Originally Posted by
gustavmahler
Thanks for the advice. We have discounted business return fares to SFO, so no chance of changing those now. We should have booked open jaw into LAX and home from SFO, but this is what we have. We want to drive highway one, do a wine and visit SFO so I’m just trying to find the most efficient way of getting all that in. My plan was the fly down to SBA, pick up a car and then drive north. We only have 8 full days (again an error!) so thought we could cut out LAX (and that part of the drive) by flying down to SBA when we arrive (Friday). That way we’d be in that part of CA late Friday/early Saturday and we return to London the following Sunday (am via ORD).
We could now either suck it up and pay the $435 to fly direct to SBA on the Saturday morning, or fly to LAX and drive up to Santa Barbara that day. On the Sunday I thought we’d drive from Santa Barbara to Monterey (that’s doable in a day, right?) and then have Monday in that area. Tuesday and Wednesday we could do some kind of wine-related activity and Thursday-Saturday in San Francisco.
Any other suggestions of how to structure the trip would also be welcome!
I would fly to LAX and rent your car there. The drive to Santa Barbara on a Saturday should only take around 2 hours. You could stop at the Getty Museum on the way up, it is only 30 min. north of LAX on 405, and is well worth a visit-see here:
http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/
Santa Barbara to Monterey on the PCH (HWY 1), in one day, is easy, and you could stop at Hearst Castle a couple of hours for a tour and visit the Elephant Seals at Piedras Blancas Marine Preserve. The elephant seals are well worth seeing and, depending on the season, there can be a lot going on there. I wouldn't recommend getting onto HWY 1 until San Luis Obispo, since there is not very much interesting south of Morro Bay.
The Point Sur Lighthouse tour is fantastic if you can schedule it-see here:
http://www.pointsur.org
IMO, it is perhaps the most picturesque location on the PCH, and there is an interesting Cold War relic, in the form of a defunct Navy SOSUS installation, just southeast of Point Sur Rock. Those sailors sure had some tough duty being stationed there!
There are lots of great small groves of Redwoods on PCH, as you get closer to Monterey, and some really great hiking trails, if you are into that, e.g. this one:
http://gurmeet.net/hiking/hikes/Sobe...cky_Ridge.html
It is a gorgeous hike, but the trail is not maintained above the creek and it is steep and slippery up and down the ridges. I'd recommend going up on the creek side (Soberanes Canyon Trail) and down on Rocky Ridge Trail, so that you get more expansive views of the ocean in front of you as you transit down the mountain, assuming there is no fog.
There are lots of wineries in the San Luis Obispo area (along HWY 46 et al.), by the way, but I have no idea if they are any good since I don't drink.
If you have any other specific questions, you are welcome to PM me.