LA to San Fran

smurfy3msl1

Hi,in October I'm planning to drive between the 2 cities,Ive been to both once before without a car,but looking for ideas/tips of places to visit nearby either(only thing planned is universal & getting on cruise in San Francisco on the sunday) and where on the way is it worth doing a nights stop between the two? I plan to arrive in LA on either the sunday on Monday.
Thanks.x

Alan_Bowen

There are lots of places to stop on the way, moving north from Los Angeles, Santa Barbara is gorgeous, Solvang is unusual, it looks like a village from Denmark, Monterey and Carmel are two major tourist hotspots and close by is the 17 mile drive through the forest, you have to pay to drive this road as it is on private land.

I really enjoyed an afternoon at San Simeon, the home of William Randolf Hearst, the press magnet.

Closer to San Francisco is the Winchester Mystery House owned by the widow of the inventor of the Winchester rifle who believed the ghosts of those killed by her husband's guns would haunt her unless she kept on building more rooms and staircases to nowhere. I suggest you contact the Californian Tourist Board who have agents in the UK for suggested routes and sites to visit or check out the website

John259

There are several possible routes:

CA1, the Pacific Coast Highway. Extremely scenic especially in the Big Sur area (video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypfy7XHjRl4 ). Relatively slow. Very little accommodation between San Louis Obispo and Monterey.

US101. Not so scenic, but not bad. Faster than CA1.

I-5. The fastest but least scenic option.

CA99. Similar country to I-5, but it goes through the towns. A good choice for a longer trip with time to visit Sequoia National Park.

smurfy3msl1

Thank you both for your replies,gave me some good starting points of things to into.

BillTrac

Did this trip a couple of years ago. It's not the longest of drives but stopped over in Carmel and Monterray. lovely beaches and scenery.

Hope you enjoy the trip, Smurfy3msl1.

Archergirl

If you stop at San Louis Obispo look at staying at the Maddona Inn we stayed there years ago, they have themed rooms, querky and fun.....but not cheap.

Murphy_The_Cat

Archergirl wrote: »

If you stop at San Louis Obispo look at staying at the Maddona Inn we stayed there years ago, they have themed rooms, querky and fun.....but not cheap.

We love SLO :beer:
Stay on a Thurs night if you can, when they close the town centre for a Farmers Market (& communal get together). If the Madonna Inn doesn't have vacancies, or is a bit heavy on the pocket **, have a look at Apple Farm,

which is a lovely place as well.


** check out Madonna Inn whilst you're at SLO, even if you only go in to spend a penny

hollie.weimeraner

My vote would be Pacific Highway and Monterey if you have the time.

Sea mist can spoil Pacific Highway though.