Start with a stop for fresh pastries at Caf Aquatica in the tiny town of Jenner (population: less than 200), 11 miles from Bodega Bay. Im sure someone else has asked this but..When is the best time to travel PCH (traveling Southbound through California to San Diego in hopes of warm days and cool(ish) nights)? WOW! Do you have any recommendations or modifications while traveling with kids. Pacific Coast Highway Directions: Its a short drive south and a little east along U.S. 101 from Long Beach to cross the Astoria into Oregon. Thank you for sharing. A few years ago I started saving (unbeknownst to my husband) for his 50th birthday this summer. One day, I would LOVE to make this road trip. But all of those are just ways to say "The 1.". Drive Time: About 3.5 Hours. Pacific Coast Highway or PCH, segments of California State Route 1 Pacific Coast Highway, parts of New Zealand State Highway 2 and all of New Zealand State Highway 25 and New Zealand State Highway 35. Camp at Second Beach in Olympic NP Photo: Michael Matti 2. Portland? I do not plan to do any shopping at stores, so our money would be spent on a rental vehicle, hotels, gas, and food. Explore the route. , Hi. Most head to the Hollywood area and its movie-related attractions. Technically, Seattle is not on the Pacific Coast Highway, but you can fly into Seattle and drive one hour south to Olympia to start your PCH road trip. I have no idea what the case will be for forest fires next year, unfortunately! Its the best time for good weather on the whole coast! 2. Hey Valerie great name yourself! Carry on the fantastic work!|. Just wanted to say I love reading through your blog and look forward to all your posts! So nice to hear from you, Silvia! to San Diego, CA. I will definitely use all the info youve provided. It is a time consuming drive but the most worthwhile time you will ever spend traveling. Starting in San Francisco, you'll cruise south along the Pacific Coast of California, visiting vibrant cities, secluded beaches and stunning State Parks as you go. Weve spent time in SF already so dont need to stay there. When it comes to vacation rental options. Pacific Coast Highway Directions: Continue south on CA-1, the Pacific Coast Highway. I had a question regarding travel to California present time as in next week(August 14, 2021). Is Yellowstone worth the long detour? https://www.valisemag.com/pacific-coast-highway-guide/ https://www.valisemag.com/california-coast-road-trip/ Both include info on the area between San Diego and Santa Monica. Pacific Coast Highway Road Trip Itinerary Options, How to Choose a Car for the Pacific Coast Highway, Step-by-Step Pacific Coast Highway Road Trip Directions, this gorgeous 3-bedroom oceanfront property, plenty of experiences to choose from in San Diego, https://www.valisemag.com/california-coast-road-trip/, Wandering the Olympic Peninsula - Valerie & Valise, https://www.theoutbound.com/theoutbound/camping-along-the-pacific-10-seaside-campsites-for-your-west-coast-road-trip, https://www.valisemag.com/visit-san-juan-islands/, https://www.valisemag.com/3-days-seattle/, https://www.valisemag.com/3-days-san-francisco/, https://www.valisemag.com/portland-city-guide/, https://www.valisemag.com/pacific-coast-highway-guide/. I do you can sign up using the email forms in this post to receive a short version! Glad to help, Bethany! Thanks for your comment, Archimedes. Three police agencies, including the California Highway Patrol, crack down on motorists along the Pacific Coast Highway near Crystal Cove on Sunday, May 3, 2020. Extremely informative. 8. Thank you for your great ideas and itineraries! Best rates and airports to use. Now we want to take our girls on the same trip. Great questions, Julie. Also, about how many miles a day are you traveling on your 10 day itinerary? Id be happy to save the money and just drive with the windows down when I want some fresh air. My husband and I are planning a Spring Break trip with our girls March 2020. Pacific Coast Highway Directions: South of Humboldt Redwoods, theres a junction where California Highway 1 (CA-1) begins. Id find an interesting podcast for everyone in the car and have the kids keep an eye out for whales and wildlife. I dont remember providing that advice but off the top of my head, I wouldnt go bigger than a Tesla Model X (swoon! Whats the best time of year to do this? As soon as you hit the section of the Pacific Coast Highway connecting. Are we likely to hit snow in the northern stops? November should be a good time, but you may experience some days where the Marine Layer rolls in be sure to pack layers in case its cooler/less sunny than expected! Also, we were thinking with the additional days to do a detour over to Yosemite. Waves, waves, and more waves. We want to spend 5 days for PCH and not sure where to fly in or out of. Now let me break down a few itineraries to choose from, based on how much time you have to do your Pacific Coast Highway road trip. We both have a lot of vacation all the time, so 10 days or more would be fine. I am doing this trip with the boyfriend end of this month. That route looks good have you input all the drive times in Google to confirm that you want to be on the road that much each day? Downtown is a series of taffy-colored storefronts filled with beach gear, kitschy coastal crafts, and the Funland Seaside Arcade, which harkens back to the heydays of coastal vacations. It may have been in a reply to someone elses comment, but I cant seem to find it now. I had saved this resource to help me plan. (Be prepared for fog from the marine layer! Im glad to surpass the AAA level. If you need to stretch your legs on your day of driving between Los Angeles and San Diego, Huntington Beach is a great spot to stop. I drove one and I hardly ever got to enjoy it! Hoping to do this mid Sept 2020. Hope to rent a car there? Just starting to think about a 1st time road trip from Az to Washington and back among the PCH!!?? If you do decide to spend an overnight in the area, I recommend stopping in the town of Mendocino first for late lunch, walking around the Mendocino Headlands, then continue driving south to spend the night at the beautiful Little River Inn for dinner at the Whale Watch Bar. Thanks for reading, Dale. (If you decide to fly to