What is the safest route to drive from Santa Barbara area to Napa? We will be going the end of Dec. Or should we scrape that idea and just fly up? If we flew I presume it'd be best to fly into Oakland then rent a car and drive over to the Napa Valley. I am concerned about weather conditions on the freeways.

I would just drive up the 101.Should be no problems with weather conditions, no high mountain passes. Fairly scenic,visit one of the missions,get some pea soup in Buelton.

great - what's the name of the restaurant?

The restaurant in Buellton is called Anderson's Pea Soup. It is on Ave. of the Flags, just off the freeway.

Anderson's is kinda California highway kitsch but is easy to get to and the soup is very good.
The mission at San Miguel is right off the freeway as well, just past Paso Robles. It has been recently restored after suffering earthquake damage and contains some lovely Native American art.

When I was a child our family used to spend our summers at Hunter Liggett (it was a military base and I presume it still is?) at any rate, the Mission is down the road on the milita ry land. It was in pretty bad shape in the 1960's but from the pictures I've just checked out it looks beautiful.

The mission that is on the army base is actually San Antonio de Padua and is slightly more difficult to visit because of the security checkpoint.
San Miguel maintains much more of its original structure than San Antonio.

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My son did his 4th grade mission report on San Antonio de Padua. The tiles that were formerly on the roof of the mission were re-used on the Burlingame Cal-Train station (many years ago). It's still an interesting place to visit though.

The drive up Highway

The drive up Highway 1 is one of the most beautiful in the world. I would go via Morro Bay and Big Sur.

HTTY

Driving up 101 to Napa will take about 6 hours. It might take you about the same amount of time to go to the airport, fly, collect your luggage, rent a car, and drive the rest of the way to Napa. So you might as well just drive. But do time it so you do not hit the commute traffic around San Jose and north. If you leave Santa Barbara early enough (by 9AM), you should be OK.

Just in case you're confused - 101 and 1 are NOT the same road. 101 is a 4-lane inland highway, 1 is a 2-lane road that hugs the coast.

Yes I did know that sf, and it brought back some memories. When I was a kid we drove up the old coast route 101 highway from San Diego to Los Angeles. It was all stop and go thru every little beach community and stop lights. I don't think any stretches exist anymore.

I mean 101 exists further up the coast obviously but only a brief stretch is left in southern California.

you have told us nothing about your trip, or whether you have ever driven up rte i in big sur....i think if you have never done this it would be a shame to hurry up the coast. i think, at a minimum, you should take your time--have lunch at some point around big sur and wander around--and get to san jose after the rush hour--maybe 7 pm? --but this would get you to napa pretty late....