Totally awesome LA to San Francisco drive – with free ebook!

If you’re planning to drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco on the iconic Pacific Coast Highway, you’ll have one of best road trips in the world!

This post covers everything you need to know for a 5-day California road trip itinerary from LA to San Francisco including where we stopped to shop, take photos and where we stayed on this portion of the spectacular PCH.

First tip: if you do it in reverse, drive from San Francisco to Los Angeles, you’ll have the coastal views on your right!

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The Pacific Coast Highway technically runs the entire length of the west coast of the United States and some people drive the whole thing from San Diego to Seattle.

And if you do decide to include San Diego, you’ll like my post on 13 awesome must-do’s in San Diego – without going to SeaWorld, because after seeing the majestic Orca cooped up in a pool I can not tolerate the cruelty! You can see the Google Earth pic and my reasons for boycotting Seaworld here.

Then, if you go north to Seattle, I found a fascinating underground tour of shops and streets, because did you know Seattle was rebuilt on top of the current city? You can read all about it in my post.

But we only had five days to drive from LA to San Fran, so we flew into LAX and out of SFO, got a one way car rental and dropped it off right beside our San Francisco hotel, The Handlery.

There are actually so many great places to stop along the PCH we could have taken 10 days on this amazing coastal LA to San Francisco drive and still not been bored!

This California road trip includes Santa Monica, Santa Barbara, Big Sur, Santa Cruz, San Francisco

Plus stops in San Luis Obispo, Hearst Castle, Carmel, Pebble Beach and Monterey Bay.

In fact with so many things to do on your Los Angeles Bucket List, you could spend a week exploring LA before you even get started on your Pacific Coast Highway road trip.

Don’t worry! I’ve put this lengthy blog post into a downloadable pdf for you to print out and take with you, with added content from some of the cities we stayed at (including Malibu)! Download for FREE

How long does it take to drive from LA to SF? The drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco can be done in six to eight hours if you put your foot down, but why would you when there are so many gorgeous towns to stop at and things to do along the way?!

Firstly, if you are reading this from another country and are not used to driving on the right, let’s allay all fears of driving in the Unites States. It’s a doddle! Don’t be scared.

But secondly, make sure you have a GPS or data roaming plan to use maps on your phone if you actually want a coastal drive.

Why? Your GPS will try and take you on the shortest route from Los Angeles via the interior I-5 road rather than the scenic route. Hence my cousin Kate and I taking off the wrong way for the first mile inland to the Los Angeles freeway.

However, once onto it, we fooled the GPS by putting in coastal destinations along our route and adding new towns as we went.

Click here for a free road trip packing list.

We started our epic road trip in LA’s stunning beach town of Santa Monica with two days of R&R after our flight from New Zealand – this is a great place to start and still my favourite part of Los Angeles.

I have also written this post on my picks for the best things to do in LA. I keep it updated, so have a look and see if there’s anything there you might not know about.

I have stayed in Santa Monica at least a dozen times and wrote this post on my 7 favourite hotels in Santa Monica >>) we shopped till we dropped on the pedestrianised Third Street Promenade and enjoyed cocktails at sunset (see my top picks for 16 of the Best Bars in Santa Monica >>)

Tip: If you’re from out of town and renting a car you might find it easier to drive from LAX to SFO by picking up and dropping off your car at the airports and just using an Uber in San Francisco – if you even need a car once you’re there. We found we didn’t need a car (nor want to park one) in San Fran anyway.

Let’s do the LA to San Francisco road trip!

Day 1 – Santa Monica to Santa Barbara

Driving distance: 120km (75 miles) along the 101 BUT that will take you on inland roads for at least half the drive, so you might want to allow a bit more time to wind around the coast.

Drive time: approx 2.5 hours.

Where to stay: Brisas del Mar, Santa Barbara

Don’t miss: Camarillo Premium Shopping Outlets

From the sandy beaches of Santa Monica and Venice Beach, start your road trip on the coastal Highway 1. This road starts at sea level where views of the half-kilometre wide sandy beach stretch out to the ocean.

