San Francisco to Santa Barbara ?
 

I need some opinions on my itinerary. This is a mother, daughter(16 years)trip for 10 days. I will rent a car at SF airport drive to Santa Barbara, 2 nights, on the way to Carmel/Monterey(2 nights) we will do San Simeon(Hearst Castle)then we will head back to San Francisco for 5 nights? Comments

Sorry, forgot to mention my dates March 16-25.

That's coming right up so you must have already purchased your tickets...otherwise I'd say fly INTO San Fran and RETURN FROM L.A. or San Diego. Just drive a one-way trip up or down the coast.

One comment would be to do Santa Barbara and Monterey on WEEKDAYS, because lodging will be less expensive. Also, you may not want to keep that rental car in San Fran as parking could be $20-$25 a night.

To: Tracy2cents,
I booked by plane tickets months ago, we were going to do the Sonoma/Napa Valley.
I changed my mind, I feel for my 16 year old daughter going south will be more interesting and younger. My concern is the drive to Santa Barbara from San Fran. airport. I was told the drive is 7 hours, is that true?

I would call it more like 5 1/2 hours down US101, as long as you avoid commute times around SFO and SJ. You probably want to go down on 101 and come back on CA-1, which is more scenic, but quite a bit slower.

If you can work it out, I would suggest trying to fit in Thursday night in San Luis Obispo; the farmers market downtown in the evening is like a big street fair - your daughter would enjoy it.

To:Curmudgeon,
Thanks for your reply,5 1/2 hrs. sounds better, we hope to avoid traffic. Thanks for the advice, we'll check out the market in SLO. We also plan to do Hwy 1 slow route as we go north.