Los Angeles to San Francisco in January

[cian]

Early stages of planning a possible roadtrip from LA to SF. Just wondering a few things.

Is January a good time to do such a trip? Taking into account the weather aswell.
Which would be better in your opinion, SF-LA or LA-SF
Would 7 days be to short/too long to do such a trip?

Thanks
Cian

[AZBuck]

Weather will be generally fair to good, improving as you head south. There are a couple of reasons to recommend going from San Francisco to Los Angeles. One is simply that since we drive on the right hand side of the road, the ocean will always be on 'your' side of the road as you head south, making it easier to enjoy the views and get to the lay-bys and pull-offs. The other reason is weather, with San Francisco receiving its greatest rainfall, low temperatures and abundant valley fog in January. So by starting there, weather will gradually improve, getting dryer and warmer, as you head south.

Seven days will be sufficient to get a taste of the two cities and the coast in between, but only a taste. You could easily spend a month or more, if only it were that easy to get a month or more of vacation.

AZBuck

[Hoos]

AZBuck makes good points. Weather can be changeable in the SF area and there are predictions that El Nino is active this year - which could mean a much wetter winter in Northern California.

There are several ways to make the trip between LA and SF, and I recommend mixing them up. While a drive down or up Highway 1 is scenic, it's also long, curvy, and tiring to do for very long stretches. It can also be very slow if you are behind a truck or an RV.

I usually prefer trying to do a mix of Highway 1 and Highway 101, but places where you can easily cross over from one to the other are infrequent. A drive up/down Highway 101 is easier, in the long run, and is a great way to go if you want to visit the Missions of California. But it is less scenic than Highway 1.

[cian]

Thanks for the reply.

So SF to LA it is then. It rains here all the time so I'm sure we'll be used to it.

Flights are really cheap, so it would be shame not to travel.