Suggestion between Paso Robles & Los Angeles
 

My husband and I will be spending 5 days in Paso Robles at the beginning of June. We leave there on a Thursday and have a flight out of LAX at 1:30 on Sunday. I have no idea how bad traffic is in the LA area on Sunday. I would love suggestions of an area to stay for our final two days.

Sorry, but I have to ask: Five days in Paso Robles?????????? Have you ever been to Paso Robles?

Curious

More info please. Do you want beach time? Shopping? Touring L.A.? What are your plans for those two days, then we can help you re: place to stay.

Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara is a great suggestion. Will you be wine tasting there? Paso Robles is an excellent place to wine taste. I hope you're able to make it over to Cambria for awhile, also. :) Have a great trip! ***kim*** ((#))

By all means, go to Cambria, as kimamom suggests--not too far from Paso Robles, you could even go to the Hearst castle-and Brian is right on w/suggesting that you spend your last 2 nights in SB, a *beautiful* place. And please satisfy both Curious and me. Why are you spending 5 days in Paso Robles??

We are spending 5 days there as a base rather than moving around. We want to do a lot of wine tasting but it is only 30 minutes from the coast and places to visit there. We are staying at Villa Toscana which looks really nice and comfortable and got a great rate. It looks to be a bit like Italy. If we had our first choice for vacation it would be back to Italy this summer. That won't happen. Santa Barbara does look like the best place to stay between there and LA and will cut 2 hours, I guess, off of our trip. We have been to Santa Barbara twice before but it has been about 7 years since we have been there. We stayed at the Simpson House then and loved it. Any other suggestions of places to stay. Also is Santa Monica or Venice worth going to or staying? We don't want to shop (except for wine) but want to be somewhere fun and pretty.

HI--thanks for the answer re: your Paso Robles choice--we also prefer to pick a place and not have to move around too much.....re: the other end of your trip, if you have been to SB twice, as lovely as it is, you may want a new experience. Have you ever visited/stayed in Santa Monica? It is definietely urban but is also a quintessentially Southern California experience. Also has the advantage of being a 20 min, or so, trip to LAX which makes for an easy departure.

thanks for the suggestion about Santa Monica. It looked like it would be a great location. It seems that Santa Barbara may be moot point anyway as the weekend we are going is graduation weekend and accommodations are scarce.

Lucky you! Villa Toscana! ((y)) Please post a report on this property, it looks gorgeous and Martin & Weyrich makes a really nice Nebbiolo. Tobin James, Meridian, Wild Coyote, San Marcos Creek, Peachy Canyon, Eberle and Bianchi (gorgeous tasting room) are all worth checking out. Cheers! ***kim*** ((#))

OK,Paso Robles 5 days. One day of wine tasting and one day at Cambria/San Simeon/Hearst Castle. That leave three days. Again I ask, Have you ever been to Paso Robles?

Curious

HI Curious--I think you may be being a little negative. Vacations are different for different people. I looked at the website of the Villa Toscana and it is a lovely resort. Some people like to relax when they go away and are not necessarily looking to go-go-go.

San Luis Obispo is only a short drive from there. The mission is lovely and there is a river with a walkway that many cute shops and restaurants overlook. That destination on one day and then on a different day, a trip to the Hearst Castle and back to enjoy the resort, would more than use up a day each, if relaxation is what they are seeking....Another day for wine touring and a day to stroll around Cambria and go to Moonstone Beach and voila! we have used up 4 of the 5 days!!

Make sure to go to Avila Beach, about 5 miles south of San Luis Obispo. Always warmer than other beaches in the area and recently renovated.

socialworker,

I know the area very well. If you just want to hang out at the hotel, fine, although I never considered Paso Robles as a place I would want to hang out. To each their own. By the way, socialworker, SAdamsrec never answered the question. You are strictly speculating. By the way, you can easily do the whole Cambria, San Louis Obispo, Hearst Castle thing in one day.

My real point is that it doesn't sound like these people have ever been to Paso Robles and really don't know what they are getting in to.

Curious

Curious:

As a Roblan, I think there's plenty to do here. Villa Toscana should be a nice place to stay. Wine tasting's fun, the countryside is pretty, there are some great restaurants: Senor Sancho's if you want great Mexican food; Panolivo (French), Basil(Thai), Buona Tavola(Italian), to name a few. Pastries from Dining with Andre are a treat. Also some great shops downtown--Gibson and Co., Wilmot Market, We Olive... San Luis is a fun short drive, as is Avila Beach, Cambria, Morro Bay, Cayucos, a drive out to Lakes Nacimiento/San Antonio...

Having said that: SA, have you considered Ventura for the tail end of your trip? I really like it there.

Hey Curious--I accede to your obviously greater knowledge of and familiarity w/the area. I was only pointing out that some people want to "veg" on a trip. For me, having been to Cambria, SLB and Hearst Castle--that would be one *very* miserable day if I did them all in one day!! And you are very right, I am only speculating---something I am famous for in my family!!

PS--SLB above should be SLO...

I have been away from the computer for several days and just had chance to check back again. In reply to "Curious", no we haven't been to Paso Robles but have been to many wine tasting areas. We want to do a combination of vegging and exploring. One can do only so many wineries in one day. We will probably do wine testing two days, go to Heart Castle one day and hit Cambria/Pismo Beach area another day. By the time we reach Paso Robles on our first night it will be dinner time. It is our idea not to have too much of a schedule, not to have to pack and unpack every other day, maybe sit by the pool and read part of a day and just poke around. Unfortunately we can't find a place in Santa Barbara to stay the last two days as it is apparently graduation weekend. At this point I have made a couple of reservations in Santa Monica but would welcome any particular suggestions of a place to stay there. I figure we will take the better part of the day to drive there and then have one full day in Santa Monica. That should be a good location to get back to LAX from.

You could certainly spend 2 days wine tasting in the Paso area. I would suggest one day on the east side of 101 and one day on the west side. One day you can visit San Luis Obispo and see the mission and charming downtown. There are also some excellent wineries just outside of SLO in the Edna Valley.
The drive on 46 from Paso to Cambria is beautiful and you could spend some time in Cambria and also visit Hearst Castle (make advance reservations).
I agree with the Santa Monica suggestion for the end of your trip.

I would have to agree with the above posts. Paso Robles IS NOT a place that I would spend 5 days. If wine tasting is your thing, why not make San Luis Obispo or better yet Santa Barbara as your base. There are plenty of very good winery's near those two cities.