SF, heres a recent post I wrote: https://www.valisemag.com/california-coast-road-trip/). We are from FL and east coast and know very little about west coast, so this is great!! Whether you just want to see the top highlights and sightseeing hotspots or want to dive into L.A.s booming food scene, you can find it all in Los Angeles. Along the way we plan to stop at the Benbow Inn near Garberville, CA and in Newport. From Bixby Creek Bridge to Mcway Falls to the sea lions of San Simeon, there are so many epic places to see and photos to snap in Big Sur along the Pacific Coast Highway that you'll find yourself exhausting your camera battery and filling up your. Theres a nice public parking area near a lake that overlooks the Washington State Capital building. Thanks again for this excellent resource. Ive never been to CA and I know the prices are high. Thanks again! Nice ride. Fort Bragg is home to a beautiful glass beach, pictured above, where the entire beach is made of sea glass from past trash dumps. The PCH heads inland near Lompoc but is the main road you can take to Santa Barbara. Now my only problem is trying to figure out how many extra days were going to need! NEW CONSTRUCTION. Yes, we intend to stay a couple of nights in Portland and 2 or 3 in San Francisco but well probably look for hotels on the outskirts and travel in to the cities by car or public transport each day. To access the map on Roadtrippers, you just need to click the map! Pacific Coast Highway Directions: Follow California Highway 1 south. Great tips, Kathi! Id like to include Olympic NP, Mt. Booking this trip for late Oct. Id like to fly in ( from East Coast) somewhere north of San Fran. Youre all set to start filling in the gaps! If you are short on time to drive the PCH, as I was, a Pacific Coast highway itinerary for 5 days is ideal. Can you recommend where to spend time and in which cities to plan to spend the night? I have tendency to suffer from analysis paralysis therefore navigating all the ins and outs what to do where to stay etc would be overwhelming to say the least. After all, I liked it so much when I first visited in 2012 that I moved there in 2013! Thank you for sharing your travels and still helping others along their journey! If you go as big as a Suburban or Tahoe, youll be way to big and clunky to enjoy the road! But, we need to go the opposite way; starting in San Diego and heading north. Well, now we will have to wait to see how this Covid-19 progresses. Thanks for reading, Dave. Thank you! Pacific coast highway road trip with kids. Stretching from Washington to California, the Pacific Coast is picturesque, with cliffs, sea stacks, gorgeous urban spaces, and the raging ocean. In smaller towns though, Id recommend committing to those earlier you may find you have nowhere to stay and have to drive on another 100+ miles at some parts! ), Valerie, My wife and I are planning this very trip you outlined. So it adds about 3 hours of driving time, but it also means youll miss out on basically all of the Oregon Coast. If you would like a customized itinerary, I offer that for a fee to help cover the time it takes me to put those tips together. We detoured at Reedsport to go to Crater lake, which turned out awesome, there was a ELK reserve on the way, it took about 3 hrs to get to Roseburg, where we stayed the night, the next day the drive to Crater lake was about 3 hrs, the drive was absolutely beautiful. My wife and I (with our dog) are driving from Pismo Beach to Cannon Beach and staying at a beach house there. Can you please give me a list of must sees in Santa Barbara (we could have two full days there). Also, you can probably get away with booking hotels/vacation rentals in the smaller towns only a few days in advance but if you want to stay in any of the big cities, I would book those 2-3 weeks in advance at the latest! Pacific Coast Highway Directions: Carry on south on CA-1, the PCH. How Long is it? Yes, Id recommend flying one-way to Seattle, and flying one-way home from San Diego. Although I live in San Francisco, Ive yet to visit several of these places on this list. Can you believe theres a rainforest in Washington? Again, thank you so much!! 4,329 Sq. Dont be in a hurry and be cautious so you can enjoy everything. The Pacific Coast Highway is arguably one of the most famous drives in the entire world. Crescent City is the first city youll enter when driving southbound into California along the Pacific Coast Highway (or last if youre headed northbound). I live in Florida and have never been to the pacific coast. Now that you have all the details you need to plan a PCH road trip, you need to know which destinations are worth a stop along the Pacific Coast Highway. Sounds like youre well on the way to it . Reading through this your article is going to be a huge help as our family plans our two-week trip. ), a Jeep Liberty, or most Subarus. Only question I have is how much money would you recommend someone having for a trip like this and staying in a 3 star hotel each night? anything you can suggest extra the girls would be wowed by would be great. Other cool attractions include Hurricane Ridge (a popular hiking spot), Elwha River Valley, and Olympic Hot Springs. I agree, go north to south. 4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars (1) Paperback. I hope you had a great drive, Mindy! If youve ever seen The Goonies, you know exactly what I mean. Thanks for reading, Kay. But there's something extra special about driving the Pacific Coast Highway as it approaches its southern end. Taking your advice, flying into Seattle (from KC), and heading south. Thank you so very much. What do you think of Coos Bay/North Bend or better places for overnight, seemed a good split between Seattle and San Francisco? Planning a mother/son trip after my son graduates HS next year. We were 70s teenagers all around! We are thinking of taking this drive during the week of Christmas. I plan to rent a car in Los Angeles in the summer and make a similar journey, Hello! Youve put together one awesome road trip! Let me know in the comments! Its not a long drive from Seattle to Olympia, so I recommend just making a waypoint stop here to stretch your legs before the rest of your driving today whether thats to Port Angeles or Portland.