Quote:
Originally Posted by agulati
Yes the plan is to take CA-1 for most of the way. Good call on the long weekend traffic. Will need to be good about our timings. If we do two nights, 1 night in Carmel/Monterey and 1 night in Santa Barbara is what you would recommend?
Our concern is we want to give time to the drive but don't want to eat too much into our stay time in the cities.
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It only takes half a day to drive the Big Sur Coast (even with stops), so a day in Monterey and Santa Barbara will leave lots of time.
- I stayed in Pacific Grove last trip to Monterey. There you can find a place right next to the scenic drive by pebble beach. (Amazing walking and bike riding!). It is only about a 20 minute walk into Monterey as well.
- If you have time and daylight left, you might want to take the back way into Santa Barbara through Solvang. Solvang is touristy (sort of a Danish themed resort town with windmills and kitsch). Fun to spend an hour and perhaps grab a pastry or two. The drive through Las Padres is perhaps a bit more scenic than the 101 from Buelton to Santa Barbara. (If it is dark, just take the 101 as it is multi-lane,)
- If you want to do some wine tasting, then a stop off at Los Olivos is well worthwhile. (Dozen + tasting rooms in a three street village, pretty much on the way to Santa Barbara from highway 1). The Santa Barbara Urban wine trail is also a great wine tasting outing. (It's just a walking map going from the beach side area of Santa Barbara up to the central shopping area and back). For nightlife: Corks and Crowns beer/wine bar is a lively spot with a pretty fun, all-ages, crowd.