California Road Trip?

Question

Hello. Can I have some suggestions and site to see en route from LA to Napa. Cities and sites would be GREATLY appreciated.

We are from Jersey and will be exploring CA this summer. Is it worth visitng above Napa - if so where?

We will be driving.

Thanks~

Answer 1

Depends on what you like,
but I would check out Carmel, Monterey, Santa Cruz is a cool area.
There's a little town north of seaside Casterville where Marilin Monroe lived they have the BEST BBQ, I miss it > Central Texas BBQ, in Cali it's got to be good!!

The wine country is cool too and head up in the Mt's too is nice.

Cali is so diverse you can find neat places almost any where.

Answer 2

The coast between LA to Napa has some spectacular coastal scenery and some of the top California wineries.

There are many Santa Barbara wineries located around Solvang, a quaint touristy Dutch community. This is the region where the movie Sideways was filmed.

Pismo Beach is a worth a stop. Oceano Dunes is a beach where you can drive your car onto the beach. There's camping on the beach. The really fun thing to do here is to rent a 4X4 and ride the famous Pismo Dunes!

San Luis Obispo and just a ways north in Paso Robles are also famous for their wonderful wineries.

Further north you will find beautiful Monterey...a famous acquarium, golf courses, great restaurants, and more wineries.
The charming city of Carmetl(where Clint Eastwood lives and was a former mayor) is a fun place to visit. The 17 mile Drive is a beautiful coastal drive that makes a wonderful day trip.

Santa Cruz is a fun, hippie type, laid back beach community with an amusement park on the beach....(more wineries in this area as well).

You have enough time to really take some time to enjoy California. My very favorite place in California is Yosemite...this is about a 4 hour drive from San Francisco. The huge granite mountains are spectacular any time of the year. Make reservations to spend the night somewhere in or near the park as it is a drive to get there.

Answer 3

For starters, leave L.A. via Highway 101 and follow the coast. Be sure to stop and see the city of Santa Barbara, especially the strip down State Street and the pier area on the beach, and if you get a chance take a walk around Fess Parker's Red Lion Resort -- VERY posh and VERY expensive, but it's free to take a peek if you like. You may also want to take a detour north when you get to Santa Barbara and go through the Santa Ynez Valley -- beautiful drive and it's also the heart of the Santa Barbara County wine country, where you can take winery tours and even do wine tasting. If you go through wine country, be sure to plan a dinner at Mattei's Tavern, which I believe is in Los Olivos. Either way, be sure to stop and see the Danish community of Solvang, which you can get to from Highway 101 or Highway 154 (154 is the highway that goes north from Santa Barbara). And if you didn't do Mattei's Tavern, the city of Buellton, which is about 4 miles west of Solvang and heading back toward Highway 101 has two outstanding restaurants for beef -- A.J. Spur's and The Hitching Post II. Continuing north, the city of Santa Maria is a good place to stop to get something to eat but isn't good for much else. Keep going north and you come to the five cities area where Pismo Beach is -- it's worth a look and maybe a meal, but it's not as nice as you might think. Next stop is San Luis Obispo -- see the mission and wander the downtown district. Toward the north end of town is a restaurant called The Apple Farm, which has great home-cooked food and freshly baked homemade pies that are the best on the Central Coast. From SLO, take Highway 1 (the Pacific Coast Highway) north to the San Francisco Bay area. There are several nice coastal towns along the way, but the ones you definitely do not want to miss are: Cambria (that's where Hearst Castle is, and the tours are worth it), Monterey (spend a day there and be sure to see the aquarium) and Big Sur. Be sure to check out San Jose and Sunnyvale, which are in the south bay area, before heading up to San Francisco. The only place I would recommend visiting "above" Napa Valley would be Sacramento -- BEAUTIFUL city, but it's more to the east of Napa Valley. Not much more to see north of that. Have a great trip!

Answer 4

as far as driving goes, if ur in LA and heading north u can take I-5 up to nor cal. but taking hwy 101 gives u a more scenic view of the coast...its a longer drive since its more curvy of a road though.

a lot of things to do in LA. u can check out the hollywood walk of fame, man's chinese theater or check out the muscleheads and all the other freaks in venice beach.

check out san diego if u can also...a real great city plus ur just a step away from tijuana, mexico. (if u make it there, make sure u leave ur car at the border rather than driving it into mexico...good probability of it getting stolen)

definetely go to san francisco. u can get there using hwy 101 if ur coming up from LA. u can take a ferry to alcatraz or go to china town, fisherman's wharf or walk on the golden gate bridge. the bridge parking is pretty packed a lot of the times but there is a place called chrissy field (right under the southern most end of the bridge)where u can get a good view of the bridge from the side. also go onto lombard street and check out the crookedest street in the world. u wont be albe to miss that street b/c u can see it from like a mile away...its SO steep!

napa is cool too...its pretty much for wine tasting. i wouldnt go past there. unless u want to run into tree huggers and visit pelican bay (where cali's most dangerous inmates reside)

probably a lot more to see...thats just the only ones that stick out to me.

Answer 5

You could make a week-long vacation out of that drive alone.

Santa Barbara
Solvang
San Luis Obispo
Hearst Castle
Morrow Bay
Sea Lion refuge - you can walk out and watch the sea lions basking in the sun
Big Sur
Monterey (GREAT aquarium, really nice state beaches as well)
Santa Cruz (boardwalk, mystery spot)
San Francisco

I suggest looking into some of these things I mentioned to see what they have to offer that appeals to you.

Happy traveling! (i'm jealous, i love road trips)

Answer 6

I lived in California for about a year and loved it everyone of the above answers deserve the 10 points for answering. But I did vote for the first one because they put Carmel first I loved it and hope to go there again someday.