San Diego to San Francisco two way road trip (Los Angeles: how much, houses)

[Opt_10]

There is so much information on this road trip via big sur. It is overwhelming. Here is my plan. Leave San diego and stop in Santa barbara for two nights and a day. Drive from Santa barara to San francisco. I am visiting SF for 4 days. On my way back, drive from SF to cambria via hwy 1. Spend overnight in cambria. Drive from cambria to San diego the next day. Is this doable? SF to SD with an overnight stop in cambria to experience the drive via big sur? How early should I leave SF so that I don't end up in the treacherous winding big sur drive in night time?

I wanted to do the big sur via hwy1 on my way back from SF to SD. I wanted to do santa Barbara on my trip from SD to SF. I don't want to do big sur along with santa barbara on my way to SF which would leave me completely exhausted when I get to SF and I have a huge 4 day week end planned in SF. Thoughts and suggestions appreciated.

[artemis78]

Highway 1 is closed through Big Sur due to several landslides and a collapsed bridge, so you can't drive from San Francisco to Cambria and won't be able to for months. (However, even if you could, it would probably not be worth doing if you wanted to spend a decent amount of time in Big Sur that day--it's a long drive.) If you want to see some of Big Sur, you can go as far as the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge, but then would have to double back to get back to 101 to go around the closures. If you only have two days for the return trip, I'd skip it. Stop in Monterey/Carmel, maybe, and then cut back to 101 and stop in Paso Robles or Morro Bay instead. It's a different California trip, but also a nice one.

[Opt_10]

Originally Posted by artemis78

Highway 1 is closed through Big Sur due to several landslides and a collapsed bridge, so you can't drive from San Francisco to Cambria and won't be able to for months. (However, even if you could, it would probably not be worth doing if you wanted to spend a decent amount of time in Big Sur that day--it's a long drive.) If you want to see some of Big Sur, you can go as far as the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge, but then would have to double back to get back to 101 to go around the closures. If you only have two days for the return trip, I'd skip it. Stop in Monterey/Carmel, maybe, and then cut back to 101 and stop in Paso Robles or Morro Bay instead. It's a different California trip, but also a nice one.

Thank you. What a bummer. Looks like monterey will be a good place to stop and explore. The drive from SF to monterey via CA-1 looks scenic. Then I can simply drive from Monterrey to Morro bay and then over to SD or perhaps skip Morro bay and drive directly to SD.

A side question. Would I need two nights and one whole day to see santa barbara or can I do it overnight? Driving from SD I would probably reach Santa Barbara around 3 or 4 pm which would only give me that evening and next day morning to explore Santa Barbara if I have to get on the road the next day. So I am thinking I will spend two nights there to make the most of it. It's just a bit expensive.

[ttocs99]

Sounds like a great trip, never been to Santa Barbara, but I hear it's beautiful. Monterey and Carmel are great places to visit (I love Carmel especially, a beautiful city).


Artemis, you seem to know a lot about the issues caused by the mudslide. I'm supposed to take a tour from SF to Carmel and Monterey, would that in any way be affected by the mudslide damage ? Supposed to include the 17 mile drive and Pebble Beach as well. Thanks for any info.

[tstieber]

I've been up and down that stretch of Coast. Santa Barbara is a beautiful town, but it is rather small. You could technically see a little bit of everything on an overnight trip, which is what we've always done. In fact, sometimes we've only spent a few hours there. But if you absolutely love the Ambiance and just want to hang out to soak it in, then that would be amazing to stick around longer. It's not the sightseeing though.

I also really enjoy some of the other stops just north of there on the Central Coast, and I haven't had a chance to explore all of them. Pismo Beach, Avila Beach, look like beautiful places to stop as well. And San Luis Obispo is a great college town that's super scenic and bustling, plus it's just down the road from the Paso Robles Wine Country. So I would maybe not beef up quite so much on Santa Barbara, to just one day there, and one day at the other Central Coast stops.

Monterey is indeed very beautiful, but you definitely can't miss Pebble Beach or Carmel if you are in the area. The 17 Mile Drive, although they charge you admission, is worth seeing some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. The whitest sand on the West Coast.

And just north of Monterey and south of Santa Cruz is another one of my favorite beach towns of Capitola. It is a really cute small town with a calm sandy beach flanked by a lagoon, Beachside restaurants and a little town with Galleries and shops, a wharf, and cute Hillside started with little houses.

