California - California in winter

HI.... i am from asia and am hoping to do a driving vacation with my bf, end of dec/beginning of jan. And I cannot find a decent travel plan that i can follow. I want my start my vacay from San Diego and go upto San Francisco in about 7 days. The idea is to stay as close to coast as I can with small detours to see things/places of interest.
Anyone who can help?

sonila:

You might try giving us a hint as to the sorts of things you are interested in seeing or doing... Are you looking for tourist destinations? Historical sites? Wineries? Outdoor recreation or sports? Luxury hotels? Camping? Museums? Shopping?

Did you take a look at the discussions in THIS THREAD (http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=840900), or THIS OTHER ONE (http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=821225)?

While neither are exactly your situation, both have lots of great advice...

I have done a number of California road trips in the winter, and the two threads pointed out by mlshanks are good points to start with. My only advice is to be mindful of the sunset: the sun sets very early in the winter, making the days quite short. So, plan accordingly!

Thanks epi and ml! I want to do a mix ot urban and nature. Will any of the national parks be worth our time/effort during this season? Also...any recommendation on a map which would help map out the most scenic routes?

Thanks epi and ml! I want to do a mix ot urban and nature. Will any of the national parks be worth our time/effort during this season? Also...any recommendation on a map which would help map out the most scenic routes?

Any good highway map of California will work to help map your route. You can get one sent to you for free (with a California Visitor's Guide) from http://www.visitcalifornia.com

Most of the well known California national parks (Yosemite, Sequoia, Death Valley) are considerably inland from the coast and not conducive to the route you are considering. Further, the first two run the risk of bad weather seriously effecting your trip. With only 7 days, I'd stick to the coastal routing you initially chose, which will be much less weather dependant. Not to say that there are not some very nice parks along the CA coast....but they are State parks.

If I were looking for a mix of urban and nature...

1) Explore San Diego
2) Drive up to LA
3) Day exploring LA (see Los Angeles 101 (http://flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=823465))
4) Drive up coast to San Luis Obisbo with stops in Solvang and Santa Barbara wine areas.
5) Drive Highway 1 to Monterey, with stops at Hearst Castle and Big Sur
6) Explore Monterey in morning, lunch in Santa Cruz, leisurely drive up to San Francisco stopping at Big Basin Redwoods State Park (http://www.bigbasin.org/) (huge trees) and Ano Nuevo State Beach (http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=523) (elephant seal colony)(reservations recommended)
7) Exploring San Francisco

Sonila

In addition to the helpful suggestions offered by mlshanks, I'd also suggest:

www.CentralCoast-Tourism.com

for maps, lodging and activity suggestions for the stretch of California between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

My only word of caution is that you are looking at covering a lot of California in only 7 days... Plan accordingly.

Enjoy the trip!!

I would definitely encourage more than 1 day in LA and SF. There are tons of things to do in each city, and you should have no problem picking a few for two days.

I'd probably try to do the following (slightly different from mlshanks)

Day 1: San Diego
Day 2: LA
Day 3: LA, and drive to Santa Barbara (in the evening)
Day 4: Santa Barbara, wine country, and drive to San Luis Obispo (in the evening)
Day 5: Hearst Castle, Big Sur, Carmel
Day 6: Monterey, Big Basin, and drive to San Francisco
Day 7: SF
Day 8: SF

The national parks (Yosemite, King Canyon/Sequoia, and Death Valley) are fantastic, but they are rather inland, and in any case, you'd want to spend at least two days in each one.

Thank you all so much!

I live in California and do that drive in a day so I would be hard pressed to take a week to do it! I think epi231 gave you a great itinerary tough. Be prepared to take a wide variety of clothing! It will be warm and beautiful in San Diego, and cold on the coast - Carmel, San Francisco you will need a coat for sure!.

LA is a great big city, and I don't think a perticularly pretty one. The traffic is horrendous and the city is huge - very spread out. One day for me is more than enough. (but then I used to live there!) Santa Barbara is very charming as is Solvang - you drive through it on the way north. To get to Hearst Castle though you have to drive out to the coast, a bit of a detour, but the place is amazing. I wouldn't take the drive up highway 1 to get to Carmel from there. While it is beautiful it is only 2 lanes and frequently has rock slides in the winter and gets closed. It takes FOREVER!! you will get behind a slow car, and if you get carsick this isn't the drive for you. After you have looked at the coast for an hour it gets boring. I usually go Highway 101. Carmel and Pacific Grove is a MUST see. There is no place in the world as beautiful as this. It is truly unique!.

From Carmel, it is only a 2-3 hour drive up to San Francisco, so you can spend the day in Carmel and drive up to SF in the early evening. Just don't go during commute hour! Leave before 4:00 pm or after 6:00 PM.

SF is also a wonderful place. You could see the city in a day, or take many days it just depends on what you are interested in. If you have a short time there you might hire someone to drive you around and give you an overview first. Golden Gate park would be one of my top picks.

I don't think you really have enough time to go to Yosemite. In the winter they close the roads and there may be snow there. I live in Sacramento now, and it is 450 miles from here to Los Angeles, and San Diego is another 200 miles south of that. California is a very long state, but there isn't a whole lot to see in the middle. What is so unique is the varied climate in California. I think the coastal region is incredible and definitely worth a drive. If you drive from LA up 101 through Ventura to Santa Barbara, you will be driving along the coast line. It is really a pretty drive. From Santa Barbara you will drive inland up into the mountains to get to Solvang - this really cute Danish Village. Then you drive through rolling hills with beautiful oak trees and lots of open spaces until you get farther north. You will have to detour west to get to Cambria to go to Hearst Castle which is again on the coast. You can then either take Highway 1 (the treacherous route!) or go back to 101 to get farther north to get to Monterey/Carmel. There is such a huge variety of topography it is amazing to see. In December/January the hills should be green from the rains so it is really pretty. Expect rain. Have a great trip!