thcguy12

Looking for some tips, recommendations, ideas, itineraries, etc for the Pacific Coast Highway between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

We are traveling in February or March - not sure yet. Which would be better?

We will arrive Friday night and be ready to start our journey on Saturday morning. Saturday and Sunday will be spent in SF with family sightseeing. She works at Google so we will see the campus, cruise the golden gate bridge, hit up haight ashbury, etc.

We will rent a car and drive the PCH on Monday through Thursday. The question is where to stop, what to see, where to sleep, what to eat, etc? We love nature, beaches, hikes, waterfalls, wildlife, etc. Less so wine tasting, shopping, etc - not that important. We like good food, strong drinks, meeting new friends, and good times.

Friday and Saturday will be spent in Los Angeles with my brother who works for Fox - check out the studio lot, film sets, walk around Hollywood, see his improv show, etc.

*** So we are looking for recommendations *****

1.) How to time our itinerary? What places to stop at each night? Or should we do multiple nights in each city and stop less places?

2.) Rather than stopping at that super popular tourist photo opportunity place -- what are the secret places that locals know about and tourists miss? What are some places to skip (overrated)? What are some places we must stop?

3.) Suggestions - places to eat, budget friendly places to sleep, etc?

jamie99

Well for starters it is only called PCH or Pacific Coast Highway in Southern California, from about Santa Barbara south. The rest is called Highway 1 altough it has a formal name.
Skip Cannery Row in Monterey.

AustinTraveler

Do not miss Point Lobos, Pfeiffer Beach, and McWay Falls. Also, lunch at Nepenthe is always fun. Further south, do not miss Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery. If you're interested, make a stop at Hearst Castle. A good place to eat nearby is the Sebastian General Store in San Simeon, directly across the street from the castle visitor's center. Cambria has cute shops and nice waterfront, Moonstone Beach. The town of Harmony is one most people miss because it only has a population of 18. There are parking lots between Harmony and Cayucos where you can walk Estero Bluffs. Cayucos is an often overlooked little beach town. Morro Bay is also a cute little town and, of course, has the rock. Montana de Oro State Park has a great walking path along the cliffs.

Be aware that you will be coming during our hopefully rainy season so make sure you check weather and road conditions, especially along Hwy 1. Rain often means mudslides and road closures.

Patty

I would include a couple of nights on the Monterey Peninsula. The best areas locally for wildlife are Moss Landing/Elkhorn Slough half way between Santa Cruz and Monterey (it's a good, sheltered area for kayaking if the bay is rough and several whale watch boats depart from here) and Point Lobos State Reserve just south of Carmel. The weather can be iffy in both February and March as it's our rainy season (or it could be beautiful, you never know). There's a greater potential this winter for mudslides along Hwy 1 through Big Sur due to the Soberanes fire if it rains so have a back up plan in case you can't drive through. Some state park areas along the northern section of Big Sur are still closed and will not likely reopen over winter due to fire damage. Here's the current status and you can keep checking back https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=578 Though quite popular, McWay Falls at Julia Pfeiffer Burns and Pfeiffer Beach are both worth visiting. The latter isn't located at either of the state parks with Pfeiffer in the name but is south of Pfeiffer Big Sur at the end of Sycamore Canyon Rd.

AustinTraveler

Just south of Nepenthe, but before you get to McWay Falls, be sure and pull out at the new California Condor exhibit. It's very informative and we actually saw Condor at the next pullout as we were headed south. Kind of like seeing a Pterodactyl!

Ackislander

Dr Tinkerpaw was an Outsider artist/architect who built an astonishing house in Cambria.

If it is still there, it is absolutely worth visiting. You can compare it to San Simeon.

bon_voyage

You've already gotten many excellent suggestions so just a few more. If you get to Montaña de Oro State Park (highly second AustinTraveler's recommendation), we had a delicious lunch at Noi's Little Thai Takeout in nearby Los Osos. The Thursday night farmers' market in San Luis Obispo is a lot of fun, offering live music and numerous dining options, http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/bu...e79607372.html. My two adult sons and I had a surprisingly memorable visit to Ostrichland USA in Buellton--feeding the ostriches and emus definitely took us back to Jurassic Park.
Finally, the closer you get to spring, the less likely you will be to encounter significant rain so I'd recommend March over February, also a bit warmer if that's a plus for you.