suetibu

Hi, We are planning to do the following trip in 1 day.

San Diego, CA to Carmel-by-the-sea, CA (hotel booked)

We are not in a rush but have a 3 year old son (who will nap/watch videos). We are not trying to see everything on the coast but would like to get a taste of the california coast.

How would you suggest we break up our drive?

1) what parts should we stick to the coastal highway vs inland?
2) where should we stop for lunch? Santa Barbara?
3) We will explore Big Sur (a little bit of course) on monday morning so do not want to drive through it on Sunday

Thanks,
S

janisj

>>We are not in a rush but have a 3 year old son (who will nap/watch videos). We are not trying to see everything on the coast but would like to get a taste of the California coast.

Dukey1

Leave at 3 AM!!!!

ltt

i would leave san diego at 4:00 a.m. and plan your first stop to be santa barbara for breakfast. that would get you through la before bad rush hour and would give you full daylight hours to enjoy the beautiful drive along the coast (fwy 1). that section will take about 5 1/2 hours without stops. definitely worth getting up early for.

suetibu

Ok

New plan:
Day 1: San Diego to Santa Barbara
Any coves/beaches to stop by?
Any food places not to miss?

Day 2: santa barbara to carmel
We would like to spend thus whole day exploring Big Sur. Hiking to falls in julia pfeiffer burns state park is a must.
Where should we eat?
What route should we take?

Day 3: carmel to napa
The fastest route will probably be fine since we wouldn't leave until after lunch (tues)

Concentrating on scenery and food please.and beaches for my son.

Thanks,
S

suetibu

Day 1 is Sun.

sf7307

So much better!

janisj

It is >>So much better!>We would like to spend thus whole day exploring Big Sur. Hiking to falls in julia pfeiffer burns state park is a must. >Day 2 . . . What route should we take?

lynni

From San Diego you can come North on the 5 and cut over on the 126 to the 101 and come north to Santa Barbara. Butterfly Beach in Montecito is small and friendly... East Beach is closer to downtown. ( We love the Santa Barbara Shellfish Company at the end of the pier.)Fess Parkers Doubletree is not fancy but is in walking distance of the beach and pier.

Leave again early in the morning... it will be 5 plus hours to Big Sur. Drive the 101 north to just south of Paso RObles take 46 west and you will pick up Highway 1 before Cambria. Since your time is so limited you will most likely need to choose between the hike at Pfeiffer or Point Lobos and with a little one, I would choose Point Lobos.

You didn't mention when you are coming but Carmel and Santa Barbara have some of the most expensive, always booked hotels in California. Most weekends have are two night minimums ( or three if it's a holiday weekend) so you should probably secure your hotel reservations as soon as you can. Hope you have a wonderful trip!

ltt

if you haven't seen any of the coastal road just north of san diego yet, i would still get an early start (but not 4:00 a.m.!!! maybe 8:00 a.m.) and get onto the coast road at torry pines. enjoy the coastal drive up to oceanside. then you'll have to get on fwy 5 for a brief spell but then cut back over to laguna beach. nice place to stop for a break and have an early lunch/late breakfast. then take off and drive to santa barbara. one stop i'd consider if you like beaches is zuma beach. but, i don't know how much traffic that side trip would incur. maybe one of the locals will comment.

jamie99

Better, others have told you the route to take. Nepenthe is good for lunch. Santa Barbara has a couple of places to eat out on Stearn's Wharf, probably with a child Santa Barbara Shellfish is more informal.

suetibu

HI, Yes we got lucky with the Hyatt's at both Santa Barbara and Carmel so hotels are booked.

From Santa Barbara to Big Sur: Any stops that are worth seeing or should we just drive through to Nepenthe? Any suggestions for a stop midway in case we want to stop?

Laguna beach looks great for a lunch spot. Any quieter coves along the way?

Thanks for all your input. We are super excited,

S

november_moon

"From Santa Barbara to Big Sur: Any stops that are worth seeing or should we just drive through to Nepenthe? Any suggestions for a stop midway in case we want to stop?"

Yep, tons. But you'll have to be judicious in your choices since you have a long drive.

Between SB and Cambria there are several beach towns you can stop in - Pismo and Avila are good, Cambria itself is also really good.

Once you get north of Cambria there are good stops about every 10 minutes or so This drive is full of fabulous vista points, so be sure you leave time for stops. I would definitely make time to stop at Piedras Blancas to see the elephant seals, Jade Cove to go down to the beach, Julia Pfeiffer Burn state park to at least see McWay Falls - these are before you get to Nepenthe. If you want to do a short hike, Limkiln state park and Julia Pfeiffer Burn state park are good choices.

ltt

for the drive from santa barbara to carmel...i would highly recommend stopping at a grocery store the day before and purchase some picnic food/drinks. if you have a cooler, you could use some of the hotel ice to pack some stuff or just buy stuff that doesn't need to stay cold. then you can stop and eat at any of the fabulous view points along the way without wasting time in restaurants.

elizzie4000

Frankly, I wouldn't spend time with too much sightseeing on your drive to Santa Barbara. I would just want to get there and see SB. Spend the afternoon walking around. Go out on the pier. Walk on the beach and put some toes in the water.

I wouldn't sightsee on the way at the beach towns of SD County or OC. My goal is to always just get beyond LA.

If you stop and sightsee along the way it will put you into SB late afternoon. That's no time to see any of all the charm that SB has to offer. Especially since you have a full day of driving leaving SB early the next day.