Question about Ca. Coast trip
Aug 27th, 2005, 03:46 PM
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Question about Ca. Coast trip
Thanks to all who have answered questions and helped me plan our trip to the coast in Oct. Now, of course, I have another question. We had planned to drive down Big Sur in a day (from Carmel) but now I am thinking that we should stay one night in that area. I have reservations in Cambria the next day but was wondering where would be a good stopping point on our way to Santa Barbara if we do stay in Big Sur? Seems like Cambria is not a long way from Big Sur and I thought that driving further down the coast would make more sense. I guess it would depend on if we are touring Hearst Castle too. We haven't decided about that yet. Anyway, any help would be appreciated.
Aug 27th, 2005, 06:09 PM
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Your oringinal idea seems best to me. To drive down Highway 1 and not stop at Hearst Castle makes no sense and means missing a real highlight. It is an easy drive from Cambria to Santa Barbara the next day.
Aug 27th, 2005, 09:53 PM
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Hi ladynole35 - see the post I just did today (Aug 28th) about my coast trip. Maybe something there will help.
<http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...&tid=34668570>
cheezz
<http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...&tid=34668570>
cheezz
Aug 28th, 2005, 03:15 PM
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Its about 1.5 hours from Big Sur to Cambria, then 2.5 hours from Cambria to Santa Barbara. It's an excellent stop over for the night, and you can have a wonderful dinner there at just about any restaurant.
Cambria is great - a totally relaxed town full of funky little shops and right next to San Simeon where Hearst castle is - we were there last year in March and it was wonderful - we are going again in Sept. Don't know where your staying - or your budget - but we like the Pelican Suites - it's right across the road from the ocean, they have a nice breakfast and wine tasting in the evening. A little pricey but well worth it!
Cambria is great - a totally relaxed town full of funky little shops and right next to San Simeon where Hearst castle is - we were there last year in March and it was wonderful - we are going again in Sept. Don't know where your staying - or your budget - but we like the Pelican Suites - it's right across the road from the ocean, they have a nice breakfast and wine tasting in the evening. A little pricey but well worth it!
Aug 28th, 2005, 04:49 PM
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ladynole, if you are leaving Carmel in the morning of day one and want to be in Santa Barbara the night of day two, youu really need to make a decision about touring the Castle before we can help you meaningfully.
In your thread "Is Cambria Worth Two Days" you also indicated that you were really interested in soaking up the atmosphere and savoring the beauty of Big Sur. You don't have time to do both.
You can drive to through Big Sur and see a number of things, and tour the castle on day 2. In that case, I would say it's definitely advisable to stay the night in the Castle area (Cambria or San Simeon). Or you can get a deeper than just drive through experience of Big Sur, which would involve devoting much of both day one and day two to it, spending the night there, and taking a distant look at the Castle up on its hilltop as you drive by.
I can't tell you which of these things to do. It's a matter of personal preference and priorities. or maybe even just which you have heard more about and wanted to see longer.
Both Big Sur and Hearst Castle are genuine world class attractions, but of a very different type. It's an apples and oranges choice. I have certainly enjoyed becoming aquainted with both. You need to chose which is a higher personal priority for you do to this time and which you will save for your next visit to the area, and then we can advise you on specific accommodations.
Cambria is not a world class attraction in itself by any means, just a place with a number of good restaurants and appealing accommodations which you might want to use if you are staying in the vacinity to visit the castle. By itself, visiting there should not be a priority when time is as limited as yours. Especially if you are going to be visiting both Carmel and Santa Barbara, both of which are more "destination" beach towns.
In your "Is Cambria Worth Two Days" thread I mentioned a number of the lodging alternatives in Big Sur. There is quite a variety of everything but the types of accommodations that are common most places. I suggest that if you do decide to overnight in Big Sur, you go back and look at my discussion in that thread.
You can easily find that thread by clicking on your own screen name at the beginning of the post with which you started this thread. The threads in which you have posted will appear on the left, and the "Is Cambria Worth Two Days" thread is currently #5 on that list for you to click on and bring up.
If tou have any questions of me or want more detail about any of the Big Sur accommodations I list there, I'll be glad to reply to your questions here on this thread.
In your thread "Is Cambria Worth Two Days" you also indicated that you were really interested in soaking up the atmosphere and savoring the beauty of Big Sur. You don't have time to do both.
You can drive to through Big Sur and see a number of things, and tour the castle on day 2. In that case, I would say it's definitely advisable to stay the night in the Castle area (Cambria or San Simeon). Or you can get a deeper than just drive through experience of Big Sur, which would involve devoting much of both day one and day two to it, spending the night there, and taking a distant look at the Castle up on its hilltop as you drive by.
