Tahoe to Carmel
 

Driving from Tahoe to Carmel in September. Which in your opinion is the best route and how long will it take to drive.

If you are going to be on the south shore: I would go hwy 50 west to Sacramento, I5 south to Gustine/Los Banos, hwy 152 west to Gilroy, hwy 101 south to Prunedale, hwy 156 west, to hwy 1 south.

If you are going to be in north shore: I would go hwy 80 west to Sacramento, I5 south to Gustine/Los Banos, hwy 152 west to Gilroy, hwy 101 south to Prunedale, hwy 156 west, to hwy 1 south.

With this route, you will by-pass the SF Bay Area and all the traffic associated with it. You might run into some traffic through Sacramento if you hit it during commute time or on a Sunday and in Gilroy if you are heading over to Carmel on a weekend morning. Overall, you should have smooth sailing.

The drive should take about 5-5 1/2 hours.

A LOT depends on the day of the week, times of day, and whether you are leaving from north Tahoe or south Tahoe..

By "best" do you mean fastest, easiest, least traffic, most scenic? basically plan on taking at least 6 hours to Carmel no matter which way you go. The fastest would be Hwy 80 from the north end of the lake to Sacramento, I-5 south to Santa Nella, hwys 152/156 to Hollister/Castroville and then rte 1 to carmel. But this is NOT a very scenic route. If you are leaving from Southshore - then you'd have to take Hwy 50 to Sacramento which is slower - especially on a weekend.

Taking highway 50 to interstate 5 to 152, etc. is a roundabout way to get to Carmel. One thing to consider on interstate 5 is the nasty tulee fog which hangs close to gorund level. We always here of multi-car accidents on interstate 5 due to the fog.

The best route would be from north shore 80 west to 680 south to 101 south to 156 west to Highway 1 south. From the south shore take highway 50 west to highway 80 west. Traffic in in San Jose Bay Area should not be that much of a problem. Try and time it so that you get to the 101 portion south of San Jose after 7 PM or before 4 PM and you should not have any problems. This is assuming you are traveling on a weekday. If its on a weekend, then the traffic should not be a concern.

Franklinn - you really can be an idiot sometimes. There is absolutely NO CHANCE of Halpin encountering tule (note the spelling so when Fodors deletes your post you can edit it before you post it again and again and again) fog in September -- that is entirely a winter phenomenem. Why don't you get a new schtick and quit posting these stupid suggestions sending hapless tourists through the traffic nightmare of the south/east bay?

This native Californian has never encountered tule fog on I5 in September.

As somone who lives on the Monterey Peninsula,and have done this drive numerous times The I5 route to Hwy 152 to Hwy 156 to Castrolville to Hwy 1 south is the best route.Contray to the advice of Treck, Hwy 152 to the junction 156 is a 4 lane divided Hwy.Avoiding the Bay Areas highways at any time is always a good idea. By going down I5 you will avoid the worst of its bottlenecks.

Thank goodness I wasn't drinking my coffee when I read the posts from Franklinn/Treck about Tule fog in September. That is so absurd it's laughable. It's blazing HOT in Septemebr in the central valley in Sept. Even if it did happen to rain it is never going to be cold enough in Sept to produce the dreaded Tule fog.
J Correa has provided you with the best route.