LIVE FULLY

PACK UP FOR THE PACIFIC COAST ROAD TRIP

Okay, so you’ve seen the pictures, you heard the hype, and if you haven’t buckle up and hear me out! Take your trip up the Pacific Coast Highway in sunny California. Yes, the hype is absolutely real, this is a gorgeous, VERY scenic drive and one of my favorite road trips I’ve done. And the great news is the Type A in me popped off with a guide that you can use for whatever you want to do. I have included the stops in order and rough estimated driving times. 

Note that the rough estimated driving times are, of course, dependent on traffic and/or if you stop to pee or get gas, etc. Would definitely recommend checking the before/day of if you want to be strict on time. I use Google Maps and add each stop to plan out my days. 

The other notable GREAT thing is that the stops are mostly already on the way so you are really just heading up the coast. We did have to reroute our trip once we got closer to Big Sur due to Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) being closed for 10 miles due to rock slides. This detour was actually 3 more hours inland and then extra hours driving back down into Big Sur, but seriously would have been devastating if missed this, so just roll with it. From my understanding, parts of PCH close often SO CHECK THIS BEFORE YOU GO!

I’m not usually a day-to-day itinerary based writer, but since we are road tripping(!) this follows that guide. Starting in San Diego and heading almost to San Francisco, pack the car with lots of snacks and, of course, your favorite playlist, and let’s go!

San Diego ——> LA

  • Roughly 3hrs depending on where in SD and what time of day
  • Highly recommend going on off hour times bc LA traffic is truly no joke, we left at 10:30am on a weekday 

We spent two days in Burbank in LA visiting family staying there. There is SO much to do in LA and this barely covers it but 

Our activities included:

  • Griffith Park: Beautiful park with walk up to observatory; you can hike up to this but have gorgeous views of the hills and the Hollywood sign. The observatory is also so worth checking out and seeing a planetarium show.
  • Santa Monica: Fun, beach city with an iconic walk along the pier and loads of great restaurants
  • Universal Studios: Roller coasters and film history galore; honest take is that the roller coasters were fun but the studios in FL are much better. Was still a great day and worth the visit if you haven’t. Highly recommend doing the 50min Hollywood Studios Tour because it goes to a couple movie sets and filming areas. This was a new experience to me and pretty dang cool.

-DAY 1-

LA ——> Solvang

  • 2.5-3h from LA
  • Adorable town that looks like stereotypical Denmark was uprooted to CA, lots of pastry stores and shops 
  • Hans Christian Anderson Museum: Small but interesting if you like learning more about that, attached to unique bookstore 
  • We just spent about 45 min walking around and sitting down for breakfast

(We then went Solvang—> Pismo Beach. I thought there was going to be more to see at Pismo Beach, but honestly it was just a quick stop of getting take out food and eating by gorgeous cliffs by the ocean before heading on road again. It was about 1hr from Solvang. Could skip this stop).

Solvang ——> Hearst Castle

  • -1hr50m-2h drive (1h-1h15m from Pismo Beach)
  • This stop is a must. Gorgeous stunning estate on rolling country hills of CA with extremely impressive architecture, design, and fascinating character backgrounds.
  • One complaint is that there are separate tours of the estate (each one costs $35/person and are 70min long) to choose from and you have to drive to the visitor center to be bused up to the castle for each one. So if you want to do more than one than you have to get on the bus each time to go back and forth. You also have to leave considerable time in between for each tour.
  • The website recommends booking tickets in advance and also arriving 25m early prior to tour start time.
  • Planning this with the road trip was kind of a task to be on time for the tour with driving times, so if you want to be more relaxed, make a stop near Cambria or San Simeon for the night and do the tours in the next morning.

Hearst Castle ——> Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery 

  • 10m from the castle, Can go either direction from the castle
  • These beaches are crowded with adorable, big seals with a nose that looks a small elephant trunk. You can walk down a wooden walkway if you put in the above destination into maps and watch them for a bit.

Elephant Seal Rookery ——> Morro Bay

  • 40m drive
  • We ended up getting here for dinner and this was our first spot we were spending the night in. 
  • Calm, fishing town with great seafood (per my boyfriend). You can also spot wild otters in their bay and watch them play. There is a large rock formation which is actually a volcanic plug (woah!) near the ocean called Morro Rock. Recommend checking out the beach and rock during sunset.
  • We actually had a nice dinner during sunset on the bay at Bayside Cafe. There are lots of restaurants with options on the water that offer different views to check out. 

-Accommodation: We stayed at Sundown Inn of Morro Bay. Was simple nice place to stay for the night.

-Another stop could be Paso Robles from here. The town holds many wineries to check out and spend the night there. 

This is where it may depend on if the highway is closed. We had to reroute so Paso Robles was on our way to get to Big Sur. 

-DAY 2-

  • We woke up and went to watch the otters with a coffee. Great start to the morning, and they can be pretty active in the morning cuddling and playing with each other.
  • We made a quick stop in Paso Robles but didn’t end up staying for too long. It was 45m from Morro Bay.

Paso Robles ——> Big Sur

  • This was our big detour, 2h30m drive, however, again, was very much worth it!

Big Sur extends with lots of small stops along the way. The way we went for our reroute we had to go to the most northern point, drive south, and then back up north to our next stop. Definitely allow a lot of time for the day.

