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@hilsy85: I recommend a visit to Hearst Castle on route 1. Really cool place and they have all sorts of tours.
My grandparents lived in Carmel and it is a BEAUTIFUL place. You will definitely want to check out Carmel-by-the-Sea. I also recommend driving 17mile drive in Pebble Beach.
Also, if you like Aquariums, the Monterey Bay Aquarium is great, I also love Fisherman's Wharf. You can feed the sea lions there.
In SFO, if you are interested, the trip out to and tour of Alcatraz is pretty cool.
@KatNYC2011: Thank you! I definitely came across Hearst Castle in my research and it looks awesome. It seems like it's an easy drive from big sur, is that right?
I agree that Hearst Castle is awesome. I went with my family when we drove down the coast visiting colleges. I don't recall exactly how far it is from Big Sur... I think we saw it on a day we started in Carmel and ended in Santa Barbara. Which are also both gorgeous.
In Napa, I love Calistoga. It's not really on the way from SF to LA (it's like an hour or two north of San Francisco), but it's a small spa and wine type town. There's some nice restaurants and chill bars on the main drag, and a lot of wineries in the area.
hmm...i did this drive when i picked up my sister from college but we did it in about 12 hours instead of 12 days. i think it's better to drive south than to dirve north because that way you are on the side of the highway closest to the ocean.
let me think of some things to do. you already have some good options with big sur, napa, monterey, santa barbara.
- the hearst castle in san simeon
- stop to look at the elephant seals
i can't come up with anything else at the moment but read this NY Times article.
or google, sites to see on pacific coast highway
Cambria is not too far away from Hearst Castle. It's a cute little town to spend part of the day walking around and have lunch or dinner. Not a whole lot to do, but it's nice.
If you're into hiking, there is the Arroyo Hondo Preserve along the way. All different levels of hiking and the area is really pretty.
Kate's for breakfast in Carmel. And check out Solvang too. It's a kitschy little town with lots of yummy bakeries.
For the drive to Big Sur, I would check on the roads. This past winter some really big storms took out some of the roads and for a while you couldn't drive down to big sur. I believe that they should be fixed by late summer, but I would totally check.
another fun place to stop is Pismo Beach. It's a fun little beach town that is good for a 1 night stop.
San Fran: Make sure to go to Alcatraz Island, the wax museum and the golden gate bridge. Maybe 2-3 days there
Santa Barbara- Definately check out the Santa Barbara Mission!
Monterey - You must go to the aquarium. You can do Monterey in a day but 2 would be nice. If you're into oysters - this is the place for you
Carmel - super cute and walkable. You'd want another day here. Do the "17 mile drive" Its so beautiful!
Big Sur - A MUST! It's so gorgeous. Go to julia pfeiffer state park and take the short hike to the falls
We went camping at Andrew Molera state park and had alot of fun. There is a trail that goes through the campsite out to the beach and then up a cliff for a stunning view.
I haven't been to Hearst Castle but I hear its worth seeing.
Santa Barbara - beautiful and fun. You could spend a couple days here shopping and walking around
You'll also be driving right through wine country. Stop and spend a couple days in Santa Ynez or Los Olivos.
Sonoma! The winery's are outstanding and it's GORGEOUS! We went last year on our anniversary and it was gorgeous.
Stop over in Cambria too and check out the harbor seals that lay on the rocks. They are adorable!
This is what we're planning as well.
Here's out itinerary:
Santa Cruz Boardwalk - it has one of the oldest wooden roller coasters in the US ... and it's a great place for pictures.
Bonny Doon Vineyards, just north of Santa Cruz on HWY 1 ...
The Central Coast is breath taking!
A little biased but you should definitely spend some time in Santa Monica & Venice.
@kala_way: you will have to eat at the place i am getting married at in oakhurst! the food is so delicious!
@hilsy85: laguna beach! the beach is beautiful and the town itself is really cute! about 1 hour away from la. how about doing a theme park for one day?? like disneyland? hollywood walk of fame! make sure to bring your $$$ cuz those characters want money if you take a pic with them! lol
The latest update on Hwy 1 south is that it should take 3 years to fix it completely. Although it's a nice drive, I'd probably avoid the area. If you come to Carmel, drive south to Garrapata SP or even Pfeiffer, do for a hike, and then come back and head out to 101 to make the trip south. You'll get plenty of ocean views on the shorter trip and you'll avoid the road hazard down there. You can take the 101 through Paso Robles and do some wine tasting there (it's totally different from Napa) and then swing back across on the south side to do Hearst castle if you must. Also, if you're into history and that kind of thing, you could make your trip down the 101 about the missions- it was the old road that Junipero Serra took and the buildings are really beautiful. Gosh, there are so many things to do here, I'll probably PM you with some more ideas later :)
Thank you ladies!!! I will check all of these things out. So it sounds like a full day/night would be best for Carmel/Monterey.