Just 40 minutes north of Santa Monica are the Camarillo Shopping Outlets. Three clusters of shops and eating places with brands like Gap, Banana Republic, Forever 21, North Face, Nine West, Calvin Klein, all at ridiculously cheap prices, although all end of summer stock when we went.

Tip: put Malibu into your GPS if you are unsure of how to get to the coastal road in LA. We recently stayed a night in Malibu and loved it. The dining scene is great, there is a super cute former 1950s motel, now boutique hotel to stay at and of course – the surf.

You can read my post on 24 Hours in Malibu here >>

Santa Barbara is about an hour and a half north of Malibu and I maintain, is the prettiest city in the United States so we thought staying two nights was a good idea.

Thanks to strict building codes brought in after the devastating 1925 earthquake, buildings here are Spanish adobe style reflecting the roots of the town and are no more than two stories high (in some cases you’ll see an office block at six floors, but certainly no high-rises).

Update: I just spent another two nights in Santa Barbara and did a wine tasting tour and found some great places to eat. You might like to read more my post about things to do in Santa Barbara >>

It’s just so cute in Santa Barbara! Brightly coloured bougainvillea climb up walls and the tree-lined main street is edged with shops, behind which are piazzas with more shops, fountains and lovely open spaces.

Oh and check out the cycle lanes – easy peasy. Parking is cheap – free everywhere for first 75 mins then $1.50 per hour.

The weather in Santa Barbara is gorgeous pretty much year round due to the city being hugged by the Santa Ynez mountains which keep much of the hot desert wind at bay while the ocean breezes are largely quelled by the Channel Islands, just off the coast.

Again, like Santa Monica, the west coast sand stretches for what seems like miles from the road to the sea.

Brisas del Mar is a large hotel/motel located about three blocks from the ocean. It’s a 3-star hotel but perfectly fine (Tripadvisor reviews are very positive), but has a free wine and cheese hour at 5pm followed by hot cookies around 7pm!

Malibu and Santa Barbara also feature in my post on 12 marvellous day trips from LA!

Day 2 – Santa Barbara

Today you should definitely visit the Old Mission,Santa Barbara which stands majestically overlooking the city.

Founded in 1786, this is still home to Franciscan friars (although we didn’t see any when we went. I think they cloister themselves away making beer and meditating).

For $12 you can take a tour through the ancient hallows, the photogenic gardens and old cemeteries, gaze at the art and architecture and just generally take your time to marvel.

Another must-do in Santa Barbara is climb the steps (actually only two flights as there is an elevator) to the rooftop of the courthouse and look down over the American Riviera, which is what this coastline is affectionately known as.

The courthouse itself is so beautiful you’d think it was a tourist attraction, except for the clip-clop of legal secretaries stilletos carrying piles of paperwork and signs above doors saying ‘In Session’.

Where to eat in Santa Barbara

Have dinner in the Funk Zone, this relatively new area of former fishing warehouses is now home to restaurants, bars and wine tasting rooms. We had a fabulous sharing plates dinner at The Lark.

Day 3 – Santa Barbara to Big Sur

Driving distance: 215 miles (345 km)

Drive time: Allow 4.5 hours.

Where to stay: Ventana Inn

Don’t miss: Hearst Castle

Today is a long drive but whatever you do, don’t miss Hearst Castle in San Simeon, which is about half way between Los Angeles and San Francisco.

We started with our essential morning coffee in Santa Barbara (I’m not a Starbucks fan and am pleased to report that boutique cafes that make a decent flat white are springing up over here) and headed towards San Luis Obispo for our lunch stop.

Other places worthy of visiting are Solvang (the Danish capital of the US for boutique shopping and Danish pastries) and more shopping outlets at Pismo Beach.

San Luis Obispo is famous for its Thursday night street market and that was underway the one time I stayed here, but we found a Mexican restaurant where we sat in the sun munching on twice-cooked tortilla chips and eating crab cakes and Caesar salad washed down with a cheeky Corona.

