San Fran to San Diego in six days...itinerary help requested!

busy mom

Mouseketeer
Joined
Mar 30, 2001
We are travelling to CA this weekend, and have 6 days to see the west coast. Our trip starts in San Francisco and we plan to drive down the coast and end our trip in San Diego.

This will be our first visit to the West Coast, so we would love any suggestions for "must see" locations, restaurants as well as any tips you may have learned in your travels of this area.

Our itinerary is wide open, except for plans to visit Alcatraz on Sunday. We like to walk, shop, eat :), and are hoping to see the highlights of the CA coast during our short trip.

We have purposely not booked any hotels, with the exception of San Fran, so that we are free to roam as we please. :)

Any suggestions welcome!
 
Carmel/Monterey area is great. Especially Carmel, it's a very cute little beach town. While in SF you must try Boudin (2 different locations on the wharf/pier) they have the best sour dough bread. Santa Cruz can also be a fun little stop. It's only about 30-45 minutes from the Monterey/Carmel area so you could essentially hit up all 3 in one day. The 17 mile drive may also be of interest to you. https://www.pebblebeach.com/17-mile-drive/ They do charge for this though so I would have cash on you.

(I also posted this on your post in the budget board.)
 
There is so much to do between SF and SD that more guidance is needed as to what you enjoy and want to see. Will you have kids with you? Do you want to visit amusement parks, national parks, beaches, etc.? Preferred price range for hotels? So many amazing places to see in SF, SD and so many places in between. For walking/shopping/eating/sightseeing with such a short time period one of the hop on/off trolley tours might work well in both SF and SD so you can get a look at a lot of different places and spend time there as you desire. On the way down the coast stops in Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Cambria, LA, Orange County beach towns are all great depending on what you want to do. In SF, Alcatraz is great and you can explore the wharf area before/after, with lots of great places to eat/explore. I assume you already have your tickets booked as they are probably sold out for the weekend. Have a wonderful trip!
 
Oakleycat - No kids this trip. We are really looking to enjoy things along the beautiful coast and also enjoy visiting little towns, stopping in shops and casual dining. No amusement parks, but we do have the San Diego Zoo on our list. We are not really beach people, but will probably stop to look around and take some photo's. Hope this helps to point us in the right direction!
 


With no kids and wanting to see a lot, I would do like pblack said and stop in Carmel/Monterey, then down to San Luis Obispo or Cambria, then Laguna Beach or one of the surrounding towns, then San Diego. This will only have you driving for a couple hours at a time and all of these are cute beach towns with great beach scenery, shops and casual dining to explore, all easily walkable if you stay in the beachfront/downtown area. Monterey also has the best aquarium in CA if you're into that, Cambria has Hearst Castle, and Laguna has a great art scene. Then spend your last couple days in San Diego exploring the Zoo, Balboa Park and everything SD has to offer.
 
Carmel/Monterey area is great. Especially Carmel, it's a very cute little beach town. While in SF you must try Boudin (2 different locations on the wharf/pier) they have the best sour dough bread. Santa Cruz can also be a fun little stop. It's only about 30-45 minutes from the Monterey/Carmel area so you could essentially hit up all 3 in one day. The 17 mile drive may also be of interest to you. https://www.pebblebeach.com/17-mile-drive/ They do charge for this though so I would have cash on you.

(I also posted this on your post in the budget board.)

Well - I'm a fan of Boudin, but they have way more than just the two locations in Fishermans Wharf. When I had a part time job in downtown I'd go to one of their locations for a sandwich. They even have two locations within Macy's Union Square alone - one in the basement (with several other dining options) and the other at street level with a view of the street. They have closed their location on Market Street that was a fixture for years.

As far as bread goes, my favorite sourdough is Acme. They're really based in Berkeley, but they set up a bakery and retail location at the Ferry Building.

http://www.acmebread.com/locations
 
Kind of depends on what you like to do and see and what kind of food you like. Between SF and SD i would probably stop to see Hearst castle, Santa Barbara, and Solvang, etc.
 


Park at the hotel and use MUNI. Pier 39 is very touristy. It's fun, lots of little shops and there is a Boudin there. Union square is busy, but has a lovely 2 story Disney Store on Stockton St. The Disney museum is in the Presidio and the views are amazing! Check to see if Off the Grid will be around. It's a group of food trucks with street music. Baker Beach has some beautiful views of the Golden Gate Bridge. Go to Twin Peaks at night and you can see the city twinkle (if Karl the fog cooperates :rolleyes1)

Have fun and dress in layers. We had some 90º weather last week!
 
In SF I would highly recommend the Disney Family museum, especially for Disney fans! The shear amount of memorabilia is amazing, and the museum is so informative. You could easily spend a full day here. And, the Presidio location gives gorgeous views of the bay and Golden Gate bridge!

You will love your visit to Alcatraz, the audio tour is surprisingly fun and informative. Remember to pack layers! The norm for weather is "chillier than you'd expect."
 
I'm pretty sure the road is still closed in the Big Sur area (after Monterey). Can't do a coastal trip via hwy 1 from SF to SD. There was a bridge that collapsed earlier in the year.
 
I'm pretty sure the road is still closed in the Big Sur area (after Monterey). Can't do a coastal trip via hwy 1 from SF to SD. There was a bridge that collapsed earlier in the year.

The bridge will done by next month, but the main issue will still be that there's so much cleanup work on the slides that CA 1 won't be fully open to the south.

http://www.mercurynews.com/2017/09/11/big-surs-northern-access-to-open-on-xx/

pfeiffer-canyon-bridge-1.jpg


Reports are that they started pouring concrete a few days ago.
 

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