I will be visiting by best friend who lives in Folsom March 13-20 and we usually plan a 2-3 day trip and she lets me do the planning! I already know that we will leave for Napa on Sunday early a.m. and hit a few wineries in the morning, then head over to Sonoma and visit a few more there in the afternoon. Then we are getting together with my cousin in Santa Rosa for dinner and spending the night there. My questions are about the next 2 days after that. I would like to head down to the Pacific Grove, Monterey, Carmel area and possibly Big Sur. We have both been to these areas before but I haven't been there since 1996 and I spent most of the time in Monterey and doing the 17 mile drive, going down to Big Sur but not having time to explore the area, just the drive down and back. This time I would like to see more of Pacific Grove, Carmel, and some of the state parks in the Big Sur area. My main concerns are weather in March since I read that it can tend to be rainy and also the drive time from San Francisco if we were leaving Santa Rosa in the morning. Would we run into a lot of rush hour traffic through San Francisco and how early would we want to consider leaving to avoid it, or should we leave mid morning thus losing part of our day, in order to avoid the traffic??? (sorry the question is so long) What is best route to take to get to Pacific Grove if we don't care that much about the scenery on the way down?
Then my next question is where to stay. I had thought about the Big Sur Lodge for Monday night because we could work our way there from Pacific Grove, Carmel and end up that late afternoon at the place we were staying without backtracking. Then on Tues., we could explore Big Sur all day before heading back to Folsom. However, if weather could be a concern and it ends up being rainy, then I would not want to be in that area. We could just spend all of our time in PG, and Carmel and forget Big Sur. In that case then I would rather stay in PG. So that is my dilemma. Any advice? Since we are two girlfriends, of course we like to shop, eat, sightsee, hike (nothing too long or strenuous). Thank you

WOW! I live in PG and do not know how to answer your question or even what it is!

Just guessing now: Check out www.pacificgrove.org for places to stay. Good list of all of them here.

Route: Take 101 through Morgan Hill and Gilroy to 156west and it runs into Hwy 1 that will take you into Monterey.

Bob, have you had a chance to dine at the White House yet? I'm waiting for your report!! LOL ***kim***

Not yet at the White House. My wife has and reported it was very good.

It's your turn next!! Save room for that "chocolate sack" dessert he's famous for. Unique and yummy!! Bon Appetit!! ***kim***

Guess people are having difficulty knowing what to respond to and how. Your main concern seems to be whether it will be raining or not in March. We don't know. The way it has been raining these last couple of weeks, Monterey could be an island floating off the coast by March!

On the other hand, you could have some very nice days.

The route recommended to you: 101 to 156 to Highway 1 is the fastest and less scenic way to get to Monterey. You will run into traffic during peak traffic hours.

If you like Pacific Grove, I'd try for one of the B&Bs along the shore. Try a search here on Fodors for Pacific Grove and you will see a number of recommendations.

If the weather breaks in your favor, you could hike any of the state parks along the coast. Do another search here on Fodors and you will see Point Lobos, Julia Pfeiffer Burns, and Pfeiffer Big Sur among the parks that are recommended. There are a number of not too strenuous "baby" hikes you could go on.

My suggestion to you is to search Fodors for previous postings which offer excellent advice and suggestions on all of Northern California. Then if you still have further questions, come back and ask some more.

Good luck!

Two girlfriends who want to shop, eat, hike, etc........I would stay in the Monterey/Carmel/Pacific Grove area. I'd hike the perimeter trail at Point Lobos (6 beautiful miles - park on the road and walk in... Arnold just raised the fees!), stop at Rocky Point for shrimp cocktails and whale watching, drive to the Inn at Spanish Bay and have cocktails on the patio by the gas fire pits and wait for the bagpiper at sunset.

Another place I like to eat is the Rio Grill, in Carmel (near the Mission).

Have fun!

In terms of heading south from Santa Rosa on a monday AM, it's likely to be pretty ugly traffic. My instinct would be to leave before 6am or after 9am, but I don't actually live in the area, just hear the traffic reports sometimes. An alternative to taking the surface streets through SF would be to cross over on the Richmond/San Rafael bridge and come down the east side of the bay on I-880 (not sure it's any faster though).

Thank you all for your responses so far. I feel like I am starting to form a plan now. I also realized I could ask my cousin who lives in Santa Rosa for the advice about going through SF in the morning since she has lived both south and now north of SF. I will post any advice I hear that might help someone else!