I can't tell you which of these things to do. It's a matter of personal preference and priorities. or maybe even just which you have heard more about and wanted to see longer.
Both Big Sur and Hearst Castle are genuine world class attractions, but of a very different type. It's an apples and oranges choice. I have certainly enjoyed becoming aquainted with both. You need to chose which is a higher personal priority for you do to this time and which you will save for your next visit to the area, and then we can advise you on specific accommodations.
Cambria is not a world class attraction in itself by any means, just a place with a number of good restaurants and appealing accommodations which you might want to use if you are staying in the vacinity to visit the castle. By itself, visiting there should not be a priority when time is as limited as yours. Especially if you are going to be visiting both Carmel and Santa Barbara, both of which are more "destination" beach towns.
In your "Is Cambria Worth Two Days" thread I mentioned a number of the lodging alternatives in Big Sur. There is quite a variety of everything but the types of accommodations that are common most places. I suggest that if you do decide to overnight in Big Sur, you go back and look at my discussion in that thread.
You can easily find that thread by clicking on your own screen name at the beginning of the post with which you started this thread. The threads in which you have posted will appear on the left, and the "Is Cambria Worth Two Days" thread is currently #5 on that list for you to click on and bring up.
If tou have any questions of me or want more detail about any of the Big Sur accommodations I list there, I'll be glad to reply to your questions here on this thread.
Aug 28th, 2005, 05:14 PM
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JBC-
I don't think I need to decide about staying a night in Big Sur because I called today and all the places I called were booked. Deetjen's wasn't opened to ask about reservations. I believe it is a Friday that we will be coming through, so that is one reason it is booked. We will be staying in Carmel on Thursday night and leaving in the morning to drive through Big Sur and it sounds as though we can see it in a day. I already have reservations in Cambria for that Friday night and then the next day we were going to drive to Santa Barbara, going through Santa Ynez, Solvang, etc. I guess my decision now (since we can't find a room) is Hearst Castle or using the day for the drive without being rushed. Everyone says Hearst Castle is a must see but I think that I am worrying about the days and having time to stop in all the different towns.
The other question I have is about the coast up from San Francisco. We are going to Sonoma and touring a couple of wineries and then going up Hwy 128 to Mendocino. Is that doable in a day? You can't judge by the map because it is so twisty and slow. Thank you so much for helping me with our trip. We leave Oct. 1st and we are so excited. I have had a good time planning it and reading all these posts and getting alot of good info. I will wait to hear from you. Thanks again.
I don't think I need to decide about staying a night in Big Sur because I called today and all the places I called were booked. Deetjen's wasn't opened to ask about reservations. I believe it is a Friday that we will be coming through, so that is one reason it is booked. We will be staying in Carmel on Thursday night and leaving in the morning to drive through Big Sur and it sounds as though we can see it in a day. I already have reservations in Cambria for that Friday night and then the next day we were going to drive to Santa Barbara, going through Santa Ynez, Solvang, etc. I guess my decision now (since we can't find a room) is Hearst Castle or using the day for the drive without being rushed. Everyone says Hearst Castle is a must see but I think that I am worrying about the days and having time to stop in all the different towns.
The other question I have is about the coast up from San Francisco. We are going to Sonoma and touring a couple of wineries and then going up Hwy 128 to Mendocino. Is that doable in a day? You can't judge by the map because it is so twisty and slow. Thank you so much for helping me with our trip. We leave Oct. 1st and we are so excited. I have had a good time planning it and reading all these posts and getting alot of good info. I will wait to hear from you. Thanks again.
Aug 28th, 2005, 08:07 PM
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I'd agree with JBC411, I did an offshoot of that a month ago, family wanted to stay on the beach in LA but also spend a lot of time in Hollywood visiting the tourist traps.
So we spent almost ALL of our time traveling to/spending time in/driving back from Hollywood to the motel on the beach, so much time in fact that in 5 days of staying 'at the beach', we spent exactly one full hour ON the beach.
So we spent almost ALL of our time traveling to/spending time in/driving back from Hollywood to the motel on the beach, so much time in fact that in 5 days of staying 'at the beach', we spent exactly one full hour ON the beach.
Aug 29th, 2005, 11:26 PM
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Hi ladynole!
It is hard to get a Friday night reservation on short notice anywhere along the Coast thru October, so you probably should hang on to the ones you have in Cambria. You will be able to see quite a bit of Big Sur on your way through.
