Pacific Coast Highway/Highway 1 Itinerary - Comments please!
 

Thanks to everyone's great advice, my husband and I have put together a fabulous itinerary and would love any additional input.

For starter's we have two whole days to drive, with one overnight. YES, I know that this is not nearly a sufficient amount of time to make a trip that could easily take a whole week, but there is no flexibility and we'll have to make do. So, with that said, we are fully aware that we will be driving ALOT and we understand that we are trying to pack in a whole lot in a short period of time, but we are hoping that it's doable. I also know my driving times assume no traffic. I understand things can get pushed off schedule.

I've attached maps of our routes below, so you can see the various routes we are taking to possibly suggest better alternatives. Our goal is to see the best sights, and to cut out driving along Highway 1 in areas where we aren't missing anything.

DAY 1

Depart Sonoma at 8:00 A.M.
Head over the GG Bridge, head along the coast to avoid 19th Ave. in SF to Skyline Blvd. Pick up 280 and take this to 17, cutting over to Santa Cruz. Skip SC (sorry!) and continue along Highway 1 to Monterrey.

Arrive in Monterrey around 11:15 A.M.
Depart Monterrey area around 2:15 P.M.
Walk along Fisherman's Wharf and Cannery Row, picking up lunch somewhere. Drive through Pacific Grove along Ocean View Blvd. Stop in Carmel by the Sea, stroll downtown for a bit. We are intentionally skipping the 17 mile drive. I know 3 hours in the Monterrey Peninsula Area is not nearly enough time, but doable?

Pick up Cabrillo Highway/Highway 1, continue to Point Lobos State Reserve. We won't stop for any significant amount of time, can we take pictures from the road or do you have to go in? Cross over Brixby Bridge, stopping quickly for a few pictures. Continue on to Big Sur.

Arrive in Big Sur around 3:30 P.M.
Depart Big Sur around 4:30 P.M.
Big Sur is beautiful, but there doesn't seem like a whole lot to do if you are just stopping by. I figure we will swing by JP Burns State Park and do the short hike to see McWay Falls. I think 1 hour is good for this? Do you think we should spend more time here and maybe see the purple sands of Pfeiffer Beach? I'd like to get on the way to Cambria for the night though.

Pick up Highway 1 and continue on to Cambria. Stop by Piedras Blancas to see if any seals are out, but I think there aren't a lot in September. We are obviously skipping Hearst Castle - there just isn't time. Can you get onto the grounds without paying? If so, is it worth it just to drive up there and to see it?

Arrive in Cambria around 6:00 to 6:30 P.M.
We are spending the night at the Sand Pebbles Inn on Moonstone Beach. Anyone heard anything good about this place? We got a good rate. We'll grab dinner in Cambria somewhere and stroll around the villages.

DAY 2

Depart Cambria around 9:30 A.M.
Pick up Highway 1 and head toward San Luis Obispo.

Arrive in San Luis Obispo around 10:30 A.M.
Depart SLO around 11:30 A.M.
Along the way we were planning on driving through Cayucos and Morro Bay. Maybe getting coffee, but not stopping for a significant amount of time and heading to SLO. We've budgeted 1 hour to walk around SLO. Would our time be better spent in either Cayucos or Morro Bay?

Continue on Highway 1, driving through Pismo Beach. Pick up 101 and drive inland for a bit to Santa Barbara.

Arrive in Santa Barbara around 1:30 P.M.
Depart Santa Barbara around 3:00 P.M.
Here is where I have an option - I can continue driving through SB, just checking out State St. and Stearns Wharf quickly and continue on to somewhere more interesting for lunch, or we can kill and hour and a half here and have lunch.

Hit the road no matter what by around 3:00 P.M.

Here's where the trip gets interesting in terms of route. The plan is to take 101 past Oxnard. But instead of taking 101 into LA at rush hour, I will cut over just past Oxnard to Highway 1 again, taking that all the way past Malibu. Highway 1 takes longer, but I am told this will be faster than taking the 101 to the 5 connector in LA in rush hour. I then plan on cutting over on the 10 to the 405 to the 73 and picking up the 5 just south of Laguna Niguel and taking that all the way to San Diego.

Arrive (hopefully) in San Diego around 7:00 P.M. (or 8:00 P.M.) with traffic.

So, whattya think?

I forgot to add the maps with route information. Here they are. Thanks again!

http://tiny.cc/Day1Map

http://tiny.cc/Day2Map

If your objective of this trip is to say that you drove PCH, if so then your itinerary is fine. In my opinion there are too many beautiful sights to just drive by and hope to get photos from the car.

