I already dreamed of this trip when I was 16 years old. Venice Beach, Hollywood, Golden Gate Bridge, the dream of the golden west … Every year I planned this trip anew, but aother country or continent always came between us. In 2018 the time had finally come. We started our road trip in San Francisco.
For me, San Francisco is the most impressive city in the USA after New York. I fell in love with the Victorian style of the houses and of course with the Golden Gate Bridge.
Our hotel was in Union Square, but we spent a lot of time in the Fisherman Fishers Wharf area (where we would more likely look for accommodation next time). Anyone who has ever been to San Francisco knows how hilly the city is and that walking can be quite a challenge.
Well rested, we went straight down to Pier33 on the first day and we took the boat to the former prisoner island Alcatraz. We found the award-winning audio tour extremely interesting and would recommend it to everyone. Apart from that, the boat trip offers a wonderful view of San Francisco.
In the afternoon we explored the Golden Gate Bridge and the area around San Francisco by bike (you can find more information about the bike tour below). If you have enough time, cycling across the Golden Gate Bridge is an absolute MUST. Only when you stand in the middle of the bridge and look around you can see the full extent.
The next day we decided to take part in a small group tour in a minibus. We decided on the provider Dylan’s Tour and discovered the following highlights on this tour: Twin Peaks, Haight Ashbury, Pacific Heights, Sausalito, Muir Woods, …
For our last day in San Francisco we chose a wine tour to Sonoma & Napa Valley. The first wine tasting at 10 o’clock in the morning took a bit of effort, but the wines from this area are simply delicious.
In San Francisco we could easily have endured a few more days, but we were already very excited about the famous Highway No. 1. After a hearty breakfast we checked out and took a taxi to the rental car. Now we could start our road trip …
First stop was Monterey. This small, nice coastal town can be explored mostly on foot (Cannery Row, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Old Fisherman’s Wharf, …)
After a short tour, we treated ourselves to a delicious lunch and then went to a bike rental shop. Our goal … the 17-Mile Drive – a 27 km long beautiful coastal road on the Monterey Peninsula. Driving on the street with a car will cost around 10 USD. Entry is free for cyclists and pedestrians. The most famous attraction along 17-Mile Drive is probably the Lone Cypress – a 250-year-old Monterey cypress that grows on a rock in the sea.
Due to the strong wind and the countless photo opportunities, we had (once again) completely underestimated this route and unfortunately had to turn back after not quite half of the route, otherwise we wouldn’t have reached the bike rental in time. So… plan enough time if you want to explore the tour by bike.
We spent the night in Carmel-by-the-Sea. I fell in love with this charming little town straight away. We quickly regretted not having planned a little longer here.
Since we still had a few miles ahead of us, we started south the next day after a hearty breakfast and a digestive walk on Carmel Beach. Today the following points were on the program: Bixby Creek Bridge – Big Sur – McWay Falls
Due to the landslides in 2017, we could not drive the entire Highway No 1 and had to take a long detour from Ragged Point in Big Sur. With a lot of new impressions we arrived in Cayucos in the evening completely exhausted.
Our next destination was Santa Barbara. From here on we also noticed a significant change in the climate and we were finally able to leave our long trousers packed. The charming small town, 145 km north of Los Angeles has a beautiful beach promenade and a very nice town center.
We were only 150 km from L.A. I had great expectations of this city, after all it has been on my bucket list for over 15 years.
When we arrived at our hotel on Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood, we tried to avoid rush hour as much as possible, but it quickly turned out that the traffic in L.A. is a disaster at almost any time of the day.
Our plan was to park the car and only use it again on the onward journey to San Diego. However, without a car, it is not as easy to get from A to B as we had imagined, L.A. is simply too big and has no real center. We therefore decided on a combination of a hop-on / hop-off ticket, Uber trips and our own car (tips on how to do it better can be found below in the recommendations).
On the first day we wanted to get an overview and explored the districts of West Hollywood, Hollywood and Beverly Hills with the hop-on / hop-off bus (red line).
“Hiking in the Hollywood Hills” was also on my bucket list. We quickly found that we were in good company. Californians love to do sports in the great outdoors. We only met groups of tourists further up at the Griffith Observatory.
After our hike we just wanted to relax and decided to take an Uber taxi to Santa Monica and spend the Sunday afternoon there.
Bicycles were borrowed quickly and we cruised along the beach through Santa Monica, Muscle Beach, Venice Beach, …
3 days are clearly too short for a big city like Los Angeles, but we got a very good overview. So the journey continued south to San Diego.
We made a short stop at La Jolla Cove and had a lot of fun watching the sea lions and enjoying the panoramic view of the ocean.
When we arrived in San Diego, we immediately explored the San Diego Harbor, Seaport Village, Little Italy and the Gaslamp Quarter on foot. In contrast to L.A., I immediately liked this city – a little quieter and more manageable.
The next day there was a lot on the program. A bike tour on Coronado Island, relaxing in Balboa Park and in the evening a dinner cruise in San Diego Bay.
