4 day trip between LA -> SF, Need your help!!! (need more input!)

[zinfamous]

Just drive along PCH. That alone will take 4 days.




But seriously: PCH, and make stops along the way.

 

[zinfamous]

http://frenchlaundry.com/

holy crap

they charge 1500$ for some glasses of wine

and 270$ per person to eat

Napa is out of the way from SF (north and a bit east)

and there is a reason FL is near-annually regarded as the best restaurant in the USA.

 

[zinfamous]

There has to be more stuff between SF/LA besides Hearst Castle and Monterey. Anyone else?

Big Sur hiking/camping.

Also, near Big Sur, there's a fancy pants spa--I forget the name. just after midnight, if you get on a list (it's a certain night each week--I also forget), you can meet up outside of the entrance and one of the staff at the spa will lead you into the spa to enjoy some free early morning spa-ing--generally in the nude, if you prefer.

Sorry, totally forget the name or how to find the proper info.

 

[SamQuint]

Santa Barbara is awesome! Great beach city. State street has lots of bars and restaurants and shopping for the wife.

Best way to see Santa Barbara
http://www.out2seesb.com/ only a couple hour tour.

If you like history there is the Santa Barbara Mission and the Santa Barbara Courthouse. SB musuem is next door.

There is a pier there as well that is fun to walk on. There is an Aquarium as well as shops and restaurants on the pier too.

Tons of stuff to do, plus downtown Santa Barbara has about a dozen wine tasting rooms. You can walk from one to the next and hit half a dozen in a hour or so.

Then from Santa Barbara it is not too far to Solvang and Buelton like the others said.

 

[Kalvin00]

If the weather is nice, i'd suggest a drive up to Lake Tahoe or somewhere in the mountains..

 

[JS80]

Damn, bitter much?

I'm happy spending the day driving Highway 1 because its so nice. The stuff along the way is just gravy. I will say Hearst Castle is nice but if you're on a limited schedule I'd probably skip it.

lol fitting

Location: Hipsterville, CA

 

[Zeze]

Need more input please!!! The days are coming!

 

[zerocool84]

You can stop by Neptun's in Malibu. Not the greatest food but it's definitely a landmark.

http://www.neptunesnet.com/

Driving up PCH on a Sunday morning and you'll see tons of awesome cars/expensive, especially in the Malibu area. Lots of car/motorcycle clubs do cruises down PCH on Sundays.

 

[JS80]

You can stop by Neptun's in Malibu. Not the greatest food but it's definitely a landmark.

http://www.neptunesnet.com/

Driving up PCH on a Sunday morning and you'll see tons of awesome cars/expensive, especially in the Malibu area. Lots of car/motorcycle clubs do cruises down PCH on Sundays.

Overrated, overpriced, long wait, tourist trap.

 

[zerocool84]

Overrated, overpriced, long wait, tourist trap.

Exactly why it's perfect for him. Beautiful view of the ocean, gets to see cool cars, enjoy the atmosphere, then get out of there.

 

[Craig234]

http://frenchlaundry.com/

holy crap

they charge 1500$ for some glasses of wine

and 270$ per person to eat

It's also regularly called the best restaurant in the US.

Here's how reservations work:

They only take reservations for one day at a time, two months in advance.

So if you want to eat there, you can do so May 26, if you call tomorrow morning and get lucky enough to get one. You can bring your own wine - for a $75 per bottle fee.

 

[Craig234]

Need more input please!!! The days are coming!

What exactly are you asking? You've received more than 4 days of tips.

 

[Drako]

LOL

Wow, have you been there? Go somewhere else and have a good time. This place is very good, but suffers from the "nobody goes there" phenomenon.

 

[RossMAN]

Now that you've returned, welcome home!

We're considering doing a similar drive, would you mind writing a mini-review?

What was your itinerary day by day, any weather issues, any stand out recommendations, places to avoid?

My wife loves to take pics of nature and stuff, any good places for that?

 

[Ophir]

Now that you've returned, welcome home!

We're considering doing a similar drive, would you mind writing a mini-review?

What was your itinerary day by day, any weather issues, any stand out recommendations, places to avoid?

My wife loves to take pics of nature and stuff, any good places for that?

Be sure to stop by Firestone's in San Luis Obispo for the best Santa Maria style tri-tip around.

Julienne in Santa Barbara is excellent for dinner - a little pricey but very much worth it.

Montana de Oro state park near Morro Bay has some incredible hikes, many aren't very strenuous.

17 mile drive in Carmel/Monterey is a must do.

All of Big Sur is wonderful and has great scenic hikes.

Hearst Castle may actually be underrated. On a clear day it is one of the most impressive sites in this country at least.

SF is great and has too many great things to list.

I would also recommend Sonoma Wine Country, Healdsburg in particular if you're into food.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

It's also regularly called the best restaurant in the US.

Here's how reservations work:

They only take reservations for one day at a time, two months in advance.

So if you want to eat there, you can do so May 26, if you call tomorrow morning and get lucky enough to get one. You can bring your own wine - for a $75 per bottle fee.

Wow. I am bringing some lucky girl there one day just to spoil myself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xB7V8I94mY

Anthony Bourdain at French Laundry..

 

[Tommy2000GT]

There is actually not much to do in SF other than museums and restaurants.

 

[hans007]

i currently live in LA and grew up here, and also lived in the SF area for 5 years (left last year).

i suppose it depends what you are into, but tommy2000GT is right. SF really is just some sight seeing and nice views and scenery and nice restaurants. i'd say more eclectic neighborhoods and more hole in the wall bars with "character". LA has a lot more glitzy nightlife and has better weather. bay area i guess the topography and such lends itself to really nice views and hikes and places to take pictures from. like berkeley hills is even a nice place to just kind of drive around.

i'd say if you are going to SF for the first time, you should take cabs or the trolley around the city and see weird neighborhoods like haight and ashbury, that windy street , walk around north beach / marina , maybe take the ferry , wander around union square for like a few minutes, and if you are into it see the mission district if you want to see hipster town or smell heroin addicts. i guess theres sonoma and wine country. and more "naturey" type stuff though i never got into that while i lived there.

seeing as im a programmer a lot of my friends lived in silicon valley and i'd have to say if you werevisiting, there is almost 0 worth going out of your way for down there unless you really wanted to see the stanford campus or like 50000 office buildings and suburban grid style neighborhoods (i.e. like all of sunnyvale and cupertino). half moon bay is an ok beach, but the ones in LA are great beaches. monterey i've never been to , but i've heard its pretty nice, and you might want to stop by santa cruz which is a pretty cool spot, the boardwalk is decent. oakland has jack london square and downtown oakland is allright as well but i can't think of anything i'd say is a must see.

again it depends what you want to see. if you and your gf want to see ridiculous night life, when you are in LA, you can hit up downtown LA, hollywood, etc. theres a pretty nice bar scene on the west side in say santa monica . venice beach is nice during the day. if you are into clubs, the electronic dance scene in LA is about a 1000 times bigger than in SF. there are tons of overcrowded hip hop clubs. theres the usual toursit spots like grummans theater etc.