Highway 1

[goodml]

My husband and I are sailing on Monarch in May and will be arriving early the morning before and staying in San Pedro. I was in California with my brother and his family when I was 13 years old and I remember him driving from San Francisco to Los Angeles along Highway 1. :D Obviously we wouldn't try to drive all the way to San Francisco but looking at the map, we're wondering if we couldn't take a drive north on 1 for a while when we leave the airport and see some sights and then work our way back down towards San Pedro. Is this worth doing? Are there any "don't miss" spots along the way? We're likely going to do the LA city tour and transfer to the airport on the last day so I'm not worried about driving around to see the typical LA sites.

[Splinter]

How many days do you have? I would not attempt to even drive part of Hwy 1 north of Santa Barbara in less than 4 days. Hwy 1 starts at San Luis Obispo (about 200 miles north of LA) and goes north from there. Hwy 101 starts in San Diego and is called Pacific Coast Hwy in some areas, in others it is a freeway. What do you want to see? If you want to go to Hearst Castle, Big Sur or Monterey or Carmel, you are talking a long all-day drive from LA to Monterey even using the freeway, and it is really too long for one day on Hwy. 1. It is one of my favorite parts of our state, but you need to do it when you have time.

 

If you just want to see Santa Monica or Malibu along Pacific Coast Hwy. you could do that on the same day you arrive if you will be arriving in the early AM. Remember that the traffic from Santa Monica to the port will be heavy once rush hour starts, which is about 2:30PM.

[goodml]

 

If you just want to see Santa Monica or Malibu along Pacific Coast Hwy. you could do that on the same day you arrive if you will be arriving in the early AM. Remember that the traffic from Santa Monica to the port will be heavy once rush hour starts, which is about 2:30PM.

 

Thanks for your input. This is more what we were thinking of. Just basically taking a drive for two or three hours (or longer depending on where we end up:) . ) We're sort of the king and queen of winging it but like to do so without ending up in areas we shouldn't be in. I didn't have anything specific I wanted to see, I just remembered it was a really interesting drive (like 28 years ago:eek: ) and thought it might be sort of fun to do a small bit of it again. Probably wouldn't go much further than Malibu - timewise, how long does it take to get from the airport to Malibu area? If we leave the airport at around 10:30 on a Sunday morning and wanted to be in San Pedro by 7-9ish in the evening would you have any suggestions for where we might drive to? Like I said, I'm not really interested in doing the Hollywood stuff since we'll be doing a tour on Friday but it would be nice to see some scenery and stop somewhere for late lunch or early dinner in a waterfront spot or something like that. Helpful aren't I:D ?

 

Just reread your post and I guess it's the Pacific Coast Highway in the LA area that I was talking about.

[Bruin Steve]

Actually, Pacific Coast Higway through Malibu IS "Highway 1" (as opposed to 101 at this point which is the Ventura Freeway, inland)...the two connect in Oxnard...

 

Both Highway 1 AND Highway 101 go the entire length of the state, but in some areas, they are the same road with both designations...Confusing, huh?

 

I am assuming you are arriving early one morning, staying that night in Pedro and leaving the next day on the cruise, right?

 

Well, yes, you can drive as far as you want, knowing you've got to return all the way to San Pedro, but the exact time won't matter...your cruise isn't until the next day and you'll already be in Pedro...

 

Okay...Yes, as Splinter noted, you are not driving all the way to San Francisco...LAX to San Francisco takes about 10-11 hours straight driving time on Route 1...and that doesn't include stops for meals or sightseeing...

 

BUT, clearly you can take a very nice drive with one day...and you can return on 101 to save a little time through the LA to Oxnard section...

 

Basically, from LAX, you want to head up the 405 to the 10 West (or, you could take surface streets, but I'll leave it simple...this section is fairly urban, you'll just want to blow by it quickly...