Our road trip ended here in San Diego. Before we flew home, however, we spent 3 nights in Las Vegas (you can find information on this in our travel report about Las Vegas).
Our personal opinion about our road trip from San Francisco – San Diego:
- we will definitely be back and will take more time with us
- for that California feeling, definitely rent a convertible
- we were positively surprised by San Francisco and San Diego
- Los Angeles was different than expected, we have to go back to make a final judgment
- Dining out in restaurants can get really expensive in SFO & L.A.
On the following pages you can get a very good overview of California:
https://www.visitcalifornia.com/
Best travel time:
The best time to visit California is from May to September. During these months it is sunny, warm and the chance of rain is very low. Nevertheless, we would avoid the months of July & August, as it can get very hot and most of the tourists are here. If you are not planning a beach holiday, April and October are also recommended.
Please note: In summer, San Francisco sinks into a thick blanket of fog which usually disappears at noon. Therefore, always pack warm clothes in the summer months.
Hotel recommendations:
- Grand Hyatt San Francisco Union Square
- Shoreline Inn…on the beach, Cayucos
- The London West Hollywood at Beverly Hills
- Homewood Suites by Hilton San Diego Downtown/Bayside
Restaurant recommendations:
- Fog Harbor Fish House at Pier 39 – San Francisco (super Seafood)
- Nepenthe – Big Sur (great view)
- Sandbar Cocina y Tequila – Santa Barbara
- The Ivy in Beverly Hills (cool location where celebrities can often be seen or films are made)
- Lotus Thai Cuisine – San Diego
- Harbor House Restaurant – San Diego
- Bluewater Boathouse Seafood Grill – Coronado, San Diego
More tips & recommendations:
Parking in San Francisco is extremely expensive (around 40-50 USD per day). I would therefore recommend renting the car only once you travel on. If you want to rent a convertible, you should do this early enough, unfortunately we were too late. Cruising along Highway No. 1 in a convertible … I think more “California feeling” isn’t possible 😉
Alcatraz – We recommend booking a tour to the former prison island of Alcatraz in advance. Tickets sell out quickly (night tours are particularly popular). You can book for example via the following pages:
https://www.cityexperiences.com/san-francisco/city-cruises/alcatraz/
The starting point is Pier 33 Alcatraz Landing. The boats go there and back every half hour – plan a total of around 3 hours, photo ID is required.
Bike tour over the Golden Gate Bridge – we can absolutely recommend the tour over the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito and back by ferry (duration approx. 3-4 hours). Guided tours are offered, but you can also do it on your own. You simply borrow a bike from a bike rental shop. In Fisherman’s Warf you have several bike shops available. There you will get all possible information about routes and also a map where the bike routes are marked. It is essential to bring warm clothing with you, as extremely cold wind blows at the Golden Gate Bridge.
Wine Tasting Sonoma & Napa Valley – If you want to do a wine tasting in the surrounding wine regions of San Francisco, it is recommended to take a guided tour. Drinking & Driving is understandably not welcomed in the USA either, the alcohol limit is 0.8.
We booked the Tasting Tour through www.incadventures.com – Napa and Sonoma World Class Wine Tour. The tour includes 3 tastings. However, if you want to buy wine, I would rather not recommend the tour, as the bottle price at the visited wineries were around 30-50 USD. So for shopping not, but absolutely recommendable for tasting and visiting the winery. Napa and Sonoma Valley are very scenic. However, anyone who has already been to wine hiking in southern Styria (Austria) will not be so thrilled by these wine regions; we would recommend a day in San Fransciso instead of a wine tour.
CityTour San Francisco – We can absolutely recommend DylansTour in small groups.
Monterey, 17-miles drive: Fantastic views – it’s really worth it! We have borrowed bicycles here as well, but if you want to cycle the entire way, you should leave in the morning and allow enough time. We made the mistake and only started around 2pm. At 4 p.m. we had to turn around again, otherwise the bike rental would have closed before returning. We just spent too much time at the lookout points … which was nice too.
In general, we recommend planning 5 nights for the route from San Francisco to Los Angeles. We were on the road for 3 nights and were only able to hike short trails. We would have loved to have had more time in Carmel and Big Sur. For the complete trip, consider at least 2 weeks.
Los Angeles – Please don’t underestimate the distances in L.A. From West Hollywood or Downtown to Santa Monica it is already 30 minutes travel time (without rush hour traffic). The hop-on hop-off buses are a good way to get an overview. Uber taxi is also very popular in L.A. and works really well. I would largely avoid driving myself.
Hollywood Hills – It was clear to us that we really wanted to do a hike in the Hollywood Hills. Starting point: Griffith Park’s Fern Dell (parking is available there). We took the Firebreak Trail to the Griffith Observatory (about 30 minutes steeply uphill), briefly explored the view at the Observatory and then hiked on via Berlin Forest to Mount Hollywood (here you can extend the tour as you wish). From above you have a sensational panoramic view. Do the tour in the morning because the big bus groups arrive later and it can get really hot during the day. Pack enough water and don’t forget to bring a hat.
