The best of the California coast road trip
A road trip along the California coast is if not THE best road trip in the US. Clearly one of the ones you want to do once in your lifetime. I will give you what to me was the best way to go through it in about 6 days. If you can make it longueur do it though because it’s worth spending time there.
The first thing to decide is when do you want to go there. It’s worth knowing that the summer in this region is extremely hot. You should avoid going there from mid-July to mid-September for three reasons. It’s crowd as many people go there at that time making the drive slow and potentially annoying. The second reason, it’s too hot. And the third reason linked to the previous one there is, unfortunately, a lot of wildfire during this period. This is making the air very bad and can be pretty dangerous.
The best time to go would be from mid-April to the end of June and the end of September to the end of October.
Then you need to think of where you start. In my opinion, it’s best to begin the north and make your way down, as the view will be more enjoyable for the driver. You will feel the difference in the atmosphere going this way. So, I would suggest starting in San Francisco or if you have time even a bit norther so you can do the wine region too. If you do start in San Francisco and have a day to spend there which is a good idea, I made an article with a lot of information in terms of things t do and place to eat and you can see it with the link below: https://elvinechloe.com/how-to-make-the-most-of-san-francisco-in-a-day/
From there you will need to rent a car if you don’t already have one. We rented it with sixth and it worked well. Whoever you rent it with just make sure you can leave it in San Diego or wherever you plan on ending the trip. Most of the big companies will have this option.
Then the fun starts! Depending on how long you have, you might not be able to stop everywhere. This will give you an idea of how to organize your trip. Only 45 minutes away from San Francisco, you can make a stop for a nice at Moonside Bakery. It’s a great spot for a good coffee and a bite to eat. If you don’t need to stop, keep going south to find Santa Cruz. It’s a nice seaside city very lively with rollercoasters by the beach, it can be great fun but it’s a nightmare to park and it’s pretty busy.
Form there the view is incredible, make sure you stay on highway 1 so you don’t miss any of it. Once you pass Santa Cruz, you’ll drive along Monterey bay and I would strongly advise you to stop at Monterrey. If you can, stay at the wonderful Monterey Plaza Hotel and Spa: https://montereyplazahotel.com/ the view and the food there are amazing.
Whether you stay at Monterey or not, you have to do the 17 miles drive. Starting that passes all the golf along the sea, it’s wonderful and so peaceful. You’ll pay 10 dollars to enter the road but if you have lunch along the way or even just a coffee, you’ll get it back. It’s truly beautiful and you’ll end up at pebble beach on the right path to keep south.
You will then enter one of the most impressive parts of the journey, Big Sur. A national wild park high up along the sea, it’s grandiose! The drive can be a little impressive as you are sometimes close to the edge so be careful and don’t drive too fast. A place where you have to stop for food then is Nepenthe https://www.nepenthe.com/menu. It’s cozy, the food is good and you will have a perfect view of the ocean. If you have time make sure you do a hike in Big Sur and you also can glamping there https://www.ventanabigsur.com/ or try to camp just be careful not to get attacked by some wild animals.
Talking about wild animals, you should stop for a bit at San Simeon to do Elephant seal watching at the Elephant Seal vista point. This unique creature is extremely rare and truly interesting to look at, don’t go to close though.
The next logical step would be Santa Barbara. Once you pass Pismo beach, you should notice a huge change of scenery, going from wild beach and forest to a much more city kind of vibe. Depending on what suits you best, either spend more time on the wild part or go down faster to the more urban one. Santa Barbara is one of the prettiest cities I’ve seen. I just couldn’t get over how beautiful it is, with its white buildings and it’s a little cute harbor. We had lunch at a place called the Boathouse at Hendry’s Beach: https://boathousesb.com/ . It’s very good right on the beach, make sure you book it in advance, it is very popular.
Spend some time in this place if you can, have a walk along the water or stay on the beach for a while. It’s a lot more peaceful than the places you are about to go to so make sure you make the most of it.
From there you will soon arrive around the so famous Los Angeles area. You can start with Malibu followed by Santa Monica and Venice beach before headed up to LA. If you want to spend a day there I would recommend you to have a look at my article. That gives an option of what to do for a full day there: http://Spend an amazing outdoor day in Los Angeles
It’s a huge city and if you do have the time, make sure you visit it, and if not make sure you come back in the future for a weekend.
Back to the coast, you are now more than half the way down. There shouldn’t be many days left until the end of this breathtaking trip. Once you leave Los Angeles, make sure you stop at Long Beach. It’s normally significantly less crowded and the city is pretty cool. There is a great walk to do along the harbor, you can see the famous Queen Mary and stop somewhere for Ice cream. The beach as you might have guessed is pretty long and beautiful if you have time to lay down there for a bit.
From there you’re only 1h45 away from San Diego. You can use a day to do this and stop at all the beaches left and decide which one is your favorite. Or make it longer and stop in a few spots to surf if you’re a fan. We love Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach, San Clemente, and Oceanside. This last place means a lot to us, as we were traveling on the coast for my husband’s birthday. I decided to get him a special gift. So we both went Skydiving on Oceanside. It was one of the best things we’ve done! The place we Skydived with is Go Jump: https://www.gojump-oceanside.com/, the staff was great, the view unbelievable, and the experience so worth it.
I would highly recommend it, it only took us a few hours as these guys were extremely efficient. Make sure you don’t plan something for the rest of your day. Jumping out of a plane takes a lot from you and just enjoy the experience.
Unfortunately, you will now arrive at your last but not least part of the trip. When you get closer to San Diego, change your GPS, and put La Jolla Cove. Find a place to park, and just follow the noises of the sea lions. You won’t miss them and you should hear them from far. There are a few groups of them along the area. If you’ve seen the elephant seal before, this one will seem super small compare but they’re nice to watch too.
Then get to the stunning city of San Diego. If you’re looking for a place to stay for the night, I recommend the Guild Hotel: https://theguildhotel.com/. The location is convenient and the place quite special. In terms of food, you simply can’t miss little Italy, the vibe and the food are incredible, we tried https://www.civico1845.com/ and highly recommend it. But everywhere looked amazing just make sure you have at least a meal in this area. Another great place for food, with nice scenery, is https://harborhousesd.com/ you’ll find a much more seafood focus menu and nice cocktails.
In terms of things to do in San Diego, it depends on your time. You can either again take a walk along the water and explore the city center. We loved it and spent a while exploring. You can also get out and explore Cabrillo National Monument, spend a day at the theme park on Mission Bay, visit the Balboa Park and so much more.
The beauty of San Diego is how convenient you can get to the airport as it’s right in the city center. You can drop your car back there. If you don’t have a car, take the bus. It’s easy and cheaper than a taxi or if you don’t have too much stuff, you might even be able to walk. And this will be the final step of your, I hope, magical road trip on this wonderful part of the world.