Be sure to spend some time just south of Carmel at Point Lobos, definitely one of the scenic highpoints of the entire Coast. Have lunch at Cielo, the restaurant at the Ventana Inn (watch for the hotel sign on the left side of the road a little after you pass Big Sur "village")if its clear and they are serving outside so you can enjoy the fabulous view (which may or may not be happening in October).
If its foggy, or they are not serving outside, if the best cuisine is your first priority, eat there anyway. If a view is more important, go just a little down the road to Nepenthe (on the right, another great view and at lower altitude, so less likely to be foggy) and have lunch either at the main restaurant or their light lunch restaurant, Cafe Kevah, which has a more interesting menu (if it hasn't closed for the season yet.) Again, eat
outside on the terrace if you can (you'll have no choice but to do so at Cafe Kevah).
Even if you've lunched at Cielo, stop by and see Nepenthe's quite different view and explore their very interesting store.
Pause and enjoy at several of the many viewing area turnoffs. The Coast Gallery a little south of Nepenthe offers more intriguing shopping (it's much more than just an art gallery.) Stop at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and take the short and easy trail to the only waterfall on the Coast that falls into the Ocean.
At Hearst Castle take Tours One and Two (you don't need to take them in that order) but BE SURE to reserve them in advance, especially since you will be there on a Saturday! People who don't are often shut out. Don't worry about shorting the Santa Ynez area and Solvang. These are secondary attractions, and you will want to give the Castle (and Santa Barbara, where you are headed) priority.
On your Northern California questions--yes, I do think you are trying to do too much if you attempt to do both the Sonoma County wine country and Mendocino in a single day trip from S.F. Mendocino is a beautiful area well worth a visit, but your suspicion that the roads are twisty and slow is correct, and it takes a long time to get up there. I don't recommend it unless you commit yourself to overnighting there.
I suggest instead that you drive up Highway 101 from San Francisco into Sonona County and follow it up to the town of Healdsburg (rather than heading east to the town of Sonoma, which is the center of only one of the major wine areas in Sonoma County.)
Do your winery exploring and tasting in the prime wine area to the west and south of Healdsburg. Then take the River Road which runs next to this area along the very scenic Russian River out to Jenner on the ocean. Turn south there on Highway One and follow it back to San Francisco, going through Bodega Bay, past Point Reyes National Seashore andthrough Stinson Beach.
This will give you the experience of a very beautiful stretch of the North Coast with its different look and feel than the Central Coast, without having to go all the way up to Mendocino.
Stu Dudley wrote an excellent, very detailed post about touring this area. His Day One is basically what I've suggested to you above, only he does it from the other direction and I think tries to pack too much in. If you follow his directions, the wineries may be closed by the time you get to them. They close fairly early, so that's why I suggest that you drive up to them first rather than getting to them first, rather than going Stu's direction and getting to them last. And if the sun is setting while you're driving along the ocean, who will want to complain?
But do read his many wonderful details on the area--here's the address:
http://tinyurl.com/ajgxd
It is hard to get a Friday night reservation on short notice anywhere along the Coast thru October, so you probably should hang on to the ones you have in Cambria. You will be able to see quite a bit of Big Sur on your way through.
Be sure to spend some time just south of Carmel at Point Lobos, definitely one of the scenic highpoints of the entire Coast. Have lunch at Cielo, the restaurant at the Ventana Inn (watch for the hotel sign on the left side of the road a little after you pass Big Sur "village")if its clear and they are serving outside so you can enjoy the fabulous view (which may or may not be happening in October).
If its foggy, or they are not serving outside, if the best cuisine is your first priority, eat there anyway. If a view is more important, go just a little down the road to Nepenthe (on the right, another great view and at lower altitude, so less likely to be foggy) and have lunch either at the main restaurant or their light lunch restaurant, Cafe Kevah, which has a more interesting menu (if it hasn't closed for the season yet.) Again, eat
outside on the terrace if you can (you'll have no choice but to do so at Cafe Kevah).
Even if you've lunched at Cielo, stop by and see Nepenthe's quite different view and explore their very interesting store.
Pause and enjoy at several of the many viewing area turnoffs. The Coast Gallery a little south of Nepenthe offers more intriguing shopping (it's much more than just an art gallery.) Stop at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park and take the short and easy trail to the only waterfall on the Coast that falls into the Ocean.
At Hearst Castle take Tours One and Two (you don't need to take them in that order) but BE SURE to reserve them in advance, especially since you will be there on a Saturday! People who don't are often shut out. Don't worry about shorting the Santa Ynez area and Solvang. These are secondary attractions, and you will want to give the Castle (and Santa Barbara, where you are headed) priority.
