Looking for a place to stay to cut trip in half

[evening sun]

Originally Posted by Statz2k10

You say it would delay me half a day? Why is that?

I'm not talking about driving over the bridge but driving from the hotel we stay at to the park area on the south end of the bridge. I've googled directions & it says 30 minutes from the airport to that park area.

And that's from the airport. I'd be coming from a hotel that would likely be 10-20 minutes north of the airport.

Now, I will say my original trip of just 1 full day of driving probably wouldn't work to well but I think I'm going to spend 2 days going from SF to LA area.

Thanks again for suggestions.

Oh I thought you were going to the North side of the Bridge, which is where all the views are. The City side of the Bridge does not have the same kind of views. So if you are not going to cross the Bridge, an early morning start should be OK. Have fun

[Statz2k10]

Originally Posted by evening sun

Oh I thought you were going to the North side of the Bridge, which is where all the views are. The City side of the Bridge does not have the same kind of views. So if you are not going to cross the Bridge, an early morning start should be OK. Have fun

Thanks. I actually checked out the north part back in 2016. Drove up near the bridge & saw all this fog pass by us. Pretty cool.

[Regajohn]

Once you start your road trip, unless you want to be rushed, figure two overnights between San Francisco and LA.

First overnight in the Monterey area and second overnight in the Morro Bay / San Luis Obispo area.

TripAdvisor has lots of information and their forum has some pinned advice for travel between LA and San Francisco.

[Statz2k10]

Originally Posted by Regajohn

Once you start your road trip, unless you want to be rushed, figure two overnights between San Francisco and LA.

First overnight in the Monterey area and second overnight in the Morro Bay / San Luis Obispo area.

TripAdvisor has lots of information and their forum has some pinned advice for travel between LA and San Francisco.

Thanks. That's actually what I decided I would do. I noticed you put Morro Bay & San Luis area. I checked that out on google maps. Looks like it's not to far from Santa Barbara.

Santa Barbara was actually where I had planned to stay the 2nd night. Looks like as you get south of Morro Bay area I can get on the 101 because even the 1 comes inland. I'm not worried about staying on the 1 in areas inland away from the ocean so I imagine I can probably make it to Santa Barbara not to long after I pass Morro Bay.

[AustinTraveler]

It's two hours from Morro Bay to Santa Barbara not including traffic. There is a reason why people recommend staying in Cambria/Morro Bay/Pismo Beach after driving down Hwy 1. It takes a lot longer than you think and a lot longer than Google Maps shows. Driving two more hours to Santa Barbara is your choice, but it will be a long day.

You'll have no choice but to get on the 101 at San Luis Obispo. Do not detour off the 101 at Pismo and Lompoc even though there are signs for Hwy 1. Those are not parts of Hwy 1 you want to see, plus it would add a lot more time to your trip.

[Statz2k10]

Originally Posted by AustinTraveler

It's two hours from Morro Bay to Santa Barbara not including traffic. There is a reason why people recommend staying in Cambria/Morro Bay/Pismo Beach after driving down Hwy 1. It takes a lot longer than you think and a lot longer than Google Maps shows. Driving two more hours to Santa Barbara is your choice, but it will be a long day.

You'll have no choice but to get on the 101 at San Luis Obispo. Do not detour off the 101 at Pismo and Lompoc even though there are signs for Hwy 1. Those are not parts of Hwy 1 you want to see, plus it would add a lot more time to your trip.

Thanks. The reason I mention Santa Barbara is because I've driven from SB to LA before so I know the amount of time that will take. If I wake up in Santa Barbara I have plenty of time to get to a hotel at 3 pm in LA area. A lot will depend on what the day is like before I get to LA. I really have no idea how much I'll be stopping. I could see myself around San Luis by 3 pm on Saturday and driving a few more hours to SB for me would be doable but I will def keep what you said in mind.

I'm hoping to not book any hotels until the day of. I'm not sure how busy it is but even if I have to go more inland to find some random chain hotel I'd rather do that than have something scheduled.

[JuanONeil]

Highway 1 is a boring, slow and dangerous ride. If you want the “PCH experience” without the pointless nightmare of taking it all the way across the state I recommend you take the 5 to Kettleman City, stay at the Quality Inn there overnight, the next day get on Highway 41 and take that to Atascadero where you’ll get on the 101. You’ll see some good scenery in Pismo Beach but after that the first leg of your drive on the 101 will be driving through boring places like Santa Maria and Buellton...it isn’t until you get down to Gaviota that it starts getting beautiful enough to be worth the downsides of not just taking the 5.

[evening sun]

Originally Posted by JuanONeil

Highway 1 is a boring, slow and dangerous ride. If you want the “PCH experience” without the pointless nightmare of taking it all the way across the state I recommend you take the 5 to Kettleman City, stay at the Quality Inn there overnight, the next day get on Highway 41 and take that to Atascadero where you’ll get on the 101. You’ll see some good scenery in Pismo Beach but after that the first leg of your drive on the 101 will be driving through boring places like Santa Maria and Buellton...it isn’t until you get down to Gaviota that it starts getting beautiful enough to be worth the downsides of not just taking the 5.

Highway one from San Francisco to Santa Cruz is beautiful. But traffic can be a problem on the weekends.

[NORTY FLATZ]

Originally Posted by JuanONeil

Highway 1 is a boring, slow and dangerous ride. If you want the “PCH experience” without the pointless nightmare of taking it all the way across the state I recommend you take the 5 to Kettleman City, stay at the Quality Inn there overnight, the next day get on Highway 41 and take that to Atascadero where you’ll get on the 101. You’ll see some good scenery in Pismo Beach but after that the first leg of your drive on the 101 will be driving through boring places like Santa Maria and Buellton...it isn’t until you get down to Gaviota that it starts getting beautiful enough to be worth the downsides of not just taking the 5.

Hwy 1 is boring? You need to ride with us, sometime...