California Dreamin': SF to LA
5 day Roadigo trip with 21 stops: SFO → Monterey → San Simeon → Solvang → Ventura → LAX
SFO → Monterey → San Simeon → Solvang → Ventura → LAX
The Foggy City to the Boardwalk
Pick up your keys and hit the road. We’re heading south immediately to escape the city traffic.
San Francisco International Airport
Pick up your keys and hit the road. We’re heading south immediately to escape the city traffic.
Half Moon Bay
Half Moon Bay is a city on the Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. The Half Moon Bay Coastside is a rural seaside community about 30 miles (45 km) south of San Francisco.
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is an oceanfront amusement park in Santa Cruz, California. Founded in 1907, it is California's oldest surviving amusement park and one of the few seaside parks on the West Coast of the United States.
Monterey
Monterey is a city on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of 8.645 sq mi (22.39 km2) and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 census.
Big Sur Magic & Coastal Cliffs
Start with this scenic loop in Pebble Beach. The Lone Cypress is the star of the show.
17-Mile Drive
17-Mile Drive is a scenic road through Pebble Beach and Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula in California, much of which hugs the Pacific coastline and passes famous golf courses, mansions and scenic attractions, including the Lone Cypress, Bird Rock and the 5,300-acre (2,100 ha) Del Monte Forest of Monterey Cypress trees.
Bixby Creek Bridge
Bixby Bridge, also known as Bixby Creek Bridge, on the Big Sur coast of California, is one of the most photographed bridges in California due to its aesthetic design, "graceful architecture and magnificent setting". It is a reinforced concrete open-spandrel arch bridge. The bridge is 120 miles (190 km) south of San Francisco and 13 miles (21 km) south of Carmel in Monterey County on State Route 1.
Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park
Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park is a state park in Monterey County, California, near the area of Big Sur on the state's Central Coast. It covers approximately 1,006 acres (407 ha) of land. The park is centered on the Big Sur River. It has been nicknamed a "mini Yosemite". A Redwood tree in the park nicknamed the Colonial Tree is estimated to be between 1,100 and 1,200 years old.
McWay Falls
McWay Falls is an 80-foot-tall (24 m) waterfall on the coast of Big Sur in central California that flows year-round from McWay Creek in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, about 37 miles (60 km) south of Carmel, into the Pacific Ocean. During high tide, it is a tidefall, a waterfall that empties directly into the ocean. The only other tidefall in California is Alamere Falls.
San Simeon
San Simeon is a small town (population 445 at the 2020 U.S. census) in San Luis Obispo County in the Central Coast region of California. It is half way between Los Angeles and San Francisco, about 250 miles and a 4.5 to 5 hours drive from each. The southernmost point of the scenic Big Sur stretch of California coast terminates just north of town.
Castles, Wine & Danish Vibes
Take the morning tour of W.R. Hearst’s "Enchanted Hill." The Neptune Pool is finally open again and it’s ridiculous.
Hearst Castle
San Simeon is a small town (population 445 at the 2020 U.S. census) in San Luis Obispo County in the Central Coast region of California. It is half way between Los Angeles and San Francisco, about 250 miles and a 4.5 to 5 hours drive from each. The southernmost point of the scenic Big Sur stretch of California coast terminates just north of town.
Morro Bay
Morro Bay (population 10,000) is in San Luis Obispo County in the Central Coast region of California. The town is best known for the massive 581-foot (177-m) volcanic rock at the entrance to the harbour.
San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo is a city in San Luis Obispo County in the Central Coast region of California.
Solvang
Solvang is in the Santa Ynez Valley of Santa Barbara County in Southern California. The city is Danish-themed as if it were the Danishland section of Disneyland, since it was founded by Danish immigrants and quite a few Danish descendants live here. While the tourism industry does try to import genuine Danish culture and architecture, it can be just skin deep.
The American Riviera
Drive down the pass into Santa Barbara. Spend the morning browsing the shops or visiting the "Queen of the Missions."
Santa Barbara State Street
Drive down the pass into Santa Barbara. Spend the morning browsing the shops or visiting the "Queen of the Missions."
Stearns Wharf
Stearns Wharf is a pier at the cross section of the end of State Street and Cabrillo Boulevard, in the harbor in Santa Barbara, California, United States. When completed In 1872, it became the longest deep-water pier between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Funk Zone
This area is packed with wine-tasting rooms and street art. It’s the "cool" side of Santa Barbara.
Ventura
Ventura is a city of 111,000 people (2020) in Ventura County, a region of California's Central Coast. Ventura mixes old charm with new modern facilities to blend a rich and wonderful background to living.
Malibu to the City of Angels
This is the prettiest beach in Malibu with sea caves and huge rocks. Perfect for a morning walk.
El Matador State Beach
Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach is a state beach of California, located in northern Malibu, Southern California. The park is part of the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
Malibu Pier
The Malibu Pier is a pier located in Malibu, California. It was constructed in 1905.
Santa Monica Pier
The Santa Monica Pier is a large pier at the foot of Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, California, United States. It contains a small amusement park, concession stands, and areas for views and fishing. The pier is part of the greater Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
Time to drop off the car and head home. Give yourself extra time for LA traffic—it’s no joke!
- Always fill your gas tank before entering Big Sur (between Carmel and San Simeon). Stations there are rare and can be double the price!
- Day 2: 9h 7m driving — plan rest stops
- Day 3: 5h 14m driving — plan rest stops
- Day 1: 46h 21m driving — plan rest stops
- Day 2: 52h 39m driving — plan rest stops