Drive from LA to Pebble Beach
 

We are visiting LA in February, and was thinking of driving up to Pebble Beach at the end of the trip. The idea is to fly from Chicago to LA, spend 3 days in LA, drive to Santa Barbara for a day and stay the night then drive to Pebble Beach (on a Saturday), stay two nights then drive to SFO for a flight back to Chicago. Does that sound reasonable? It seems it's about a 6 hour drive from LA to PB. Is that right or just best case scenario? Is it a scenic drive? Are there any interesting places along the way that we should see?

RolandFan:

Between LA and Carmel is one of the most scenic drives in the state... six hours would be best case. Do a search on here for Big Sur and Highway 1... I can post more later this evening.

6 hours seems about right if you take Hwy 101, which is inland for most of the way - less if you are starting on the northwest side of LA, more if you have to actually drive through LA. This route by-passes the best scenery though. I'd take a couple more hours and drive through Big Sur - take Hwy 101 to San Luis Obispo and then cut over to Hwy 1. The scenery is fantastic and absolutely worth the extra time it takes to drive the road. It is narrow and twisty, so going is slow.

Agree with everyone else. The drive from San Luis Obispo to Pebble Beach (heck, all the way to Pacifica) is one of the most beautiful drives I've ever been on anywhere in the world. Now, granted, I'm biased - but it's also been declared an All-American Road by the US Department of Transportation and a State Scenic Highway, so obviously people agree with me!

Places to see between SLO and Pebble Beach include:
- Hearst Castle (there's a number of great tours available)
- Jade Cove (a beach that is littered with jade)
- the Henry Miller Library
- McWay Falls at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park
- Point Lobos
- the Carmel Mission (the best-restored of all the historic California missions)

You'll also find yourself stopping at many vista points to take in the amazing views.

We wrote an itinerary for the reverse of this trip (heading from SF to LA), but it hits all the points of interest along Highway One and could be useful for you:
http://www.seemonterey.com/itinerary-road-trip

The AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am golf tournament is going on in Pebble Beach Feb. 8-14. If you'll be here at that time, it's a great weekend for spotting celebrities but may make finding a hotel room harder.