Drive from LA to San Fran?
 

Hi All,


I am from Australia & in December I am visiting America. I plan to hire a car from LA and give myself around a week to drive to San Fran (along the coast, I believe).

Any help with this would be much appreciated.

What is the best car rental place?
How long will the drive take me?
Any sites I need to stop off and see?
Should I pre-book accomodation or approach it touch-and-go style?
etc.


Cheers,
Michelle

This is one of the most written-about drives on the message boards. Just use the search box and plug in CALIFORNIA COAST or DRIVE CALIFORNIA and you'll bring up lots and lots of previously-given advice and suggestions.

Lately, Hertz.com and NationalCar.com have had the best rates for Aussies, but this changes all the time so check Alamo.com and Avis.com as well. Check the price quotes carefully and find one that includes collision insurance and liability insurance. Book something early as they do not require pre-payment and you can cancel. Then check back monthly because rates do change and sometimes they drop drastically.

In December, you should be fine just touch-and-go with accomodations. But research them ahead of time and have a list of clean, friendly places and phone numbers. They'll usually quote you a better price online or over the phone that in-person at the counter.

Clap clap another Aussie family is coming. Hi Michelle- we have a great Aussie family doing a live trip report right now, who is touring CA. As of yet, he hasn't written about their Highway 1 excursion, but if you have time see " A Californian Odyssey 2010".

Most folks are going to suggest you start in San Francisco and head south to LA. You'll have a better view of the coast coming down. Plan on at least one overnight stop for the coast drive, two+ is better. Popular stops are Monterey/Carmel, Santa Barbara and Cambria to see Hearst Castle. Do you plan on site seeing in SF or LA, both? That will give us a better idea for your length along Highway 1.

When are you coming in December? Christmas/New Year is very busy time and if it were me, I'd make reservations.

How long the drive takes really is how ever long you want to take. You can do it is one day w/o seeing anything (and only short bits on the coast) or you could take 2 weeks and still not see everything.

But for the basic drive along the coast - plan on 3 days/2 nights minimum. Especially since you are traveling in Dec when the days are short and the weather is iffy. 4 days/3 nights would be better.

meant to add - here is the link to the thread SOCALOC mentioned:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...lden-state.cfm

Another reason for not pre-booking hotels is that because the weather can be iffy that time of year, you might want to spend an extra day someplace to wait out a storm - for example if you are travelling north to south, you might spend an extra night in Monterey area before heading through Big Sur to get better weather.

Thanks janisj for completing my post. My bad.