aki19

Hi Guys -

Flying into SFO late October 7th and flying out of LAX on Oct 16th afternoon.

So my wife is pregnant, and we are looking for this trip to be relaxing and checking out scenery, landscapes, etc. Not too crazy with some of the touristy stuff.

If you can help with my itinerary below, it would be of huge help.

- 3 nights/2 full days in SF. Spend a day in Napa.
- 2nd day starting with Muir Woods, onto Sausilto and SF (We have seen/done things in SF before).
- Leave early morning drive along 1 and stay overnight in Monterey / Carmel.
- Checkout all the sight seeing in the area, 17-mile drive, etc.
- Leave morning and drive along 1 and stay overnight in Pismo Beach. Do light sight-seeing in the area.
- Leave morning and drive to San Diego.

This is where I am stuck. I can spend about 3 nights here and check out everything in the area. What do you guys suggest?

What do you guys suggest? Mind is kind of all over the place. Thanks in advance.

lynni

If you have one week, I would add two extra nights in Monterey/Carmel (Point Lobos, Big Sur, Aquarium if it interests you) and then stay in Santa Barbara (Beautiful drives, stunning beach, shopping, Mission, Ojai perhaps for a day) for the last three nights. You will have more time to relax and sightsee and less time on the road.

There isnt anything in Pismo Beach worth seeing compared to the other areas.

Is there a reason you want to go all the way to San Diego and then backtrack to LAX?

There will be many people on this board who are happy to help!

tomfuller

Do you know upfront what your drop off fee is on the rental car?
My thought would be to take your rental back to SF after Carmel etc. and then fly or take the train to Santa Barbara and then to Los Angeles and rent another car that can be returned where you rent it. This saves a lot of driving in some of the less scenic areas of California.

aki19

The car rental is about $600. Is the drive not worth it past Carmel? Then it makes sense to go back to SFO and flying to LAX. The tickets are actually $60 only right now.

I really want to Big Sur actually, but didn't know how I can fit it in there.

In SD, we wanted to do Coronado and Catalina, along with places by SD.

sf7307

The drive past Carmel is spectacular!

janisj

"Then it makes sense to go back to SFO and flying to LAX"

Uh - no. Not if you plan is to see/enjoy the coast. And even IF you decided to do that, you'd want to fly to San Diego if that is where you wanted to end up. There is one Fodorite who often advises folks to pick up a car, drop the car, take amtrak, fly, pick up another car, drop the car, take amtrak again, etc etc. Usually this is waaaaay more complicated than necessary and one ends up missing all the goods bits.

What doesn't make too much sense is driving from the mid coast to San Diego. that is a loooooong haul. Then you'd have to drive back up to LAX. Why not spend your entire time on the coast Carmel/Big Sur/Cambria/Santa Barbara . . . or any other combo.

"Is the drive not worth it past Carmel?"

The drive south of Carmel is the MAIN reason for being there.

sf7307

There are many trip reports of California on Fodor's - here's one of mine (I live just south of San Francisco):

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...t-part-way.cfm

Since that trip, we've take another trip down to Paso Robles for a concert, returning via Cambria and the coast -- once again, fabulous, and Cambria is a very charming town to while away at least a few hours (we could easily have spent the day and a night there).

easytraveler

The big question is: how pregnant is your wife?

In other words, how much can she do in one day? How many hours can she be in a car?

november_moon

Given your desire for a relaxing, scenic trip, I would cut out SD and spend more time on the central coast. SD is a long drive and with a pregnant wife on a babymoon, I'd want a more relaxed pace.

I absolutely agree with the advice to spend another night in the Monterey area. I also like the recommendation to stay in Santa Barbara. I enjoy Pismo Beach myself for the fact that there isn't a lot to do there - it is good for relaxation. You might consider Cambria too.

One thing that I wouldn't do is spend a day in Napa. I don't know about your wife, but I can tell you that wine country is the last place I'd want to go if I couldn't drink the wine.

jamie99

Monterey is very nice with lots of things to see and do, but for romance, I prefer Carmel (they are not that far apart at all). Also if you have any interest in seeing Hearst Castle, then stay in Cambria and tour the castle late afternoon or early in the morning (you really need advance reservations).

Also inland from Cambria near Paso Robles are some excellent wineries (take Highway 46) as well as the ones in the Santa Ynez Valley inland from Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara itself is a very charming town with nice weather, beautiful mission, lots of good restaurants. I would skip the 17 mile drive.

qwovadis

hoteldel.com

ventanainn.com

my top 2 BM worthy romantic places...

SAB

aki-- We have a poster here, who for reasons of his own is always suggesting that people take a train or something else that does not make sense. Highway 1 between Carmel and Santa Barbara is gorgeous.

aki19

Thanks everyone. Sorry for not responding during the day. Stupid forums are inaccessible during the day at work.

