driving to MONTEREY
 

We are considering driving to Monterey, Big Basin and Carmel from San Francisco, can only be a day trip, is this possible in a day, taking into consideration we are from Australia and have never driven on the opposite side of the road. Would we be better off with a tour for the day instead of concentrating on the driving or is it an easy drive down there. It would be end of August and if we drive is it better to do it on a weekday instead of a weekend.

It's funny -- I just replied to a similar poster on the Australia board who only had a day to see the entire Great Ocean Road!

Although SF to Big Basin to Carmel is no where as far as the G.O.R. it would be a VERY long day -- especially if you are not familiar with the roads or the driving conditions.

My recommendation would be to do it as an over-night trip, a one-day coach tour (where you probably won't see Big Basin)or to save it for another trip when you have more time.

You could drive from San Francisco to Carmel, going through Monterey, and back in one day but I would skip Big Basin.
It is an easy drive but I would do it on a weekend to avoid the God-awful commute gridlocks during the week.

The best way to get to Big Basin from San Francisco is to take hiway 280 to hiway 17. You may not be too comfortable driving 17. I've had many a relative's hair turn white from shock after driving that road. It's no big deal when you're used to it but it is full of hairpin turns and the average speed is about 60-65 mph.
A visit to Carmel would probably be better enjoyed with an overnight trip.

If you cannot stay overnight, IMHO it would be extremely exhausting to do Monterey, Big Basin and Carmel in one day. Monterey and Carmel are doable, if you skip Big Basin and you are the type of people who are used to long drives. Again only my opinion, but I think 280, to 85, to 101, to 156 to Monterey is faster than 280, 17, 1. I drove the former from SF to Carmel and back once a week for 2 months, averaging 2 to 3 hours drive each way depending on traffic. FYI I've never met a speed limit that I didn't exceed!

This would be a long day, but doable if you don't go to Big Basin.

Although Big Basin is one of my favorite places, I wouldn't recommend you attempt to drive there anyway - highway 9 is a twisty 2 lane road and since you will be driving on the "wrong" side of the road, it would definitely be a challenge. Highway 17 would probably also be challenging. It is a 4 lane highway, but it is also quite curvey and the traffic moves a lot faster.

Your best route to Monterey would be Hwy 280 from SF, Hwy 101 from San Jose, Hwy 156 west to Hwy 1 south.

Regarding weekday vs weekend day, I would suggest a weekday. On the weekends every route over to the Monterey Bay will have traffic in the morning and every route back to the SF Bay Area will have traffic in the evennings. On the weekdays there will be commute traffic in SF and SJ in the mornings and evennings, but once you get through the rough spots, you will have smooth sailing all the way to Monterey.