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Road Trips
Road Trip Suggestions

California Coastline

It doesn't matter where you start or end on the California coastline - the route depends more on how good a deal you can get on flights. With an open jaw ticket, you may get you a good deal in one direction or a better deal in another. For an 8 - 10 day trip a taste of the California coast could be something like this:

Day 1 - Arrive in San Francisco
Day 2 - San Francisco
Day 3 - San Francisco to Monterey via Santa Cruz and/or Big Basin
Day 4 - Monterey to Santa Barbara (long drive day)
Day 5 - Santa Barbara to Santa Monica
Day 6 - Santa Monica to Los Angeles
Day 7 - Los Angeles to San Diego
Day 8 - Leave from San Diego

The scenery from SF to LA is absolutely gorgeous if you use Pacific Coast Highway instead of I-5 for most of the trip. Take PCH from LA to SD, too; although it will take longer, it's really beautiful. For this road trip vacation, try Priceline/Hotwire for hotels in the SanFran, LA, and San Diego areas. Dedicate your savings to the night in Santa Barbara, as it might be more expensive there.

Comments:

The thing I like best in San Diego is their zoo, particularly the aviary. For beaches, I prefer Santa Monica north of LA and Laguna Beach south of LA. For airfare, you might want to figure the cost of gas back and forth from LA to San Diego. If the gas cost is about the same as the airfare difference, then there is no real reason to fly out of SD. After comparing, if it's significantly cheaper to fly out of LA, you could either rearrange your LA days so you could go down to SD for a night or you could skip SD altogether and add that time back into your trip, perhaps with another night in Monterey or another night in Santa Barbara. Skip Solvang, a tacky-ass tourist TRAP of the worst caliber.

If you don't insist on pricey dinners in posh restaurants, you'll dine very well on $50/day for two. I have found that restaurants and groceries in LA are quite a bit cheaper than in SF. Also look out for roadside farmers' markets on the drive down the coast for good and cheap fruit and veggies for snacks.

For the central coast, I think Cambria is a lovely little town - cute, funky shops - as well as Santa Barbara. A couple years ago I stayed at the Franciscan Inn, a very pleasant, centrally located, inexpensive hotel in Santa Barbara. My brother stayed at the fancier Hotel Santa Barbara which he liked just fine.

San Francisco to Monterey Round Trip

Day 1. Arrive in San Francisco
Day 2. San Francisco
Day 3. Go to Muir Woods. Spend the rest of the day in Monterey. You could catch sunset at a few different places like Lover's Point, Asilomar Beach, or Carmel-by-the-Sea, all very lovely.
Day 4. Monterey - Carmel - Big Sur and Point Lobos
Day 5. Monterey; drive back north along Highway 1 to Highway 156. Connect to Highway 101 north and back to the main highways north to San Francisco. If you're a fan of barbecue, stop in Castroville (Artichoke Capital of the World) and eat the Texas-style barbecue there - cheap, good, and plenty of food. You could stop in Gilroy after dinner/lunch for some garlic ice cream (or possibly anything else garlic); if you like garlic, you should stop for a few minutes at least. Then you're on your way back to San Francisco.
6. Leave early morning.

Comments:

I would seriously consider taking Highway 1 south from San Francisco through Santa Cruz and on down to Monterey. It's a slower drive, but it's REALLLLLLY beautiful. You could even contemplate staying in Santa Cruz that first night and then make the short drive to Monterey the next day. Heading north, when you go through Castroville and Gilroy, it's also very beautiful in a Steinbeck kind of way. Once you hit Los Gatos, though, you're pretty much driving through cities until SF.

If you are more of a city person, then you'll enjoy having more time spent in San Francisco. If you're more of a nature person, spend more time down in the Monterey area. If you just want to see some redwoods, then axe Muir Woods from your itinerary and go to Big Basin instead. It's a bigger, less crowded park, and it's on the way to Monterey. Unless you're planning on some serious hiking, Muir Woods is only interesting for about an hour. If your heart is set on Muir Woods, DO NOT go on a weekend day! And earlier in the day is better than later, as parking there is minimal. If you're a member of AAA, I'd recommend getting a copy of the map called BAY and MOUNTAIN region. It's smaller than the state map of California and will detail all of the roads you can take. Traffic-wise, generally rush hour is from 4 - 6 pm in the evening and 6:30 - 9:30 in the morning. The 17-Mile Drive is a toll road, and all you see are golf courses and big fancy houses, just in case that's not your thing. It's a lot prettier than paying to cross the Bay Bridge, though. The lines are a lot shorter, too ... usually there aren't any! Big Basin Island sounds fun to me!

If you're not planning on doing much hiking, there's not really much to DO in Big Sur. It's pretty much all a park with some hotels/cabins and gas stations. Unless you just want to walk a little ways into the woods and sit somewhere all day, there's really not much to do. There's more to do in Monterey and lots to do in Santa Cruz. I'd spend a day/night in Big Sur, but past that there just isn't much to do if you're not going to hike.

The nicest part of Big Sur (for me) was driving along Highway 1 and watching the gorgeous ocean, looking for marine mammals, etc. Find a place to stop, take pictures, stretch your legs, and watch the water. You can do that on the drive there or back; it doesn't really matter. Big Sur at sunset is fantastic.

Big Sur itself is tiny, not a lot going on there. It *IS* gorgeous.

The most scenic way to go, IMHO, is to go south on 101, then cut over on I-280 to Pacific Coast Highway 1, and take 1 down the rest of the way. You can also take PCH 1 the whole way from SF to Big Sur. That takes a lot longer, but you might enjoy the ride through Half Moon Bay and stuff.

I-280 is a great road. The MOST scenic route would be to take PCH 1 all the way down, with multiple stops on the way, as desired. That could take most of the day depending on the number of stops you made. A version I would take affords a high amount of scenic beauty with enough speed to satisfy my "get there NOW!" sensibilities. I'd go straight for I-280 leaving San Francisco because there's no reason to go 101 at all. It's a nasty potholed road that you have to share a) with truckers and b) with idiots headed to the airport. I *hate* 101. I'd take 280 all the way down to Highway 85 near Saratoga. Highway 85 goes to 17, which you take to Santa Cruz which is where you pick up Highway 1. Taking Highway 85 is basically a shortcut. You can take 280 to 17, but why backtrack if you don't have to? It's a lovely drive. Don't forget to stop at Nepenthe for a drink/beverage overlooking the ocean!

The fastest way back to San Francisco Airport from Monterey is to head north on 1, then take 152 to 101. Take 101 as far north as San Jose where you pick up 280 again. It's not scenic, but hey, it'll be dark! It's the fastest way.

Go to the Texas-style barbecue in Castroville on your way home (it's on your way). Just take the exit and you'll drive into town under the "Artichoke Capital of the World" banner and then the barbecue will be just on your left. Mmmm, mmmm, eats! That is, if you're hungry. I just love that damn place.