So I am settled on driving down the coast. My wife is in her early second trimester (15 wks to be exact right now). She is fairly comfortable with driving. In fact, it was her idea. She loves the whole setting.

We have to go down to OC at least, because we have family and would like to spend time with them. We figure SD would be very beautiful going to Coronado and Catalina. We also want to drive around Malibu, etc.

One of the posters mentioned that maybe I should skip Napa, if I do that, does it makes sense to spend 1 day going to Sausilito and Muir Woods, and then head our way down to the coast.

Should we then spend two nights in Carmel or Big Sur (Ventana Inn)? Is it worth spending the money, if we are going to out and about checking out 17 mile drive, Pebble Beach, Carmel, Monterrey, and Big Sur.

We can then spend one night at Pismo or Cambria, followed by driving to SD.

Should we be staying in SD or somewhere else?

janisj

"We figure SD would be very beautiful going to Coronado and Catalina. We also want to drive around Malibu, etc."

Bit confused here. Catalina is reached from San Pedro/Long Beach/Dana point/etc --not anywhere in San Diego, and Malibu is in NW LA county. The drive from Cambria to SD is more than 7 hours straight driving w/o any breaks.

So if OC is a must, I'd spend several days on the coast, then hop down to Orange County, stopping in Malibu enroute. Take the ferry over to Catalina -- either as a day trip or spend the night in Avalon -- from whichever ferry terminal is nearest to where the relatives live.

Elyse_Dorm

Highway 1 is an awesome drive but it took us a lot longer to do than we had initially planned so give yourself enough time including stops for photos at beautiful empty beaches along the way. Also, by the time we made it to 17 mile drive, we felt it was a rip off because of the better and free scenery we had already experienced prior to getting there. Just a heads up.

aki19

Apologies, Catalina was on my mind for other reasons. But yes you are right, it is not accessible from SD.

Instead of Cambria, should we drive down to Santa Barbara instead from Carmel? Or should we stay around OC somewhere and take day trips to nearby places. Or can we do it from LA, since we are flying out from there anyways.

@Elyse - Thanks for the tip on 17m drive. I think if I tell my wife about not doing the 17m drive, she will call me cheap .

lynni

Take your wife to point lobos for a picnic instead of the 17 mile drive... she will love you forever and will NOT think you are cheap!

emalloy

Before heading south, since DW should not be drinking wine, skip Napa and head for Point Reyes after Muir Woods, then head south. I found it very different from the coast hwy south of SF and also a nice place to relax.

november_moon

I like the substitution of Point Reyes instead of Napa - great idea.

I am also not a big fan of 17 Mile Drive. If you are golf fans and/or enjoy oogling nice homes, then it is a must, but otherwise it really isn't IMO. You'll have plenty of great scenery down through Big Sur. It isn't a case of saving money, just how to allocate your limited time. There is a fee to visit state parks too - although I think if you pay your fee at one and save your recipt, you can visit others that same day without paying another fee.

Point Lobos is one of my favorite central coast places to visit.

Surfergirl

I was wondering the same question -- how pregnant is your wife, so thanks for letting us know. Of course, every woman handles pregnancies (and trimesters) differently, so keep how she handles that in mind before committing. Because for this trip, 3 things come to mind: (1) bladder control; (2) nausea; and (3) imbibing.

The first issue was probably the most important for me when I was pregnant, since I was one of those lovely women who, by the time I had used the restroom and walked back to my office, I needed to go again. So much so that my co-workers made jokes about getting a port-a-potty for my office. That was in my 2nd & 3rd trimester.

The second issue never bothered me, not ever. Usually happens in the first trimester, but can run into the 2nd & 3rd depending on the woman. Also balance issues. So, between the chest enlarged and the stomach enlarged, boat balance can be a challenge -- like taking the boat over to Catalina and back. The sea is generally calmest in the morning -- keep that in mind. Also, tooling around the mountains on Hwy 1 is often like being on a small boat. All I'm saying is if your wife is at all prone to sea sickness, it will only be accentuated by the pregnancy. In which case, you might want to reconsider both Hwy 1 and the boat.

Third, I love my wine. I don't think I'd be a happy camper visiting Napa without drinking wine. Now, my doctor allowed, after the 1st trimester, a small glass of wine here and there (after all, our moms were swigging and smoking all the way through their pregnancies and we turned out all right)(well, maybe not some of you). So, it depends on your wife's doctor instructions and her self control.

Now, having said all of that, I wouldn't miss Big Sur either! Spend a night (or 2) in Monterey/Pacific Grove area, drive down to Big Sur, then agree with the others, press on to Santa Barbara. It's a great place to stroll, chill.