Wifey and I will be leaving San Diego on Tuesday morning 4/4 and need to be at an appointment in San Francisco the afternoon of Wed. 4/5. What is the best route to go north for good views/roads/lodging and still avoiding inner Los Angeles and bad traffic. We can plan for rush hours or other high traffic times if needed? Also, being from a small NW Washington town in the sticks, is there any place I should avoid or stay away from?

Thanks in advance. EW

 

Sure you don't mean 4/4 and appt 4/5?

 

Good catch man. Maybe I shouldn't be on the road if I don't even know month it is. You are correct, these are early April plans. Thanks.

 

There's not much time to enjoy the scenic route if you only have a day and a half. According to Google, it's a little over 500 miles and 7 1/2 hours from San Diego to SF by the shortest route, I-5 through the middle of LA. That doesn't take into account any stops for gas, food or traffic delays. You can avoid the worst of the LA traffic by taking I-15 to the 210 to 101 to Ventura, then up the coast on the PCH to San Fran. That way, you are looking at around 650 miles and 12 hours of riding time, not counting stops.

It could be done, but it doesn't leave much time to enjoy the scenery.

Another possibility is to take the 15-210-101 loop around LA, then take 101 all the way to SF. Not as scenic as the PCH, but way better than boring I-5. That could be done in around 10 hours riding time.

If there is any way to add a day to the trip, do it and do the PCH, it's worth a slow, stop at the scenic overlooks kind of ride.

 

We could leave San Diego Monday morning if we wanted. I need to be in SF around 3 pm on Wednesday. We were allowing a day in/around SD thinking we would do the touristy thing. If you think the trip north is a better deal we could leave Monday morning and stay a night somewhere between SD and SF.

So with 21/2 ride day would you do PCH all the way north. Any parts of it that should be avoided at any particular times? Thanks for your response. EW

 

+1 on DeadHawg. Rt 1, Pacific Coast Highway is definitely the route to go if you're looking for great riding and interesting scenery. Lot's of photo ops and rest stops. But like he said, it's 700 miles. That's a lot to do in a day and a half if you want to enjoy the ride. Lunch in down town Monterey or Carmel is a nice rest stop. In San Simeon there's the Hearst Castle. That's a couple of hours right there. North of there watch for "Nepenthe Restaurant" in (Big Sur) restaurant on the left. It sits on the cliff side. You sit inside and look straight down the cliffs into the ocean.

You could take the freeway (101?) and get there faster, but how much fun is that?

http://hearstcastle.org/plan-your-trip/map-directions/

http://www.nepenthebigsur.com/

http://ask.metafilter.com/156694/How...long-Highway-1

 

go up I-5 get to your appointment then sight see on the way home and take your time?

 

Isn't there a few bridge closures on the PCH to look out for?

 

Thanks all for the input. The way our trip is going down will put us out of Las Vegas on Saturday morning 4/1. Plan right now is to head south and west staying that night in 29 Palms then the next night 4/2 in San Diego. The only real schedule after that is the Wed. 4/5 appointment in San Francisco then wifey flys out of Las Vegas on Sunday 4/9. We are pretty open still. I was looking at going back through Death Valley but that was just about it for planning. We could spend the majority of the trip on the coast if there is lots to see and do between good riding. I guess I just had traffic jams and bumper to bumper in my head. We are mountain folk and love the ocean and beach environment. Any suggestions?

Thanks again. EW

 

X2 Yes if I'm not mistaken a Bridge near Big Sur is closed, falling apart.

Best check it out.