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With California running the length of nearly 800 miles, it’s actually the equivalent of driving through nine eastern states.  Yet, you’ll be amazed at the different ambiances you’ll find in the many cities dotting this expansive coastline. 

Life in Northern California, in cities like Eureka, Fort Bragg, Mendocino is laid-back, but you’ll see some of the prettiest coastlines imaginable along this stretch of highway.  Get your camera ready to catch the rock formations jutting dramatically out of the deep ocean blue, or capture the fog rolling through tree skeletons stretching out to greet the horizon, and yes, even the occasional cow meandering across the road as you round the next bend.

Of course, just because you’re hugging the coastline doesn’t mean you’ll be relegated to endless beach views (though that’s not such a bad thing!).  Enjoy a hike through the Humboldt Redwoods State Park in Eureka, California's largest redwood state park with more than 52,000 acres of old growth coast redwoods.  Stop for the Mendocino Music Festival in Mendocino & sip wine while enveloped in a blanket of music.  Take your shoes off at Glass Beach in Fort Bragg & marvel at the colors of the pebbles,  all rounded smooth through years of wave action.  In fact, Glass Beach is purported to hold the highest concentration of sea glass in the world. 

A relatively unknown attraction is a stop at the Sea Ranch Chapel, one of my favorite examples of “free-hewn” architecture I’ve ever seen.  Traveling south toward the Bay Area, I’d recommend a stop at Tiburon for lunch & take the Ferry to Angel Island for the day (beautiful Bay views and a fun ferry ride to the West’s Ellis Island).  From the island, you’ll see spectacular views of the San Francisco Skyline.  Another quirky town to hit before “crossing over” is Sausalito. A water-front community, it’s filled with houseboats on one side and quaint shopping areas on the other.  Finding a water view to accompany your dining should be a relatively easy task.

As you cross over the marvel of the Golden Gate Bridge, know that local lore has it that once painters finish painting the bridge, it’s so expansive that they have to start repainting from the other end again!   Once in San Francisco, must-sees are the Golden Gate Park and Fisherman’s Wharf. Go ahead, grab a loaf of San Franciscan French Bread and a freshly cleaned/boiled crab, dangle your feet from the pier & simply savor the flavor of “a day in the life” of a San Franciscan (at least on weekends).

Keep heading south from there toward Half Moon Bay, Santa Cruz, and Monterey; each city has a distinct pace, yet the easy going atmosphere perseveres.  In Half Moon Bay, the Moss Beach Distillery boasts a spectacular ocean view from the dining room and... a firmly entrenched ghost!  In Santa Cruz, there’s the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, containing a wooden roller coaster, honored as a national historic landmark in 1987, and still providing thrills after 84 years!  A summer bonus here are the free beach concerts held every Friday night.

The Monterey–Carmel-Big Sur area is my favorite recommendation because of all this area offers:  Old Fisherman's Pier, Cannery Row, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Carmel Beach, the world-renown Pebble Beach, Point Lobos, and a breathtaking meeting of land and water as you travel to the stunning  Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park in Big Sur.  It’s that stretch of highway where land meets sea in a jaw-dropping way because the Santa Lucia Mountains rise like colossal sentries from the Pacific Ocean.

While some would suggest a more direct route south by taking the inland Highway 101 or even the mid-land Highway 5, I recommend staying on Highway 1 for an unforgettable coastal road trip.  This way, your trip will include highlights like hiking at Limekiln State Park, and treasure hunting at Jade Beach, one of the few places in the world where you can find quality Jade strewn about like pebbles.

After all that hiking and beach combing, drive along the Cabrillo Highway till it turns into the San Luis Obispo North Coast Highway.  Soon you’ll find San Simeon, home of the opulent Hearst Castle. Hearst Castle is the palatial estate built by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst. It’s one of the largest of historic house museums in the U.S. and well worth the ticket price for the informative tour.   From here, suggested places are Morro Bay, San Luis Obispo, and Pismo Beach (a popular ATV camping spot because of all the sand dunes).

Now here’s where I’ll recommend cutting over to Highway 101 to discover a California city with a decidedly Danish twist, Solvang. I found it utterly charming, with stores offering delicate lace and handmade quilts, Danish cuisine in quaint restaurants, and a European flavor to the buildings lining the main streets. 

Of course, you can’t be away from the ocean for too long and heading into Santa Barbara will give you the quintessential California coastal city experience. If you want to taste the salt air & be completely surrounded by water, then add a stop near Oxford, where you can hop aboard the ferry to the Channel Islands. As you walk around these beaches, you’ll get a feel for what the land looked like before civilization descended because these islands have remained relatively isolated for 1000s of years.   If you’re looking more for culture than nature, then take the ferry near Newport Beach to Santa Catalina Island instead & explore the appealing city of Avalon.  This is a popular cruise stop destination so you can enjoy glass-bottom boat rides, take a trolley car up to some lush gardens, or enjoy snorkeling near the pier.

Below Oxnard, you’ll find the sexy city of Malibu, full of opulent homes on the lolling hills and beautiful bodies on the beaches.  Be sure to enjoy the Santa Monica Pier as you continue south. It’s a fun place to spend the evening.  But you’ll definitely want daylight to people-watch the myriad of characters found at Venice Beach.

By now, you’re in the thick of Southern California, a region where sunglasses, shorts, and flip-flops are the main attire.  Newport Beach is another well-to-do city worthy of a stop as well as Dana Point Harbor, one of the prettiest harbors I’ve seen in a long time.  Nearby, you’ll find San Juan Capistrano, another great cultural stop, this time with a Spanish twist, as you stroll the grounds of the California icon, Mission San Juan Capistrano.

Now it’s San Diego time, the biggest southern city before you hit the Mexican border!  There you’ll find a thriving city with distinct areas like Little Italy, the Gaslamp Quarter, and Balboa Park.  A fun side trip to take is to "drive" to an island via the San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge.  You’ll easily spot the famous Hotel Del Coronado, a sprawling white and red-roofed resort, which housed Presidents, movie stars & tycoons in its illustrious past.  From there, scoot along the Silver Stand Highway just for the sheer enjoyment of cruising a highway flanked by water on both sides.  For even more fun, enjoy a sunset gondola ride and pretend you’re in Venice, Italy!  From there, you’re less than 5 miles from the Mexico border with San Ysidro being the southernmost California community. 

So there you have it.  You’ve now hugged the California coastline from bow to stern, complete with side-trips that the locals would recommend.  To do this road trip justice, I’d recommend at least two weeks.  But however you fill your Road Trip Planner, you’re guaranteed awesome photos, spectacular sunsets, and a lot of cool cruisin!

Ingrid McCleary