Monterey vs. Carmel vs. S. Barb
 

Hi All,

I'm planning a trip for me and my wife for 16 days (5/20-6/6) cruising the West Coast from North to South.

Anyway, I'm in SF until 5/30 and I need to be in San Diego starting on 6/4 (to visit my cousin). This leaves 5/30, 5/31, 6/1, 6/2, and 6/3.

I'm currently looking at Monterey, Carmel, Santa Barbara, and LA as possibilities with the thought of staying in two of the above (the idea is to see more of less rather than less of more).

Anyone have any opinions you'd like to share about the above options?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Jason

If you don't have reservations yet, you may not have a choice in your itinerary.

Memorial Day weekend kicks off a very busy high season for all three towns you mention.

As a general rule, the better hotels in the coastal towns all along the coast require a two-night stay (Friday and Saturday) on weekends from Mem. Day through Labor Day and occasionally later in September. Because of the holiday, you might have to (or want to) spend 5/30 and 5/31 (and possibly 6/1)in one place, either Monterey or Carmel so that you don't have to drive far in holiday traffic on the first day out of S.F.

After that, my choice would be a couple of nights in Santa Barbara rather than L.A. unless there are a few specific things in L.A. you want to see/do. S.B. is just so much more manageable when you only have a couple of days, and there is some beautiful countryside (and great wine!) nearby in the Santa Ynez area.

Regarding Monterey or Carmel, it really depends on what your interests are AND where you can find a room. Carmel is an upscale place with galeries and that sort of thing. Monterey is more diverse. In between in Pacific Grove which has a lot of B&Bs and a lot of charm. All 3 towns are very close together, so you can visit all of them easily.

We have stayed in both Carmel and Monterey and I agree with J Correa that it doesn't matter too much as far as location for seeing the area.

We probably prefer to stay in Monterey for the waterfront attractions since we are not big shoppers.

For me, the not to be missed attraction of the area, besides the 17 mile drive, is Point Lobos State Reserve just south of Carmel.

i would stay 3 nights in monterey/carmel area and 2 nights in santa barbara.

Thank you all for your advice. We already are having trouble finding rooms in either town (Monterey or Carmel!!!) I feel like we like the quiant little towns better just to relax and get away, but we do live (happily) in Boston and are lovers of NYC so "metropolitan" areas don't intimidate us. On the other hand, how about b/w LA and S. Barbara? I feel like more people like S. Barb better han LA, but should we stop in LA for the sake of all the fame? Thanks again!