I need some travel help, I have a 20 month old and DH and I were thinking of doing a LA to SF drive with a toddler in May. We don't want to do the 9 hour scenic wind-y drive, but we would like to break up the 6 hr drive to 1.5 intervals. maybe staying a day or two somewhere after 3 hours???
My DH has a really low attention span, so he can only drive for an hour and a half before he goes crazy, so we need somewhere to stretch our legs and let DH and DD cool off. I can drive, but he hates giving me control.
So I'm just wondering if you have any suggestions/plan of attack? TIA!
Well, if you're intent to stop overnight, do so at Pismo Beach. It's about midway between LA and SF. Between LA and Pismo, check out the dutch village Solvang. Excellent pastries.
Between Pismo and SF, there isn't really much to see along rte 101 unless you cut over to Monterey once you reach Salinas. I think rte 68 (double-check this) will cut over. After Monterey, you can go up rte 1 until rte 156 to cut back over to rte 101.
Hmm. I don't know if this will be much help. I did a SF - LA road trip (scenic route) last year, and stopped at the following places:
Santa Cruz - couple of hours at the beach
Monterey - stayed the night (really cute town)
San Simeon (Hearst Castle)
San Luis Obispo (stayed the night - cute town)
Pismo Beach
Solvang - couple of hours (cute town)
Santa Barbara - nice beach (stayed the night)
I think it somewhat depends on what you want to see during your road trip, as that will determine where you want to spend the night. Staying at SLO gave us the opportunity to see Hearst Castle and Pismo Beach and Solvang in a short amount of time.
ukbabe - how long did you stay at each place and how far away where each stop?
thelittlebabu - is the 101 easier to drive than the 1?
Does this sound reasonable?
Leave around 10am; LA to Bakersfield (2hrs)/stretch Eat at Bakersfield, leave around 2pm Bakersfield to Gilroy(3 hours, hopefully DD sleeps for 2 of those hours)/eat dinner at Gilroy, Gilroy to SF (1.5 hours)
Or how about this?
Day 1 -Leave around 10 am; LA to Santa Barbara (1.5 hrs)/ eat lunch at SB, SB to SLO (2hrs), stay in SLO, Day 2 - leave around 10 am SLO to San Simeon (1 hr) eat lunch San Simeon/Hurst Castle, San Simeon to Monterey (2 hrs), stay in Monterey. Day 3 - Monterey to Santa Cruz (1 hr), Santa Cruz to SF (1.5 hrs)
ukbabe - how long did you stay at each place and how far away where each stop?
thelittlebabu - is the 101 easier to drive than the 1?
Does this sound reasonable?
Leave around 10am; LA to Bakersfield (2hrs)/stretch Eat at Bakersfield, leave around 2pm Bakersfield to Gilroy(3 hours, hopefully DD sleeps for 2 of those hours)/eat dinner at Gilroy, Gilroy to SF (1.5 hours)
Or how about this?
Day 1 -Leave around 10 am; LA to Santa Barbara (1.5 hrs)/ eat lunch at SB, SB to SLO (2hrs), stay in SLO, Day 2 - leave around 10 am SLO to San Simeon (1 hr) eat lunch San Simeon/Hurst Castle, San Simeon to Monterey (2 hrs), stay in Monterey. Day 3 - Monterey to Santa Cruz (1 hr), Santa Cruz to SF (1.5 hrs)
There are 3 ways to drive from LA to SF...
1. Rte. 5/Central Valley. This is by far the fastest, but BY FAR the most boring. There's nothing to see. This is the trucker route. Do this ONLY if you want to drive pretty much non-stop.
2. Rte. 1/Pacific Coast Highway (PCH). This is the slowest (easily 9+ hours), but clearly the most scenic with the most places to stop along the way. Take 101 from LA and stop at places like Santa Barbara and Solvang. Once you get to Pismo/SLO (great overnight stop), this is where rte 1 branches off and becomes the scenic PCH. Take PCH up the coast, stopping at Hearst Castle in San Simeon and Monterey (do the 17 Mile Drive there). PCH hugs the cliffs so it's a long, slow drive from San Simeon to Monterey...this is why the time is much longer. After Monterey, zip up to Santa Cruz on rte 1, then either continue up rte 1 to SF or take rte 17 to San Jose and pick up rte 101 there to SF to save some time.
3. Rte. 101. This splits the difference. The trip is the same as #2 up to SLO, but instead of taking PCH, remain on 101. Unfortunately, there isn't much to see between SLO and the south end of Silicon Valley (Gilroy) so it has a good 2+ hours of boring driving.
If you can take the extra time, #2 is well worth it.
I grew up in SoCal & lived in the Bay Area for many years, so I've made this trip more times than I can count. Not to mention my family would drive north to visit my aunt every summer.
Taking the 5 is by far the fastest route; I had it down to 5hrs, 15 minutes, door to door from Santa Clara to Huntington Beach . You said you don't want to do the scenic route, so this is your best bet.
From Magic Mountain to SF, it's about 4.5-5 hours. Bakersfield is actually off of 99, so stopping there would add a good amount of time to your trip. There are tons of great places right off the 5 where you could stop, so many, in fact, that you wouldn't necessarily need to plan it; just stop when necessary.
Kettleman City (41) is about an hour & a half north of Magic Mountain and has an In & Out (along with many other restaurants & places to stop). Haris Ranch is another hour or so north and a must-stop. The ranch itself has a great steak restaurant, but there's also a Red Robin and a few other chain restaurants.
At this point it depends on exactly where you're going, because you'll either take 152 & come up the peninsula on 101, or you'll take 580 to come in over the Altamont & through the East Bay. Either way, there are plenty of places stop.
If you want more specifics (or a Trip Tik from AAA, send me a PM!)
As a side note to what everyone else has already said, the *quickest* I've ever been able to get to Gilroy from SF was 90 minutes. I'd figure two hours is more reasonable and that's without traffic.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by genndan100502
. You said you don't want to do the scenic route, so this is your best bet.
