San Francisco
 

I have one night in San Francisco in mid February. The next day we leave for a drive down the PCH to Anaheim for business. Any suggestions where to stay and have a late night dinner? Thanks.

Moved to the US Forum

Are you driving to SF or flying in, SFO or another airport?

Stay along the Embarcadero at the foot of Market street (Hyatt?). Have dinner at Perbacco on Calif St. Reserve for dinner 3-4 weeks in advance to guarantee that you'll find availability for your one night in SF.


Hwy #1 is called the Cabrillo Highway north of Santa Barbara, and PCH south of SB.


Stu Dudley

Stu gives you a great plan.

Do you only have the one day to drive from SF to Anaheim?

If you mean to drive from SF to Anaheim in one day . . . don't. Fly.

Thanks for your tips Stu. I will follow up today.

I'm flying into San Fra, spending the night and then driving to Anaheim over the weekend.

So you have two days for the trip to Anaheim?

Rather than flying or driving a rental car from San Francisco, take an Amtrak bus from San Francisco over to Oakland about 7:30AM on Saturday. The southbound Coast Starlight leaves Oakland at 8:50AM and arrives in Santa Barbara about 6PM and Los Angeles Union Station about 9PM.
If you go all the way to LAUS, head for Phillippes for a double dip beef, pork or lamb sandwich. The original owner dropped a roll in the au jus vat while making a sandwich for a policeman. The policeman came back the next day and asked for the dipped sandwich again. The year was 1908. Phillippes is at 1001 N Alameda and is about 3 blocks from LAUS. They close at 10PM.
The saver coach fare is probably less than what you would pay for a drop fee on your rental car.

Hwy 1/PCH will take too long. If you need to get from San Francisco to Anaheim take 80 to 580 to 5. Boring, busy, but MUCH faster.

I know this isn't the question, but something to consider is the weather and the impact of recent storms along the California coastline. It may very well be, in mid-February, that portions of Hwy 1 will not be open or easily accessible. And driving Hwy 1 if the weather is bad can be scary from potential rockslides, and well as having visibility issues.

Now I've driven the Coast highway about 30 times in February over President's Day weekend, but only between Santa Cruz and Big Sur. On sunny days, it can be quite beautiful, but at other times, not so much. And that is a tiny distance considering the more than 12 hours it was take for you to drive from San Francisco to Anaheim.

The Coast Starlight (assuming it's on time) can be a very nice alternative, because it does include a nice chunk of coastline starting just north of Santa Barbara.

Otherwise, I agree with some other comments, fly.

I have to say that the Coast Starlight was for us underwhelming...and very, very long. Most of the scenery is agricultural; it's only when the train gets near to Santa Barbara that there are good views.