Road Trip LA - Big Sur

Irish Gunner

Hey

Heading to LA soon(April) and was going to do a road trip to Vegas but been there so decided to try something different and looking at going up to the Big Sur. Arrive LA late and then looking to hire car following day for 4 days.

Just done a google on Big Sur Road trip to see what its like but have not done any route, places to see etc.

Anyone done in and whats the best places, stopovers, must see etc. Looking for places with good food and chill out. Don't expect nightlife to be crazy will get that in LA

Ta

InTheTrees

Many times. You could do a search on here and find a few threads on it.

You should really look at going all the way up to SF though. Unless time is really limited.

Its A beautiful drive, only one way to go (Highway One), and even if you do it slowly it only takes max of four days (and thats stretching it out) really so you may well have time to do vegas as well.

There's no pleasant "loop" though so you either fly out of San Fransisco or have to drive back to LA on the freeway (Interstate five). (You can do that in a day.)

How long do you have?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Sur
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_State_Route_1

InTheTrees

There's no a lot on the long scenic section, (I think its about 70 miles). There's the towns of Cambria and Morro Bay on the south end and Monterey on the north end, where you can stay the night. Or If you can stretch to the $500 night for the Ventana Inn, i;d highly recommend that. Big Sur river Inn is a lot cheaper, dont know whats its like though.

Definitely stop at Nepenthe restaurant. Stunning chill out spot. You can sit and stare at the view for hours...

www.nepenthebigsur.com
www.ventanainn.com
http://bigsurriverinn.com/

InTheTrees

April is a great month to do it. Much less chance of morning fog, which is very common on the California coast and obviously destroys the view.

If it is foggy in the morning, wait a few hours if you can, because it does clear up.

You're also doing the right thing by driving Northwards because you'll be on the inside lane on the cliff road, going southbound means being on the outside lane and it can be terrifying for passengers (1000 foot drop a few feet to your right and no crash barriers in places). You'll see.

InTheTrees

InTheTrees wrote: »

...on the south end and Monterey on the north end, where you can stay the night. Or If you can stretch to the $500 night for the Ventana Inn, i;d highly recommend that…

Definitely stop at Nepenthe restaurant. Stunning chill out spot. You can sit and stare at the view for hours...

I second both of those recommendations, and agree that it's definitely worth heading for San Francisco! LA to SF is really one of the great drives of the world, have a great time.

Irish Gunner

Thanks for the tips will check the links

In LA for a week but a friend flying down from Washington only for few days so doing road trip with them. So want to head out of LA on the Sunday and be back in LA on the Tuesday as they fly home then. Then have a few days in LA before flying back so about 10 days in total. Heard Monterray a place to stay and see. Also would like to see Napa Valley ala Sideways

Tuesday13

Might not be your thing but could spend a couple of hours checking out Hearst Castle before continuing north on the big sur http://hearstcastle.org

Santa Barbara is a beautiful town also for a night, again though , that's before the big sur

roadsmart

Yup, don't miss Hearst castle, probably the maddest place I've ever been to. I'd also recommend staying over in Solvang, a beautiful little Danish town. If you do, eat at AJ Spurs in Buellton, steak specialists. Wow. Just make sure you're hungry.

http://www.ajspurs.com/Menu.html

InTheTrees

Irish Gunner wrote: »

So want to head out of LA on the Sunday and be back in LA on the Tuesday as they fly home then.

Hmm. Thats pretty tight. You could could go up to Monterey, then cut over to I-5 (Big fast freeway) to get back to LA.

Its a days drive to get to Monterey with minimum stops up highway one.

Poiteen

Actually Sideways was filmed in the Santa Ynez Valley, which is much closer to LA than Napa Valley. Both places are worth a visit though. Paso Robles is also a big wine region. I would recommend making sure to stop off somewhere on the central coast so you can make sure to drive the super scary part of the PCH in full daylight.

By the way - I live in LA, and while it's totally possible to get around without a car, if you plan on doing any sight seeing here, you should think about having the car for the week you're here too.