@Theresa90405: We were looking to stay at Shutters on the Beach in Santa Monica. It looks gorgeous!
@breezybri19: By avoid completely, you mean not do the drive? Or avoid certain areas? And yes, definitely PM me suggestions if you have the time! :)
@spoonoutmyheart: Really? What's it called?
My FI's favorite place out there is a diner called Forks :) He's all excited to go there again. And some little place in the middle of the wilderness as well, don't remember it's name though.
@hilsy85: Shutters is BEAUTIFUL!! So is Case del Mar next door, which is where DH and I stayed on our wedding night.
SM/Venice are sooooo much fun!!
Rent bikes, ride around the beach path, get a table at On the Waterfront (on the Venice boardwalk), order a giant heifeweizen, and enjoy the freak show!
@kala_way: it's erna's elderberry house. are you talking about yosemite forks? i've never been there, but i just googled it, and the yelp says it's closed! but erna's is a must if you are going!!! here is the yelp for it http://www.yelp.com/biz/ernas-elderberry-house-oakhurst
i second venice!! and do santa monica too!! it's a great casual relax day. and santa monica has the promanade for shopping and street entertainment!
I would spend a good deal of the time in SF and LA. Try drinks at the Top of the Mark hotel in SF. Have lunch at the deYoung Museum. There are so many good restaurants and streets for shopping!
In LA I would totally do 3rd Street Promenade; Shutters is very close. The beach cities are my personal favorite area: Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach...
If you decide to come all the way down to San Diego, let me know and I'll have a ton more recs!
Yeah, lots of good shopping and great restaurants around the 3rd St Promenade in Santa Monica.
But also, don't miss Main Street. That's my favorite spot in Santa Monica. It's very quaint, with white twinkly lining the street at night. Small boutiques, great little restaurants/bars (some of my faves-the Galley, Library Alehouse, Lula, Enterprise Fish Co, and Chaya...which is actually in Venice.)
It's a very nice small beach town vibe.
We live the in the LA area which is why we aren't including anything there. If you're starting in LA I'd second the rec's for Manhattan/Hermosa/Redondo Beach. Riding on the Strand is my favorite summer activity and there are some great restaurants. My favorite is Martha's on 22nd street. Their breakfasts are awesome!
Santa Monica and Venice are fun as well (mainly if you've never been) and the canals up there are lovely as well.
Malibu can be fun too. Gladstone's is my favorite restaurant--it's up near the Getty Villa. Amazing seafood and right on the water. When I was in Germany last year our German tour guide even mentioned it before he even knew what part of California we were from :)
In Santa Cruz- I second doing a walk along the Boardwalk and out on the warf to see the sea lions. Right across from the warf is a famous surf spot (where the light house is) called Steamers Lane and the walk from the warf to Steamers is nice as you often see dolphins, sea lions, and otters in the water.
For places to eat- lunch is great and cheap at any of the Pizza My Heart locations. You can get a big slice of pizza and a souvenir shirt for $5. In downtown Santa Cruz, there is a place that is called Saturn Cafe. It is a crazy little diner that is all vegetarian, but you wouldn't know it as they have yum food like corndogs that taste like the real thing, as well as all your other typical diner style food.
Right outside of Monterey is an area called Pacific Grove and it's got some really great Victorian houses. It's where they filmed East of Eden with James Dean. It's also got some really pretty coastline and walking paths.
About 10 miles north of Monterey is Marina. We stayed at a place called the Sanctuary Beach Resort that was AMAZING!! You get a golf cart, it's literally right on the beach cliff, it has a Hawaiian restaurant. We spent 3 nights of our honeymoon there and I can't tell you how much we loved it. And, we found the BEST fish market. It's called Phil's in Moss Landing. Blue Grass band on the patio, huge variety of seafood and all kinds of beer ad dessert. You could do Carmel and Monterey in one long day and then stay at Sanctuary.......you would love it.
Okay, another question! We're ending our trip in LA and are staying there for two or three days. As I mentioned above, we were looking at Shutters, which is in Santa Monica. Is this near LA? A suburb of LA? Should we be looking to stay IN LA, like in Beverly Hills/Hollywood? I'm so lost as to where things are in relation to each other!
@Purple Nurse: thanks! We are now considering spending a night in Carmel/Monterey, so that's helpful :)
@hilsy85: LA is so spread out but you have a car so it doesn't really matter too much where you stay.
