Pacific Coast Highway Roadtrip Recommendations

In My Humble Opinion
1

So after having cancelled trips to San Diego, New York, Florida, and Buffalo over the course of the pandemic I have booked a family trip at the end of August to drive the PCH from San Francisco to LA. So far my itinerary looks like:

3 nights San Francisco, pick up car on last day near hotel
1 night Carmel/Monterey
1 night San Luis Obispo
1 night Santa Barbara
3 nights LA, drop off car at LAX before early AM flight

I did this trip as a kid 40 years ago and I’ve been to LA and SF half a dozen times since then, but nothing in between since then. My wife has been to SF once with me, but that’s it for her and my teenage daughters have never been.

Any suggestions for food, hotels, and sights? Food, art, architecture top our list of interests.

Thanks in advance!

2

The drive is glorious! The only potential risk to the views is fog, which is most prevalent in summertime, but should be waning around the time you are going. Oh, and another potential risk is smoke from wildfires, which can be burning 100 miles from the coast but still sending smoke to where you are when the wind is right.

I have done this trip mostly by bicycle, so I could not recommend hotels so much. My tips:

  • Barbara’s Fish Trap in El Granada near Half Moon Bay for chowder
  • Pie Ranch near Ano Nuevo
  • Davenport has a great taco place
  • Leave Hwy 1 at Santa Cruz for W Cliff Drive along the ocean for great views and architecture
  • Santa Cruz Pier for fish-n-chips and beers, with a nice view if the sun is out
  • Find your way to E Cliff Drive to Pleasure Point to watch the surfers
  • Pezzini Farms on Nashua Rd and Hwy 1 outside Castroville for artichokes and pies
  • In Monterey there is a nice bike trail along the water leading out to Lover’s Point - great for walking, too.
  • Watch the sunset from Asilomar State Beach out past Pacific Grove
  • Leaving Monterey, go out past Pacific Grove and find the entrance to 17-mile Drive. There is a small fee to drive it, but you may like the mansions and old money around there. Follow to Pebble Beach and Carmel (Carmel Bakery) and Scenic Rd for more amazing homes.
  • Point Lobos is a nice place for a walk if you have the time
  • Driving Big Sur, if the weather is nice, go slow and make lots of stops
  • Lucia makes a great lunch stop - the restaurant there has a patio with views, and the gas station has the most expensive fuel in the nation. Gorda also has a good restaurant a few more miles down the road.
  • Ragged Point also has food (and restrooms)
  • Make a stop at the Elephant Seal colony near San Simeon. Of course, then there is Hearst Castle.

My recent experiences have usually ended at Morro Bay, so someone from SoCal will have to pick-up the trail from here. Drive safe and have fun!

3

Don’t forget rockslides which can completely close route 1.

4

Yeah, that’s usually a winter thing. Fires and smoke are more of a risk in August.

5

Sounds like some great items there, thanks for taking the time!

6

If you’re near Cambria at dinner time, eat at Robyn’s. Great food.

7

Just checked the menu, that’s right up our alley. We are a blended family: my younger daughter and I are omnivores, the older one and my wife are lacto-ovo vegetarians.

8

One thing that hasn’t been mentioned yet is Santa Maria BBQ. There are several places along or near PCH that serve it. It consists of beef cooked over red oak, with sides of pinquito beans, fresh salsa, salad, and bread. The Hitching Post II, featured in the movie Sideways, specializes in it.

I’ll give a strong second to Pt. Lobos, just south of Monterey. I took a friend there once, and she said everything there looked like a Sierra Club calendar.

9

Big Sur and the Coast Highway were my backyard for 20 years. You’ve already gotten good advice for that region, so I’ll (try to) limit my contributions to these as unforgettable lunch options. Of the two, Nepenthe is less expensive (but still expensive!). The views are simply stunning from each perch. At Alila (Ventana Inn), you will experience a truly world class meal together with your incomparable view.

