Going to LA, then to San francisco, to Vegas and back to LA in February!

oops, ok sorry, read it a lil too fast. My wife and myself were cracking our heads last night on the route... one question, from vegas to San francisco, via Pismo beach/Morro Bay, how long would the ride be? and would i need to stay over in a motel or lodge while driving towards SF? i tried google maps, and it seems like a 16 hr drive, and with stop overs, it could be a day..

Oh, from the looks of it, i will be passing through Bakersfield, would staying a night there be any good, or should i just take a break and continue the drive up to sf?

from Bakersfield, the route wil lead me back to highway 1? and from there , the costal drive up to San Francisco. I hope this is correct. Thank you

Yes, you would certainly need a stopover to go from Vegas to SF via the coast. It's basically a full day from Vegas, and then its another full day to drive along the coast from the Morro Bay area to San Francisco.

I don't understand why you'd be thinking about a stop for the night in Bakersfield.

Hi Michael, are you suggesting i stay along the coast instead of Bakersfield? sorry i have no idea what to expect in Bakersfield, and i have never done a long drive road trip before, this would be the longest roadtrip i have done i think lol.

It's only about a 5 hour drive from LV to Bakersfield, and there's nothing really "scenic" there, it's an inland farming and industrial city. Another 2.5 to 3 hours would get you to Cambria, which is a charming beach town with inns and B&B's.

A nice place to take a break, which is right about at the halfway point between LV and Cambria, would be Tehachapi.

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i tried google maps, and it seems like a 16 hr drive, and with stop overs, it could be a day..

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You would certainly need a stopover and you could infact take two or even 3, to slow things down and enjoy the trip. A 16 hour day for example would mean hitting the road at 4am and arriving at 8pm, that's a long day ! There are scenic viewpoints, State parks, coastal towns and attractions like Hearst Castle and the Monterey Aquarium you could consider visiting along the way.

Have you decided upon how much time you wish to spend in each City ? If for example you spent 4 days in each City and a day between LA and LV, it would still leave you 4 days for this part of your trip. With this you could perhaps stop on route to the coast and take time to experience a visit to Death Valley and perhaps stop around Lake Isabella/Kernville. Then a trip to the Cambria area and spend time seeing the siights and enjoying the evening in town. At some point you could tour Hearst Castle if it took your fancy ! You could then take your time up the coast, and whereas you could head straight to SF, you could also stop the night in Monterey.

My suggestions (for what its worth).... I agree with first choice being fly into SF and Out of LV (or backwards). The whole middle area doesnt really need to be seen twice (i live here, so i know). If you really can only fly out of LA or SF because of international flights or price then my next choice would be LA > LV > Central Coast > SF. See link below for the way I would do it.

Places to stay in the central coast that i suggest are
Morro Bay (sleepy little fishing town with good restaurants along the embarcadero)
Cayucos (even smaller town with very quite vibe)
San Luis obispo (good shopping for your wife downtown) Try to schedule being there on thursday night for farmers market.
Pismo Beach or Avila Beach (great views of the Pacific ocean)


Then also search this forum for all the suggestions for central coast and big sur driving and restraunts.

Good luck and drive safe!

https://maps.google.com/maps?saddr=L...ia=2,4&t=m&z=8

Hi Kuzn Edy,

thanks for the suggestion, looks like a good route, and we are just about done with our routes from everyone suggestion, and will post it up once we have finalized it! thank you and everyone else, Dave, Glc, Michael. We'll be sure to post up our itinerary and hopefully it works out, thank you all again!

Hi all,

my wife just read from the news online that on highway 1, only one lane will be opened from big sur onwards, due to road works.. does anyone know where i can find more info on this? i tried googling but was unsuccessful.

Thank you for your help, not sure how this is gonna affect the trip.

just found the post: here


John n Regine

Although it's not fancy (just plain text), and it covers every highway in California (fortunately it does it in numerical order, so CA-1 is listed first), the official up-to-date source for the latest highway construction/closure information is the Caltrans site.

AZBuck

The road will be closed from 9pm to 7am 5 days a week (Sunday through Thursday nights). The rest of the time expect 10 minute delays due to a signalized single lane.