Pacific Coast Highway in 2 nights
 

My sons (5 and 2.5) and I are tagging along on my husband's business trip to California in a few weeks. We'll be meeting up with him in LA and plan to drive the Pacific Coast Highway to his conference near the San Francisco airport.

It is likely that he will have a Friday afternoon meeting in Los Angeles and then needs to check in at the conference in SF by lunch time on Monday, leaving us with a very short amount of time. I've read many of the other posts on the PCH, but most of those lucky travelers had a lot more time!

We're figuring we should just plan to stay in Los Angeles (Hawthorne, actually) Friday night, rather than fight Friday afternoon traffic out of town. We lived in northern VA for a few years and don't even want to attempt the notorious west coast traffic jams!!

So, we'll be leaving the LA area Saturday morning and have Saturday and Sunday nights to entertain ourselves....

-Should be plan to stay one place both nights or two different places? Either way - where should we look? His company favors Marriott properties and, traveling with kids, I prefer suites :)

-We love hiking - where are some nice hikes along the route?

My inclination is to just kind of wander our way up the coast, stopping where the mood strikes. With so little time, I'm not sure we'd have a lot of time for major attractions. The kids and I will have a pretty good fill of museums in LA and SF. Would we regret not having planned more specifically?

The most scenic stretch of the Cabrillo Highway (no such thing as the Pacific Coast Highway north of Santa Barbara) is between San Simeon and Carmel. Unfortunatly this section does not have many places to stay, except a few super expensive resorts and several rather rustic "places" in Big Sur. I would not depart without reservations for the weekend. Also, many hotels in Carmel require a 2 night minimum on weekends.


I would leave Saturday morning and make San Simeon the destination for the first day. Visit Hearst Castle on Saturday. You should have time left in the day.

Sunday, drive up the coast & stop a Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park to admire the coast & take a hike or two. Then just south of Carmel, visit Pt Lobos to see perhaps the most scenic meeting of water & land you'll likely to experience. Allow a couple of hours for Pt Lobos. This will be a full day. I would perhaps skip Juia Pfeiffer Burns State Park if you don't get an early start or if you want to spend more time in Carmel. Stay Sunday night in Carmel. You may be able to find a place that will take you without a 2 night minimum.

Monday, have breakfast in Carmel & leave Carmel at 10am to get to SFO at noon.

I would sure try to get at least to Santa Barbara on Friday night. I'm a San Francisco person - but perhaps ask a LA expert about the "get-away" traffic on Friday. If you can start exploring Hwy 1 on Saturday, visit Hearst Castle & Julia Pfeiffer Burns on Saturday & stay in Carmel 2 nights. Then explore Pt Lobos, Carmel, Monterey etc on Sunday.

Stu Dudley

I like StuDudley's suggestions. In the San Simeon area we like to stay in Cambria, five miles south, at one of the motels on Moonstone Beach Drive.

Sea lions are often lolling around on the ocean a few miles north of San Simeon.

There is an excellent aquarium in Monterey that will likely interest your children.

HTTY

I'd agree mostly with Stu's itinerary.

You could leave Hawthorne and just get Highway 1, the Pacific Coast Highway, and go up along the coast on Friday. Avoid the inland freeway like I-405 or Highway 101. It should be a fairly pleasant drive. If the traffic is too heavy, stop for dinner, and continue on. Near Ventura you could either stop there for the night or get on Highway 101 and stop in Santa Barbara. Estimate about 2-3 hours for this drive.

Saturday morning, get an early start, but not too early. North of Santa Barbara near the town of Gaviota, the road splits. Highway 101 turns inland while Highway 1 goes closer to the coast. Take Highway 1 and stop off at Mission La Purisma, which is now a state park and is extremely well maintained. It will give you a very good idea of old mission life. La Purisma is one of only two missions that are now secular, the other missions are all still in the hands of the Catholic Church.

This website has a map:

http://www.lapurisimamission.org/

After the mission, continue on Highway 1 until you reach the "beach" towns (Pismo Beach, Grover Beach, Shell Beach, Avila Beach and Morro Bay). Stop for lunch here and then continue on up to Cambria. Reserve a hotel here but do not stop if you don't need to.

Past Cambria is Hearst Castle. Try and get an afternoon tour

http://www.hearstcastle.org/

If you have the time after the castle tour, go to the beach. On a strip of beach which is not well marked, but which will say "Beach Access" at several points, turn off the road and go and see the elephant seals rookery. It's about 5-6 miles north of San Simeon.

http://www.moonstonehotels.com/Elephant_Seals.htm

Road will look somewhat like this (but if the sun is shining, it's much nicer!):
http://maps.google.com/maps?client=f...num=1&ct=image

Stay Saturday in Cambria. There are lots of threads here on where to stay in Cambria.