There is no longer any “slow” tourist period for this region, but from March through October is the busiest. They take reservations at Alila. Nepenthe is currently doing first-come, first-served.

I guarantee you will never forget the time you spend at either of these places.

Since you express an interest in architecture, Hearst Castle really should be on your list of Must-Do’s. It was quite the undertaking in its day, and while a monument to more-money-than-taste, it is still quite stunning.

In San Luis Obispo, if you can time your trip to coincide with being there on a Thursday evening, their Thursday Farmer’s Market is the best in the land. Lots of excellent musicians to serenade your vast choices in street food, and just browsing the huge array of fruits and vegetables is jaw-dropping. Plus there are so many charming pubs/bistros/bakeries/ice cream shops to drop into as you make your way up and down Higuera Street.

Ok, that’s enough.

10

Unfortunately we will be in SLO on Tuesday night :frowning:

I looked at the room rates. Yikes. Starting at $3000/night! I will take a look at the restaurants.

I’ve heard about Santa Maria BBQ, need to try it!

11

Oh, I agree – not a place to stay for the night unless you can grab a special rate!! And even then, quite the splurge. But if you can swing lunch, well worth it. :slight_smile:

12

Just to note that the restaurant in Lucia burned last year.

13

Man. I did not know - bummer. I was there in May last year on a bike trip…this is from just behind the patio…

Imgur

14

Point Lobos is a great place to visit, but get there early as the lots fill up fast even on weekdays. There is limited parking along Hwy 1 but those spaces go pretty quickly too.

Depending on what day you’re passing through Big Sur, the Point Sur Lighthouse tour is really cool.

If you’re willing to stay in Pismo Beach instead of SLO, I highly recommend the Kon Tiki Inn. Every room is ocean front and the rates are very reasonable considering the location.

15

BTW, Nepenthe was built by Orson Welles as a hideaway* when he was married to Rita Hayworth. He once said that selling it was the greatest regret of his life.

*For the two of them, to get away from Hollywood. Not where he hid from Rita.

16

SLO, you should go by the spanish mission. It’s worth 30 minutes to casually look around.

17

Let’s hope things change by August, but for now, just know that Hearst Castle has been closed for the last couple of years. Originally thanks to COVID, but reopening has been delayed by road construction after a storm last winter made parts of the ‘driveway’ dangerously unstable.

18

The site says construction started in July and should last 6-9 months. I guess I will have to wait and see.

19

If the Hearst Castle is open, be aware that it is not a “drive up, jump out of the car, and take a look around” type of place. You need scheduled tours, and depending on your choices, can take half a day to all day.

20

I just wanted to update everyone as I wait for my flight home.

San Francisco:

We stayed at the Le Meridien down in the financial district. Easily walkable to Union Square, North Beach, China Town, and the Ferry Building. Took the kids on the California Ave Cable Car, did a food walking tour of North Beach, a Segway Tour of NB and China Town, went to SFMOMA, the Farmers Market at the Ferry Building, visited Citylights Books, Hayes Valley, and Haight-Ashbury for vintage shopping.

SF to Carmel: Henry Cowell State Park for the redwoods, 17 Mile Drive, stayed at the Comfort Inn in Carmel by the Sea

Carmel to SLO: Big Sur drive (drove past Nepenthe at 10AM, so didn’t stop), Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, Hearst Castle (grand rooms tour), stayed at the Madonna Inn, stopped at the Elephant Seals

SLO to SB: Easy drive day, got to SB early, walked the pier, and dinner with family in Momtecito. Stayed at the Best Western Plus, meh, but convenient.

LA: Dropped the kids off at Universal for the day, wife and I went to LACMA and Grand Central Market. Picked up the kids and went to the AirBnB in Venice. Great location 4 blocks from the beach at Abbot Kenney. Lots of malls - very hot out and teenage girls, drove down Rodeo Drive, went to Venice Beach to swim, SB Farmers Market, wandered downtown.

All in all, a great trip and thanks for the advice.