Minor quibble. Monterey in California has one R, Monterrey in Mexico has two Rs.

Don't forget to stop at the Giant Artichoke (Restaurant) in Castroville.

A nice trip for a couple that likes to drive. Take your time and enjoy the ride.

I doubt you're going to make it from Sonoma to Monterey in 3 hours if you're leaving at 8 AM on a weekday. It'll probably take at least 2-1/2 hrs just to get to the 280/17 interchange near San Jose, and then it's another 1-1/4 hrs to Monterey from that point. Hope you're not intimidated with mountain driving - Hwy 17 to Santa Cruz does that to some people, who then tend to go slow in the right lane, along with the trucks, so that could slow you further.

One suggestion would be to bypass Monterey entirely and spend your three hours in Carmel. That way you could have a nice lunch there and spend some time walking around the village.

An ambitious road trip to be sure.

Given your time constraints, you have mapped out a very wonderful trip. Be aware that the whole point of going through Big Sur is the scenic drive along the coast. The miniscule town of Big Sur itself won't take up any time at all, certainly not an hour---unless you want to stop there for lunch. Good idea on your schedule to skip 17 mile drive. Also you could easily skip Pfeiffer Beach-----it's too difficult to find and get to given your schedule.

Have fun!

Wow! That's ambitious!
Let's see, IMHO...I think I would go into the Pacific Grove entrance to the 17 mile drive (maybe $8) and continue along the coastal part to the Carmel exit. It's the prettiest part of that drive and won't take you much longer (only a few of the 17 miles). That drive is somewhat like you would see in Point Lobos, and you would have to pay the entry fee to go in there($15 now?).

After you pass Big Sur (30 mi south of Carmel), you'll come to a restaurant/shop on the ocean side...Nepenthe. It's worth a stop for the wonderful view from the outside terrace of their Cafe Kevah. You don't have to go to the main restaurant, and you don't even have to purchase anything from the Cafe Kevah counter (but you'll want to!) You can just stop by for a quick break and look at the view. The shop below is very cool, too, with lots of local merchandise.

Moonstone Beach is fine. The hotels are all more like motels, just so you know what to expect. It's quite a ways from the main street of Cambria itself, but sometimes we dont even bother to go there when we're short of time. There's a nice boardwalk all along Moonstone Beach (just dunes...no shops or anything) There's a good little outdoor restaurant. You'll see it...good for breakfast. I cant recall the name.

I'd stick to SLO and their pretty street along the river near the Mission. Perfect for just an hour or so.

I'd think twice about taking Highway 1 down from Oxnard. We tried that once and it took FOREVER and it's not that scenic. The 101 will hook up directly to the 405 which has a carpool lane a good portion of the way down which continues when it meets the 5. Yes, you'll probably have traffic, but the carpool lane really helps.

What a whirlwind trip...should be fun...post back how it turns out...Good luck!

Thanks so much for all the comments, we will definitely post back how it went. Ambitious for sure. Our whole point is not merely to say that we drove the PCH. We have to get from point A (Sonoma) to point B (San Diego) and have two days to do it, so figured, why not at least take in some gorgeous sights along the way, even if it's cramming in a whole lot in a short period of time. Seems like a much better idea than taking a boring not eventful highway for sure!

Thanks again!

Yeah, I thought as much about Cambria. I got a good rate on the beach and figured we'd really only be sleeping there, so why not take advantage of the view. Is there much to see/do in Cambria village? Thanks.

We ate lunch at Robin's in Cambria. It was delicious & a very quaint restaurant.
http://www.robinsrestaurant.com/cm/Home.html
Lots of cute shops, restaurants in the town, not much else.

If you have time & if it's offered when you will be in Cambria, take the evening tour of Hearst Castle. It was well worth our time & money.

You will love Cambria! I would recommend a meal at either the Black Cat Bistro or the Sow's Ear Cafe. Try to get over to Linn's to sample some ollalieberry goodies, there is also a cool little tea house there called the Tea Cozy, right across from Linn's. If you like to wine taste, check out Fermentations in the village. Have fun! ***kim*** ((#))

Dont' know what time of the year you are going but....if you want to take PCH (hwy 1) through Orange County, after Malibu you could hop on the 405 south then cut towards the ocean to go through Huntington Beach (surf city south)(Warner, Beach, Bolsa Chica all would be okay exits), continuing past Newport Beach (great yacht bay), Laguna Beach (artsy), Dana Point and then you can hop back on the 405 for the drive to San Diego. During June, July and August, PCH is crowded with tourists and kids going to the beach. The rest of the year is great! These are beautiful towns. Have fun.