Expert: Ernest Tufft - 2/5/2008

Question
My wife and I will be visiting the state from the middle to the end of July.   We fly into San Diego and fly out of San Francisco 13 days later and our difficulty is in trying to budget our time.  I have a proposed schedule and I would appreciate any feedback (good or bad) as to our destinations and suggested places to stay and see.  We are trying to keep our drives from location to location manageable to allow for some sight seeing as we go.   As far as hotel budget,  I’d like to stay around $200 per night but an occasional exception is fine.  We will have a car so parking is an issue at hotels in cities.  We are interested in mountains, beaches (to visit not lay on) and the sights of San Francisco that everyone else goes to see (Alcatraz, cable cars, wharf, etc)   We are not big on museums although something out of the ordinary could be interesting.  We have seen some of Los Angeles so we will bypass that as we drive through.  All help is appreciated.  By the way, we are mid 50’s in age so our surfing and strenuous hiking days are a behind us <LOL>.  We are from Louisville, Kentucky so this is our first chance to really tour a portion of the state of California.

7/18 Arrive San Diego
7/19 Tour San Diego
7/20 Drive to Santa Barbara
7/21 Tour Santa Barbara area
7/22 Drive to somewhere between San Luis Obispo and San Simeon (suggestions?)
7/23 Tour the area
7/24 Drive to somewhere between Monterey and Big Sur (suggestions?)
7/25 Tour the area
7/26 Drive to Sonoma/ Napa area (Suggestions?)
7/27 Tour the area
7/28 Drive to San Francisco
7/29 Tour S.F.
7/30 Tour S.F.
7/31 Tour S.F.
8/01 Fly out of S.F.


Answer
Dennis,

Your itinerary looks basically pretty good.  The drive from San Diego to the central coast region will be the worst of the driving, so from that perspective, it's too bad you didn't buy return tickets to SF.  I recommend timing this drive carefully to avoid traffic in LA, which means driving at night or on the weekend.

Pages under my Virtualtourist.com user name atufft provide plenty of information for appreciating Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, Cambria, and San Simeon.  I'm a big fan of Morro Bay because this fishing village town has a number of reasonably priced motels with great views and within easy walking distance of the embarcadero.  The "morro" or rock is a striking and beautiful landmark.  Hearst Castle is certainly worth visiting, but the town of San Simeon is not a good place to stay in my opinion.  More upscale would be a B&B at nearby Cambria.  Overall, I'm inclined to think that the 50 something traveler might want to bypass busy Santa Barbara altogether and head to the wine country of San Luis Obispo/Paso Robles that was featured in the movie "Sideways".  Overall the lower central coast area is worth 2-4 days.  Google B&B and see what pleasant quaint lodging can be found.  See the sea lions at Piedras Blancas is a stop, and nothing more on the way up coastal highway 1 to the Monterey Bay Area.

My Virtualtourist.com travel pages for the Monterey Bay area are even more complete than for the south central coast.  Overall, I find that Carmel, Pacific Grove, Monterey, and Santa Cruz are somewhat worth more time than the lower central coast area, so expect to spend at least 3 days in this region.  Carmel is the most upscale with great scenery, restaurants, art galleries, etc, while Monterey a bit cramped and touristy down at Fisherman's Wharf, so look to find a decent B&B for couple of days in Pacific Grove for the best experience.  Dine at Flying Fish and see the Carmel Mission, walk Monterey's Fisherman's Wharf, and driver Pebble Beach before retiring to Pacific Grove.  Then, spend another night in the Santa Cruz  Mountains.  At this time of year, the weather will be clear, and sometimes hot, but the meditative atmosphere of the coastal redwood forests shouldn't be missed.  Look to check out Capitola and Santa Cruz before driving up the hill to Felton or Ben Lomond along Highway 9.  After this, it's easy to drive Hwy 9 through to Saratoga, quaint upscale location of Stanford University and Silicon Valley industries, on the way to SF.

In San Francisco, I personally recommend skipping Alcatraz because it's just too time consuming and touristy.  Insted, after a few days of wandering the city, take a ferry to Tiburon/Salsalito for afternoon lunch.  Be sure to park the car in SF and use the public transit system, one of the nation's finest.  Besides the cable car (grab this going downhill to avoid standing in line), the city's antique trolley cars and underground train system are a kick to ride.  For the most part, driving in the city is more hassle than it's worth.  Go to the MUNI website and study the possibilities.  While you might not be too thrilled to see museums, I should note that the city has numerous NEW museum buildings.  The Asian Art Museum, DeYoung Museum, and the Planetarium/Aquatic center are wonderful and new.

You can drive across the Golden Gate on your way to Napa/Sonoma.  Again, study my Virtualtourist.com details for Saint Helena, Napa, and Calistoga--each of which is a Napa Valley town.  For the wine enthusiast, Napa Valley remains king, so I'd skip Sonoma and plan to find a good B&B, not in the town of Napa, but somewhere near Saint Helena.  There will be others who disagree with me on this comparison of Sonoma and Napa, but I find that first time visitors will appreciate planning a tour of mountain and valley wineries in Napa, with dinner in the Saint Helena area.  If you have more questions, please don hesitate to ask.  Your visit to my Virtualtourist.com pages (under my membername atufft) will be greatly appreciated...

alan