California Coast by Bus/Car????
 

My hubby and i want to travel from San Francisco to San Diego in 2007 traveling the costal route.We have 7-10 days. I've checked on line for bus tours and am overwhelmed!!! My hubby is afraid if we do this trip by car, we will have trouble finding lodging every night since we won't know how far we will travel each day.The bus tours do not give enough time in SF and we're not interested in doing wine tours and they don't allow enough time on some areas and to much in other.Also, we have been told late Sept. early October is the best time to do this trip???? We are in our mid sixties. Thanks for any help.

If you can fly to San Diego (Southwest, Jetblue?) and out of San Francisco (SFO or OAK) you can take a tour and stay in SF after it.

What is your budget? For cheaper tours I'd check Cosmos (www.globusandcosmos.com) or Elderhostel

Sept-Oct are usually the best.

If you do a search of this site for California coast you will see that there are definite stopping points on the coast such as Monterey/Carmel, Big Sur, Cambria, Santa Barbara, and they are anywhere from 2 to 4 hours of driving apart. Many people drive from SF to LA/SD with 2 or 3 overnight stops. Your husband's concern about not knowing how far you will travel each day doesn't really apply. You will have to travel certain distances just to find lodging, so you may as well pick the 2 or 3 places that you want to stay overnight and make reservations.

Also, you could check into train travel via Amtrak:
www.amtrak.com

The train is fine, but if I were doing this trip just once in my lifetime, I would definitely drive. Lots to see and so much more freedom with the car. Late Sept/ Early Oct you shouldn't have any trouble with accomodations, just try to make your city days (San Fran, L.A.) on Fri & Sat nights and your beachside days during the weeknights.

Unless you are going on a holiday weekend, you should not have trouble finding places to stay. There are many motels and smaller places to stay along this route. Get a AAA book and you'll be fine.

In addition, the entire trip is about 10-15 hours of driving, so if you're spending 7-10 days, each day you will have lots of opportunities to look for a place!

>>the entire trip is about 10-15 hours of driving<<

Are you sure about those times? If this person is going the coastal route, including the coastal section from Oxnard to San Diego, they are going to go through a lot of stop & go and congestion. 80% of that section is also not very scenic (compared with SLO to Carmel).

Stu Dudley

driving is the only way to go. There are so many beautiful sites along the way and if you want to stop and the bus doesn't then you will miss out. The drive is easy, I have done this trip many times and I would stay 2 nights SF, 1 night carmel (not monterey) 2 nights santa barbara or nearby area, then san diego area/del mar/ coronado, its all wonderful. mid sept. to early oct would be nice and no crowds. in San diego many colleges start mid sept. so less crowding at beaches.

I agree that driving is the best. After a stay in Carmel, drive down route #1 and then spend the night in Cambria or San Luis Obispo. Visit all the California Missions as you drive. You can plan to stop by 4 pm every day and you'll have no trouble picking a motel/hotel. Get the AAA book, and go for it.

You may be right Stu. Probably more like 15+ hours. What we call the cloast route is actually part coast, part cutting over to 5.

But, either way, they can drive 4 hours a day and still have lots of time for sightseeing in the 7-10 days.

Joesorce makes a good point. Early fall weekends are very popular and pricey along the CA coast. Plan your coastal stops on weekdays (Sunday - Thursday nights), and you should be fine.

WOW....i can't believe all the wonderful replys. We diffently are going by car now...lol.Does anyone have any suggestions as to where to stay in SF so we can use public transportation. Has anyone done the SF tours (Alcatraz,etc)? Also, how much time to spend at the Monteray Aquarium..is this a full day to see all or just a few hours?

In SF, I would probably stay downtown - around Union Square east and Embarcadero for easy access to public transportation. Most lines either go down or cross Market street, so it is really convinient.

Alcatraz is great. You take the boat out there, wander around and then come back when you want. The audio tours are good.

For the Monterey Aquarium, I would plan on about 3 hours there. If you will be visiting on a weekend, I would buy tickets ahead of time. That way you can skip the line and go straight to the will call window. Saves time.

I agree about Aquarium--3-4 hours. One tip--if you do it closer to the end of the day, the school kids leave (because they have to get back to school for dismissal). That shouldn't be a scheduling problem for you if you stay in the Carmel/Monterey area. I'd also put in a plug for staying in the San Simeon/Cambria area farther south as your next stop and taking a tour of Hearst Castle. It's a unique, amazing place.

And working your way just south of that, hit Morro Bay, Montana de Oro, SLO, Avila Beach (See Canyon drive at Avila that time of year is nice), Shell Beach, Pismo Beach, are all along the 1 & 101 which are very scenic.

Continue on 101 to Santa Barbara, or take the back way over Cachuma Pass (Cachuma Lake) into SB. Either direction you can make a quick pull over into Solvang if that’s your style. From SB you may want to look around Montecito and Carpinteria. The drive on 101 is scenic to about Ventura. Then it’s ‘Mad Max’ from there south. Should be lots of fun in a car. The only way to fly! (-:

We did a very similary trip this summer but we went from San Diego to San Francisco. It was amazing! Here is my trip report which may be somewhat helpful.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34860247

I'm glad you decided to drive, it is much more enjoyable going at your own speed. Be sure to do the SF to SD drive. You will be on the coastal side of the highway for better views. I did the route north then back south with no reservations. Just guide books and cell phone as we got close to time to stop, always found good rooms, and actually better prices. That is more my style of travel, I don't like things planned too much. You can do that easily on this route.

one more suggestion, although maybe you are already planning to do this. Rent your car only when you are ready to leave SF. Driving in SF is a real challenge, but as bad are parking fees even at hotels--$35 to $50 per night.

As for the rest, you're getting great tips, and the drive from SF to San Diego is very nice.

>>the drive from SF to San Diego is very nice.<<

I don't quite share that opinion. I think the drive along the coast in the LA county & north Orange Co section is not that nice/scenic. Also, most of the other coastline between Ventura & SD is not nearly as jaw-dropping georgeous as the section from SF to San Simeon.

Also, I prefer to drive south to north from San Simeon to SF. Because of the "lay of the land", there seems to be more scenic things in front of you going in the S to N direction. Also, (and BIG also) in late Sept/early Oct the sun won't be in your face in the south to north direction.

For someone in their sixties going in late Sept/early Oct, I don't think the "buzz" of Venice/Manhattan/Redondo/Hungington etc would be that appealing. I'm almost 60, and I much prefer to spend my time exploring Carmel, Pt Lobos, Big Sur, Pfeiffer, Hearst castle, village & coves in Laguna Beach, some of Newport and a lot of San Francisco & the Bay Area.

Stu Dudley.

San Fran 3nights
(day trip to Muir Woods or Napa)

Carmel 1 night
Santa Barbara 1 night
Beverly Hills or Malibu 1 night
Laguna Beach 1 night
San Diego or La Jolla 2 nights

Check the one-way car rates from both the airport and from downtown San Fran...if it's a lot less from the airport, rent on arrival and book a hotel like the Columbus Motor Inn where parking is included. Nice location...short walk to Wharf or North Beach....short walk to cable cars.

I think, with so much to see and do on the way...you need to stick to a loose schedule at least, rather than "not know how far we'll get each day".