San Francisco to San Diego Roadtrip

Teg Veece

Going on an eight day road trip from san fran to san diego next week. Just wondering if anyone here has done a similar trip before and if they can recommend places to stop and must-see things etc. Is LA worth stop?

Thanks

mad m

Well are you by yourself? Heard Universal studios is a must in LA,unfortunitly my family and I ran out of time plus we were all theme parked out after three weeks in LA(Disneyland,California theme park),plus we stayed a couple of nights in San Diego and Utah(Zion Mountains).

In Santa Fe in San Diego we went on the USS Midway ,its an aircraft carrier in permanent dock,they do a great tour and worth a visit.They give you headphones and an mp3 player so you just follow the numbers and press accordingly to hear about it.Its about a 3hour tour.Also went to Seaworld/San Deigo zoo.Great places but the zoo is a zoo after all.They said the plants actually cost more than the animals themselfs.

Stayed in Balboa Island in LA which was an amazing place,so if you get time drop into it an checkout the beach and get the local speciality also,frozen banana dipped in chocolate with nuts.

Have a goodtrip.

P.s. Going back next year so we intend to goto San francisco,so let us know what it was like.

Royale with Cheese

If you're in San Fran, the one thing worth seeing apart from the Golden Gate Bridge is Golden Gate Park. It's huge, 5km wide and 1km long, it spans nearly half the width of the city. The botanical gardens are beautiful and if you happen to be there on a Sunday you can check out hippy hill. It will be full of hippy's who will most likely be smoking pot and playing drums. Interesting. Was there a few times and the best time was definitely on a Sunday when the weather was good. If you're there on a weekday and it's foggy it might be a bit of a let down.

humbleCounty

i second that, spent many a happy sunday listening to those dudes and playing frisbee.

nice restaurant called "askew" on haight street too, near the park, same side as mcdonalds. (left as your walking up to the park)

oh good burrito place around there too, very cheap.

MazStar

Go to Santa Barbara on your way down. Beautiful town with lovely beaches.
And go see Hollywood too, the stars on the pavement and the handprints at the Chinese theatre -well worth a look.

boardy

Santa Barbara is definitely worth an overnight stay. Make sure you check out State Street, which stretches all the way down to the beach. You can catch a cheap boat ride from here to go whale watching.

Would be inclined to skip LA. Maybe a quick look at Malibu on the way, and drop off at Santa Monica to check out the Pier.

Head straight to the Orange County coast from LA. There are many fantastic seaside communities here and simple to get to - just follow US 1 south. Huntington Beach is also called Surf City and is really a cool place to chill. Newport Beach (from the OC series on TV) is a very ritzy place - good for shopping. Laguna Beach will surely have a festival going on and is probably one of the most idyllic spots on the planet. Dana Point and San Clemente are also worth seeing.

When you arrive in San Diego, you can take the tram ($5 for an all day pass) from downtown San Diego into Tijuana, Mexico. The tram actually stops on the U.S side but it is an easy walk across the border. While you are in San Diego area, La Jolla, Mission Beach and Pacific Beach are worth visiting.

Enjoy your trip.

cousin_borat

Its a beautiful drive, I done it last summer. Took a week to do it stopping off at various locations.

If you have the time I'd definitely recommend checking out Yosemite, its slightly out of the way but very worth it.

boardy

Yeah, Yosemite is worth visiting. Drove there from LA last April but couldn't get across to the other side (on the way to Death Valley) because of snow blockage. Tried many routes but was turned back at each attempt. You will not have that problem this time of year though. It's a bit of a haul from the coast - you will definitely lose a day doing it (at least).

You should really plan your trip well - 8 days isn't much.

