Driving San Diego to Santa Barbara? (Huntington Beach, Oxnard: rent, home, casino)

[karenmattp]

Me and my husband are flying from Boston to San Diego Jan 16. We fly out of San Diego on Jan 22 to Cabo at 6am. Because we are using frequent flyer miles we have to fly in and out of San Diego.
Are we crazy to drive to Santa Barbara, Big Sur and back to San Diego? We have 6 days and really want to see more of California. Please help.

[Sassberto]

Originally Posted by karenmattp

Me and my husband are flying from Boston to San Diego Jan 16. We fly out of San Diego on Jan 22 to Cabo at 6am. Because we are using frequent flyer miles we have to fly in and out of San Diego.
Are we crazy to drive to Santa Barbara, Big Sur and back to San Diego? We have 6 days and really want to see more of California. Please help.

It's a long drive and will kill 3-4 of your days. Personally I would recommend flying into SD, then fly one-way to SF (not an expensive flight) rent a car and drive down.

[cobmw]

San Diego to Santa Barbara should take about 3 1/2 - 4 hours if you do it in the middle of the day and get lucky with the freeways. By middle of day I mean 10am to 2pm. At other hours it can be an absolute nightmare. It will not be a sightseeing drive (although the drive up the coast past Camp Pendelton is nice) as you will be fighting freeway traffic all the way. Past Santa Barbara the drive gets nice. Its 90 minutes from Santa Barbara to San Luis Obispo then I'm guessing 3 hours to Big Sur along the coast (but I could be wrong on that segment). Enjoying it in 6 days seems possible to me. Set a schedule for where you want to stop and have fun.

[karenmattp]

Thanks for the advice. We booked a flight from San Diego to Monterey and will take 6 days to drive to San Diego then off to Cabo. I'll let you know how it went.

[Sampaguita]

That sounds like a great plan. I lived in Santa Barbara for 8 yrs - enjoy!

[benshaton]

If you choose to drive through LA, by all means avoid the 405 freeway, at least there's a chance I-5 won't be gridlock. Don't pass through the Solvang area without doing the "Sideways Tour".

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

The most scenic route is the coast highway. I live in Ventura County in Oxnard on the coast. Have made the trip from Oxnard North to Santa Barbara many times and from Oxnard to San Diego about a dozen times. If you fly to Monterey from San Diego you will want to spend the first day in Monterey, visiting the Monterey Bay aqaurium and sight seeing in the area. South of there you can visit Carmell and a few other of the coastel cities. If you get the chance visit the Hurst Castle in San Simion. They have 3 or 4 different tours of the estate. Also a great view of the ocean. Before you pass down to the Santa Barbara area you may want to drive inland to Solvang, the Dutch Capital of the United States. While there you can also stop by the Chumash casino if that is your thing. If you drive that way you can continue on the 150 and head for Lake Cachuma on the back roads. It will bring you down into Santa Barbara. When you are in Santa Barbara visit the Wharf for dinner and sight seeing. You can shop along State Street and the beautifull downtown area. Getting back on the Coast Route you will be on highway 101 heading toward Ventura. You will pass some amazing little towns, Montecito is a beautifull and expensive area. Oprah has a home there along with Kevin Costner. Then its on to Summerland where I suggest stopping for lunch or dinner at the Big Yellow House. If the sky is clear along the route you will have a great view of the Channel Islands off the coast. After leaving Summerland you will head for the Number 2 surfing community in the world, Ventura, California recieved the honor from Outdoor Magazine in 2006. So maybe it isn't the 2nd best any more. As you drive on the 101 you will leave the coast for a while and head inland. Drive to the Rice Avenue exit in Oxnard, California a city next to Ventura. Rice Avenue is a connector road to the Coast Highway about 8 miles from the 101. If you go this way you will have a great drive after you get past Point Mugu. Just past the Navy Base at Point Mugu you are once again on the Coast route heading for Malibu. It is a great drive that follows the coast. Meaning very curvy. From there it will take you about 40 minutes to get through Malibu. They have some amazing resteraunts though so you may want to stop. After you leave Malibu I usually head up the 10 and drive up to the 405 from there. Then it is out toward the real OC. I like to stop at Huntington Beach and visit some friends. that is a real beach community. Surf city it is. That kind of ends my itenerary help because I go from there to San Diego. Lots to do in San Siego though. One more thing. After you leave Ventura you may want to visit the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley California. They also have the Air Force One Pavilian. You can walk through the same plane that carried JFK, LBJ, RMN, GF, JC, RR, and GB. It is an amazing place to visit. Just take the 101 to Thousand Oaks and take the exit for the Moorpark Freeway. This will take you North toward Moorpark and Simi Valley to the East of the highway. You can turn off Madera Road, I think and follow the signs to the Library. If you do that and still want to take the Coast route into Malibu, you can head back to the 101 and drive south. Follow the signs outside of Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village and you will see a sign that takes you to Malibu. You will see a little shopping center off the side of the 101 that has a Taco Bell that is you can see very well from the 101. Take that offramp and folow the road south to Malibu. That is also a very nice drive.

Have fun with your trip

[karenmattp]

Oh my! Thank you so much. You just outlined our whole trip. I appreciate you taking you time to help me. We are so excited to see California.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Originally Posted by karenmattp

Oh my! Thank you so much. You just outlined our whole trip. I appreciate you taking you time to help me. We are so excited to see California.

I hope that you have fun on your trip. There is a lot to see within the state and I have given you some of the favorites from the northern part of your trip. San Diego itself has so much to see that you could spend a month there and still have places to visit.