First Visit to California - July 22 - Aug 2 2012

[ksawyer]

Hi Everyone,
I'm new to this website and so far I like what I see. We're planning a 12 day family vacation to California flying into San Francisco and flying out of San Diego. The plan so far is to spend 3 days in San Fran, rent a car and drive down the coast (Hwy 1) seeing Hearst Castle, Big Sur and Pebble Beach. We have two nights booked at LA Live Hotel in L.A. then the night before we leave is spent in San Diego. I'd like to get some advice on what to see/ what to avoid/ where to stay / and should we take the interstate at some point after driving down Hwy 1. I've been told not to bother taking Hwy 1 all the way to L.A. (if that's possible).
Any help / suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

P.S. Our two boys are 15 and 22 so we weren't planning on going to any zoos or anything of that nature.

Thanks for any input.
Cheers !

[Mark Sedenquist]

I've been told not to bother taking Hwy 1 all the way to L.A. (if that's possible).

That's really odd advice. I would certainly stay on CA-1 to Santa Monica and then you can take the freeways to your destinations in LA. Welcome to the Great American RoadTrip Forum. There are quite literally hundreds of posts about this route -- here's a good place to start reading:

An overview of some of our route suggestions
A few tips about the beaches along the route
Another one from Larrison that details some of the very cool places along CA-1 -- including all the way to San Diego.

This is one my favorite places to stop and stretch my legs:

More info

Near Moss Landing -- this is a bit of an insider's secret is one of my favorite seafood delis:
There are simple tables -- awesome food at Phil's

Also at Moss Landing -- something you'll never find in a guide book -- but I stop here every time I travel here.

So... check out those threads and then come back with more questions.

[glc]

It looks like you have enough time to do more than just drive down the coast. Have you considered going from SF to Yosemite, then returning to the coast around Monterey?

[ksawyer]

We are planning two days in L.A. from July 27 to 29th... I'd like to see Yosemite but thought the drive might be too far. Leaving San Francisco on July 24th - the time in between is open... any idea how long of a drive it is to Yosemite ?

[glc]

It's 4 to 5 hours to Yosemite from SF, and about the same back to Monterey.

[ksawyer]

thanks for the info