5 days from San Francisco to Los Angeles?
 

We have five days to spend in California in November and are thinking of taking the Pacific highway from SF to LA.

We only have 5 days so we devised this tentative itenerary:

Day 1: Landing in SFO in the morning and spending the day walking around the city then having dinner at one of the top restaurants.

Day 2: Drive down to Carmel, and spend the night at one of the resorts located in a beautiful scenic area overlooking the ocean.

Day 3: Drive to Santa Barbara and spend the day just relaxing around the beach.

Day 4: arrive in LA, lunch in Santa Monica, show my sister the sights around LA.

Day 5: Fly back home out of LAX in the evening.

I was thinking since we have an entire day to relax around the beach and see the beautiful scenery in Carmel, should we cross Santa Barbara out of the itinerary and just spend an extra day in San Francisco or LA?

I wonder if Santa Barbara is really that special even when compared to Carmel.

This will be my sister's first time in California BTW, but I've been to SF and LA before.

Are we talking five days and four nights or five days and six nights? There is a big difference in making this trip.

Assuming I had five full days to entertain a sister who hasn't made this trip before, I would spend two days in SF, two days in LA, and, in traveling Highway 1, I would have lunch in Carmel and spend the night in Cambria for a visit to the nearby Hearst "castle."

I think happytrails gives you a good plan. A day in Santa Barbara is nice, but I'd suggest you allocate that time to S.F. or L.A., instead. Have fun. It's a beautiful part of the country. If you're taking the coastal highway, be prepared for how long it can take, because you'll want to stop and take pictures many times. I think if you allow time for the drive, rather than for Santa Barbara, you'll be glad you took the time to enjoy the sights on the coast.
:)>-

Also, understand that while you can "relax at the beach" in November, it will probably be in the 60s, not the 80s. Both Carmel and Santa Barbara are really nice towns, though.

happytrails: Yes, we are talking five days and four nights.

Maureen: I really appreciate the cool tips!

dmlove: we'll be flying in from the Detroit area, so the 60s would sound warm as heaven in November ;-)

Thanks guys! I think we'll just spend the extra day in San Francisco.

However you do this trip, there wont be much time for relaxing at the beach, even if the weather is warm.

If you go as planned,

Day 2 - it is a couple hours to Carmel from SF, so if you don't do much sightseeing, you will have time to hang out.

Day 3 - Carmel to Santa Barbara is at minimum a 3.5 hour drive, but you will want to take Hwy 1 through Big Sur, which is a slow and takes longer, plus you will want to stop and enjoy the scenery. I wouldn't plan on arriving in Santa Barbara until late afternoon.

I like happytrail's plan too - that is probably what I would do if I were making this trip. You will have more time to see SF and wont be changing hotels every night, so the trip will feel more leisurely.

SF to Cambria with a stop in Carmel mid-day is an all day drive, but the scenery is breathtaking, esspecially through Big Sur. If you choose to go to Hearst Castle, I would reserve tickets for one of the early tours the next day and tour the castle before heading south to LA. You can stop off in Santa Barbara for lunch if you want to.

Doing the SF-LA drive all in one day does sound good as we would have a couple nights to spend in both SF and LA.

If we take the I-5 down to LA from SF which we would not, it would take around 5.5 hours. So I'm guessing the Pacific highway would probably take at least 7 hours WITHOUT stopping in the middle.

And since we would want to stop a few times to take pictures, enjoy the scenery, and have lunch, etc, we thought maybe we should spend one night some where in the middle. That how the idea of Carmel came up.

Or is the SF-LA drive really not that long and is doable in one day?

Or "That's how" rather

I wouldn't do it all in 1 day - I would spend the night in Cambria as happytrails recommended. I have done it in one day, and it is a long drive without much time to stop. I think straight through, you are looking at about 8 hours.