Just north of the LA mess is Malibu. Just north of Malibu are Zuma Beach and Westward Beach. Both are lovely beaches, parking close by (Westward Beach charges $7 or similar for the privilege of parking, but the beach is RIGHT THERE with little walking). The neat thing about Westward/Zuma -- it's been a movie set on a few occasions. The beach scene in SPACEBALLS is one of them.
Donna
If you want to visit a beach before you start driving back, or even during your time in Anaheim, you might consider Seal Beach. It is one of the closest beaches to where you'll be staying. I stopped there after going to an Angels game years ago, taking the approach that if I drive west, eventually I'll hit a beach - and that's where I wound up. It was nice, and pretty low key.
This is a great post detailing lots of beaches you could consider.
You guys gave me some good advice on a previous post about my family's upcoming Disneyland trip, but I have a few more questions. We decided, on your advice, to take I-5 from Salem, OR to Anaheim. We'll stop in Sacramento for a night, breaking the drive up into two long days.
On the way back we'd really like to see at least SOME (of not all) of the Pacific Coast Highway. Although we're only staying one night on the road on the drive down to Anaheim, we can budget for two nights on the road for the drive home to Salem. Is it possible to do the coast route along all of California and southern Oregon in 3 days of driving, 2 overnight stops? While having a little time to stop for photo ops at pretty areas?
My idea was something like Anaheim to Carmel the first day, Carmel to Fort Bragg the second day, and Fort Bragg to Salem the third day. I'm just not sure if that's doable, so I wanted to get some first-hand, been-there-done-that advice. If a certain part of the coast isn't worth seeing, I don't mind veering back to I-5 at some point to shorten the trip, I just really have no clue what the best, "must see" parts of the coast are. We like the place we're staying in Sacramento on the way down, so I actually wouldn't mind getting back onto I-5 prior to hitting Sacramento, and skipping the coast north of San Francisco entirely, if it really isn't as nice as the southern coast. It's all pretty open, the biggest issue for us is that we want to see some beautiful sights along the California coast but we need to make the drive from Anaheim to Salem in 3 days. We'll get on the road around 9 am and hope to get off the road by 8 pm at the latest each night.
Tips? Best areas to see?
Moderator Note: Please keep all questions about this trip in the same thead.
My apologies for starting a new thread, I can see how that would be confusing for those who don't know the background already discussed. :)
I'm re-thinking the starting and stopping points I mentioned in my previous post. How does this sound?
First day's drive: Anaheim to San Simeon, about 300 miles and a little under 6 hours according to Google Maps (though we'll give ourselves more like 8-10 hours, to account for stops). Stop for the night in/around San Simeon (haven't even looked yet to see if this is feasible or affordable for us, though).
Second day's drive: San Simeon to San Francisco, across the Golden Gate, then to Sacramento. About 300 miles and 7 hours, according to Google Maps (again, we'll give ourselves more like 9-10 hours). Stop for the night in Sacramento (hopefully at the same hotel we're staying at on the way down to Anaheim).
Third day's drive: Sacramento back home to Salem, around 550 miles and 9 hours on I-5. This day is obviously the longest drive of the three, miles-wise, but I think time-wise it should be fairly close because we'll make better time on I-5 than on the coast route.
Thoughts?
I think your plan will work well and planning for fairly comfortable 10 hour days with lots of short stops shouldn't be far of the mark and if you can, try and avoid rush hours in both LA and SF.
As you are considering going over the GG bridge I would look at the option of leaving LA real early to miss morning rush and make your first overnight stop Monterey/Carmel as you originally thought. Next day though go through SF and take 101 [not CA1] up through Humboltd Redwood State park and stop around Eureka and then continue through Redwood NP on 101 to Crescent City and cut across to Grants Pass.
My favorite route is Highway 97 through central Oregon, Bend, (detour to) Crater Lake and then rejoin I-5 at Weed. From there just go straight down I-5 to Disney.
I prefer to drive north on 101 because the sun won't be in your eyes and you can see the sights much better. It's a long drive though, I usually book at least three days to do it, LA to SF in one day, SF to Eureka day two, then Eureka to Florence on day three. Day four is headed home to Portland.
the SF to Eureka drive is a short trip, but I always take the old highway through the Redwoods which adds another two to four hours between the increased distance and all the pit stops you'll want to take.
Hi Rick and welcome to RTA !
It's always nice when a new member jumps in on their first post and shares their experience and opinion, thanks for doing so. Driving from LA to SF on 101 is doable in a day but I would certainly recommend taking CA1 along the coast with an overnight stop whenever possible.
Dave.