Hello,

I am flying into SFO, picking up a car and driving down to Monterey. What is the best route to go from SFO airport if I want to take PCH? Mapquest sends me from SFO south on 280 and West on 92 towards Half Moon Bay. Is this a good starting point or will I miss any good part of the drive north of there? Alternatively from the airport I could go north on 280 and over and start up by Pacifica. Any suggestions? Thanks!!!

I personally like the drive on 92 over to Half Moon Bay (unless it's really foggy, which it has been lately, at least late in the day) so I would go that way. I'm sure the other way is fine, but I live really close to 92 so I never go the other way.

Either way of cutting over to the coast is fine. Hwy 92 to Half Moon Bay would save a little time (maybe 20-30 minutes overall) but catching Hwy 1 in Pacifica and heading south adds more scenery. By the way, we don't call it the PCH up here -- usually just "1", Highway 1 or sometimes its designated name Cabrillo Highway. (pron. Kuh-bree-o). I like 1 from Pacifica. To go that way, from the rental car place at SFO you would go north on the frontage road to San Bruno Ave > turn left (west) and cross over 101 freeway to El Camino Real and turn right (north) > go a couple of miles and turn left (west) onto Westborough Blvd in the city of South San Francisco > follow it to the crest of the hill and cross straight over and head down into Pacifica, the street changes name to Sharp Park Rd when you cross over Skyline Blve (Hwy 35) on the crest of the hill. On the way down Sharp Park there is a pull-out area on the right side that provides a nice view of the ocean, hills and Pacifica below. Catch Hwy 1 at the bottom of the hill and head south towards Half Moon Bay/Santa Cruz.

I would also start in Pacifica.

If you have the time, try to see/drive as much of our beautiful California coastline as you can.

The most amazing scenic drive in the World...

Wow, thanks for the responses and Bluestar thank you for the detailed directions, that will be a great help. If I can get out of the airport with the rental car by about 3:30 I am going to start in Pacifica and should get to Monterey just in time for dinner Thanks

Bluestar, thanks again for the tip. We've returned from our trip and your directions were spot on from SFO to Monterey...we even stopped at the turnout to take in the great view of Pacifica on our drive down to Monterey. Again thanks.

Rickfla - making a similar drive in October. How long did it take you from SFO to Monterey?

Thanks.

Rick, glad your trip went okay -- it's a spectacular drive, isn't it? How did you like Devil's Slide - that was the cliff-hugging stretch after you left Pacifica? You probably will never drive on that stretch again as those new bypass tunnels are going to open later this year. The cliff-hugging part will then be closed to traffic but open for recreational use (hiking, walking, biking). There have been so many times when that section was closed (sometimes for weeks or months) because of big rock slides or parts of the roadway sloughing-off into the ocean.

Cpg - If you go the way Rick did, from SFO it is about 110 miles to Monterey, about 2.5 hours without prolonged stops. If you want to explore beaches, towns, lighthouses, stores, etc then you will need to build in extra time for those things. Half Moon Bay has an enormous Art & Pumpkin Festival in October (October 13-14 this year). Traffic that weekend will be horrendous heading into Half Moon Bay. October is generally the perfect time to be along the coast.

bluestar - thanks for the info. I will be there before the festival. I think I will start a new thread soon with some specific questions about my itinerary.

I should start my own thread but these questions are very topical for us. We are arriving Oct. 13(Saturday) at 6pm at SFO bound for Monterey. I was planning for us to stay in Half Moon Bay then drive the remainder on Sunday until I saw bluestar's info on the Pumpkin Festival. Thank goodness you posted that, bluestar. So any suggestions on what we should do? I am not too excited about driving all the way to Monterey Saturday night but it is an option(the fastest way). Then drive back on Wednesday the scenic way? Santa Cruz may be a good option for Saturday night. Any other ideas?

You might want to just stay at an airport hotel, and spend the evening having dinner and taking a stroll on Burlingame Avenue in Burlingame - lots of good restaurant choices and a very nice [suburban] downtown. Actually, the downtown area is every but as nice as Half Moon Bay, although there's no Ritz-Carlton and no beach in Burlingame. On a Sunday morning, the drive to Monterey is well under 2 hours.

Hi Betsy,

The festival in HMB is during the day so traffic heading there should have let up by the time you would be going through (after 7pm I'd guess). I can't imagine any hotel in the area would have availability but I could be wrong. Maybe the Ritz for $500+. Still, it will be dark or getting dark so I don't see any real advantage to drive the coast that day -- just drive it northbound on Wednesday like you were thinking.

After you arrive on Saturday and get your car, you could hop on 101 South to Palo Alto and stay the night. The Garden Court Hotel is downtown just off University Ave on Cowper. Pricey but nice and you would have tons of very nice dining options within strolling distance once you settle into the hotel. http://www.gardencourt.com/ The next morning you might like walking around the Stanford U campus -- it's beautiful. The Cantor Museum (on campus, free) opens at 11 on Sundays -- outside of it (and always open) is the Rodin Sculpture Garden. 20 Rodin sculptures - pretty spectacular. (The monumental Thinker is inside the museum's rotunda/foyer though.) Here's a guide to other sculptures situated around the campus: http://museum.stanford.edu/view/docu...Broch_2011.pdf

Your option of driving to Santa Cruz (via 101 or 280 freeways + Hwy 17) the first night would work too although Hwy 17 is very twisty/turny and probably safer during daylight.
If you spend the night in Santa Cruz, your drive to Monterey the next day would be nothing - about 43 miles.

If you are traveling solo there are HI Hostels at Montera and Pigeon Point lighthouses. DW and I stopped at Pescadero to pick up groceries on the way to Pigeon Point. They have an adequate kitchen there.