Alas a parking fine also ensued. They must have watch-dogs timed to pounce the nano-second your 30 minutes is up. US$33 dollars for the privilege.

If you love National Parks you will love this Fodor’s Guide to the Best National Parks in the West. (Please note, if you purchase from links in this post I may make a small commission at no cost to you.)

Fodor's The Complete Guide ...Shop on Amazon

Hearst Castle is a must-see even if you have hours of driving ahead of you! Part of the Hearst publishing empire and great grand-daddy to Patty Hearst (nudge, nudge. Google her!). But seriously this is such an amazing place.

What started out as a humble bungalow to be built on the family ranch at the turn of last century, became a 130+ room ‘castle’ that took 28 years to complete and entertained Hollywood glitterati in the 1930s. Ohhh if these walls could talk…

Before you set off, take a stop to see the elephant seals at Piedras Blancas, Elephant Seal Beach. It’s located just north of the castle, before Cambria and is worth stopping in for a few minutes at least to grab some photos and have a look.

Heading out from Hearst Castle, put Morro Bay into your GPS to get back out to the coast and head on up through Big Sur and Pfeiffer State Park, which is an amazing scenic drive!

I can totally recommend the fabulous Ventana Inn, a lodge in Big Sur, which is worth the drive.

Set in 243 acres of trees high above the ocean it’s a sanctuary/retreat and you’ll find people roaming around in their fluffy white bathrobes heading to the spa, or just sitting outside in the sun.

It has romantic open fire places in your rooms and a clothing optional pool (which took me by surprise as I was exploring the property next morning with my camera. Alas no pics, for fear of being arrested).

There are also Japanese hot baths and a sauna, but I was a bit nervous to venture further around lest I see more portly middle-aged bottoms.

The restaurant served up a bison steak for me with a big red wine and hand-picked scallops from Maine for my travelling companion, cousin Kate (or we could have had Amish-raised pork) before we crashed in our room and threw an innovative sack filled with kindling and wood on the fire and all we needed to do was light the paper tag and voila – a camp fire in our room.

Read more: If you have an RV or a tent, you’ll love this post on some gorgeous California beach camping spots!

Day 4 – Big Sur to Santa Cruz

Driving distance: 70 miles (112km).

Drive time: Allow 2 hours.

Where to stay: Dream Inn

Don’t miss: 17-Mile Drive from Pebble Beach

Setting off up the rugged Big Sur coastline, you’ll pass the iconic Bixby Bridge where people stop to take photos and kite surfers fly across the Pacific ocean waves.

Our final destination for the day was only two hours away so we made a few photo stops of bridges and kite surfers and tootled into Carmel by the Sea to see if we could find Clint Eastwood – mayor in the 1980s. Sadly no.

Carmel is a cute higgledy-piggledy town sloping down to the sea, studded with towering pine trees, cute shops and houses with wooden-tiled roofs decorated in growing lichen.

The only thing we could afford here was a cupcake – although there was a sale on at Anthropologie (some of you will notice your hearts just skip a beat).

You could even stay in here for a couple of days as there are plenty of things to do in Carmel-by-the-Sea, but Santa Cruz was already booked so we just stopped for a little snack and a browse of the cute shops.

Two hours in Carmel was plenty on this blustery day and parking was a nightmare, so the next stop was Monterey via the famous Pebble Beach golf course where more spectators than players are found in the souvenir shops and dining at one of the three bars/restaurants.

Take the road ‘17-Mile Drive’ which weaves around the coast from the golf club north towards Monterey and fantasize at the $20 million dollar houses hidden among the trees or with rocky gardens rolling down to the sea.

Note: There is a toll to pay to drive on this private road.

There are other golf courses here too, just not as famous and therefore not as crowded. (Peter Hay Golf Course, Spyglass Hill Golf Course, Poppy Hills Golf Course – but unless you’ve teed off from Pebble Beach, why bother, right?)