Hercule

2 years ago i went the opposite way san diego to san fransico but i presume your gonna take the same "Big Sur" drive around the coastline. Since your goin the other way you will be in the lane at the edge of the cliff so ya better be careful .If you are interested in architecture or just want to stroll around a mansion on a break i recommend hearst castle that place is porpably the nicest house in the world. From there I would also recommend going to Carmel a small town which is the epitome of a wild west village with dusty streets and wooden buildings we stopped for lunch and there I had the most delicious apple pie ever, i also drank out of a boot! yep, the drinks were served in giant glass boots! The people were kinda quirky there and it was a cool place to stay - like the industrial revolution never happened
LA has universal studios which is a must see but other then that I found LA either too posh or too tacky to stay in for a long time - it has some nice attractions but I found myself wanting to get out of there in a hurry san diego was a much better city imho.

Teg Veece

Thanks for all the advice. The trip is starting to slowly take shape now.

Day 1: Rent Car. Santa Cruz. Stay night.
Day 2: Morning in Santa Cruz. Evening in Carmel.
Day 3: Drive to Monterey. Stay Night.
Day 4: Drive to Big Sur and stay night
Day 5: Arrive in LA. See LA
Day 6: 6 Flags LA.
Day 7: Arrive in San Diego. Drop off car. Hit the Beach!
Day 8: San Diego. Zoo and more beach
Day 9: San Diego. Sea World. Flight leaves at 8pm back to San Fran


Just looking at that layout there, I'm thinking that there's quite a journey between day 4 and 5, so maybe if I move day 4 to day 3 and go to Santa Barbara on day 4, but what should I get rid of in days 1,2 or 3. Is Santa Cruz worth the stop??

Feel free to tear that itinery to shreds with criticism. That's why I posted it..

Muggins

Santa Cruz is a nice town (boardwalk, Pacific Avenue) but it's only an hour and a half south of SFO. I'd be more inclined to stop for an hour but head on to Monterey for lunch. Also you've planned 3 overnights by Big Sur which I think is front-loading the trip. I would suggest one overnight in Monterey, drive throught Big Sur on Highway 1 and the head inland to the 101 toward Paso Robles. Hearst Castle (William Randolph Hearst) in Sam Simeon is worth seeing IMHO. Just my 2 cents ;-)

boardy

So, like, ok, .... totally ignore my advice (only kidding). I agree with the above post. By the way, the advice I gave was based on extensive travel on the California coast. You can't beat driving along US1 in a convertible mustang, with the cliffs on one side of you and the Pacific Ocean on the other.

mad m

In my experience I would do the aircraft carrier(Uss Midway)right opposite the train station in downtown San Diego(Santa Fe) instead of San Diego zoo.A good few of the animals were asleep and out of sight when myself,wife and kids were there.But what do you expect in that heat.Well we did go there in afternoon and stayed till the end when they put on a show in one of the ampitheatres.

But if you are still going to the zoo,when you get inside depending on what time,get on the bus tour later on in the evening the animals did come.

Have good trip.

jd

brother suggested this (we are going LA -SF-LA in October November)

Thurs Nite - Madonna Inn**. - San Luis Obisbo (I think?)
Friday morning - Hearst Castle**
Friday Afternoon - Drive Big Sur (Hit some parks/beach & Point Lobos just
South of Carmel)
Friday Nite - Monterey or Carmel or maybe Big Sur**
Sat morning - Monterey Aquarium
Sat afternoon - drive route 1 to SF (stop at Moss Landing just N of Monterey
to kayak with sea otters in estuary).
See elephant seals at Ano Nuevo just N of Santa Cruz. Not high season for
fighten & shaggin but you still should see them.
Maybe stop for Artichoke Soup in Duartes in Pescadero just S of Half Moon
Bay.
Arr SF by early Sat evening.

Staying in Yosemite in Oct would recommed Yosemite Bug Hostel. Get a room
with private bath.

I stayed in a cabin in One of the parks near Big Sur years ago- could have been this one..
http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=570

http://www.bigsurlodge.com/

Zaph

Did the same trip the other way round last year and it was brilliant. Don't know if you have accommodation sorted, but if not, in Monterey I'd recommend the Colton Inn on Pacific Street. Good location, nice rooms and decent prices. Carmel is actually slightly further south than Monterey so you'd be going back on yourself, but the two are so close it's irrelevent. TBH, I'd just stay in one and visit the other from there, rather than staying in both, which would free up an extra night somewhere else. Agree with the other guys who mentioned Hearst Castle, it's an absolute must. The place is just amazing. In LA, we stayed in Santa Monica, right across from the pier. The city is vast, but that's not a bad place to stay, IMO, although I wouldn't particularly recommend our hotel, the Pacific Sands, unless you were really stuck. Great location, but a bit shabby and in need of a major refurbishment. Laguna Beach is another good place to stay if you want to go a bit further south, but it is a bit pricey.