If I were you, I would not stay downtown. It's kind of cool to check out though if you have time. They've really been doing it up the last few years so there are lots of cool restaurants/bars now. But it's a bit of a hike from the beach.
Beverly Hills is very small. You could make it a day trip along with Hollywood. A fun drive would be to go down to Pacific Coast Highway and take Sunset. This will lead you to Beverly Hills and then into Hollywood.
But personally, as a lifelong Angeleno...I would recommend staying in Santa Monica. It's my favorite spot.
We just went to visit my Gma in Orange County and drove back up the coast through Santa Barbara and stopped in Cambria to stretch our legs and get dinner-just wanted to say that the 1 north of there IS still closed up through Big Sur for now.
I prefer Sonoma to Napa by a zillion. It's less crowded, more romantic, and I prefer the Zins and Sparkling that they have there.
Rent a convertible (seriously!) and drive down Highway 1 all the way down the coast w/ lots of time for stuff that you will love but might not have booked...like hanging out in Pismo Beach or going to vinyards in the Lost Hills/Paso Robles area is an all-time favorite road trip of mine. Hearst Castle is definitely worth the visit and not your ordinary tourist trap.
I wouldn't plan a whole day for it, but definitely stop in Solvang outside of Santa Barbara.
Another kitschy little freeway snack stop (fast-food alternative) is Pea Soup Andersen's either in Buellton (outside of Santa Barbara) or in Santa Nella (off the 5 in the middle of nowhere but roughly where you cut over to get to Santa Cruz or Merced).
LA...not so awesome as a romantic destination for me. It's fun to go for a day and see the Stars sidewalk and look at some mansions, but then it's just busy. Up the coast (Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Louis Obispo) is mellower and prettier, IMO.
If you want to swim in the Ocean, drive all the way to San Diego or get wet suits. The Pacific is frigid.
I usually like the small attractions over the big ones and like knowing the history to the tiny towns as we go through them. One of my favorite things to do on big road trip is get the AAA book that tells a little history for each micro town along w/ their restaurants and hotels and just play it by ear as we drive.
CA is the best. You will have a lot of fun!
If you are going to be in LA for two days, you should check out Catalina Island.
http://www.catalinachamber.com/island/activities
The island has a zip line. If you have not zip line before, you should try it. It was an awesome experience.
Have fun and enjoy Cali! :)
Well, pretty much everything has been said, but I wanted to second the idea that Napa will be a complete and total zoo, horrible traffic, hordes of tourists in giant buses. Sonoma is much better and also check out Healdsburg. Avoid Yosemite like the plague for the same reasons. It's too bad so sad that these places are so completely overrun but they are. And it sucks all the fun out of such a beautiful place.
Okay, moving on. After Shutters in SM, check out the downtown Standard. Amazing rooftop bar with poolside waterbeds and an incredible city view. Or maybe the Four Seasons BH or the Beverly Wilshire. You can do Saks, Neiman and Barney's then have lunch on the roof at the Greengrass deli.
Oh, and do NOT miss the Prada store-it's a work of art. And there's a great little garden on the roof as well. I think that is all:). Have fun!
I'm planning a similar trip down US 1 and had not heard anything about parts of the highway being closed. We'll be driving from SFO to San Diego. Does anyone have details or can point me to a website which specifies what parts of the road are closed? I hope it's not going to be a huge detour as I am really looking forward to driving the coast.
@slicey19- try this http://thebigsurblog.com/ I do hope it's open by the time you go through. The back roads are pretty but nothing like coast.
Re: coast road closures: We had to duck into 101 from Monterrey and cut back over to 1 at 46/Lost Hills once w/ my mom when 1 was closed. It was still nice, but not the middle of summer. An out-of-stater FYI...It tends to be in teh 70's at the coast, but you don't have to drive too many miles inland before it gets into the high 90's on most days. There's still a lot of nice highway from 46 to LA though.
If you drive through the central Valley make sure you stop at the shackiest little farmers markets. Those are the ones where the food sold is typically grown on-premises.
If Big Sur is accessible, then definitely go there. I would highly recommend this hotel:
http://www.glenoaksbigsur.com/
We stayed there recently for a romantic getaway, and it was perfect... and also not too crazy expensive.
Also, the Paso Robles wine region could be fun to check out.
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My DH and I are planning on going to California at the end of the summer/early Sept for our 1 year anniversary. We plan on flying in to San Fran and then driving down to LA and flying home from there. But we need suggestions of things to do in between! We have about 10-12 days, and these are the sites/things that are on our list so far:
- Napa (of course)
- Big Sur
-Monterey and Carmel
- Santa Barbara
Anyone have any other suggestions? Also, how long would you say we need in each place?
Any info would be great :)