Travel Ideas?
 

I am traveling to Anaheim next week and have 2.5 days to myself from coastal Georgia. I am considering a rental car and heading up to see the Hearst Castle and drive the Big Sur Highway 1, solo. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas or "don't miss this" tips for my excursion. I will be leaving LAX with a rental car on Wednesday after lunch and returning to LAX on Saturday morning. I am totally flexible but want to ensure my safety as well. Any tips would be most helpful!

"...want to ensure my safety..."

Can you expand on what you consider may be unsafe?

If the drive is what interests you the most, then it's doable, though not a great deal of time for sightseeing. Day 1, drive to Cambria. Day 2, Hearst Castle, drive up Hwy 1 to Monterey. Day 3, return to Santa Barbara, overnight. Sat to LAX.

Leave LAX by 2pm to avoid traffic up along the way. Its gonna be tight and you'll miss a lot of what there is to s and visit on the coast..... but if you like to drive you could get as far as Cambria for Wednesday night, visit the castle on Thursday morning, get up to Carmel or Monterey for Thursday night and then spend all day Friday meandering back down to Santa Barbara. What time do you need to be at LAX on Saturday morning?

If you're going to be in Anaheim, why are you going to LAX to rent the car? Consider taking an 8am Amtrak train from Anaheim to Santa Barbara where you can rent a car at noon from Budget or Avis right next to the station. (Check the price to rent in SB and return to LAX, should be around $175.) This keeps you out of L.A. weekday traffic and the drive from SB north will be a breeze and give you time for a couple of stops on the way to Cambria.

I'm also confused about the Anaheim arrival and LAX departure?

And about "ensuring safety"??

In Cambria I would get a room on Moonstone Beach and eat at Moonstone Beach Bar & Grill. You can also browse the cute shops in town if you get there early enough. I would also make a quick stop in Morro Bay and drive down to the rock (can't miss it, it's BIG). Get out to stretch your legs and see the sea lions, seals, and sea otters.

After Hearst Castle the next morning, your next stop should be Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery. It's just a few miles north of the castle. After that your next stop should be Ragged Point. Good place to stretch and use the bathroom (probably will be porta-potties due to the drought). Walk down the path from the restaurant area for great views.

After that you will have numerous pull-outs to take in the great views. Do not miss stopping at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. Take the short walk to see McWay Falls and to read about the history of the homestead. This is an absolutely beautiful place. You can park on the side of the road if you don't want to pay to get into the park, or if the parking lot in the park is full.

Stop at Nepenthe for lunch or a quick lunch in the cafe below. Awesome views.

If you have time, you can stop at Pfeiffer Beach, but make sure you Google for exact directions because it's easy to miss. You will probably just want to keep going to Monterey because you will probably have enough driving by now.

The next day I would go early to Point Lobos, which is just south of Carmel. You will read a lot about the 17-Mile Drive through Pebble Beach, but I wouldn't waste time on that, just my opinion.

Make sure you gas up in Morro Bay before heading to Cambria. Cheapest gas is at the Morro Bay Blvd exit off Hwy 1. Gas gets very, very expensive after that, especially in the Big Sur area.

Have fun and don't worry about safety. Common sense rules just like everywhere else.

I'd stay in SoCal. Much of Big Sur (at least two of the State parks) is closed to visitors due to a fire that has been burning in the back country for about 6 weeks. The air quality changes depending on the winds but can be quite bad because of the smoke.

I'd stay out of the area simply to allow the firefighters easier access.

Here is the site to check on the status of the Soberanes fire:
http://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/article/4888/33587/
Some parks are still closed including Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.
It would be easier if you could fly out of SFO or OAK, less rushed.

Right now there's very little that's open between Limekiln and Point Lobos along the Big Sur drive. It's OK if you just want to mostly drive through with some quick stops but hiking is very limited. There's one trail (Buzzard's Roost) at Pfeiffer Big Sur that's open and the west side of Garrapata is open. Pfeiffer Beach is also open. You may encounter some smoke depending on the direction of the wind and how active the fire is.