englishwomanabroad

The story so far: My husband and I are flying to San Francisco on October 14th and have 24 days to travel around before flying to New York from nowhere specific. We have decided to keep with the sun and the warmest temperatures and will therefore start with the Napa Valley, Big Trees State Park, Yosemite and then head to San Francisco and down the coast. We will intend to stop at Santa Cruz, Monterey, Carmel, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Joshua Tree NP.
We like to walk, beautiful scenery and buildings etc, good food but not in this instance of the Michelin star variety. We are in our late 50s and pretty fit.
I am wondering if : a. there will be enough to do, b. If we were to have more than a couple of days on the coast in one place is Santa Barbara a good choice and is it easy to rent an apartment? C. Should we fly to the Carolinas for the last few days and see something quite different?
is it the season for any festivals other than Halloween? Anything that we can get involved in?
Will be grateful for any advice, this forum has been very influential so far!
Many thanks.

Michael

Check your map. Napa is close to San Francisco, so that if you intend to see Calaveras Big Tree State Park and Yosemite, it would not make sense to see them between Napa and San Francisco. Napa is an easy day trip from San Francisco.

I would start in SF, and rent the car only at the end of the stay there. You do not need a car in the city.

Jean

I don't think you would run out of things to do in 3 weeks. There is much more to see than the list you've made so far, although the later you get in October the greater the likelihood of weather that might impact your enjoyment of a place.

By "stops," do you mean you intend to stay in these places for a few nights? If so, I would just spend a few hours in Santa Cruz but spend a few days in the Monterey/Carmel area.

The first thing you need to do is see what lodging is available in Yosemite for your dates. Bookings open a year in advance.

Short-term apartment rentals in Santa Barbara are illegal unless the owner obtains the proper approvals and permits and then only within a very small area of the city. The city will be reviewing their policies in September 2016 and may enact further restrictions, so I wouldn't assume something legal now would be legal in October.

jamie99

Monterey and Carmel are right next to each other. I would do Monterey, Cambria or Pismo Beach and Santa Barbara. It will be starting to get dark earlier in mid October, we go off Daylight Time Nov. 6 or so, and IMO it is too far a drive from Monterey to Santa Barbara that time of year, if you want to see anything. There are low speed limits (35mph) and curves on the southern half of the drive.
Santa Barbara is a lovely town, one of my favorites. There are some very nice wineries just north of there in the Santa Ynez Valley and the tasting fees will be a lot less than pricey Napa.

Jean, thanks for the heads up on the short term rental ban, I foresee more and more cities enacting this type of measure in the future.

JoJoSiestaKey

Fly to the Carolinas? At best that is an eight hour flight and jet lag is a killer.

So much to see and do in California, stay there.

dbdurand

You didn't mention Los Angeles. Hard to miss on your way from Santa Barbara to San Diego.

nytraveler

Depending on how long you spend in NY (assume it's not jut for a flight home) you might catch the beginnings of the Christmas season.

The department stores start setting up there holiday windows in mid November - check their web sites for dates (start with Saks, Bloomies and Lord & Taylor).

englishwomanabroad

Thank you for your replies.
Can I assume that going off daylight time means that it gets dark before 6pm?
Is it considered unsafe driving after dark on highway 1? The comments that I have received indicate that it's not a good idea, animals, security?
Presume we will suffer jet lag flying to NY?
Our intention is certainly to stay for 2 or 3 nights in most places and longer if there is more to do.

sludick

>>Can I assume that going off daylight time means that it gets dark before 6pm?

Gardyloo

Fly to the Carolinas? At best that is an eight hour flight and jet lag is a killer.

Nonstop flights from the west coast (SEA, SFO, LAX, SAN) to major east coast cities, including Boston, NYC, Philly, Washington, Charlotte or Raleigh-Durham, or Miami, all take between 4 3/4 and 5 1/2 hours in the air, and often a bit quicker due to prevailing tailwinds when flying west-to-east. Those same winds cause westbound flights to take up to an hour longer.

The time difference is three hours, and that means you might have some difficulty waking up early but you'll be fine in the evenings. The old rule for 1 day per hour time change is pretty accurate, but thousands and thousands of people travel from the west coast to the east coast every day and live through it just fine.

Back to your California plans, I'd also mention that October can be lovely in the gold rush country of the Sierra foothills. Follow Calif. Hwy 49 all the way from I-80 east of Sacramento south to Yosemite (or back north, depending) with visits to numerous picturesque and historic towns like Columbia, Murphys, Volcano, Sutter Creek, Amador City and several others. Pretty marvelous stuff.

I also noted your omission of Los Angeles, and would only say that LA has a tremendous number of places to see. It's not all freeways and traffic, and can be surprisingly visitor-friendly once you have a plan and can stick to it. It takes a bit more preparation than other places because it's very spread out, but you can pick one location and do day trips that are very rewarding. Autumn is a great time of year to visit, too.

If you wanted to travel earlier to the east coast, I would definitely pick Washington DC. It's a splendid place for visitors, and you can easily take the train when it's time to head to New York - just a couple of hours.

november_moon

The issue with driving get Hwy 1 after dark through Big Sur is that it is rather narrow, curvy, and remote. And mobile service is extremely spotty. This is why most people don't recommend it. Plus, it's really scenic, so driving the route after dark doesn't make sense. This only applies to the portion from about Carmel to San Simeon though.

DebbieDoesDulles

There is an international film festival in Carmel/Monterey from Oct 19-23 and it will effect lodging rates.

Big Sur Food & Wine Festival is November 3-5.

nanabee

Driving on major interstate freeways at night is generally easy because they are flooded with light.

Daylight savings doesn't end until the first Sunday in November so the clocks won't change until then.

I can speak for San Diego. First of all October will be great weather wise. Its generally our warmest, sunniest time of the year. Ocean water temps are perfect.

There is a lot to do in San Diego and you can easily send a full and active week here.

jamie99

Driving Highway 1 after dark is not recommended due to several reasons, safety being one of them. The southern stretch of Big Sur towards Cambria is quite curvy with low speed limits and in some areas no guardrails. Plus the whole idea of the drive is for the incredible scenery. If you just want to rush from Point A to Point B, take the 101 instead.

kperaka

Napa is good in fall with all yellow leaves. Check the forecast if you have flexible dates. Other place you can consider is Point Reyes which is a nice. If interested, you can check our road trip report which may give you some ideas.

http://www.lifeasweexplore.com/home/...nterey-10-days

piles_of__paper

If you are interested in the desert and will be in Southern California, perhaps skip Joshua Tree and head to Death Valley. It is incredibly scenic and a very unusual place. Really.