DRIVE from LA to SF
 

What's the best route to drive from LA to San Francisco.<BR><BR>Is ther some type of combination route to see the beauty of the coast drive and the speed of a freeway drive.<BR><BR>Perhaps a place to STOP for a visit on the way to San Francisco.<BR><BR>We are flexible in that when we leave LA----<BR>We need to be in SF that evening or anytime the next day.<BR><BR>Any advice would be appriciated.<BR><BR>JB

Given such a short time frame, you'd better stick to 101. You could detour briefly at route 68 near Salinas and drive over to see a bit of Carmel, Pacific Grove and if you wanted to stop that would be convenient. On 101 you'll go along the coast a bit down south and through Santa Barbara before you head back inland. You'll miss the best part, but you've only got 1 1/2 day. I usually tell people at least 3 day maybe 4 to see it well. If you're going to stop overnight realize that many hotels in Carmel require a two night minimum on the weekend or holidays. One that doesn't is the Carmel Village Inn on Junipero.

Route 1 is the only way to go.<BR>

Route 1 really isn't an option since he's onlu allowing one day for this very scenic trip. If you can't devote a few days for this trip, why even bother?

How long would it take to drive on rte 1 from LA to SF ?

Depends on how fast you drive. Do you feel lucky? Without stops, I'd say about 10 hours.

Check out this month's Sunset magazine (western edition). It has a great article on this exact topic.

I prefer the drive on 5 with a nice side trip to Bakersfield...

The 5? The least scenic route ever?

The 5 is not so bad! And it's pretty quick!

Interstate 5 is a very unappealing highway in California. Yes, it's the quickest, but nothing to see along the way. The best might be a stop by Sacramento to see the Capitol.

PLEASE listen to me. We've done this so many times since we live in the Bay area and our family lives in the Valley in LA. Don't take I5 unless you must make it in 5-6 hours. It's hot and smelly and very, very boring. Quick, yes, but worth nothing in terms of scenery. 101 will give you a bit of a feel for the coast. To do it on hwy 1 will take 2 days. If you want to do it as a marathon, then it will take you at least 12 hours and you certainly won't be going at the speed of a freeway. More like 30 mph. To see the beautiful central coast of California, you need to drive hwy 1, but you have to be able to give it 2 days at least.

Does anyone realize it's 500 or so mile from San Francisco to Los Angeles? And you want to drive it on a little two lane road called highway 1 with traffic? Do the math, people.

Here's a possibility: when my husband and I go to Big Sur, we leave West Los Angeles about 7 pm the night before to avoid the worst of the traffice. We take the 101 and drive about 4 hours north till we reach Pismo Beach or Morro Bay or San Luis Obispo. We stay overnight at a cheap motel (motel 6 or whatever) and then get up early the next day and reach Big Sur by 10 or 11.<BR>You could spend an hour or two in the Big Sur area and/or Carmel/Point Lobos, and still get to SF. It's a very long day, but you would see some of the coast.

JB - Don't take I-5. It is positively ugly (as in cattle slaughterhouses).. and whoever said you can stop in Sacramento on the way to SF is sorely in need of a map.<BR><BR>Do break this into two days, going up the 101 and staying overnight in Morro Bay, Cambria, or San Luis Obispo. You will see some nice coastline just before and after Santa Barbara. Then cut over to highway 1 just outside of San Luis Obispo. This will take about 4 hours.<BR><BR>The next day, drive up Highway 1 through Big Sur, Carmel and Monterey. This will take about 3 hours.<BR><BR>If you feel you have enough time you can continue on up the 1 through Pacific Grove and on to Santa Cruz, taking highway 17 out of Santa Cruiz over to the 101 or the 280 to reach SF...Alternatively, you could feel satisfied with the coast you've seen so far and take the 68 over to Salinas and connect again to the 101 north. It will take about 3 hours to arrive in SF from there..but do try to miss the rush hour between San Jose and SF (4:00 - 7:00 pm)

If you're going to drive part of the way the first afternoon, I'd suggest making it up to Morro Bay on Hwy 1. There's a Motel 6 which is in a perfectly safe part of town. There are also lots of other nicer hotels in Morro Bay as well.