San Diego zoo is great, but very hiully, and if you arrive at the wrong time of the day many animals may be hidden in the shade. In addition to the zoo, Balboa Park also has a great aerospace museum, if that's your thing. I really enjoyed that. When in San Diego, I'd skip Tijuana unless you just want to say you've been to Mexico. It's an absolute dump and one of the very few places I've ever been in that I felt unsafe walking the streets in broad daylight. Also check your car insurance allows you into Mexico if you decide to do so. We had to specify the times and dates we'd be entering and leaving the country. Also down that way, if you want to go shopping, there's a big outlet mall right at the border on the US side.

Bri

So Tijunana is really THAT bad? I can see the attraction for u-21 visitors but I'm thinking it really has very little to offer considering all the negative things I've heard.

boardy

Personally, I think that Tijuana is definitely worth the trip. I spent a few hours down there .... enough time to experience the sights and sounds (and smells) of a much poorer country. Also wanted to try traditional tapas in Mexico. There are aggressive sellers in the streets but no worse than the chuggers in any Irish city. Don't forget that you will be crossing the border gates with 1000's of other people, many of them tourists. Just use common sense and stay on the main streets.

Look on it as an adventure ......

Bri

Ok good stuff - what's it like at nighttime?

boardy

Oh Jazus, don't go there at night ......

Bri

So your seriously saying a day trip and out by 6pm?

Victor

Watch the sun go down in a different ocean.

Gone West

I done this trip about a month ago. It totally rocks.
Make sure to drive around the san fransisco bay area, GG bridge, etc.
Try and go to Tijuana, espeically if youre travelling with people who like drinking and the ilkes. Its basically the other half of san diego, just over the mexican border.
Death valley is also great to drive through. Its a little out of your way, but with 8 days it shouldnt be a problem.

<nerd>If youre 'into' computers, check out frisco and san jose, theres some good computer/tech museums there. I believe Intel still have their microchip display on in Jose.</nerd>

Bri

Any other info. or comments on Tijuana at night or even as a 2-day trip?

Gone West

Tijuana at night.
Do go drinking. Try the local brands of tequila in some of the smaller bars, that can be quite fun. Dont annoy police officers/Immigration/border cops. Dont try and bring anything back over the border, including cheap meds.
The bigger bars are all tourist-traps, conmen and pickpockets are common.
Ok, Im being 100% serious.
DONT pay for sex. Hookers there ALL have STIs.(Not that I did. Just general info)
DO bring your own protection, they dont have machines in bathrooms there for some reason.
*ahem

Bri

Thank your for your frank advice

Sounds like such a hole tbh...I'm sure I'll give it a go if it's that close to San Diego though. Think I'll leave my CC behind!

Gone West

It *is* san diego.
Just tijuana is what they call the mexican half.
TBH, Ive been to Nogales as well. Thats an even bigger hole.

Esel

Venice Beach.

San Juan Capistrano.

San Diego Wildlife Park -

(about 30 miles N of San Diego IIRC) - you take a trip on a monorail and it is the closest you can get to a safari without going to Africa. Watch out for the vultures, with wings clipped, gliding down the hill then walking up again - like a ski slope!

Funkstard

I went from LA up to San Fran a few years ago.

Go see the Hearst Castle. Its amazing - he owned a million acres of land, and one of his swimming pools is gold plated at the bottom. The castle is absolutely unreal.

Obviously drive along the '1' highway through Big Sur. I've never been on a more beautiful road in all my life. We stopped off for dinner ina restaurant that looked over everything. I forget the name but it was such a sight.

