eznmomma

My husband and I arrive at 11:00 am from Las Vegas to San Jose on a Wednesday in September. We want to take the scenic route doen the coast eventually ending up in LA. We want to see Hearst Castle and have been to Monterey on another trip. I can't seem to get a sense of how long it will take. I know I need a reservation at the castle and I'm not sure when I can anticipate getting there? By Thursday afternoon? Friday morning? Thursday morning? We would like to do lunch at Big Sur and take our time, although we don't have side trips or hiking in mind. Most of what I have read goes in the other direction. Any ideas?

J_Correa

The route I would take is Hwy 17 or Hwy 9 from SJ to Santa Cruz, and then Hwy 1 all the way down to Cambria.

How long it will take you to get to Hearst Castle will depend entirely on what you do on the way down.

If you left SJ on Wednesday and headed straight down the coast, you could make it to Cambria by dinnertime and then take a tour or Hearst Castle on Thursday morning.

I would recommend taking more time and spending at least 1 night somewhere on the way down. Monterey is the most convinient stopping point. From Monterey to Cambria is a couple hours without stops, so you could stop in Big Sur for lunch and take a tour of Hearst Castle on Thursday afternoon.

eznmomma

Thank you very much. It sounds like a reasonable thing for us to do. Do you know anything about the night tours at Hearst? Are they worth doing instead of the day tour? I heard we shoulk take tour number one if we take the tour during the day. Also do you know of a good place to stay in Cambria. We typically are in the middle in regards to price and comfort - we like very nice and clean but it doesn't have to be five stars.

J_Correa

The last time I stayed in Cambria, which was at least 5 years ago, we stayed at the Fog Catcher Inn on Moonstone Beach Dr. It was a nice place - not fancy, but comfortable.

I've never been on the night tour at Hearst Castle, so I don't know how good it is. Tour #1 is a good overview of the place - the main rooms, the pools, some of the gardens. I've also taken the tour of the upstairs rooms which included the bedrooms and that was pretty interesting.

deirdres

Regarding lodging in Cambria--I spent two nights there in April with my daughter. We stayed at the Best Western Fireside Inn. I'd recommend it--nothing too special or pricey-- but it is clean and it came with a continental breakfast in the morning which we enjoyed.

sightseer

The evening tour is my favorite. There's something magical about seeing the castle at night. The evening tour is around 1-1/2 times longer than the day time tours. There are also far fewer people up on the hill. They also have local seniors from the area dressed in period costumes playing cards, dancing, etc. to set the mood. But I think the evening tours may be limited to Saturdays.

For evening dining choices in Cambria, I would definitely recommend Sow's Ear or Robin's.

eznmomma

Thanks for all your input but now our plans have changed a bit. We are arriving on Saturday. Hearst sounds great at night but is it too unrealistic to think that we can get from San Jose to Hearst on the same day if our plane arrives at 11:00 and we sign up for the 7:00pm show. Are we going to be rushed and miss what the drive has to offr?

J_Correa

I would not try to make it to Hearst Castle on the day you arrive. To get down there you will miss the whole point of taking the coast route - the scenery.

eznmomma

Thanks everyone. I think we will spend the day and a half, from Saturday morning to Sunday afternoon making our way down to the Castle and just take a late afternoon tour.

L

I would take 85 south to 101 south to 156 west to 1 south. The scenery starts on 1 south, and lasts for about 3 hours. The rest will take about 2 hours.

Baxter

Driving to Hearst Castle the day ou arive in San Jose would not allow you enjoy the beautiful vistas along highway 1. It would make more sense to stay in San Jose the first night and leave the city in the morning so that you can take full advantage of the drive along the coast without being rushed. If you leave San Jose in the morning, you will be able to make an afternoon tour. I would recommend 101/156/1. Leaving San Jose on a weekday morning is no problem since the commute traffic is heading into the city. If you decide to stay in SJ, the downtown area has lots of restaurants/attractions in walking distance.

http://sjdowntown.com/

www.sanjose.org

eznmomma

More than one of you agree on the route so I have taken that down. I was given a couple of suggestions for places to stay. Anyone passionate about any particular place? I made a reservation for Hearst Castle late on the second day we arrive in California. That we should be able to make. I am disappointed we won't make the evening tour but we have 10 more days in Ca.on our way to San Diego so there is a lot for us to do. Thanks everyone

J_Correa

Are you planning to spend the 1st night you arrive in San Jose, Monterey, or where? This definitely makes a difference as to the route you take.

If you are staying in San Jose, which I wouldn't choose personally, then you will need the fastest route down to Monterey, which is 101/156/1 so that you can make it down to San Simeon by the afternoon tour.

If you are planning to stay the 1st night in Monterey, then you can take a much more scenic route to Monterey with time to stop along the way to see the sights. In this case, I would take Hwy 17/1. Places to stop along the way would be Big Basin and Henry Cowell State Parks, the Boardwalk and wharf in Santa Cruz, and Capitola Village in Capitola. They Mystery Spot is also a popular place to stop in Santa Cruz.

It all depends on what you want to do and what you are interested in seeing.

J_Correa

Not this again - come on guys!

Suzie

Please leave me out of your game.