CLOS

So my wife and I will be doing a trip up to San Francisco and I thought why not ask for opinions on roads to take, and places to go to.
Right now our general plan is: Palm Springs - LA - Bakersfield?(maybe, we have friends there not definite) - San Fran - Vegas - Home.
I know a few of the people here have driven up there/visited/lived out there so i wanted to get ideas of places to go, and roads to get there.
We both want to visit Alcatraz and i want to see the Winchester Mansion.

gnk

Highway 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) is by far the best driving/scenery option - not the fastest way there of course. Can cut over at San Diego or at LA, depending on how long a trip you want to make. If you are going to pass through Palm Springs, that makes it the LA route.
if you want to come back through Vegas, you can drive through Yosemite to the backside of the Sierra Nevadas, and then down to Vegas and home. Not a bad drive either.
Just avoid I5 and state route 99 as much as possible for fun driving.

In SF, go to the top of Twin Peaks, go to Ghiradelli Square, go to Coit tower, go over the Golden Gate Bridge to Marin county. If you like to do a little hiking, there are spectacular views from Mt. Tamalpais in Marin county. If you like to eat, check out the ethnic restaurants in North Beach. I like the little Thai restaurants all over the place. Spend some time walking down Market street just to get the flavor.

Brutus

definitely do highway 1. santa babara. eat at the palms in carpinteria. hearst castle. carmel. pebble beach 17 mile drive. monterey. eat at phils in moss landing. santa cruz boardwalk. half moon bay. have a good time!

gnk

Good ideas. Also, next to Carmel, you can do a little sea kayaking in Monterey for an hour or so. More like a canoe - you sit on it, not in it like a river kayak, so no special training required. Lots of neat sea animals to look at from that vantage point.

CLOS

Carmel is near San Diego isn't it? I'm not sure we want to go that far south since our plan is San Francisco. Thanks for the ideas guys. Keep 'em coming.

gnk

Carmel is near San Diego isn't it? I'm not sure we want to go that far south since our plan is San Francisco. Thanks for the ideas guys. Keep 'em coming.
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No, it is 50 miles south of Santa Cruz, which is 75 miles south of SF. Easily on your route if you do any highway 1 and well worth it.

cu@9k

I live in So Cal. Stay away from getting the PCH (1) in Santa Monica....It is the biggest shit show and is not that nice. I would suggest catching the PCH in Ventura and taking it all the way up the coast and check out Bir Sur, Cambria, Monterrey and head to SF. From SF I would drive towards Sacramento, and catch the 49 and drive down it until you get to the road to go to Yosemite. SO much history along that route. Let me know if you need to know good food places this way.

Brutus

whats the matter man, dont like Malibu? why deprive the young couple of pretending to be Moondoggie and Gidget?

AZS2KDancer

Next year I'm planning on, but don't know if it will come to fruition, but I want to do the coast trip from San Diego to Oregon if I can I don't know if that will be doable in 5-7 days, so maybe just to San Francisco and back on 49 through Yosemite, Yes, stay away from I-5 and CA 99 unless you want straight and almost level boring but fast roads. Take your time and enjoy the scenery and stops along the way.

RMurphy

^^+1 from a West LA resident. If it were me, I'd come across the 10 to the 101 North (the 101 in LA) and take that north toward Santa Barbara. Stay with the 101 into San Luis Obispo and then split off to the 1 the entire rest of the way up the coast to SF. I'm not familiar with the more coastal route through the Lompoc area and that is the only reason I didn't suggest it. A more local person to that area could likely give better advice on that.


Not doable if you want to remember any of it and avoid having to drive at night. Only very small portions of the drive between San Diego and Ventura are at all pleasant. Don't bother, since you will end up stuck in a lot of traffic between Orange County and Malibu. Rather, do the route suggested above and just stick with Route 1 north of San Francisco toward Oregon. I've done that drive and it was the most wonderful road trip I have ever done. Ever. Nothing since has been able to compare. Not even Sedona and environs, and I really enjoyed Sedona.