Last minute trip with my 22 year old daughter for March 10-16. Flying into SF driving down HWY 1 then flying out of LAS on the red eye. Need recommendations where to stop along the way, hotels in SF, LA and along the way. What are the highlights of the drives? Planning on 1.5 days in SF, planning to see the main sights, maybe a city tour? Will stop in Solvang for 1 night, need a hotel in the center. For LA hotel, what area to stay for 1 night then easily take a city tour the next morning? I don't fancy driving around LA - only to return the car in LAX! Thank you.

You have six days (and hopefully nights) and want to visit 3 cities AND drive Highway 1 through Big Sur as well?
I'd drop Las Vegas and spend two nights driving Highway 1 with stops in Monterey and Pismo Beach or maybe Morro Bay.
Or else fly from SF to LA and give those two cities more time.
Solvang is OK for a quick stop for a pastry but I don't see it appealing to a 22 year old much.
Impossible to make hotel recs without a budget per night.

Did you mean flying out of LAS (Las Vegas) or LAX (Los Angeles)? From the rest of your post, it seems that you are flying out of LAX, so I will go with that. You could do something like this:

March 10: Arrive SFO (mid day?) Afternoon and evening in SF

March 11: Sightseeing in SF

March 12: Pick up rental car, drive to Monterey in the morning, then spend the rest of the day sighseeing in and around Monterey, overnight in Monterey

March 13: Drive through Big Sur, sightseeing along the way, overnight in Solvang. If it was my trip, Solvang wouldn't be my choice - I'd choose Pismo Beach or another nearby town

March 14: Drive to LA, with a mid-day stop in Santa Barbara

March 15: Sightseeing in LA

March 16: Day time sightseeing, depart from LAX on red eye

HOWEVER -- if another Atmospheric River like the one we are experiencing right now (third one this winter) you likely wouldn't make it down Hwy 1. Big big storms with historic rainfall amounts. Not only would the driving be difficult, there would likely be mud slides too.

Not to be a Debbie Downer but you definitely need to watch the weather forecasts before you fly out and have a Plan B ready.

Yes, the West has some insane weather right now. It is just horrifying what is happening with that town on the Russian RIver.

Thank you! Yes, I did mean to say flying home out of LAX. Is there a reliable site to check road conditions on HWY 1 in real time?

Do you know what your drop fee will be at LAX? Is it really worth it to drive all the way to Los Angeles? Why not just go as far south as Ventura and then go east to I-5 and back north taking I-580 over to SFO area?
There is a nice HI Hostel at Pigeon Point lighthouse about 50 miles south of SFO. Just south of Pigeon Point you can take a short hike on the sand dunes of Ano Nuevo State Reserve.

>>It is just horrifying what is happening with that town on the Russian RIver. <<

Yes, very difficult but Guerneville floods quite regularly -- every couple of years to some extent. They've seen much worse.

QuickMap

https://www.facebook.com/BigSurInformation/

Caltrans has been pre-emptively closing Hwy 1 through Big Sur during storms. These closures are announced in advance.

Here is also the Caltrans website, enter the number of the highway (in this case 1) and it will tell you the current road conditions. There is also a toll free number on the website.
http://www.dot.ca.gov/cgi-bin/roads.cgi

I sure as heck would not reroute due to a possible drop fee, that type of fee, along with parking, etc. is just something I factor in as part of the cost of vacation. Tom has a "thing" about drop fees.

My husband and I plan this trip in May, but only 1 night from SFO to LAX. We are staying at the Estero Inn in Morro Bay. It looks very nice.

One night is very short for that trip. Unless you mainly want a road trip and view the scenery through the car windows. You won't have time to explore Monterey, Carmel, Point Lobos, Big Sur etc . . .

Ditto janisj

I've lived on (Laguna Beach), or very near (San Francisco, San Mateo) Hwy 1 for 71 years. Landing at SFO, securing a car, and driving down Hwy 1 to LA with a 1 night stay in between would not be an enjoyable experience for me - at anytime in my life.

Stu Dudley

Amy,
Best to start your own thread rather than jumping on an existing one, especially since you are traveling at a different time of year than the OP.

I didn't read it as Amy asking anything or hijacking the thread. Maybe I'm wrong, but to me it looked like she was offering advice where to stop en route. My comment was to sort of tell her without really 'telling' her that her advice wasn't that great

1. Skip Solvang
2. Stay in Santa Barbara, w stay in Morro or Pismo night before
3. If you enjoy wineries, from Santa Barbara drive into Santa Ynez Valley w lunch in Cold Spring Tavern (former stagecoach stop)
4. Santa Monica aint cheap but to keep your driving coastal stay there, as you continue down to LAX; see Getty Malibu, drive Sunset Strip east to Bev HillsHollywood; drive up to Griffith Park (not in rush hour); see Abbot-Kinney area of Venice Beach before returning car to LAX

The good news is that it's only about 4 hours from SFO to Morro Bay using Hwy 101.

I love Morro Bay, think Montano de Oro is actually nicer than Big Sur, anyways. Eat at Bayside Cafe, great setting, good food.

Assuming weather holds up (LOL), also recommend the Elfin Forest. It's also a good time to go to a monarch butterfly grove and of course the cute sea otters which hang out near Morro Rock.

Hwy 1 has reopened but there's more rain in the forecast.