Monterey was quite nice, especially if you're into John Steinbeck. TBh I wasn't too impressed by the aquarium. Once you've seen one you've seen them all.

Then through Santa Cruz, which is a lovely town

Carmel is great. Clint Eastwood is the mayor, and if you go a few miles inland into Carmel Valley it's like being in the wild west. It's also much hotter literally 20 minutes inland.

Did anyone go through Cambria? It was a little coast town that freaked the shít out of me. I hated it. Did you ever see the painting of the American farmer and his wife, and its the eeriest thing in the world? I saw that in the restaurant there and it pretty much set the tone for the whole place. Its an old mining town which is spooky.

If anyone else went from LA to San Fran, do you remember coming over the crest of the hill into San Francisco, and suddenly seeing the whole city spread out beneath you? I will never ever forget that view. We were all "Where the **** is the city" and suddenly it was in front of us. Amazing. San Francisco is one of my favourite places in the world. Amoeba Records right at the end of Haight Ashbury, thats my oasis

LA is pretty much a bland city. Its so spread out that there's no one centre. Venice Beach is the quirkiest place I've ever seen, full of skaters,stoners,hobos&psychos.

I went out to these islands for a day which were off the coast. I can't for the life of me remember what they were called. I remember the water being unbelievably clear and the scenery being amazing. Go there

Lex Luthor

I lived just sth of SF about 11 years ago and we drove to LA for the weekend once just after the major earthquake there.

We only had the weekend so we didn't go the coast road, but was told it was a beautiful drive. Watch your speed on the freeways there, we got done on an open stretch of the '1' doing 80.

We visited Santa Cruz one time and it was well worth the visit. I think Lost Boys was filmed there.

Things to do in SF, that we did was the usual Golden Gate Bridge, Pier 39, Alcatraz, Chinatown.

We never got the chance to visit Carmel & Monterey but heard again they were worth seeing.

Yosemite is a fantastic place but realistically you would need a day for it.

As for LA, we did the usuals aswell. Hollywood Blvd, 6 Flags, Universal Studios, Santa Monica Beach. We didn't have the time for Venice each which I was disappointed I didn't get to. The place was failry torn up after the quakes so there were still a lot of areas closed off. We managed to get down to Santa Monica where we were told that some people had just started to rebuild their houses after the fires of 1993 and then they got demolished from teh quake of Jan 94. A couple of rides in 6 flags were closed, but they had just opened the Batman ride that week so it made up for it.
As for staying in LA...didn't like it at all. Grubby place. Watchin your back all the time, even down Hollywood Blvd. Very paranoid walking around. Maybe we were just in the crappy areas. Like I mentioned, we only had a weekend there so we didn't get to see enough. I would have liked to go to B. Hills.

If I was to give one recommendation on a place to visit in my whole time there was Marine World in Vallejo. Its about 30min Nth of SF. The tiger show there is fantastic. I suppose if your gonna make SD Zoo, it might be enough for ya.

Lex Luthor

Funkstard wrote:

do you remember coming over the crest of the hill into San Francisco, and suddenly seeing the whole city spread out beneath you? I will never ever forget that view. We were all "Where the **** is the city" and suddenly it was in front of us. Amazing. San Francisco is one of my favourite places in the world. Amoeba Records right at the end of Haight Ashbury, thats my oasis

Ya, agree with you there....it just appears right in front of you.

We always came from San Jose and went up the 880 and across the San Mateo bridge. You know you are getting near SF cos the roads are really buckled from the quakes.

Wavey

Mind if I hijack this thread a bit?

Will be driving from LA-Vegas -San Franciscio - LA over 3 weeks,

Anybody suggest some good stop off points on this trip?

Cheers

Wavey

maddog

Leaving Vegas heading to San Franciscio you'll see some signs for Calico it's well worth a stop, old gold mineing town it'll only take a few hours. Great view's of the Mojabi desert, a real wild west town with a sheriff 'an all.

Regards,
Maddog

LazStanaridis

Another slight hijack

Anyone know any pubs/bars in San Diego that will show the upcoming Ireland soccer matches?

Thx.