MickiMc

A co-worker and myself (late 40's, early 50's) have a business trip to Los Angeles scheduled for Dec 14-15. We thought we would take an extra 3 days to see some of the beautiful coast. Is it possible to leave Friday morning and drive up the coast ending at San Francisco Sunday evening and fly back on Monday and not have the experience be too rushed? We thought about staying Friday night in Cambria and Sat night in Carmel. We would love to have longer but for now we'll think of this trip as an appetizer. So, what do you think? With that limited amount of time, what are "must sees"? We enjoy hiking. Any suggestions for dinner and accommodations in Cambria & Carmel? Our budget would allow for around $200-250/night for a double bed room.

SAB

In terms of time it certainly is doable. An issue in Carmel will be be the dearth of a double bed room--lots of cozy, romantic hotels for couples, not so many for non-couples. Try the Mission Ranch, it's where my sister and I used to stay before we started renting a place. Very nice, with some double bed rooms in your price range.

It's been a while since I've stayed in Cambria, but it may have the same issue re: double bed rooms.

sf7307

Our budget would allow for around $200-250/night for a double bed room.

First (sorry, have to ask), do you mean a double-bed room, or a room with two beds? Be careful when you reserve!

Second, this will not be a leisurely trip up the coast, but it will still be very very nice. Do you want to spend time in San Francisco, or only on the coast? What time is your flight on Monday (it is possible that you could just return to SFO directly from Carmel, or just end up at SFO (which is between Carmel and San Francisco proper) the night before your flight if your flight is early.

I think your plan works - on Friday, drive up the coast, stopping whereever you like and end up in Cambria (nice town for poking around, walk on the beach,shopping and eating). On Saturday, continue your drive, stopping along the way to hike (Big Sur, Point Lobos), and end up in Carmel (again, very nice town for poking around, walking on the beach, shopping and eating -- more upscale than Cambria -- definitely more art galleries). On Sunday, you could hike some more (e.g. Big Basin for redwoods) or you could go to the Monterey aquarium if that interests you, or reserve in advance and see the elephant seals at Ano Nuevo, eventually ending up near SFO or in San Francisco proper, depending on the time of your flight on Monday.

MickiMc

Oops! The way I wrote that didn't come across correctly. I meant to say we want 1 room with 2 beds.

MickiMc

So, not interested in romantic B&B's.

SAB

That's how I interpreted it, and why I suggested the Mission Ranch--there are not a lot of rooms with 2 beds in Carmel. Oh, another place with 2 bed rooms is the Best Western Carmel Mission Inn (not to be confused with the Mission Ranch, which is more charming). Which reminds me that the Best Western Fireside Inn in Cambria was a place that we found a room with 2 queen beds--I just don't remember much about it, it's has been awhile.

november_moon

If you aren't set on Carmel specifically, there are a lot of lodging options in Monterey. Monterey is only a few miles from Carmel - I have found that when a lot of people say "Carmel", they really mean "Monterey Peninsula" anyway rather than just the town of Carmel.

The Portola Hotel has rooms with 2 beds, as does Casa Munras - plenty of others do, I am sure, but I am positive about those.

cat111719

Not familiar with Carmel. but can't recommend Blue Dolphin Inn in CAmbria highly enough. They have at least one room with two beds, seems to fit in your budget. It really is fabulous. Warm breakfast delivered to your room and a freshly baked cookie at night.


http://www.cambriainns.com/bluedolphin_about.html#

http://www.bookability.net/b2/hoteltop.php

tomfuller

If you were looking for a place between Carmel and SFO to spend a night, check out the Pigeon Point lighthouse hostel.
I will go back there someday. http://norcalhostels.org/pigeon/
It is also close to Butano and Big Baisin State Parks if you wanted to see some big Coast Redwoods

MickiMc

These sound like some excellent suggestions for accommodations. I'll start "googling" them. Because of the time constraint we may or may not make it into San Francisco. We have an early flight Monday out of San Jose. That would give us more time on the coast. And as November_moon mentioned, we probably do mean the "Monterey Peninsula" so staying in Monterey is an option. Then we will make sure we stay close to the airport Sun night for our early flight home. I see that there are tons of trails/vistas along the way. Since we can't do them all are there any particular hikes/viewpoints that we shouldn't miss?

