Expert: Steve Summers - 7/11/2007

Question
My husband and I are from NYC. We will take a two week trip in August starting in San Francisco. We will then travel down the coast to San Diego.  How much time do we need in SF to leisurely tour the town? Our main points of interest are LA and San Diego.  We want to make sure we see Hearst castle and other great towns and points of interest along the way. Where should we stop along the way. We usually like luxury accommodations, but we are flexible with our over night stays. When we arrive in LA, we were thinking about staying along the beach area rather than Beverly Hills, which our travel agent recommended- what's your opinion?  After we leave LA we were planning to go right to San Diego.  I was in SD 15 years ago on business and forgot some of the highlights . Your feedback would greatly appreciated.

Answer
Hi Jackie,

I would say a couple days in San Francisco should do it. Take the Alcatraz tour, visit Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf, Lombard St, Ghirardelli Squre, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Golden Gate Park. Be sure to have some clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl at the Boudin Bakery, and a hot fudge sundae at Ghirardelli Square. Take some bread along for the journey.

Monterey is definitely an excellent place to stop. There is Cannery Row, the aquarium, and then there's the nice shops at Carmel. There are a number of nice hotels in the area.

Take highway 1 south through Big Sur. The road is windy, but the views are unparalleled. On the way to Hearst Castle, stop at Piedras Blancas beach to see the Elephant Seals.

After Hearst Castle, stay in San Luis Obispo or Pismo Beach. There are a number of very nice hotels in Pismo. The Cracked Crab serves very good seafood.

It's about a 4 hour drive from SLO/Pismo to LA. Solvang is worth a stop if you have the time. It's a cute Danish town just east of Buellton. Santa Barbara is also worth a stop, especially along State Street, which has a lot of shops and restaurants.

In LA, it IS much nicer to stay by the beach. A lot of people stay around Santa Monica. Further south, Huntington Beach has some very nice hotels. I don't swim much in the ocean, it's usually too cold (it's nice now, though). But I love the surf and the waves.

As for San Diego, I always refer people to the guru of San Diego, Local Wally (www.localwally.com). You can get all the info from him much more eloquently than from me. San Diego's changed quite a bit in 15 years. Downtown has completely been redone, and there's even a stadium there now.

Sounds fun. Have a blast!

Steve