Driving from LA to San Diego...what to see?
 

I'm from the East Coast and am going to be in LA and plan on driving to see friends in San Diego. I know it's only about a 2 hour drive but we plan on spending time along the way to see the sights and possibly stay a few nights along the way. What should we see?

i'd recommend staying a night in laguna beach. it's a nice place with some nice beaches, restaurants and funky galleries (not to mention the beautiful homes).
when you leave, at oceanside (just south of laguna) cut back over to the coast road. you will go through all the smaller cities on the way to san diego. carlsbad is a nice place to stop for a walk. if you like pizza, pizza port in solana beach is excellant (on the right hand side of the pacific coast highway).
as you enter san diego you could stop and waunder around the torrey pines state park. black's beach is close by too and that's nice although you have to hike down a ways to get there. a work out coming up.
another place between la & san diego (inland) is the wild animal park. it's pretty good.

You could spend a few days in the Orange County coastal area (Huntington Beach-Surf City; Newport Beach, Corona Del Mar; Laguna Beach, Dana Point; San Clemente). There are many great restaurants, botiques, etc in all these cities. Laguna Beach is an artist's haven with a number of galleries to brouse. There are small boat marinas at Newport Beach and Dana Point and piers at Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, and San Clemente. All of them have nice, sandy beaches and there are a number of tide pool areas around Laguna Beach. Just a couple of miles inland, Mission San Juan Capistrano is well worth a 2-3 hour visit.

Further south, in northern San Diego County, there is another coastal strip (Oceanside; Carlsbad; Leucadia; Encinitas; Solana Beach, Del Mar; Torrey Pines; La Jolla). Again, great beaches, good restaurants, a marina at Oceanside, and many nice botiques.

Inland a ways, there is another of the old Spanish Missions at San Luis Rey, east of Oceanside.

All along this 125 mile trip and within 25 miles of the coast, there are so many attractions to choose from, you could spend months and still not see everything. If you like amusement parks, both Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm are easily accessible. If you enjoy architecture, the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove and the Mormon Temple in north San Diego are impressive. There are really so many things to see, this thread could go on and on and on.

Have a great trip.

We took my in-laws to Mission San Juan Capistrano on the way from San Diego to Santa Monica. We really enjoyed it and mexican food we had for lunch. I don't remember the name of it though.

I also took my mother to Laguna Beach on the way to Disneyland. It was really beautiful.

Happy planning!

I enjoyed seeing hot air balloons flying into the sunset in San Diego.