Driving the Coast
 

Has anyone driven the California coast? We were thinking of taking 10-12 days and renting a car, starting in San Diego and working our way up to San Francisco, or possibly Seattle. We've been to southern California several times before. Would like to stop in San Diego, L.A., Carmel, Monterey, Big Sur, San Francisco..? Any suggestions for hotels, we're not on much of a budget, but we like staying at the nicer places. We have two teenagers (18,19). Golf is a possibliity. Also, wineries, beaches.

This particular trip gets a lot of posts on Trip Advisor forum. You might want to check there also and bring up some of the threads.

California and Oregon coasts a very beautiful but it's not worth it to drive farther north that Astoria OR.

I think that San Diego to Seattle is too ambitious for a 10-12 day trip - doable, but you would have to cover a lot of ground, which would mean a lot of 1-night stays.

I would be inclined to do part of the trip - maybe SD to SF or SF north to Portland or Seattle. I don't think you can go wrong with either choice.

I haven't been to the Washington coast, but I have heard there are some really beautiful areas - esspecially the Olympic Peninsula. It is on our list of places to visit :)

It's perfectly doable with 10 to 12 days.

Some math on drive times

San Diego to LA, around 2 hours;
LA to Monterey via US 101 and SR 1 (Big Sur, Carmel etc.) around 9 hours;
Monterey to SF, around 2 hours;
SF to Willits via US 101 and SR 1, around 5 hours;
Willits to Oregon State line via US 101 (redwoods), around 4 hours;
Brookings (OR) to Astoria via the Oregon Coast, around 5 hours;
Astoria to Port Angeles (WA) via US 101 (Pacific side, Olympic rain forest etc.) - around 4 hours;
Port Angeles - Seattle via US 101 and Bainbridge Island ferry, around 3 hours.

So total driving time = 34 hours give or take. Frankly, those times are pretty conservative; I've done all those legs faster in the umpteen times I've made the drive or parts of it.

That leaves something like 80% of 10-12 days for doing something other than driving.

You could visit the wineries around Santa Barbara and the Santa Ynez Valleys, or the Napa/Sonoma/Mendocino areas; or in the Yamhill County area of Oregon. There's good golf all over, such as tournament courses in Bandon OR at at Salishan Lodge near Lincoln City (OR), not to mention any of the urban areas.

You could visit man-made wonders like Hearst Castle in San Simeon, or see natural ones like the Redwoods and the Hoh Rain Forest on the Olympic peninsula...

Of course you could also to parts of the trip, or use all 10-12 days in one spot; really depends on your preferences. But the drive for the whole length of VanSan (as it used to be called) is not at all difficult in that time frame.

Thank you so much for all of your suggestions. Any ideas for 'Don't Miss!' hotels along the coast, no more than $350-400 a night? Again, thanks for all of the help.

I think it is definitely a matter of preference.

For 34 hours of total driving, if you plan on 5 hours of driving per day, that means you would have to be on the road 7 of the 10 or 12 days. That leaves 3-5 days for stop overs - assuming the 10-12 days does not include time for air travel. For the driving days, half the day will be dedicated to driving, plus the time it takes to pack, check out, check in, get settled, etc.

Definitely doable, but doesn't allow much time for sightseeing, hanging out, and so forth.

I think it is a matter of knowing your travel preferences and planning accordingly.

If it were me, I'd rather cover less ground and spend more time in the places I see.

Taking the PCH is a beautiful drive. Don't miss San Luis Obispo, a beautiful small town with some great local restaurants.

A great winery to visit is Fess Parker's in Santa Barbara www.fessparker.com ,and is also a great resort. Yes, this is the same guy that was Disney's Davy Crockett...it's still a don't miss place.

The typical trip of this kind, beginning in Los Angeles, though, is to drive up the coast, with some stops,Santa Barbara perhaps, as far as Cambria, then stay in one of the motels on Moonstone Beach.

Have a reservation for the morning tour of Hearst Castle the next day.

Then drive up through Big Sur, enjoying the scenery, stopping at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park to see redwoods, maybe do some hiking, etc. Overnight in Carmel or Monterey. The next day visit the world class Monterey Bay Aquarium, take the 17 mile drive, maybe do a whale watching cruise, visit Point Lobos State Reserve for it sightings of sea life and trails along the Bay.

This stop can be extended. There is a lot do do and see. The next stop is San Francisco, driving up Highway 1 past Elkhorn Slough, Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay...stopping at Ano Nuevo to see the elephant seals

Many like to spend several days in San Francisco with day trips up the coast and/or to the wine country.

You could take the coast north as far as the redwood parks around Eureka for two or three days and then come back to San Francisco on Highway 1 as far as Mendocino, then cutting over on 128 to go through the Alexander Valley and visit some wineries. If you stay on 128, across Highway 101 you end up in the Napa Valley. The town of Napa is just about an hour from the Golden Gate Bridge.

Well, that's MY style. I would not look forward to a 10-12 day coastal trip all the way to Seattle.

http://www.bridgeviewwine.com/
http://www.foriswine.com/

My thoughts on Central Coast, Cambria:

If you're going to do San Simeon aka Hearst Castle then I would suggest staying at Cambria. A great arty type town, small, wonderful restaurants and great B&Bs. I'd recommend the J Patrick House as a B&B and Robin's, Sow's Ear for dinner. Cambria has great shops for browsing and walking around in the evening, you are 9 miles from San Simeon and ~ 12 miles to the elephant seal rookery area. These are of course, north of cambria. From Cambria, Big Sur is straight up HWY 1.

San Diego:

If you start in San Diego and have teenage boys and a husband, then you might want to visit the USS MIdway (aircraft carrier) www.midway.org That's always fun and a male oriented adventure, of course, that's sexist, I'm female and I loved it..... If you started in San Diego then as far as I'm concerned you have 2 options of places to stay. Downtown in the Lamplight district (there are many good hotels here), where you can walk about at night for dinner, etc. Or, in LaJolla where you have the ocean crashing upon the cliffs, great walking at night with easy walking access to restaurants, shops, etc. Of course, you are by the famous Torrey Pines golf course, mucho expensive to play at but famous. For cheaper golf and just as beautiful, play at the torrey pines municipal course. If you have time, go to Old Town San Diego for a margarita, watching them hand make tortillas and some interesting little shops. If you're really feeling adventurous and like off the beaten path restaurants, then I'd suggest for lunch at Las Quatro Milpas. http://entertainment.signonsandiego....cuatro-milpas/ A total hole in the wall joint just south of downtown (you need to mapquest it) that serves cheap food off of cheap picnic tables, family style. Best tortillas I've had in my life.

Thank you all for all of the help! We're looking forward to this trip, but it looks like we are going to have to shorten our travel so that we can fit it all in under 12 days.

Thanks again!