Another vote for Cambria and the Paso Robles wine area as extremely scenic. And near San Simeon, stop at the Piedras Blancas elephant seal rookery.

http://www.elephantseal.org/Rookery/where.htm

Tours of the light station and area are very worthwhile, and are offered at 10:00 AM on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. http://www.piedrasblancas.org/piedra...nformation.php

Point Lobos State Preserve, south of Carmel is highly recommended. It is a unique and special place that you will not want to miss.

Whether you stay in Carmel (I suggest it) or not, don't miss taking a walk down to the beach in town. It is lovely. Great place for a picnic lunch weather permitting.

There's also an elephant seal rookery farther north should that work out better:

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=523

Since you are looking for great scenery, I highly recommend the views from the decks at Nepenthe (and the food isn't bad either!), as Pfeiffer Beach (south of Carmel).

In that case-- yes -- Santa Cruz is a good stopover.

Apologies to our San Diego poster, but there really is no reason at all to take the 17 mile Drive <i>unless</i> you are into golf/Pebble Beach big time. There are better views elsewhere w/o the cost.

As for where to stay . . . what is your actual budget? In the Santa Cruz/Carmel/Monterey areas that makes a HUGE difference.

Can't agree more w/ sf7307 re lunch at Nepenthe if the weather is the least bit clear-ish.

Here's a link to a few pictures I took with my cellphone:

https://picasaweb.google.com/dmlove5...eat=directlink

With all due respect to JanisJ: I have driven/ridden bicycles all over the area (got certified Scuba diving in Monterrey Bay back in the 70's, for Rugby tournaments, conventions, wine-tasting, whatnot - and I still think the 17 mile drive has some of the best beach scenery et al. :)

Nepenthene also makes a great coffee/breakfast/lunch stop when driving through the Big Sur area. And yes, sometimes there may be a marine layer/fog - but you just takes your chances.

UGH. Too many see Paso Robles wine country. The tourist word is out. :( The wine is horrible too!
Stick with Napa and Sonoma!!!!

isabel: Forgive me, I misunderstood. When you wrote "I'm planning a trip to San Fancisco and the central coast and wine country", I thought you wanted to visit the wineries along the Central Coast.

Let's start over. Are you visiting the Napa/Sonoma wine country for the scenery or to see beautiful wineries like the Artesa Winery in Napa or the Ferrari-Carano Winery in Sonoma?

IMHO, the scenery in Napa County isn't that great, whereas the scenery in Sonoma County is bucolic and charming.

If it is for scenery, then some parts of the Paso Robles wine country are quite beautiful.

California is dotted with wineries. I even had some relatively good wine from Temecula over the Christmas vacation. And where your son lives, over by Livermore are the Livermore wineries.

I may have missed it,but are you a photographer?

Sorry, but I'm just trying to narrow down your interests so as to give you more-targeted suggestions.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

sf7307 - thanks for the link to the photos. Is the 5th one in the top row Capitola?

Is Pfeiffer Beach as hard to find as everyone says it is?

Has anyone done the "old coast road" that is supposedly a dirt road just before (after?) Bixby bridge?

As I perfect my itinerary I'll be back for more input. Thanks a lot.

Yes, Pfeiffer Beach is as hard to find as everyone says it is, so here's a link to my trip report, which includes very specific instructions!

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...t-part-way.cfm

And yes, all of the top row and the first three in the second row are Capitola.

Thanks - I read your trip report in the early stages of my planning and already have your directions. So I'm pretty confident I'll be able to find it. I actually just found some directions on the state park web site that are almost exactly the same. I think I've actually been there once (so many years ago it's practically another life time) - but I have a photo I took that I had labeled "big sur" and now that I'm researching the area I'm thinking it must be that beach. Can't wait to go and find out if it is.

Easytraveler, Isabel is too modest to tell you how beautiful her photos are.

It sounds like you've got a great trip planned.

Hi Nikki - thanks, I can't wait to photograph California.

I'm still working on my itinerary and having trouble making things fit. I've decided that I DO want to go over the Golden Gate Bridge to link the north and south of San Francisco parts of my trip, and doing that on Sunday afternoon seems a lot more sensible than Monday mid day (because of both traffic and light) but then I end up with not quite enough time south of SF and a little too much north.

So question #1 - am I correct in that assumption?

As I have it right now it looks like this:
Day 1 - arrive Santa Cruz mid afternoon (maybe see Natural Bridges Beach, Boardwalk, possibly Capitola)

Day 2 - drive to Monterey and explore Carmel, Pacific Grove, Point Lobos.

Day 3 - drive Monterey to San Simeon - try to get to Hearst Castle by 3pm so can do tour that day.

Day 4 (Sunday) - drive back up coast aiming to get to Golden Gate Bridge by about 4 pm.

Days 5, 6, and 7 (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) - explore Marin Headlands, Sausilito, Muir Woods - possibly Point Reyes - and then Sonoma/Napa. I will only actually tour one or two vineyards as that's not a focus of mine. Just want to see the area. I would like to spend either Monday or Tuesday night in Calistoga - not sure where to spend the other one (returning car on Wednesday around 6 pm at SFO).

So question - how to arrange those three days - seems like 2 days is not enough but not sure I really need three if I'm not touring a lot of vineyards.

A note on Day 4: If time runs short, you don't have to take Hwy 1 north in order to go over the GG Bridge - you can go north on Hwy 101. So for example, if on Day 3 you don't get to tour Hearst Castle, you could tour Hearst in the morning on Day 4 and then take Hwy 101 back north rather than Hwy 1. The drive to SF would take you about 4 hours. The best way to GG bridge is Hwy 101 to San Jose, then Hwy 85 to 280 north to 19th Ave in SF.

The portion of Hwy 101 south of Gilroy is scenic - rural, agricultural, nice green hills (that time of year) with oak trees on them. It isn't as dramatic of scenery as the Big Sur coast, or course, but it is very nice.

Good recommendation from november_moon, even if you don't cut over to 101 until Carmel.

Nikki: Thanks for the heads up!

I don't know Isabel at all but her questions seem to point towards photography.

I drove down the coast on Hwy 1 a few years ago, and after a couple of hours I was so ready to be done because it was so windy and I had to concentrate so much on my driving. I can't imagine driving it both ways! I'd make sure you know the other route just in case you feel the same. That drive really can be exhausting.

"<i>That drive really can be exhausting.</i>" . . . or exhilarating. Mostly depends on how much you like to drive and if you are used to winding roads.

OK - I have a new question/plan. I am now thinking of, on day four (Sunday) only going as far north as Half Moon Bay and spending the night there. That would have me going over the GG Bridge on a Monday morning. I don't mind a little traffic, or slow, I just don't want to be caught in a several hour traffic jam. What do you think?