susan

Wondering the amout of time we are looking at:
1. Driving from S.F. to Santa Cruz.
2. Driving from Santa Cruz to Carmel.
3. Driving from Carmel to Monterey.
4. Driving from Monterey to San Simeon.
5. Driving from San Simeon to Calistoga.
P.S. Just approximate times between each place would help me greatly!!!!!!!

SUSAN

I made a mistake, need the time/distance from Monterey to Big Sur to San Simeon. Thanx.

kam

Susan, It's really a difficult question because a lot depends on the time of day, day of the week, weather conditions and what route you choose to take. Our traffic has become so terrible lately, that I'm sure there will be folks who will disagree with these times, but be sure they've been driving around here lately! Five years ago was another story. These are all very approximate, but I'll take a shot.
1. SF to Sta.Cruz about 2 hours if you go on Hwy 1, a little over an hour if you go 280 to 85 to 17 unless it's raining and then Hwy 17 can be brutal. Note that a lot of Hwy 1 from SF to Sta. Cruz is 2 lanes and you can get behind a farm truck or a slow driver.
2. About an hour from Sta. Cruz to Carmel depending on the day of the week. Bypass Monterey and go directly to Carmel.
3. Carmel to Monterey on the highway about 15 min. If you go through Pacific Grove about 45-60 min.
4. Monterey to San Simeon--this is the toughest. Assuming you want to go on Hwy 1 through Big Sur, we usually plan on 3 hours from Carmel at Pt. Lobos to San Simeon. Again, weather, day of week etc. But, you'll want to stop along the way to look at the views, so I would plan on this being almost a whole day. It's about 100 miles, but that fact is totally meaningless! Don't bother in the fog/rain--you won't see anything.
5. San Simeon to Calistoga--going on 101 (the freeway) probably 3-4 hours but you'll have to go into SF so will find traffic there and you'll have to drive all the way up Napa Valley on Hwy 29 so could find traffic there as well. Hwy 29 through Napa is especially awful on a weekend in summer.

xxx

Are you planning on taking Hwy 1? Keep in mind that depending on what time of year it is, the highway often gets washed out between Big Sur and San Simeon. If it's not washed out, you're looking at approximately 2-1/2 to 3 hours of drive time. All depends on the amount of traffic (can be bad if you get stuck behind an RV) and the number of times you stop along the way to check out the view.

San Simeon and Calistoga aren't exactly on the same route, so I guess you're going to have to tell us which way you plan to go. You might want to check out mapquest.com and see what the site tells you for drive times between each destination.

susan

Thank you for being incredibly helpful. When I was in my 20s, we would have just hopped in a car and hoped for the best, but now (not in my 20s, ha ha), I need to plan every detail. We were planning on using Hwy 1 for, hopefully, the views.

xxx

Take the 101 one way and then Hwy 1 for the return trip. Don't try to go on Hwy 1 both ways, it's just too much slow driving for each direction of a trip.

marj

use www.mapquest.com, it gives mileage, directions and approx. time.