Sunday morning, don't start too early. If there's fog, wait till it lifts. You will be on the road to Big Sur.

http://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/map.html

Right after that flat part near San Simeon, the road will start to wind and the views will be spectacular.

Stop off at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and hike the easy 1/2 hour trail to McWay Falls. The turnoff for you will be on the right. Once inside, keep going until you come to the parking lot. Park. Look across the road and you'll see some stairs leading down. Take those stairs and turn to the RIGHT. This path is wheelchair accessible and an easy walk to the falls.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/DEFAULT.ASP?page_id=578

You don't need more than an hour here.

Continue on up to Nepenthe restaurant for lunch. Nepenthe will be on your LEFT and about 10-15 miles up the road from Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. Look for the sign! It's easy to miss, right on a big curve!

http://www.nepenthebigsur.com/

After lunch, Highway 1 after Nepenthe turns inland and a few (2? 3?) miles up the road is Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. It will be on your RIGHT. Turn in here and ask the ranger for a short hike in the area. You'll be seeing some gorgeous redwoods.

Wear sturdy shoes, have a hat, and layer clothing for these hikes.

Keep going up Highway 1 and stop off at Point Lobos State Reserve. It will be on your LEFT. At the parking lot inside there will be a ranger. Talk with the ranger and ask which would be a good hike for you and your kids. This is probably the best and the most beautiful of all the state parks/reserves along the California coast.

Spend Saturday night in Carmel or Monterey. From Carmel it'll be more like a 3 hour drive to San Francisco Airport.

Have a great trip and welcome to California! :)

wow - these are great tips! Thanks so much!

Is Hearst Castle really likely to interest young kids? My husband and I have both been, but I was thinking we would wait until a future trip to take them.

I believe the sea lions, the aquarium, and a swimming poll will be more appealing to your young children than the big house at San Simeon.

:) They'd probably be happy at the swimming pool the entire visit!!

According to Google: Driving directions to San Francisco Airport
109 mi – about 1 hour 50 mins (up to 2 hours 20 mins in traffic).

Leaving Carmel at 10 to get there by noon is cutting it close.

With kids the ages of your's, I would skip Hearst Castle and concentrate on getting to Carmel/Monterey. You could still get in some hiking at Point Lobos and take in the Aquarium. I would also skip the Big Sur drive with the kids. Too long and tedious for them, plus you would have to make sure no one is prone to motion sickness.

Good luck and make it fun for them. When the kids are happy, everyone is happy.

MY

I tend to agree with Michelle Y. I wouldn't try Hearst Castle with young children as you will be spending more time watching them than watching the castle. Instead, think about taking US101 and driving to the Monterey area before cutting over to CA 1, the scenic coastal route. The drive isn't spectacular like the coast route, but it's pretty and faster. Go to Pt. Lobos in the afternoon. Stay overnight in Monterey. Go to the aquarium on Sunday; both you and the kids will love it. Take the time to visit Carmel. You'll have another 2 hours to drive to SFO, and you will have had a taste of the coast. If you really want to drive the coast, it's spectacular but it has enough curves to cause car sickness to those prone to it. If you take the coast, stop overnight at Cayucos, Morro Bay or San Simeon but skip Hearst unless your kids are super angelic. Lots of places to walk/hike around Morro Bay and Cayucos. For suites, I think there's an Embassy Suites in San Luis Obisbo - another good place to stay. Then leave as soon as the fog lifts in the AM for the ride up the coast. Try to take in the Aquarium in Monterey.

But just north of Hearst Castle stop to see the elephants seals.

>>We'll be meeting up with him in LA and plan to drive the Pacific Coast Highway<,

Why are people advising TMom to drive up 101 when she specifically asked for advice about PCH/Cabrillo Highway??? Note the title of this post also. Missing Hwy 1 would be a BIG mistake, IMO. I assume that Mom knows her children better than we do and can decide if the winding roads would not be a good idea. Personally, I would get bored with 101 more often than Hwy 1, where I could get out, walk around, and spend 30 mins or so admiring the views (if it is not foggy).

Concentrate on the segment between San Simeon & Carmel - do the other sections as fast as possible. This is one of the greatest coastal drives in the USA and Europe, IMO. Don't miss an opportunity.

