Need help w/Northern Cal Itinerary
 

We will be traveling in Northern California for 14 days and would appreciate any "Must see", "Must do", and "Must eat" recs. We're driving from LA to San Francisco, there for 3 nights. Then on to Mendocino, there for 3 nights. Back down to Carmel/ Big Sur area for 3 nights and then to Cambria for 2 nights to see Hearst Castle. Also looking for recs on where to stay in Carmel &/or Big Sur - charming but cheap. Also do you rec staying in Big Sur since we head South anyways or is it better to use Carmel as the base and then just drive back & forth? Is there enough to do there for 2-3 days? Thanks very much.

Great itinerary!

You could drive straight up Interstate 5 from Los Angeles to San Francisco in about 8 hours. This is the quickie way between the two cities.

After SF, take Highway 101 North, take the exit for the Marin Headlands for a terrific view of SF and then, further along on 101, turn off to visit the wine country of Napa/Sonoma. My favorite valleys are the Russian River Valley and the Alexander Valley for views. For wine-tasting, there are plenty of recommendations on Fodors.

Depending on how far up you want to go, you could continue on Highway 101 and cut over at Leggett for Highway 1. This would be the northmost point that I would recommend for this trip.

Or you could go along the Mendocino wine route, Highway 128, and drive up to Mendocino.

On the return trip,I would highly recommend that, since you took the inland route up, that you follow Highway 1 along the coast back down all the way to San Francisco. Stay one night in Mendocino and then start your slow drive down. Don't miss Fort Ross. All the old Western forts were modeled on this early Russian fort. Besides, the location is beautiful. Check this forum for many suggestions of what to do along Highway 1 north of San Francisco. Type in gualalalisa in the search post and you'll see a lot of recommendations.

Once in San Francisco, continue on Highway 101 through San Francisco and then Highway 1 again down along the coast to Carmel. I've recently posted a one day hike that I did in Big Sur ("Hiking Big Sur State Parks") - Pt Lobos, Pfeiffer Big Sur, Julia Pfeiffer Burns, and Limekiln State Parks. I'm not suggesting that you need to do all of these hikes nor do them all in a day as I did, just a few suggested hikes. Again, check this forum for numerous threads on Carmel/Pacific Grove/Monterey/Big Sur. I've not stayed in many of the recommended lodgings, as I live only about an hour away from Monterey, so you might want to see what other visitors have to say on this forum. Also check out tripadvisor.com which has numerous hotel user reviews. Staying in or near Pfeiffer Big Sur would be fun.

There are many Missions in California that you could visit along the way. The one I would recommend is the La Purisma Mission near Lompoc (this is south of Hearst Castle and north of Santa Barbara).

Just a few suggestions. I'm certain others will add their gems! :)

Again, great itinerary! Have fun in California!

easytraveler has given some good advice. I just wanted to add a couple things.

Whether you stay in Carmel or Big Sur is really a matter of choice. It really depends on what you want to do. If you want to see the Monterey area, then it would be better to stay in town. If you want to hang out in the woods and be away from people, Big Sur would be a better choice. You could split the time if you wanted to do both.

As far as lodging is concerned, I don't have any specific recommendations, but I will say that cheap and Carmel are rarely seen in the same sentence. Carmel is a pretty upscale place. Pacific Grove is next door and is less expensive than Carmel and definitely has plenty of charming places to stay - still, I don't think you will find anything that qualifies as cheap. Monterey is just on the otherside of Pacific Grove and would be your best bet for cheap lodging. You might try Priceline to get a good deal on nicer accomodations than a motor lodge.

Just a suggestion--going from highway 1 --Fort Bragg/Mendocino Highway 20 to Willits is shorter, faster and easier drive. Turn off is just south of Fort Bragg - which is about 10 miles down to Mendicino
-Leggitt to highway 1 is o.k. I just prefer Hgwy 20.......
2-3 miles above Fort Bragg is a wonderful State Park with FREE day use . Mac Kerricker , the man who donated the land , had an agreement with the Sate that no day use fees would be charge!!! Beautiful ocean views and a "board" path out to the ocean bluffs..
Check it out...
P.S. Fort Bragg retains some of its original "small lumber town" charm even thpugh the mill is now closed,,
VERY different in "culture" from Carmel !!!

In Big Sur you might consider the Big Sur Lodge located in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, also the Asilomar Conference Center as well as the Lighthouse Lodge, both in Pacific Grove. I don't know if these would qualify as cheap for you, but certainly not overly expensive.

Otherwise as J Correa has mentioned, Monterey has many motels to choose from like Best Western, etc. I've heard lots of people getting the Monterey Hyatt via Priceline, I've stayed there at a government rate and was pleased with it, PL hits were even less than that. Good luck.

I stayed at the Lighthouse Lodge in Pacific Grove but not in the suites. It was not good. We stayed only one night and cancelled the rest. This was after they refurbished. If on the other hand you can stay at the suites section which is down the street then do stay there.

Hi indigoblue,

I agree with taking interstate 5 from LA to SF on the way up. I would recommend continuing up to Mendocino and start your trip south along highway 1 from there to SF. From SF I would not recommend taking highway 1 down to Monterey and Carmel. The stretch of highway 1 from SF to Monterey is not as scenic as in the Monterey and Big Sur areas.

From SF take the scenic 280 downt to San Jose. Along the way in the town of Woodside you could stop for a tour of the Filoli Estate. I would recommend 1 or 2 nights in San Jose as well. Some of the highlights there are the Tech and Rosicrucian Egyptian Museums, Winchester Mystery House, and Japantown. The Japanese Gardens in Kelley Park are also quite nice. Just outside of San Jose, Big Basin is a great place to see the coastal redwoods.

www.bigbasin.org

www.sanjose.org

In Monterey/Carmel some of the "Must Sees" are the aquarium, Point Lobos, downtown Carmel, and Fisherman's Wharf. In the Monterey area Pacific Grove has a great selection of inns and B&B's.

www.pacificgrove.org

I think that 1 night in Cambria should be sufficient. The next morning I would take a tour of Hearst Castle. Be sure to reserve tickets. I don't think it's necessary to stay the night in Big Sur. I would incorporate a leisurely drive through Big Sur on the way to Cambria. The link below is an interactive map of the most scenic part of Highway 1 south of Monterey.

http://www.pelicannetwork.net/big.sur.coast.htm

Have a great trip.