I agree that you shouldn't leave in the morning, you should try to leave L.A. the night before. If you can leave around 7:45pm, you will avoid the evening traffic (most of it) and will be taking a BEAUTIFUL drive up the coast on FREEWAY 101 past Ventura and Santa Barbara. You should hit the beach around sunset and you will really enjoy the drive. <BR>Spend the night in Solvang, at this point you will have 2.5 hours of your drive to San Francisco behind you. In the morning, take the coastal route up as far as Paso Robles/Morro Bay and at that point you can decide if you wish to continue up the coast via route 1, or up freeway 101.

500 miles from LA - SF? I don't think so -- more like 380. It's 500 from SD - SF.

I can't recommend Solvang as a stopping point. It's a cheesy tourist town with expensive lodging choices. Head further north and stay in Morro Bay or Cambria.

Uncle Sam,<BR><BR>380 miles from LA to San Francisco???????????????? As Gallagher says, speed does not make up for the time difference.<BR><BR>You obviously have neve driven from La to SF. 6 Hours is a more likely time frame on a good day with minimum traffic.<BR><BR>Mr. California

What are you babbling about Mr. California? Who is Uncle Sam? I made no mention of the time it would take to drive. That would of course depend on the route taken, of which I never suggested. And as I've stated, the mileage between LA - SF is approx. 380 miles. If you think it's not, let me see the source.

Dear Uncle, as we head south on 101 from San Jose (about 50 miles south of SF) there is a road sign that states that Los Angeles is 460+ miles away. You've got to be dreaming to think it's 380 miles. Or, you've never driven it firsthand.

Not to belabor the issue, but I have driven "firsthand" numerous times from Hollywood to San Francisco. The odometer on my vehicle nearly always clocks it at 380 miles. Both Mapquest and Mapblast show my route at 376 miles. My Rand McNally 2001 road atlas shows it at 380 miles exactly. "As the crow flies" is 348 miles. This webpage chart shows the distance at 387 miles -<BR>http://gocalifornia.about.com/bl_distance.htm<BR>Naturally, one could take a less direct route such a Routes 1 or 101 and come up with greater mileage, that only stands to reason. Regardless, there is absolutley no way for anyone to drive from Hollywood to SF (sticking to 101 all the way) and clock over 500 miles. I would like to see that sign south of San Jose that reads "460" miles. (I'm pretty sure there is one in Santa Clara giving the distance there at 411 miles)

Dear Uncle, Perhaps it is in Santa Clara, which is actually as you know north of San Jose so the distance would be farther. We live Palo Alto and clock it to the middle of SF at 44 miles. So 44 plus 411 plus the distance between Palo Alto and Santa Clara (which is about 5 miles) comes up pretty close to 500 miles and West Hollywood isn't downtown LA. It's silly to belabor the point though because the poster needs to know how long it will take.

Kam,<BR><BR>Actually, Palo Alto is about 14 miles from Santa Clara, and Santa Clara is actually 5 miles west of San Jose, not north of the city.

So, does that add up to about 500 miles on 101? I can only think that Uncle is driving the 5 between SF and LA and that would be hell for a tourist wanting to see part of the pretty part of the state.

Kam,<BR><BR>I beleive that there is a sign on the 101 south of the International Airport around 13th Street that says LA is 398 miles. Therefore, adding the 55-60 miles to San Francisco, you come up with a total of about 453-460 miles.

J.B., I just returned from CA. We left LA (Hollywood) and drove on the 101 & then the 1 and we stopped in Morro Bay and looked around and got ice cream. It was a 4 and 1/2 hour drive including the stop in Morro Bay. We spent the night in Cambria at The Pelican Suites which I highly recommend. Then we took the 3:00 Hearst Castle tour in San Simeon. If you are in the area you won't ever find another castle like the Hearst Castle. Then the next day we drove on into SF. We left at 11 and got into SF about 3-4. The drive wasn't as bad as I thought it would be on the Hwy 1. But I'm a big Nascar fan. Ha Ha. Have a great time.<BR><BR>Melissa

we did the trip in '98 with three kids in the back of the rental car...hwy one all the way! you could go as far as santa barbara the first evening and have the whole day to get to sf. if you could squeak in a little more time, staying near carmel or big sur would be my pick!<BR><BR>best vacation we've ever taken...something for everyone

<BR>Find, doing the math. it is approximately 500 miles from SF to LA depending on where you start in SF and where you end in LA. The important point is to tell the tourists that it's a long way and a big day of driving that they might want to break up with stop along the way.