How long to drive from Carmel to San Fran?
 

Thanks!

When are you planning on making the drive? Under normal conditions, it should take you about 2 to 2 1/2. If you are travelling during heaving traffic, it will take you longer.

My personal preference is to take Hwy 1 North through Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay (the Whale City Bakery in Davenport is a winner!). This route is scenic and devoid of traffic. It takes about 2 hours to travel this path no matter what time of day.

Rusty

I like Hwy 1 also - HMB is one of my favorite towns.

Hwy 1, which is gorgeous, took us 3 hours last time, in part because we stayed at the speed limit to ogle the scenery, and in part b/c of all the others on the road doing the same. Hwy 101, which isn't scenic but more direct, should take 2 hours non-rush.

Wonderful replies! Thank you so much. I believe we'll take the scenic route.

There is a section of Hwy 1 in Santa Cruz which goes right through town and can get kind of bogged down, but it's only a couple miles, so it's not bad. Once you get through that section, Hwy 1 becomes a 4 lane freeway. If you are travelling through on a weekday evenning (commute time) or on a sunny weekend afternoon, you will probably hit some slow traffic - otherwise you should have smooth sailing all the way to Carmel.

I love to drive Hwy 1, except for Santa Cruz. Has their ever been any hope of a 1 bypass to eliminate that interuption? Or are their any nice roads around rather than the cut through town?

Mission St (hwy 1) really is the best option through the west side of SC. There are some residential streets that can be used to avoid part of Mission St, but I don't think you gain anything by taking them.

I doubt there will ever be a bypass - there really isn't any place for it and most of the traffic down Mission St is local traffic anyway - people going to or some place on the west side of town. I don't think there is enough of a demand for a bypass for through traffic to warrant such a huge undertaking.