San Francisco to LA Drive
 

Hi All, I am flying to SF with my girlfriend August 9th, 2017 for 7 days. We both love SF and will enjoy staying in the area but I was looking into driving to LA. With the Big Sur bridge closed is it worth it? Obviously trying another time is the easy answer but who knows when that will be. Basically the trip will be to Carmel by the sea - east to 101 until we can go west to Cambria and continue south. Just wondering if I could get some thoughts on if this would be a fun trip and if their are any nice places to stay along the way. I have a feeling I would really like Big Sur and it will hurt not driving through it.

Thank you!

Does the 7 days include time spent in both SF and LA? If so it is pretty rushed since both cities deserve at least 3 days. The bridge is supposed to be replaced end of September but the Mud Creek slide will not be cleared until sometime in 2018.

We've done about everything in SF previously, and I was thinking of arriving in LA for a night and flying out. So the trip would mainly be the drive and spots inbetween the two cities. I would be all in for this, just wasn't sure if the detour makes it not worth it

To drive straight through from San Francisco to LA is about a 6 hour drive.

If your idea is to spend 7 days driving between the two cities you will have lots of time.

Check on the road closures in the Monterey area - as I think there was a massive land slide that closed many miles of the road on the coast and it may still be unusable for transportation. There are of course alternate routes.

http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/display.php?page=sr1

>>I would be all in for this, just wasn't sure if the detour makes it not worth it<<

TOTALLY worth it. And w/ the info that you really don't plan much/any time in SF and LA I;d sure do it.

You can still visit Carmel/Monterey, Point Lobos and the northern part of Big Sur . . . Then some or all of San Luis Obispo, Pismo Beach, Santa Ynez Valley and Santa Barbara.

Another worth it--take a look at Pattie's report about drive from Carmel to Big Sur. You could use a day of your stay in Carmel to take the drive down to Big Sur and maybe take the trail that just opened which allows you to hike pass the Pfieffer Canyon bridge and then explore more of Big Sur instead of just cutting over 68 to 101.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...os-6102017.cfm

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/06/2...-park-reopens/