On your Northern California questions--yes, I do think you are trying to do too much if you attempt to do both the Sonoma County wine country and Mendocino in a single day trip from S.F. Mendocino is a beautiful area well worth a visit, but your suspicion that the roads are twisty and slow is correct, and it takes a long time to get up there. I don't recommend it unless you commit yourself to overnighting there.
I suggest instead that you drive up Highway 101 from San Francisco into Sonona County and follow it up to the town of Healdsburg (rather than heading east to the town of Sonoma, which is the center of only one of the major wine areas in Sonoma County.)
Do your winery exploring and tasting in the prime wine area to the west and south of Healdsburg. Then take the River Road which runs next to this area along the very scenic Russian River out to Jenner on the ocean. Turn south there on Highway One and follow it back to San Francisco, going through Bodega Bay, past Point Reyes National Seashore andthrough Stinson Beach.
This will give you the experience of a very beautiful stretch of the North Coast with its different look and feel than the Central Coast, without having to go all the way up to Mendocino.
Stu Dudley wrote an excellent, very detailed post about touring this area. His Day One is basically what I've suggested to you above, only he does it from the other direction and I think tries to pack too much in. If you follow his directions, the wineries may be closed by the time you get to them. They close fairly early, so that's why I suggest that you drive up to them first rather than getting to them first, rather than going Stu's direction and getting to them last. And if the sun is setting while you're driving along the ocean, who will want to complain?
But do read his many wonderful details on the area--here's the address:
http://tinyurl.com/ajgxd
Aug 30th, 2005, 04:20 AM
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JBC-
I did decide to spend 2 nights in Mendocino. Since I couldn't get a room in Big Sur, we had an extra day. We are going to drive (from Santa Rosa) to Healdsburg and then to HWY 128 to Mendocino. I have a reservation at the Blackberry Inn for 1 nite but will be adding a night there so we can enjoy Mendo and go horseback riding on the beach. That gives us a full day to drive down the coast to SF. I think this works out well. My husband really wanted to go north and I guess it was a blessing that I couldn't get a room in Big Sur. Thank you so much for the help. I have read so much info on this board that has really helped me plan. I am happy that I have finally decided about going north and how it worked out. I think we will do the Hearst Tour and then drive on down to SB. Again, thanks for all your help. If you think of anything else, let me know.
I did decide to spend 2 nights in Mendocino. Since I couldn't get a room in Big Sur, we had an extra day. We are going to drive (from Santa Rosa) to Healdsburg and then to HWY 128 to Mendocino. I have a reservation at the Blackberry Inn for 1 nite but will be adding a night there so we can enjoy Mendo and go horseback riding on the beach. That gives us a full day to drive down the coast to SF. I think this works out well. My husband really wanted to go north and I guess it was a blessing that I couldn't get a room in Big Sur. Thank you so much for the help. I have read so much info on this board that has really helped me plan. I am happy that I have finally decided about going north and how it worked out. I think we will do the Hearst Tour and then drive on down to SB. Again, thanks for all your help. If you think of anything else, let me know.
Aug 30th, 2005, 05:01 AM
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Please try to book your hotel for Santa Barbara... most have two night minimums on the weekend and it is not always easy to find something for just one night. October is a beautiful, some say the best month here... enjoy your stay!
Aug 30th, 2005, 05:13 AM
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You're welcome, ladynole. I do want to re-emphasize how important it is that you reserve your Hearst Castle tours well in advance, especially for a Saturday, to avoid disappointment. And also to be sure to take both tours One and Two. Tour One is the best overview, but without also doing Tour Two you will not get upstairs in the Main Castle, to see many interesting things including Hearst's and Marion Davies' suites in the towers, and you will want to do that.
I'm very glad you have decided to spend two nights in Mendocino. It's a wonderful area, especially to enjoy at a more leisurely pace, as you now will be able to do. Be sure to have at least one of the scrumptious desserts for me at a little cafe called the Chocolate Moose!
I'm very glad you have decided to spend two nights in Mendocino. It's a wonderful area, especially to enjoy at a more leisurely pace, as you now will be able to do. Be sure to have at least one of the scrumptious desserts for me at a little cafe called the Chocolate Moose!
Aug 30th, 2005, 06:03 AM
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I feel so much better now that everything is decided. I was kinda stressing about where, how many days, how long it takes to drive, will we get to see everything etc. But now I can enjoy knowing that all the hotels (except for LA) are reserved and now I can start ordering tickets for Hearst Castle, horseback riding, and the roaring camp train. It is going to be a great trip. I am so excited. Thanks for all the help.
Ladynole
Ladynole