  • You can also make this a whole day or a two day trip especially if you want to hike. 
  • IMPORTANT TO NOTE: Once you are about 15-20m from the Big Sur points, you lose service completely. So if you want to make specific stops, my suggestion would be to have one person load all the stops (multi-stop) on maps and leave their phone without messing with it for directions. Or you can get a map from the visitor center and try it that way. (Yes, mom and dad, I had to do it like you did back in the day! Respect to those days, it was not easy!) Also note, some of the stops were not marked very well aka sharp turns so keeping phone maps on or stopping by the visitor center was very helpful. 
  • We drove the highway from where we arrived north to our most southern point through and then made each stop on the way back up north. You could obviously do it the other way around too. Roll the windows down and enjoy the views just on the drive. Check visibility/cloud coverage before getting there for best views.
  • It is one lane roads for the entire stretch so after work on weekdays (golden hour & sunset) and weekends definitely expect traffic. 

-The stops we made: (Biased opinion but was content with our choices; if we had more time, would have spent longer at some and maybe did a hike or two)

  • Mcway Falls: In my opinion, one of the coolest stops, offers beautiful view of a waterfall on the beach. $10 parking fee 
  • Nepenthe Restaurant: Nestled in the cliffs with nice view, feels like bougie treehouse
  • Pfeiffer Beach: Has purple sand (!) had to visit just based on that, $15 parking fee, small parking lot (very popular at sunset bc its gorgeous that time)
  • Point Sur Lightstation: Tours on select days, can skip if no tour offered that day
  • Hurricane Point Overlook: Read the name again, this point is SOOOO windy I could only hold steady for 5 minutes to get a look. However, it was so beautiful and I am glad we were blown away (pun intended)
  • Bixby Creek Bridge: It can get crowded here, but DO NOT MISS THIS ONE, its very pretty and makes for a great picture to show off 

-This takes up the entire day, so we stayed more inland to save some money since many of towns north of Big Sur have expensive lodging. 

-Accommodation: Stayed at shared Airbnb in Salinas (lmk if you want the link)

(Optional Day/Added Stops)

Big Sur ——> Carmel-by-the-Sea

  • Very bougie, crowd favorite, cottage-like town with cute shops
  • (Tbh never felt more poor in my life,) Very beautiful to walk around and explore all the side streets and beach

Carmel-by-the-Sea ——> Monterey

  • 12m drive
  • We didn’t end up making this stop and I am so sad about it, so you have to if time allows.
  • There is a beautiful, world-renowned aquarium (Monterey Bay Aquarium) to check out and walk around the nice, beautiful town on the coast.
  • 17 mile GORGEOUS drive along the coast
  • Pebble Beach golf course is here.
  • Explore Cannery Row shops and restaurants.
  • Please go for me and tell me all about how I have to go back and see it.

-DAY 3-

Monterey ——> Santa Cruz

  • Roughly 50m-1h drive
  • Santa Cruz has the famous, (surprisingly) big amusement park on the main boardwalk.
    • Could spend some time on the rides here if that’s your vibe
  • Surf museum: Santa Cruz is very famous, historic surfing spot, so it was cool to check out the small free museum near the beach. Also just spent some time watching the impressive surfers tackle massive waves.
  • There is plenty to explore in the beach town. We just stopped by, sat near the water and enjoyed the sun.

Santa Cruz ——> Henry Cowell Redwood State Park

  • 20m drive
  • One of our goals was to end our scenic drive with some redwood trees so we picked this state park based on recommendations but there are a couple scattered nearby if you do a quick search.
  • We did a nice hike here and really enjoyed the nature especially since not far from a decent city on the coast.
  • Search for banana slugs on your hike!

Henry Cowell Redwood State Park ——> The Mystery Spot

  • 25m drive
  • If you haven’t been to a mystery spot before, definitely add this to the list!
  • Its an optical illusion that makes you question gravity based on a series of tests the employees perform on the tour like showing running water go uphill and your body standing upright at a 45 degree angle.
  • Makes for a lot of fun and good pictures

-We stayed in San Martin that night at a lovely shared Airbnb with breakfast (lmk if you want the link).

-San Francisco is really not far from here (1h40m drive) if that’s a goal for your trip. We didn’t have enough time to fully explore this cool city and tbh I didn’t want to leave my car overnight here, so we started our way back.

-DAY 4 – THE WAY BACK

-Lots of flexibility on places to stop if you missed on the way up or you can just drive straight through for a long day.

San Martin ——> Santa Barbara

  • 4h drive
  • Santa Barbara is so lovely. Spent time shopping here, could have also hit the beach.

Santa Barbara ——> Malibu

  • 1h20m drive
  • Pass through Ventura (queue up Ventura Highway here)
  • Malibu was different than I expected. It was truly just a nice beach with a small boardwalk and not a lot going on.
    • I think the songs and shows are referring more to the big houses that line the hills here with a serene beachy view. Someone correct me if I’m misguided.
  • Anyways, nice stop for sunset and a beach moment.

-We stayed in Thousand Oaks at a hotel for the night.

-DAY 5-

Thousand Oaks ——> San Diego

  • Drive 2h40m back to SD depending on LA traffic again

Yes, definitely a packed trip but a solid one! And you can mix and match stops or extend days depending on your timeline. 

Absolutely worth the miles on the car because almost everywhere you drive you’ll be soaking in the beautiful views and please send me your pictures if you go!

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