[artemis78]

Originally Posted by ttocs99

Sounds like a great trip, never been to Santa Barbara, but I hear it's beautiful. Monterey and Carmel are great places to visit (I love Carmel especially, a beautiful city).


Artemis, you seem to know a lot about the issues caused by the mudslide. I'm supposed to take a tour from SF to Carmel and Monterey, would that in any way be affected by the mudslide damage ? Supposed to include the 17 mile drive and Pebble Beach as well. Thanks for any info.

You should be fine--the damage is all well south of there, mostly affecting the Big Sur area.

Here's a map:

Highway 1 Conditions in Big Sur, California

The new bridge is supposed to open this fall, but I don't think Caltrans has given an estimate yet for how long it will take to clear the landslides and ensure that the cliffs are stable. The last time there was a landslide of that magnitude it apparently took over a year (and that assumes no new slides--there has already been an additional one this year since the first closure).

[artemis78]

Originally Posted by Opt_10

Thank you. What a bummer. Looks like monterey will be a good place to stop and explore. The drive from SF to monterey via CA-1 looks scenic. Then I can simply drive from Monterrey to Morro bay and then over to SD or perhaps skip Morro bay and drive directly to SD.

A side question. Would I need two nights and one whole day to see santa barbara or can I do it overnight? Driving from SD I would probably reach Santa Barbara around 3 or 4 pm which would only give me that evening and next day morning to explore Santa Barbara if I have to get on the road the next day. So I am thinking I will spend two nights there to make the most of it. It's just a bit expensive.

It really depends on how much you want to see there, and if you want to spend some time at the beach, etc.

The one thing I will caution is that traffic in the Los Angeles area is notoriously bad, especially leading into summer weekends, and the SD-SB trip can take double what Google estimates if you have bad luck on that front. So staying for two nights would give you a buffer there. The best way to do it is to leave SD early on a weekday so that you hit LA just after morning rush hour and are through the LA area completely before early afternoon, but that doesn't always work out (and might cut into your plans in SD). If you did that, you could spend the late afternoon/evening in SB, stay the night, spend the morning there, and then head up to SF later in the day (timing it to get into SF later in the evening). That would probably be a reasonable amount of time to get a quick taste of SB, if that's all you're looking for.

[eureka1]

If you DO make it to Cambria , stay at the Bluebird Motel. Cute place with a resident ghost!

[Opt_10]

Originally Posted by artemis78

It really depends on how much you want to see there, and if you want to spend some time at the beach, etc.

The one thing I will caution is that traffic in the Los Angeles area is notoriously bad, especially leading into summer weekends, and the SD-SB trip can take double what Google estimates if you have bad luck on that front. So staying for two nights would give you a buffer there. The best way to do it is to leave SD early on a weekday so that you hit LA just after morning rush hour and are through the LA area completely before early afternoon, but that doesn't always work out (and might cut into your plans in SD). If you did that, you could spend the late afternoon/evening in SB, stay the night, spend the morning there, and then head up to SF later in the day (timing it to get into SF later in the evening). That would probably be a reasonable amount of time to get a quick taste of SB, if that's all you're looking for.

Great points. I will be leaving SD around noon or 11 am the earliest. I did a trip to LA a week ago and dodged the bullet with the traffic as I hit LA right around 3:30 pm and left SD at 1 pm.

I am thinking may be I will do two nights in Santa Barbara. Because If I leave Santa Barbara anytime past 1 pm driving up to SF, I am afraid I might hit SF traffic which I have heard is worse than LA traffic.

[Opt_10]

Originally Posted by tstieber

Monterey is indeed very beautiful, but you definitely can't miss Pebble Beach or Carmel if you are in the area. The 17 Mile Drive, although they charge you admission, is worth seeing some of the most beautiful scenery in the world. The whitest sand on the West Coast.

And just north of Monterey and south of Santa Cruz is another one of my favorite beach towns of Capitola. It is a really cute small town with a calm sandy beach flanked by a lagoon, Beachside restaurants and a little town with Galleries and shops, a wharf, and cute Hillside started with little houses.

Great idea. I am planning on doing an overnight at monterey on my way back to SD. Will that be enough time to explore pebble beach? Is there another point I can stop on my back or just drive direct from Monterey to SD skipping big sur of course.