planning a first time California trip for May, 2008. What do you think of this- arrive San Francisco, stay 4 nights- do all the touristy things-maybe a trip to Muir Woods included? Rent car, drive to Pacific Grove for 4 nights. Is this a good location to do Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur,and Hearst Castle, or is that too far away?Should we split up those 4 nights between 2 locations? of course, will have to get to SF airport at the end!!Maybe we should reverse the areas? any and all suggestions would be tremendously appreciated

Pacific Grove is a great place to stay but it's a bit too far to use as a base for Hearst Castle. Do you have 8 days total? Is so, and if it were me I might do something like this: SF for 3 nights. Day 4 drive all the way down 101 to maybe Morro Bay or Cambria and stay 1 night (or 2 nights if it's a weekend since few places on the coast allow 1 night Fri/Sat). Next day visit Hearst Castle and explore the area and then drive north along Hwy 1 through Big Sur. Then stay 3 nights in Pacific Grove. Drive back up towards SF and stay near the airport if your flight is early, or in Half Moon Bay or Pacifica if it is later in the day.

It comes down to personal preference, but usually I recommend doing the most hectic destination first, and most relaxing destination last on a trip. In this case that would be SF first, with a side trip north to Muir, then south to Pacific Grove. PG is an excellent base camp to explore Monterey, Carmel and Big Sur, although Carmel is more centered location-wise (if you include Hearst Castle, Big Sur is even more centered).

If you are driving south through Big Sur to Hearst Castle, I would suggest skipping Muir Woods which is north of SF.

There are plenty of great redwood parks on your way to Hearst Castle. You can even spend one night among the giant trees at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, then go and hike a bit insoide the park itself. May is a good month as the waterfalls will be quite full.

You can either hike to Pfeiffer Falls (1/2 hour from the parking lot) in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park or further south enter Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and hike to McWay Falls (15 minutes from the parking lot). Both are easy hikes with McWay Falls by far the more beautiful.

Thanks for the input. Now am thinking do the four nights in SF. Rent car and do 3 nights Monterey(skip Hearst castle) and last night in Half Moon bay, in order to get to airport by 11-noon the final day. If we rent car in SF, can we drop it off at airport, do you think?(Hate to sound so stupid)Also, should we make arrangements when we book hotels for that car rental?thanks again for the help

There's no need to skip Hearst Castle, which is less than 100 miles from Carmel - but over the winding Highway 1. This stretch of road is to be enjoyed at a leisurely rate. It's one of the most beautiful ocean side drives in the world.

You could start out from Monterey/Carmel in the morning, do a bit of hiking in one of the redwood parks, and get to Hearst Castle in time for the evening tour. Stay in Cambria one night, then drive back (the same way) the next morning. If you spend a lot of time on Highway 1 (which I'd recommend), then take the morning tour of Hearst Castle before returning to Monterey. You'll still have about two days in the Monterey/Carmel area.

If you are leaving out of SFO, yes, Half Moon Bay is a good place to stay in order to get to the airport by noon. Otherwise, I'd recommend staying closer to the airport, return the car first, and take the hotel shuttle to the airport.

As for the car rental, check with the car rental company on their policy about picking up a car in town and dropping it off at the airport. There should be no additional charge - but each rental company has different policies, so check first to make sure.

Good questions, not "stupid" at all!

Welcome to California!

Keep flexible with your Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur/Coast/Hearst castle portion of your trip. May is usually nice along the coast, but it could be socked in with fog - making the drive south from Carmel to Hearst Castle difficult & not very scenic.

Don't miss Point Lobos while in the Carmel area.

Stu Dudley

May is not the Monterey Peninsula's foggy month. July/August are our foggiest. May is usually really nice.

After San Francisco, you might want to drive down to San Simeon, tour Big Sur on the way and spend the night in SS. The next day, drive back up to PG or Carmel and spend the balance of your stay, there. Is your flight ultra early? If not, you could just drive to SFO via 280-380 with ease to SFO. Don't forget to factor in commute traffic, if applicable.

easytraveler's advice of Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and hike to McWay Falls was a good one, by the way. It's an amazing park. Stu's suggestions of Pt. Lobos, just south of Carmel is also a park you should not miss. Our 17 Mile Drive is also something you should not miss. So much to do, so little time...such is life!

Thanks everyone so much for your suggestions. Will let you know how it all turns out!

If it's your first time to California, and you go all the way to Hearst Castle, you might consider continuing onward to Santa Barbara and then flying home from LAX. The one-way car rates are usually good and the plane ticket would be the same price as returning from SFO. Depending on what city you're flying to, you might even find a decent flight from Santa Barbara.

Was just reading the FODOR'S 2007 San Francisco guide book a few hours ago, when lo! and behold(no, not a Christmas carol) there was a quote from Stu Dudley! I am truly amazed!

>> there was a quote from Stu Dudley! I am truly amazed! <<

Really??? - I'm amazed too - didn't know about that. What did it say??

Stu Dudley

well, actually there are a few- under Word of Mouth -Where to Stay, Shopping and Exploring San Francisco.

Looks like this got hijacked. Back to the subject, ss, what have you decided on?