California: San Fran to San Diego
 

Hi. We're flying into San Francisco, driving down to San Diego, then driving up to and flying back to Canada from Las Vegas. Any help with itinery planning (time wise or must do's) would be greatly appreciated. We would like to do Alcatraz, Disneyland, Big Sur, Venice Beach, for sure. We have 13 full days. Thanks!

How many and how old are travellers?

Hi. 6 adults. Aged 34-47 We don't need to spend a lot of time at Disneyland, just want to say we were there for the most part.

If your itinerary is for this year, be advised that highway 1 is closed along Big Sur because of a massive landslide. I believe that a re-opening has not even been scheduled. If you want to visit Hearst Castle, you will have to drive around the Big Sur coast on 101 and go back north on CA1 at Morro Bay.

Thanks so much. I wasn't aware of that. Yes our trip is October 7-20th this year

Look at the Highway 1 advisories on the tripadvisor.com web site, where there is a wealth of information on the highway closures.

Check this trip report to get few ideas about things to do around San Francisco and down.

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

Here is the Caltrans website with road conditions on Highway 1. The Pfeiffer-Canyon bridge replacement is scheduled for end of September but the Mud Creek slide has no date at all, many are speculating sometime next year.
You can spend a couple of nights in Monterey, then detour over to Salinas to pick up Highway 101 and stay another night or more somewhere along the Central Coast such as Cambria, Pismo Beach, Morro Bay or maybe even Santa Barbara.

Thanks everyone! I will definitely be more aware looking into road conditions while planning. Any suggestions in the must do category?

Hi,

I just posted a trip report for our drive from SF to LA:
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-sf-to-lax.cfm

Not sure where you are from in Canada (we live in Ottawa) but the most unique and worthwhile stops for us were the SF and Monterey area (San Francisco, Monterey/Pacific Grove, Carmel, Point Lobos and the Big Sur areas we could access). I also thought Santa Barbara was very pretty.

Alcatraz was definitely a highlight too. If you are interested in seeing a beautiful mansion (although he called it a "little ranch", Hearst Castle may also be of interest.

Happy travels!

If the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge reconstruction is on schedule, there could be more than the current 26 miles of Hwy 1 open south of Carmel by October. I'd spend at least 2 nights on the Monterey Peninsula to give yourself a full day for Big Sur. There's plenty of other things to do here so you could consider a longer stay as well. October has some of the nicest weather along the central CA coast.

Oops forgot to post the link to Caltrans road conditions for Hwy 1:
http://www.dot.ca.gov/cgi-bin/roads....&submit=Search