US Highway 1
 

Group of 4 looking to do the scenic road trip of US highway 1 in California. All of us are from the east coast and would need to rent a car when we got there. I understand this is usually more expensive then returning the car to the same location, however I was looking for tips regarding finding a price that is manageable.. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Just check all the major rental agencies; you might also try Orbitz, where we had good luck a year back.

How many days do you have for this trip?
If you have enough time, my thought would be to fly to PDX and rent the car. Drive over to Astoria on US 30 and then south on US 101. When you get as far south as you want to go head back over to I-5 and head back north to Portland.
Isn't US 1 the route from Florida to Maine (aka Tobacco Road)?

Hopefully you are talking about CA hwy 1. :)

US1 is on your home side of the country . . .

Not sure what tom is on about since he is talking about Oregon . . . Nothing to do w/ California or hwy 1

Whether there are high drop off fees or not depends a LOT on which city pairs you are using. So where are you flying in/out of?

Sorry .. CA highway 1. We have 5-6 days.. I was thinking of flying into LAX, which is prob a bad idea. Any suggestions regarding where to fly into ? We were going to fly into LAX and leave out of seattle...

We did the trip a few years ago with LAX and SFO being the starting and end points. We did not pay any drop charge because the agency had a car they needed returned to SFO.

Anyway for me to change the topic title since I made a mistake on the naming?

Dukey1
What do you mean drop charges? Sorry a little new here. Also did you call and ask about this instead of making reservations online or?

Dropoff charges - car rental companies usually add an extra fee if you rent a car in one location and drop it off in another. FYI - the fee varies depending on the the pick-up and drop-off locations. Sometimes it's a small amount, not worth worrying about other times it could be significant.

Here's my take on that - if you want to make the trip (i.e. picking up at point A and dropping off at point B) it's part of the cost of renting the car. So, if you don't have an affinity for using any particular car rental company, get cost estimates from several different car rental companies and go with the one that gives you the best pricing. It's as simple as that.

We usually find the best rates at Thrifty or Dollar.

*Google for promotion codes at these companies.
*Join Blue Chip (Thrifty) and Fast Lane Express (Dollar) to pick up your car with minimum hassle.

HTtY

5 or 6 days is not enough time to fly to LAX, drive to Seattle and enjoy yourselves. You could fly to LAX and leave out of SFO. Or, better still, fly in and out of SFO and do a loop thru Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur. distances are far. A straight thru drive, LA to SF is at least 6 hours.

In five days you have - barely - time for SF to LA or LA to SF. Or you could do SF up the coast as far as Mendocino county, back through Napa/Sonoma to SFO.

You absolutely do not have time for Oregon/Washington.

Definitely need to take your time on Highway 1. The slowness is part of the whole experience. For me, it was more like a weeklong Sunday drive than a road trip.

No way should you try to get to Seattle in that amount of time, unless you want to skip the scenic drive.

Be sure to rent a good-sized sedan for your drive. Hwy 1 is winding, and can be tough on queasy stomachs. I'd get at least a full-sized sedan, or spring for a luxury sedan, since two couples will be splitting the cost.

Also, I suggest you drive down the coast, for better views than driving in the inside lane.

Um... September? January?

No, no, no, no Jayne. The slowness is NOT part of the whole experience for locals who live and work on Hwy. 1.

Please remember it is not a "Sunday drive" for those of us who are trying to get somewhere to please, please pull over if you are not prepared to drive the posted speed limit of 55 MPH!

Best,
Lisa

P.S. the most scenic part of Hwy. 1, IMO, is from Point Reyes/Tomales Bay in Marin through Bodega Bay in Sonoma and then up the Jenner Grade and through Mendocino County to Mendocino. Just spectacular.

Oh gualalalisa, I live in Texas where we have many roads with speed limits of 75 mph. For us 55 is pretty slow.

In Big Sur if you are going 55 you'll likely end up at the bottom of the cliff in the ocean.

<i>In Big Sur if you are going 55 you'll likely end up at the bottom of the cliff in the ocean.</i>

I've driven at the speed limit many times without running off the road! Most of Highway 1 can be driven at the speed limit (55 mph). The California DOT estimates driving times of various stretches of the highway at 50 mph: http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/LandArch/sc...ays/route1.htm

HTtY

Jayne, I love it!

Janis, well, yeah, you do have to slow down around curves but most people who live here know the road and anticipate when they have to slow down.

What is maddening (and we have had countless Town Meetings on this) is when people drive from 20 to 30 miles under the posted speed limit and don't seem to realize they are doing it. They are looking at the scenery (which is gorgeous) or at whales out in the ocean and not in their rear view mirrors.

Because there are no passing lanes from just north of Jenner to just south of Stewarts Point, these slowpokes leave locals seething and prompt some (not Gualalalisa, of course) to drive unsafely.

Best,
Lisa

Lisa, same is true for our mountain passes in Colorado. Except we have turnouts and passing lanes some places.

I pity anyone who has to commute on that highway, and be on time. So many tourists. And I admit to being gobsmacked by the scenery, too. Last time we drove it, though, it was foggy. Not fun.

It's a very special part of the country, that's for sure. I like your suggestion of Point Reyes/Tomales Bay, and down. Probably not terribly crowded on that route? My sis has a place in Inverness, and it's charming there.

Amen to that!
CA 1 is my local road also. My pet peeve (besides the slow pokes) is folks who just pull over and stand on the bluffs for views and photos . There are seriously injuries every year because those bluffs crumble (2 last week south of Half Moon Bay).

If you are headed south the speed limit changes to 50 mph just past Half Moon Bay airport. The town itself slows to 40 and 30. The trench of ad south of Half Moon Bay to Davenport is 50mph. Watch your speed there as they do ticket. It's 2 lane, but there are a few passing pull overs. Stop at San Gregorio State Beach. There are amazing views all along this stretch.

If you are so inclined, you can stop in Pescadero and do a tour of Harley Farms. It is a great goat cheese farm . Dee Harley has won international awards for her cheese (she's originally from a village of 30 people in England). You can also just look around the farm (baby goats!). It is an early 1900's restored working dairy farm, no cows just goats. It is worth a stop. www.harleyfarms.com

Dee is married to Tim Duarte of Duarte Restaurant fame (James Beard cooking award and profiled on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives). Duarte's is also in Pescadero.. They are famous for artichoke soup and their pies. Try the ollaliberry pie. Ollaliberies are primarily grown in California. www.duartestavern.com

Pescadero is 17 miles south of Half Moon Bay and 2 miles east. There are signs.

Edit: the stretch of road south of Half Moon Bay.....

Goldens, we just went to Harley Goat Farms and Duarte's this past weekend. Harley Goat Farms was as great as ever (my 10 year old has a thing for their cheese so we have to make it out there every few months) but Duarte's was just terrible. Like truly horrible food. Expensive too. We used to like it but we will not be back. If you're going down or up the coast, Davenport Roadhouse is much better.

Monica,
We only eat pie there and the soup!
I'm not a big goat cheese fan, but the cheese with the cranberries on is very good.

Hi Tab,

Thanks, only it was Point Reyes, Tomales Bay and UP. I just got Sunset Magazine and the cover story is all about Highway 1 for anyone who wants to make the trip either north or south.

Whenever I drive in another country I go out of my way not to piss off the locals 'cause I know how it is! I'm on vacation, they're not, so it can be really annoying.

Best,
Lisa

P.S. Inverness was one of our party places in high school back in olden times.