DH & I plan to fly into SFO in early October, hoping to spend 2 nights in that area (Napa Valley, perhaps?) before heading south to LA.. Would 2 days/1night along the coast be a good pace, or should we allow for an additional day on the road? What would be a good overnite stopover for us along the way? Thanks!

One night is not enough to give you time enough to see all the great sights along the way. Ideally, it would be great to spend 2 nights in the Monterey/Carmel area alone. There is so much to do and see there. Then drive the Big Sur coastal drive and spend one more night somewhere at the end of that drive and then drive the next day to LA. Do you have that much time?

It really depends on how much you want to see on your way down the coast. Also how long to do have for your trip and are you flying out of LA?
Napa to LA, taking Highway 1, will be a very long trip even with a stop one night. If you take that route I'd do 2 nights if you want to stop and check some things out on your way down.

If it was me I'd skip Napa and do 2 days in San Francisco. So if leaving from SF and taking highway 1 some good stop over places would be Carmel, Big Sur or Cambria.

Do you have your rooms booked already? October is very busy in Napa and San Francisco.

Beautiful drive that time of year, take two or three nights down the coast...and detour off the 101 near Los Olivos, onto the 154, to go down through Santa Ynez Valley, Solvang etc.

There are so many great things to do on this drive, but to answer your question, yes you can do it easily in two days and one night--we do it most every year.

We like to spend the night in Cambria at one of the motels on Moonstone Drive (the Best Western is about as good as any of the others).

HTTY

Thanks to each of you for your (varied) responses. We have not booked anything yet, but need some R&R before joining our son in LA. My way of combining pleasure w/ a family visit was to do the SF to LA drive, which I understand is beautiful. We will have only 5 nts, 2 of which we will spend in LA. Perhaps it would be better to forgo any time in SF/Napa (we were there YEARS ago), and just be on our way down the coast? I plan to fly into SFO, and leave CA from Burbank.

I appreciate your continued thoughts!

With only 3 nights I'd skip Napa, but you could spend a night in SF after you land. If you want to visit Wine Country you could stop in at any of the wineries down by Paso Robles or Santa Barbara.
If you want to skip SF then 2 nights would be great in Monterey or Carmel, then one night in Cambria or Santa Barbara. Or vice a versa...You really can't go wrong with any of those locations.
Also you can break up driving on Highway 1. The most spectacular stretch is Carmel to Cambria, so you can get over to 101 after Morro Bay.
The stretch of Highway 1 from SF to Santa Cruz is very nice too so if you have the time I'd include that too.
If you're considering Cambria Travelzoo has some great deals on 2 properties there.

For a more or less even division of days, Monterey is a bit too close to SF and Santa Barbara is a bit too close to LA.

I would also concur with staying somewhere in the vicinity of Cambria-Morro Bay-San Luis Obispo-Pismo Beach, depending on your interests, hotel deals, and what you plan to do along the way.

We have used the Travelzoo special for Cambria Pines in years past. Try to get the Fireplace view rooms.

The reason for staying 2 nites in Monterey/Carmel area is not to geographically break up the drive evenly, but to give enough time to see and enjoy all the attractions and scenic beauty in that area. It's not a bad idea to spend another nite closer to LA, so that when you get to your son, you won't be so tired from a really long day of driving.

There are wineries in Paso Robles, and Santa Ynez....so yes, I'd say skip SF and head south!

There's a lot to see along California's coast. The hard part is choosing. Here's a thread on the central coast area.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...tral-coast.cfm

Or, you could enjoy San Francisco, day-trip to Napa or Monterey, and fly down to LAX. Southwest has cheap commuter fares.

Forgot to mention that if you drive, San Luis Obispo is a very cute little place, with a lovely old Spanish mission downtown.

Your posts have been extremely helpful! Having elected to opt out of SF and Napa, I have booked a flight into San Jose, and will spend our first night in that area. From there we can enjoy a leisurely drive down the coast. Travelzoo is new to me--I will definitely check it out! Thanks, fellow travel enthusiasts!

Great thread, Jean! Thanks!

cindiRed, I just wanted to let you know that the Sea Otter Inn travelzoo deal had expired but the Cambria Pines Lodge still has a special at $69 a night. The Cambria Pines isn't on the beach though. If you can time Cambria (if you plan on staying there) for a weekday you'll get some good deals.
Also you'll most likely take Highway 17 from San Jose to Highway 1. If you haven't driven that route before be prepared for a windy mountain road that some people seem to think is a racetrack. Just take it easy and don't let the speeders get to you.

I would suggest adding another day. Only because you would be able to see more sights and enjoy your trip more. There is a big difference between two days and three days. Once I took a road trip in a single day to San Francisco and my legs were killing me. Another time I took a tour from Los Angeles to San Francisco with a touring company, tours4fun.com, it was only a four day tour, but that fourth day seemed like it made a big difference. So the length of your trip could really make or break your enjoyment of the trip.