Stu Dudley

<i>I believe the sea lions, the aquarium, and a swimming poll will be more appealing to your young children than the big house at San Simeon.</i>

I'm not even sure they would allow a 2-1/2 year old on the tour. And I remember someone posted awhile back that you have to keep kids "in line" --- since there's no touching allowed. I'd skip it with little kids, too much work!

I do think we'll skip Hearst for now. I don't think they'd get anything out of it and hubby and I have been there before.

The kids are (knock on wood) great road-trippers and good hikers (as good as a 5 and 2.5 year old can be!). We'll plan to stop frequently so they can stretch their legs and explore.

I figure we'll start on 1 and we can jump over to 101 if we get bored/carsick/antsy along the way.

Here's a very tentative plan...

-Mosey out of town Friday, stopping for dinner somewhere. Stay Friday night at the Marriott in Ventura Beach. I'm hoping that drive is doable on Friday afternoon from LA??

-Saturday – Mission La Purisma. Lunch in beach town. Elephant seals.

Where to spend the night here?? We considered stopping near Cambria, but that will be cost prohibitive on the company budget! We could do San Luis Obispo, but I'm wondering if we'd want to get more north on this day?

-Sunday – hiking and exploring at Big Sur, Pfeiffer Burns State Park/McWay Falls, redwoods, Point Lobos, aquarium. Wow - this day looks FULL! Reserved Residence Inn in Salinas.

-Monday – head out after breakfast to drive to SFO

Any other thoughts??

>>I figure we'll start on 1 and we can jump over to 101 if we get bored/carsick/antsy along the way.<<

Once you get to the most scenic section, there are not any roads to get over to 101.

I strongly urge you to spend more time on the scenic section of Hwy 1 - between San Simeon & Carmel. You won't even get there till Sunday mid-morning - your only day to see this unbelievable section of the Calif Coast. You will not have nearly enough time to explore Pfeiffer Burns State park, Redwoods, Pt Lobos, and the aquarium - not even close. I would try real hard to make it to at least Santa Barbara on Friday. Then head up to San Simeon without any stops. Dawdle up the coast from there. Stop in Big Sur and explore that area (burgers/fries at Nepenthe, Burns/waterfalls, Redwoods, Molena) till about 5PM or so. Then head to Carmel & stay there 2 nights. In the morning, hit the aquarium, and spend the afternoon at Pt Lobos. Return to Carmel, walk the beach and also the sidewalk along the beach next to the houses.

I'm not a big fan of Cambria - especially compared to Carmel, Pacific Grove, and the Big Sur coast.

Here is something I posted about Pt Lobos

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...alif-coast.cfm

And San Francisco & surrounds - including Big Sur.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=35129049

Stu Dudley

I also think you should spend Sat. & Sun. nights in the Carmel/Monterey area. You have way too much crammed into Sunday. Plus many motels/hotels require 2 night minimum stays on weekends. Don't stay in Salinas.

Stu is right about the drive from Cambria to Carmel: once you are on it, you can't cut over to 101. You are committed to the Big Sur drive. Well worth it, if you have great weather.

Salinas????? - oh my God no !!!!!!! Stay in Carmel!!!! Are you coming here to stay in hotels, or to explore & enjoy this fantastic section of the US? BIG mistake to stay in Salinas. I've lived in California 62 years, had have found no reason to visit Salinas yet - maybe this Sept.

PS - if you'll be in San Francisco for any lenght of time, there is a wonderful aquarium that opened last fall at the Academy of Science in Golden Gate Park. It also has an excellent planetarium, a bug show, and a rain forrest - in addition to stuffed animals. You'll see dozens of seals at Pier 39 near Fisherman's Wharf.

Don't stay in Salinas - please !!! Don't miss an opportunity to stay by the coast in Carmel or Paciric Grove (or even Monterey)

Stu Dudley

Hm...well that's a bit of a dilemma. I had picked the Residence Inn b/c it was relatively inexpensive and the suites would allow us all to actually sleep (always important!).

The govt per diem in that area appears to be only $125, so we're pretty limited in our options. I'll have to search some of the other posts and online and see what I can find!

Get a paper route or something to earn the extra $$$.. It's worth it to stay in Carmel, Pacific Grove, or Monterey (latter of you can't get the paper route).

Stu Dudley

Stu - :) Unfortunately I already have a 'paper route'...I was only able to talk my way onto this trip was to promise that the kids and I would only need to pay for our food...

I'll keep looking!