sf7307

Since you're leaving out of San Jose, I absolutely suggest staying in the Carmel area all day Sunday, and then sleep near the airport Sunday night. I wouldn't even attempt San Francisco on this trip (50 miles north is San Jose).

spirobulldog

Do some seakayaking in Elkhorn Slew-lots of wildlife
McWay Falls
Hearst Castle
Point Lobos has some nice hikes
Maybe even hike at Pinnacles National Monument

Good hikes at Big Basin. Do not go by the Fodors book or your cars GPS to guide you though. They take you to the coast and that really isn't the main part of the park. The Big Basin Redwoods are inland-different area of the park than the coast. The coast is part of it, but 95% of the people go to see the trees/ hikes. You can hike from the coast, but it would be a doozy of a hike.

Eat at Falafels Drive-In in San Jose.

sf7307

We just did the 5-mile-or-so Sequoia Trail at Big Basin a couple of weeks ago and it is just beautiful.

If you do "Carmel, CA" to "Big Basic State Park" on googlemaps, it gives you the correct directions.

AllysonMonterey

You are going to love Carmel! For accomodations look into Lamp Lighter Inn, Pine Inn and Mission Ranch. The restaurant at Mission Ranch is fantastic! For great views, have breakfast or lunch at the California Market at the Hyatt Carmel Highlands.

For hiking, stop at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and check out McWay Falls. Don't miss Point Lobos in Carmel!

http://www.seemonterey.com/carmel-by-the-sea-california
http://www.seemonterey.com/big-sur-california

MickiMc

Arrgghhhh. I'm starting to get frustrated with finding a place to stay in Carmel. Time is getting short and I can't take the time to read all the reviews on this and other websites like I normally would when researching. So far I've looked at Mission Ranch and that looks nice but I wonder about the area. Would it be best to stay in the middle of town or on the beach? Looked at Tradewinds and it looks very nice but don't really want to pay those prices especially without a view. Since we only have one night there it would be nice to have a patio or balcony. Anyone know of something that fits the bill? $250-300, Nice with beachfront view, 2 Queen beds, etc..?

tomfuller

The one night my DW and I spent in Monterey was at the HI Hostel. No ocean views, no balcony but an adequate room cheap and a kitchen to make breakfast in the morning.
It's within walking distance of the Aquarium and Cannery Row.
http://www.hihostels.com/dba/hostels...-060088.en.htm

If you are looking for great ocean views, play a round of golf or rent a bicycle.

Chris_Brown

Another possibility is to skip Cambria and stay in Big Sur your first night and if you like it a second night too. It is an easy drive from Big Sur to Carmel where you can spend the day Sunday. It would be a long day of driving from LA to Big Sur the first day but it is certainly doable.

SAB

There are no places in Carmel proper that are on the beachfront--its all private homes facing the ocean. There are hotels in Pebble and in Carmel Highlands overlooking the ocean (i.e. Tinkle Pink) but they are fairly expensive. What concerns do you have about Mission Ranch? That's it is not "downtown" is a positive for me, plus the fact that it faces Point Lobos and overlooks Carmel River beach. As I said it is hard to fine a single room with 2 beds in Carmel.

MickiMc

Whew! Okay, we've got the lodging taken care of and now for the FUN part - what to do. Fly into LA Thu night, Friday head up the coast stopping for hikes at Julia Pfeiffer Burns SP & Big Basin Redwoods. Spend the night in Cambria. Sat morning drive up coast stopping at Point Lobos for views and hikes. Spend the night in Carmel. Sun morning work our way up to San Jose via 17-mile-drive, stopping at other parks/trails, etc. Spend Sun night in San Jose and early flight out Mon. Can I get comments/suggestions on this part of the itinerary? Are there specific trails or vistas we should take in? Anyone know of a good website that shows the length or approx time for the hiking trails?

elnap29

Please re-check your map. Julia P B and Big Basin are not between LA and Cambria.