Hwy 1, SF to LA

[Flow]

I'll be driving down to LA from SF with a friend sometime next week. I'm going to do Hwy 1, probably to Santa Barbara at first, and then to LA the next day.

Any suggestions on things to do/places to stop on the way down, or in the LA area - particularly suggestions where the drive is awesome (for me), and the destination is fun/interesting for a lady (e.g. stereotypical stuff like shopping, wineries, spas, but also just anything unique or interesting).

Or, alternatively, if you were to drive Hwy 1 from SF to LA, what would you do?

[bignrichlll]

I did this the day after I bought my car..great way to break it in.. As far as driving, the Big Sur stretch(leaving Monterey) of Hwy1 is as great as it gets, I went so hard both me & my gf got sick.. Fortunately, you can stop pretty much anywhere and walk around on the beach which will fix pretty much anything.. Turn off the TC & let it ride(keeping a sharp eye out for RVs & such) Hearst Castle is interesting,worth taking @least 1 tour of(their are several different ones)& its in the middle of nowhere(no idea what that guy was thinking!)but beautiful scenerey..about 2-5 miles past the Castle,theres a road called Green Valley Rd, with perhaps 5-7 NICE wineries in a 10-12 mile stretch..again,absolutely mind numbing scenery..and very remote.. We killed enough time there we had to pretty much haul tail th rest of the way to reach Oceanside on schedule..but its a great drive..make sure you swing along Santa Monica..its a classic,some interesting homes as well(you'll know what Im talking about when you see it!) All in all,its worth doing once.. but its a loooong drive.. Lots of shifting.. Have fun,and stay safe,plan your gas stops!

[BigFatFlip]

Originally Posted by Flow

I'll be driving down to LA from SF with a friend sometime next week. I'm going to do Hwy 1, probably to Santa Barbara at first, and then to LA the next day.

Any suggestions on things to do/places to stop on the way down, or in the LA area - particularly suggestions where the drive is awesome (for me), and the destination is fun/interesting for a lady (e.g. stereotypical stuff like shopping, wineries, spas, but also just anything unique or interesting).

Or, alternatively, if you were to drive Hwy 1 from SF to LA, what would you do?

I've driven Hwy 1 down to Socal a couple of times, kinda hard not to like the drive (except when you are stuck behind slow traffic, which is gonna happen ALOT, in which case, just look to your right and enjoy the scenery ). Things to do really depends on how long you are planning on doing the drive. My wife and I did the route over a whole weekend (leave east bay Fri morning, get to LA Mon noon) so we had plenty of time to stop and look around. A few of my suggestions:

• Santa Cruz boardwalk - yeah, its close to us, but still along the way
• Monterey/Carmel - aquarium is awesome
• Salmon Creek trail head - if you like hiking, trail head is right by the road, discovered by accident on a spur of the moment stop
• Hearst Castle - you think rappers are baller? check out this OG's crib!
• Morro bay - its a big f'n rock
• Pismo beach
• Santa Barbara Shelfish company - awesome food, awesome view, and its on a feaking dock!
• Do at driving loop in Malibu - Yerba buena - Mulholand, Las Flores - Piuma, Latigo Canyon, have your pick!

Hope this helps

[strat61caster]

I would recommend the 1>101>154 detour, yeah it's not 1 all the way but that stretch is just straight along the beach, not terribly interesting whereas 154 is full of long fast sweepers with gorgeous classic California scenery.

I also swear I saw Leno's orange Mclaren MP412C getting off 101 to 154.

Edit: if you stop in Carmel for gas you should be in the clear to Santa Barbara, probably the easiest (and cheapest, middle of nowhere gas is expensive) way to handle that. Although looking at the map maybe SLO would be better, it'd be around lunchtime depending on your schedule.

[B2FiNiTY]

solvang is a good rest stop too

[Intake]

I go down to LA too often, I got to use hwy 5. 1 will kill me, takes too long

[tracerit]

i'm doing the opposite next week (OC to SF) on Wednesday/Thursday. Got to plan the trip out tomorrow. This'll be a start haha.

[chonfop]

McWay falls was definitely a can't miss stop. Park on the side of the highway, walk a couple minutes and get rewarded with a waterfall that goes into the ocean!

[BRZChix]

this is awesome i think i should take this trip one of those weekend SJ - OC on hwy 1

[Flow]

Thanks everyone for the advice. Just got back, and figured I'd add here what we did (after the SF stuff):

Pacifica - Santa Cruz: This part of the drive was good as it was done early enough to avoid traffic. But, I've also done this a bunch.
Santa Barbara boardwalk - it wasn't open early enough, which I failed to plan for.
Carmel - Just a great little town to walk around, visit the beach, and take the scenic drive, which has both cool houses and great views. I chose to skip 17 mile drive through Pebble Beach, in favor of Carmel.
Big Sur - Ventana restaurant. Meh. Food ok. The view is not worth it, as it has been either fogged in or just gray every time I've been there.
Cambria - Loved this little town, and especially the boardwalk near the ocean, day, sunset, and night are all worth their own visits.
San Simeon - Worth a couple of hours, if you're into architecture, art work, or just what crazy rich people do with their money.
Santa Barbara - Nice town, but it seemed to shut down at 11pm on a Friday night? I wish I would have stayed someplace else, and maybe just gave this a short visit.
Beverly Hills. Meh.
Hollywood Sign.
I5 Back


So, my lessons learned:

1. It was more of a scenic route than driving fun. Mostly because of the traffic, there were few sections where I could really 'drive'.
2. I would add a day if doing the entire circle. 4 days instead of 3.
3. Most likely, I'd consider a dif route after San Luis Obispo. After that, the drive became more tedious (more cities/small towns) and the scenery less interesting (more non-coastal roads). I didn't have time to try the canyon runs mentioned above, though.

I'm now wondering whether 101 from SLO back north would be interesting.

[Flow]

Originally Posted by chonfop

McWay falls was definitely a can't miss stop. Park on the side of the highway, walk a couple minutes and get rewarded with a waterfall that goes into the ocean!

Tks. Totally missed this advice, and it would have been a good stop.

[BigFatFlip]

Originally Posted by Flow

I'm now wondering whether 101 from SLO back north would be interesting.

Nice run-down/recap, pretty much agree with all of it. I usually prefer taking 101 (instead of I5) when heading back north, just because its a little bit more interesting than the mind-numbing straightness that is the central valley. If you do take I5, there are a couple of nice stops I like:

• Harris Ranch (you will "smell" your beef before you see it )
• Andersen's (the split pea soup is overated imho, but all the other stuff they serve is pretty good)

I just need to find another excuse to head back down there

[tracerit]

i did SLO to SF via 1 to 17 last week. The 1 was busy, even for a thursday morning. lots of slow RVs taking up the one lane road. The scenery was nice though. Definitely not a driving road (for me at least) unless you have most of it to yourself. The 17 (forgot which part, but once you get into the woods) was very exciting. Lots of tight twists.