The Ultimate 3 week California road trip: Part 1

Los Angeles

This route starts with a bang in LA, the city of angels. Wander along the sandy beaches, drink colourful cocktails, explore Hollywood and maybe even spot a celebrity. Our first experience of the city, however, involved a car crash and a dodgy airbnb but that’s a story for another time.

MY TOP PICKS: Rooftop cocktails in Downtown LA at Mama shelter, hiking up to the Hollywood sign (predictable, but great) and good old fashioned people watching in Venice beach.

Where we stayed: airbnb

Malibu

Leaving LA you’ll first come across Malibu, an extremely expensive location full of celebrity beach houses, over-priced restaurants and gorgeous beaches. We made a quick stop here for some brunch at Malibu Farm Cafe at the end of Malibu pier. Go here if you’re in need of healthy food and are happy to pay almost $60 for two breakfasts and coffees. Just beware if they ask if you’d like to add avocado as that will be another $7.

Santa Barbara & Pismo beach

Just over an hour up the coast from Malibu you’ll stumble across Santa Barbara, a sweet little town lined with wine bars and cute little shops, perfect for a sunny afternoon of wandering around. We only spent one night here but you could easily spend a few days here. Your next stop is San Luis Obispo, but don’t forget to pause for a few hours at Pismo beach. Driving along the beach turned out to be one of my highlights of the whole trip, so it’s definitely worth the slight detour!

MY TOP PICK: Drive along Pismo beach. You can hire ATVs and explore the sand dunes but if you’re on a budget you can still have an amazing time driving along in your own car. It’ll cost you only a few dollars compared to well over $100 for ATV hire.

Where we stayed: airbnb

San Luis Obispo

San Luis Obispo was a place I knew very little about before going there, it was more out of necessity than anything else as we were trying to even out the driving and avoid any huge stints where possible. It actually turned out to be a great town with lovely shops, restaurants and a rather unusual alleyway completely covered in bubblegum. Why? I honestly don’t know, but it’s pretty cool nevertheless.

MY TOP PICK: Go for tacos on taco Tuesday (obviously) at Luna Red in Downtown near the Mission plaza for fabulous cocktails, good value tacos and a great vibe.

Where we stayed: America’s Best Value Inn, £50/night

The back roads to Big Sur

From SLO, the usual route north is along the Pacific Coast Highway, an iconic section of road stretching all the way through Big Sur and up to Carmel. It’s one for the bucket list and I’m a little sad to say that it is still on mine. Due to bad landslides earlier in the year, huge sections of the PCH were impassible at the time we were there. But as they say, every cloud has a silver lining and the back roads between the 101 and the 1 really were just that.

After watching a video on alternative routes, we decided to try our very best to avoid the main motorways. Instead, we drove for hours along winding roads through the gorgeous countryside and tiny towns with only a couple hundred of inhabitants each. It turned out to be an incredible experience and one of the most beautiful parts of the trip.

Further north along the PCH you will hit Big Sur, a beautifully scenic and rugged stretch of the coast that quite frankly, makes you want to live in a tent in the bushes just to have the privilege of saying you live there. Even on a cloudy day this part of the coastline dazzles with the help of the Saint Lucia mountains rising up from the east and the Pacific to the West.

MY TOP PICKS: Drive along the famous Bixby bridge and hunt out a little spot for the perfect photo op. Stay a night or two in Big Sur if you have the time, there are plenty of options for camping.

Carmel

After driving for what felt like an eternity, we finally arrived in Carmel late in the afternoon. Despite the fact that the light would soon be gone we decided to go and do the ‘17 mile drive’. This beautiful scenic route takes you around Pebble Beach and Pacific Grove, past gorgeous mansions and manicured golf courses.

Forget the fact that this is a really popular thing to do here, go late in the afternoon and experience the most beautiful and peaceful sunset of your life. In that moment, I could have stayed on Pebble Beach forever just staring out into the distance. Even though it may be dark by the time you reach the end of the 17 miles, it is worth it just for that sunset.

Carmel itself is a picture perfect seaside town with fairytale-like cottages and an adorable sweet shop. I’d also recommend a fantastic Mediterranean restaurant called Dametra Cafe. Order the ‘gyro sandwich’ for a Greek dish that will leave you full for hours.

Monterey

A very short drive further North is Monterey, a city associated with John Steinbeck, a rather large aquarium and excellent seafood. We didn’t actually get a chance to visit the aquarium but I have heard that it is well worth the visit.

MY TOP PICK: Exploring Pebble Beach along the 17 mile drive at sunset.

Where we stayed: Del Monte Pines (motel), £55/night

That’s it for part 1 of this epic 3 week California road trip. We managed to squeeze in an awful lot in just under a week and I would recommend a little longer if you have the time. In particular, I’d add a day or two in Big Sur and another day just to really soak up everything the coastline has to offer. Check out part 2 now!

Have you done a Pacific Coast Highway road trip? Let me know in the comments!

Happy adventuring,

Lorna