San Francisco to San Diego-need help!

[chiq23]

I'm currently trying to plan a 7 night road trip from san francisco to San diego for the end of june. I really have no idea where to start.
I'll be traveling with 3 others, and we would like to travel mostly along the coast...but would definitely like to see yosemite park somehow.
Any suggestions? Or are there any books that are out there with detailed maps and routes to take? We are on somewhat of a budget...so we won't be stopping at ritzy hotels for the nights!
Anything would be helpful.
Thanks!

[jenna]

i often take the drive from SF to SD, but as i usually make it a one-day journey, i'll give you a quick overview of places to see.

- Santa Cruz: Santa Cruz Pier
- Carmel/Monterey California: Monterey Bay Aquarium, Cannery Row, Carmel-by-the-Sea - beautiful bed&breakfasts in Carmel-by-the-Sea or for super-up-scale the Highlands Inn - stay a day or two it is really beautiful, go see Point Lobos State Reserve and 17-mile drive in Pacific Grove
- Big Sur: Escalon; Nepente (sp?)
- Hearst Castle; Cambria
- San Louis Obispo - a possible stop if you'd like to stay at the Madonna Inn or see the Univ
- Santa Barbara - stay here a day or two - SB is wonderful for everything from partying to just hanging around on the beach. State street is the big hub. Also, stop in Montecito
- LA - Santa Monica is fun and by the beach - see the pier, venice beach, 3rd Street Promenade - Visit great Museums, LACMA, MOCA, the Hammer Museum, ***The Getty Center; Universal Studios/Universal City; DisneyLand (in Orange County); Hollywood Blvd./Sunset Strip - amusing at night to walk around, also the area by Highland/Hollywood the New Kodak Theater is nice during the day. There is plenty to see in LA everything is 25-40 min away from eachother (depending on traffic) but I recommend staying in LA for a couple of days to do some fun things.
- Long Beach - Aquarium of the Pacific; Queen Mary; Spruce Goose
- Newport Beach - lovely to walk around
- San Diego (Stay at least a couple of days)- **Balboa Park - a historic park w/ a number of museums, gardens, cafes, soooooo great.; Downtown (go to the Gaslamp district) it is historic, catch a baseball game walk around eat great food - & If you want from SD you can take a trolly down to Tijuana for the morning.
Hopefully that should help you. Enjoy your trip. It is a nice drive and you can limit it as much as you want or stay and enjoy as much as you want.

[Mark Sedenquist]

I'm currently trying to plan a 7 night road trip from san francisco to San diego for the end of june

Welcome to the Great American RoadTrip Forum. This is a very popular route with scores of threads discusssing all sorts of destinations. If you look at the bottom of this page, you can see some of those threads.

Or are there any books that are out there with detailed maps and routes to take?

The best guide we have seen for travel along the coast is this one by Paige Penland.

Happy Planning!

Mark