Seattle - San Diego Road Trip Questions...

[mackace23]

New to this forum with a few questions and or suggestions. Myself and my gf will be travelling to Seattle from Toronto by plane and renting a car and driving down the coasts of Wash. Ore. and Cali. Using various routes but mainly 101/1. Has anyone did this trip? I have read a few posts on here but would like some suggestions on where to stay/eat/how long it would take/ places that are a must see or must stay away. We will have approx. 13 days to drive and visit areas along the way. Also it will be last week in Aug and the 1st week of Sept. Is that peak tourist season? I really didn't want to pre book alot of places to stay because we don't want to be bound by having to be somewhere by a certain day/time. I would like to do it as we go. Is that asking too much? Should I pre-book some places? Any suggestions or comments would be great.

Thanks!

[Mark Sedenquist]

New to this forum with a few questions and or suggestions. Myself and my gf will be travelling to Seattle from Toronto by plane and renting a car and driving down the coasts of Wash. Ore. and Cali.

Welcome to the Forum! Thirteen days is a great length of time for this drive. I wish I could stow away with you!

Has anyone did this trip?

I have probably done portions of this route about a dozen times over the years, albeit not all in the same trip.

I have read a few posts on here but would like some suggestions on where to stay/eat/how long it would take/ places that are a must see or must stay away.

Suggestions would be based on what kinds of things you like to do -- so is hiking to waterfalls of a greater interest than sipping wine at a spa or participating in some serious off-highway driving?

I really didn't want to pre book alot of places to stay because we don't want to be bound by having to be somewhere by a certain day/time.

I prefer to travel without reservations and this topic is discussed more fully here. There are certain inns along the coast where reservations are a must -- One of my favorites would have to be the Stanford Inn in Mendocino. Be sure to look at the posts (that are similar to your query) on the bottom of this page!

Mark

[mackace23]

Thanks for the quick response. We like to do alot of different things. We are up for all suggestions. What are nice quiet towns to visit and what are the major cities we should see? Any cheap boarding is what we are looking for. Motel 6? Sure as long as it is inexpensive.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Thanks for the quick response. We like to do alot of different things. We are up for all suggestions. What are nice quiet towns to visit and what are the major cities we should see? Any cheap boarding is what we are looking for. Motel 6? Sure as long as it is inexpensive.

Well, as you may learn from reading my posts on this forum -- cheap boarding is not one of my areas of expertise. It is a rare night that I don't spend at least $85 on a motel room -- however, there are some expert low-cost roadtrippers who frequent this board. Here are some suggestions. And I would suggest reading all of the threads that address this topic here.

[Kinless]

On my 12,000 mile trip I was able to frequently get two-bed non-smoking hotel rooms for $60-70/night. Our favorite choice was MicroTel (because they all have free broadband internet!) Although here in South CA I'm afraid we have a local inflation bubble. Expect to pay $90 and up per night at the cheapest places (on a weekday). Late August to Early September is coming off our usual tourist-season peak, but our summer conditions last a little longer and it could very well be busy.

If you'll be going down to San Diego, You'll most likely take Highway 1 through Orange County, CA (where I live), which is smack dab in the middle between L.A and San Diego.

On the Orange County coast, there are some great places to dine, particularly in Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, and Dana Point. I would suggest Joe's Crab Shack (Newport) or Harpoon Henry's (Dana Point) but there are lots more places.

You'll have to be a little careful in south Dana Point/Capistrano Beach, because HWY 1 does a little loop-dee-doo and if you're not watching, you'll end up on Interstate 5. You'll want to make sure you're still hugging the coastline for another 5 or 6 miles until San Clemente, where you're forced away from the beaches. You'll have to drive on I-5 from this point to San Diego, but you'll be near the coast, and that stretch is something I love to do.

From San Clemente to San Diego is about 60-80 minutes, depending on traffic. Stops along the way are Oceanside, Carlsbad, and of course Del Mar.