 

At the Western end of the 10, you go through what is known as the McClure Tunnel...which deposits you on Pacific Coast Hightway, right around the Santa Monica Pier (you'll see it in your rear view mirror as you exit the tunnel)...for the next few miles, you are riding along Santa Monica Beach, passing such sites as Marion Davies' old beach house, purchased for her by William Randolph Hearst (now a beach club, but under redevelopment)...then, after Chataqua Blvd., you are in Pacific Palisades...At Sunset Boulevard, on your left is Gladstone's Restaurant--the busiest bar/restaurant in California...Two traffic lights later, at Coastline Drive, is the entrance to the J. Paul Getty Villa...The Getty's collection of antiquities is housed there...Behind the Getty Villa is J. Paul Getty's actual house (he is buried there)...My parents live next door...REALLY (well, actually, the two houses are back-to-back--yeah, that's where I grew up, believe it or not...We used to take short-cuts under the fence and throw lemons at his buffalos...Anyway, you cannot see the museum or the house from PCH...that big house on the hill near the gate is just a neighboring private residence...

 

After passing the Getty, you are now in Malibu (the city limits are actually just across Topanga, the next traffic signal up...and the city is about 27 miles long)...A few miles further, is the "town center" of Malibu...around Malibu Canyon Road...Pepperdine University is on the hill to your right, just beyond Malibu Canyon...over the next several miles, it gets more and more rustic and more and more scenic...Pass "Point Dume", Zuma Beach, Broad Beach...and eventually Point Mugu...

 

After Point Mugu, the mountains reced back from the coast and the coastal plain widens out in Camarillo...If this is as far as you want to go (depending on whether you've made stops, this may have only taken an hour and a half or two, you can cut across to your right on a few choices of surface streets to connect with the 101 East/South and head back toward LA and the 405...

 

Or, you could continue up the 1, connecting with the 101 in Oxnard and head into Ventura...Ventura is a nice little town--and home to the Gateway to the Channel Islands National Monument (you likely don't have time for the boat trip to the islands)...If you'd like, you could continue from here another half-hour t 45 minutes, depending on traffic, to Santa Barbara...The coast is quite rugged and affords some nice vistas before reaching Santa Barbara...You could visit if you like, then return from there, sticking, again, with the 101 all the way to the 405...

 

If you had lots of time (like if you got a VERY early start and were willing to get in quite late to your hotel) you could continiue from Santa Barbara, either on 101 through the Gaviota Pass or over the hill on the San Marcos Pass (the scenic mountain route past Lake Cachuma preferred by the locals...to the Santa Ynez Valley, the Danish tourist town of Solvang and the SoCal Wine Country of the movies "Sideways"...

 

This is as far as I would venture in a single day under any circumstances...Remember, it will likely take you around 4 hours to return from here all the way to San Pedro...depending on traffic...

 

What you don't have time to reach in a single day is the stuff NORTH of Solvang on the 1 ...San Luis Obispo, Morro Bay, Cambria, Hearst Castle (really worth a visit if you had more time), Big Sur, Monterey and Carmel (the Aquarium, John Steinbeck Country, art galleries, Pebble Beach, etc.)...

 

If anyone ever wants a really nice pre-cruise before an LA based cruise, I'd suggest flying in a week early to San Francisco and getting a one-way rental car...Spend a couple of nights or more in SF (1 and 2), driving down to Monterey for the next night (3), San Simeon (Hearst Castle)--then overnight in Morro Bay, Cambria or San Luis Obispo(4), visit Solvang and then overnight in Santa Barbara (5)...Stay in Santa Monica for a couple of nights (6 and 7)and then drive down to San Pedro to meet the ship...

 

I guess that's another trip...

 

Have fun...

[goodml]

I really can't thank you enough for taking the time to post this. It is exactly what I was looking for. I've been researching cruises on CC for several years now and I can honestly say there's not a more helpful group anywhere than on this west coast board.

 

My hubby and I are celebrating our 25th. As a wedding gift (back in '82) his parents gave us our honeymoon which included 3 nights in Las Vegas, then 4 nights in San Francisco before flying down and spending 4 nights in LA. We were 18 and 20 at the time and completely fearless. Rented cars and drove everywhere in the big city and we came from a town of approx 8000 (at the time.) It remains one of our most fun vacations ever.

 

I'm sure I'll have more questions before May gets here:D .