Driving The California Coast

Want to take the iconic California road-trip? Want to drive Highway 1, stopping among all the classic sites that California has to offer? Want to take the pancake tour of North American, stoping grease stop, to grease stop, pulling off your best Jack Kerouac impersonation? GOOD NEWS! We already did it, so we can tell you how to! This past Thanksgiving, David and I hightailed to the land of Seth Cohen and US Weekly, to take a cross-state road trip, and today, we’re bringing you our hard-fought, and overcaffeinated knowledge.

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San Francisco

Dreaming of Full House, art, and seafood? GOOD! You’re starting your journey in San Francisco. Book your flight into San Francisco, and pick up a rental car. Check out our Guide To San Francisco, to help you plan your time there! We recommend spending two full days in this great city!20161120-LJP_455220161120-LJP_458820161120-LJP_464820161121-LJP_476720161121-LJP_5004

 

Then head to

 

Napa

Next on your road trip is our favorite place, Napa (because we love wine, more than we love most people). It takes about an hour and a half to get from San Francisco to Napa, so we recommend leaving San Francisco, super early in the morning, so you can have a full day in Napa. We left around 5 am, so that we could catch a hot air balloon ride in Napa, followed by a full day of wineries. We spent only one full day here, but it felt like a good amount of time. If you have more time in your schedule, maybe budget two full days. You can check out our guide to Napa here.20161122-LJP_514220161122-LJP_531220161122-LJP_532420161122-LJP_534320161122-LJP_5385

 

Then head to

 

Big Sur

The Big Sur and Monterey area is about three hours from Napa. We left Napa after breakfast at the bed and breakfast we were staying at, and had plenty of time to spend the rest of the day exploring Big Sur and Monterey. We had lunch in Monterey, exploring the pier and Sea Lions, then headed down to Big Sur, to see McWay Falls, Pfieffer Beach, and Bixby Bridge. You can check out our guide to both towns here.20161123-LJP_574520161123-LJP_575620161123-LJP_586920161123-LJP_594420161123-LJP_5955

 

Then head to

 

Disneyland!

Did you think that we would make a list without including Disneyland? We recommend spending at least two full days in the happiest place on earth, so that you can have a full day at Disneyland, and a full day at California Adventure. It takes about six hours to drive from Big Sur to Disneyland, but it’s beautiful, iconic scenery you’re driving through.20161124-LJP_605920161125-LJP_629220161126-LJP_708020161126-LJP_716420161126-LJP_7172
This is one of our favorite trips we’ve ever taken. It’s iconic for a reason right?! You know that you’ll enjoy it, and have the time of your life, no matter where you stop along the way.