California Dreamin'

One of my bucket list trips was finally achieved in March 2018. I have always wanted to road trip from San Francisco along the Pacific Coast Highway, so we set off on a cold March morning for Heathrow. The train is easy from York to London KX then the underground is around 50 minutes straight into Heathrow. We stayed at the Novotel the night prior and used the Hoppa shuttle in the morning which was quite painless. Our 10.5-hour flight with Virgin was good – I would always recommend pre-booking your seats in advance to guarantee where you sit, especially if you prefer window or aisle.

Upon arrival at San Francisco, be prepared for a long security clearance at Customs which is usual in the US. Our wait was about 1.5 hours and then we booked an UBER to Fisherman’s Wharf. We stayed for three nights at The Argonaut Hotel, a welcoming and smart 5* in a great location walkable to Pier 39, next to the Cable Car turn, Ghiradelli Square and several restaurants. Breakfast was pricey but very good, however just around the corner is the Buena Vista Café (famous for Irish Coffee) or the 8am Café, both offering super breakfast but very busy! During our stay we cycled the Golden Gate Bridge across to Sausalito and caught the ferry back (allow three hours and be prepared for hills!), saw the wild sealions at Pier 39, went into Union Square and Chinatown, shopped at the Ferry Buildings which is foodie heaven plus they have a Farmers Market on a Saturday until 2. We visited Alcatraz (I can pre-book your tickets for this, always sold out on the day) and wined and dined in various restaurants.

We collected our Alamo hire car on the Monday (again I would recommend I pre-book with all insurances paid for PLUS definitely book a GPS, this was invaluable on our trip). Driving away from the city on US1 we reached Monterey after a stunning coastal drive. Quite a seaside town, famous for the Sardine Factory restaurant and Cannery Row. Onward to the beautiful Carmel which was our first night stay at the Carmel Bay View Inn. We used decent motels and inns during the road trip as this is the most economical way and many breakfasts were included complimentary. Upmarket Carmel is a joy, clean streets, boutiques, the beach beautiful and the art galleries aplenty. We ate at Dametra, highly recommended but there are restaurants on every corner and all a high standard of cuisine.

We set off early the next day as we wanted to get as far along the Big Sur coastal drive as possible to Gorda which is where the mudslides have unfortunately closed the road. This is due to reopen in September 2018. The drive is of course stunning with plenty of pull in places to stop and take your photo opportunity. Instead of travelling back up to Carmel for 40 miles, we turned onto the infamous Nacimiento Fergusson track which takes you up high through the hills and drops down to hook up with the highway again. If you are nervous don’t do this, however lots of cars surprisingly were on the road. No lines, very twisty, passing places and no barriers so a bit scary but passable (only in good weather) if you drive slowly!

Next stop, Pismo Beach. Superbly located on the cliff top, the SeaCrest Oceanfront Hotel was lovely. I would recommend paying a little extra for the front facing sea view rooms – what a view! We walked along the beach into Pismo and along the pier before setting off to our next destination.

Just an hour and a half south is the stunning Santa Barbara with its lovely Marina and fishing pier. The Inn by the Harbor gave us the most welcoming reception on arrival and the owner was lovely, giving us lots of information on the area. They held a cheese and wine party at 5pm for all guests which was a treat! This hotel is walkable to the marina which is where we ate.

On our final day we took Highway 1 via Ventura up to Coalinga (a 4-hour drive) stopping en route for a bite at the famous 24th Street Café in Bakersfield! We stayed that evening at the splendid Harris Ranch Inn, where the Harris family are California’s largest beef marketeers, famed for their amazing steaks. On site they have a Bakery, Bar, three restaurants, Country Store, an airstrip and a gas station. The pool was the best we used, and the weather was fabulous.

Just a short 3-hour drive and we returned the car back to San Francisco airport for our journey home.

Overall, I wished we had more than a week as there was a lot of driving so 10 days would be perfect. Food and drink was fairly expensive, after all - this is prime tourist country! Wi-fi was readily available in all the hotels and the Americans hospitality lives up to its reputation. If you want to know more about the areas I visited, please give me a call to discuss your next bucket list trip!