An alternative place to stay tonight: You could stay in Monterey on the coast just north of Carmel and Pebble Beach. There are lots of hotels on the beach in Monterey and the famous Cannery Row and the kids will love a visit to Monterey Bay Aquarium.

But we pressed on and arrived in the surf town of Santa Cruz (although Huntington Beach officially now holds the name of surf capital after years of battling it out) in time for sun set.

Dream Inn is beautifully decorated and is literally right on the beach. Its 165 rooms all have ocean views with private balconies and being lulled off to sleep by the crashing ocean is just magic.

It’s also at the foot of the pier that stretches out into Monterey Bay lined with souvenir shops and seafood and ‘burgers and fries’ kinda restaurants that proved ideal with a beer to watch the swell of the waves roll under us to the beach.

The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk was built over 100 years ago as a bath house and now has all the old fashioned rides and side shows, plus a few more whizzy ones, to keep the kids in a daze for days.

This is a surf beach and the weekend we were there a competition was underway by the time we pulled back the curtains. The pedestrianised town has boutique shops, art galleries, spas and cafes.

Note: From Santa Cruz, you could also head up the coast and have another night at Half Moon Bay, or one of the state beaches along the Pacific Ocean for hikes and walks and rugged coastal scenery.

Day 5 – Santa Cruz to San Francisco

Driving distance: 75 miles (120km) via San Jose.

Drive time: Allow 2 hours if you want to travel around the coast

Where to stay: Handlery Hotel

Don’t Miss: a walk/cycle across the Golden Gate Bridge

You’re nearly there! This last stretch in our LA to San Francisco.

Today’s drive is only about an hour from Santa Cruz so we headed off late morning and put Sausalito into the GPS to take us over the famous Golden Gate Bridge (which is 3km long so a full walk might not be that enticing) while we still had the car.

This cute seaside town is more of a village with waterfront pubs, antiques, art and other boutiques. It’s also perfect for photographing the views, including “the rock” of Alcatraz island.

After an hour here we had a bit of time to kill before returning the car so found out that the famous row of painted villas with the city in the background is called the Painted Ladies (now you won’t have to faff about asking cops and garage attendants like I did) and is located on the edge of Alamo Square.

These houses were in the opening credits of Full House and also starred in So I Married an Axe Murderer, so off we went for a photo.

As luck would have it, the car was to be dropped at Hertz, literally one block from the Handlery Hotel on Union Square. Owner, Jon Handlery loves us Kiwis and in fact, donated US$10,000 to the Christchurch earthquake fund, so for that reason alone, stay here!

But the Handlery Hotel is supremely located right on Union Square, it’s family owned, and there are two wings of accommodation. One is accessed by the main lift in the lobby and the other past the pool.

The cable cars run right outside to take you down to Embarcadero and Fisherman’s Wharf, and shopping is all around including a Westfield Mall within two blocks.

They also have a restaurant and sports bar attached and I was particularly honoured to receive a Jon Handlery bobble-head doll. Thanks Jon!

And that’s it. Phew! A brilliant 5 days from LA to San Francisco and I’d thoroughly recommend it to anyone 🙂

Download this post as a 24-page LA to San Francisco ebooklet FREE with all this info, plus a whole lot more to take with you on your trip!

Now that you’ve arrived in the Golden Gate City, you might want to read my post on Fabulous things to do in San Francisco!

If you have a limited time in San Francisco you might like my post on what do to in San Francisco in 36 hours >>

And if you want to go further, check out this post from Czech the World on 25 things to see in Yellowstone National Park!

Need a packing list to make sure you don’t forget anything? I wrote this post with a free printable packing list for you to mark what you need and cross out what you don’t. Grab my Printable Packing List here >>

You might also like my updated post on 19 travel accessories also has loads of helpful links to make your pre-travel prep easy! Includes face masks, hand sanitizer, anti-bacterial wipes as well as packing cells and more…

If you are starting with a few days in Los Angeles, you might like this post on 24 awesome things to do in Hollywood.

If you need some fun road trip games to play, there are 52 in this post to get you started!