comments - one would think I was banishing the visitors to road hell.

And if they took my advice and went up the Coast from Malibu to Santa Barbara - mindful of the commute hour time constraints - it would be a SPECTCULAR segment for their drive.

And to properly recap: They do NOT have to drive from SD to Cambria in one day - but it could be an option if they wanted to spend two nights in SD, two nights along the coast on the way up to SF and then two nights in SF.

You could also go from here/SD to LA and spend the night there - but I would - as I suggested - save LA for another trip - except for a sight or two the kids might want to see.

Most people would consider driving 6 or 7 hours to have 2 hours in LA (to do what?) a completely wasted day.

Obviously you can drive all day and all night and get to Oregon - but that's a forced march - not a vacation.

The OP said they wanted to "see the sights" not "drive endlessly at 70 mpg on a freeway".

TomSD--it should be clear that most travelers here disagree with you. You have fully expressed your opinion. Why the need to restate it repeatedly?

I agree that some parts of the route have pretty ocean views, although when I am driving I can't divert my attention to look at them. That's one reason we usually fly from SD to SF but would stay overnight in 3-4 places if we want a scenic trip: Santa Monica, Ventura, Cambria, Monterey, etc.

Don't you think the OP has a good grasp of the issue now?