Seattle to San Diego on PCH 1
 

A friend and I are planning to drive from Seattle to San Diego, any suggestions where to stop and how many nights in each place?
We want a relaxing nice drive, stopping along the way at all the must see places. Not interested in camping and major hiking as we would be compromised on time.

>>as we would be compromised on time.<< . . . how compromised?

That is a very long distance - how long do you have for the trip?

We have 2 weeks, as of now, August 2nd through the19th

That isn't very long for that trip - Are you driving one way, or do you have to return to San Diego?

>> stopping along the way at all the must see places.<< You don't have enough time for all the 'must see' places and will need to be pretty selective. You need to help us a bit here -- do you want to spend time in SD? or in LA? San Francisco? Wine country(s) - there are several? Redwoods? The coast? Crater Lake? Portland? Seattle?

How long are you willing to drive each day?

We are only driving one way, I'm spending time with family in San Diego so no time needed there, both of us have been to San Francisco before and I have family there so will be there in the future. Wine country-yes, Redwoods-yes, The Coast-a MUST,
Crater Lake-yes, San Simeon-yes, Portland-maybe because would be veering off the coast again, Seattle- not a must but I wanted to do a ferry in the Seattle area. Is there time to do the Mt Olympia area?

I can drive quite a bit each day but don't want to do it for the sake of doing it and want to enjoy the simple things like the views along the coast and the sunrises,etc.

OK -- it will be a looooong haul and easier if you skip Crater Lake.

One night in Santa Barbara (2 nights if you want time to explore some of the nearby vineyards/wineries.

One night in/near Cambria for Hearst Castle.

2 (or even 3) nights in the Carmel/Monterey area for Big Sur, Point Lobos, the Mission, the Monterey Aquarium, more wineries.

One night in Santa Cruz for the boardwalk and Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park.

Dash through SF and 1 or 2 nights in Sonoma or Healdsburg -- wineries/scenery

One night in Mendocino or Little River

One night in Trinidad (more redwoods)

Then up into Oregon -- where you can either meander up the coast (gorgeous) and over to Portland (2 or 3 days total for this part) or cross inland to Crater Lake (quite far out of your way) and up to Portland.

Then finish up w/ 2 or 3 days in the Olympic National Forest.

You're driving southbound, right? If not, just reverse my suggested route - https://goo.gl/maps/7h3zmd75kKm

I'd strongly recommend you include some inland areas on the trip, especially the Columbia River Gorge. Start by heading to Mount Rainier from Seattle. (You don't have enough time for Olympic National Park - it needs at least 3 days.) Continue over the mountain to the Yakima Valley (vineyards) then head south through terrific cowboy country to the Columbia River at Maryhill. Visit Maryhill Museum, then head west through the Columbia River Gorge.

Spend half a day visiting Timberline Lodge on Mount Hood and maybe driving the (gorgeous) Hood River Valley "fruit loop," then past numerous waterfalls on the Historic Columbia Gorge Highway through Portland and out to the coast via the Willamette Valley wine country around McMinnville.

From there it's south on the coast all the way to San Diego. I haven't included the northern part of CA Hwy 1 (note the main road is US 101, CA 1 is only in California and it's only called the "PCH" in southern California.)

Follow CA 1 south from SF to Santa Cruz for the boardwalk amusement park, visit Monterey and Carmel, particularly the lovely and ancient Spanish mission in Carmel. Then stop at Point Lobos just south of Carmel (amazing coast scenery, wildlife) then past Big Sur to San Simeon. Don't miss the elephant seal rookery at Piedras Blancas, just north of the Hearst Castle visitor center.

Then its south to San Luis Obispo and US 101 the rest of the way to LA. Don't miss beautiful downtown Santa Barbara and include the Santa Barbara mission too - the "queen of the missions."

This is pretty high-speed but doable in two weeks, provided you focus more on the countryside and less on the cities.

Oh crap (!) -- I got fixated on San Diego and missed the north to south direction . . . my plan would be in reverse :)

Thank you so much, this is very helpful!
Is it easy to find hotels(any kind of lodging) along these roads or do I need to book in advance?

In August you will really need to book ahead - not everyplace but most. These are very popular destinations and August is high season - many places will require a two night stay for Fri/Sat nights.

Watch out for car week on the Monterey Peninsula which is August 14-21 this year. You may be OK earlier in the week but otherwise it's very difficult to find accommodations and prices skyrocket.

You mentioned seeing redwoods. The "Valley of the Giants" is an awesome drive in northern California...away from the coast.

>>Valley of the Giants<<

By any chance do you mean the <i>Avenue</i> of the Giants?