San Francisco-San Diego Walk? or rent a car?

[kenish]

Originally Posted by Bruin Steve

San Francisco is complicated by the fact it is laid out on a grid pattern but over some incredibly steep hills...causing difficult climbs, sudden descents and many blind intersections...

And two different clashing grids...Market St. cuts diagonally through the City. In the downtown / Financial District, everything north of Market runs on an approximately N/S/E/W grid while the grid south of Market is turned 45 degrees. When the two converge on either side of Market there are some crazy intersections!

Streets on a rotated grid are quite common in the original core of California cities. The Spanish settlers and missionaries laid out the first streets. They brought over the practice from Spain. The reason is that turning houses and buildings 45 degrees means the sun hits them on two sides during the day instead of 3 sides and the inside stays cooler.

[MTL=CRUISEFAMILY]

Originally Posted by Bruin Steve

A little late to the party here, but let me add some comments...

As a tourist, one day is NOT enough time for route 1... Even two days is stretching it...

You are talking about 12-15 hours of driving, depending on whether you save on time with some of the shortcuts rather than sticking to the coast every mile...not a lot of time for stops...

And the main reason for doing it IS some of the stops...Monterey and the 17 mile drive, Hearst Castle, the Santa Barbara County wineries and Solvang, Santa Barbara...

Hearst Castle alone is a "don't miss"...and it requires half a day (you have to do it with a tour--no choice)...

You also run into issues that there are some sections of this road you MUST do during daylight hours--just a little treacherous in the dark if you are unfamiliar...So, timing becomes important...you don't want or get caught in the wrong stretch at the wrong time...

In general, it does pay to have a car in San Diego, but, depending on what you want to do, there is a lot you can do on foot or by public transportation, especially if you stay in the Downtown/Gaslamp area...they do have a nice little HOHO bus tour...

San Francisco can be a nightmare for a tourist WITH a car...parking is horrendous...and some of the streets are so steep as to be frightening. (Of course, I'll be there the weekend after next WITH my car...and I dread trying to park near my daughter's apartment in the Marina District (close to Fisherman's Wharf). But San Francisco has great public transportation...and even taxis are relatively cheap and easy. From the wharf, you can walk to a lot...and you can get the boat tours to Alcatraz...Napa and the wine country might require a tour of some sort...it is quite a ways out of the City...along with the Redwoods...

You might also want to consider flying from one to the other and saving the coastal drive for another trip...

Good luck...

The original idea was to take the full 6 days to do the coast drive, not everyone in our group wanted the road trip

So we decided to do a Sampler and decide if we want to redo this trip over a 2 week period and really absorb all there is in the different areas.

As of yet, we still have not decided which way to go, still thinking, and greatly appreciating all the different views expressed here, thanks

[zephyr17]

Just want to reiterate that to go from San Francisco to San Diego via Hwy 1 and Big Sur in one day will simply be grueling. If you need to stick to one day, don't take 1. Take 101, there are some sights and quite a bit of coast on it, and it is a lot faster and easier. Save 1 for when you have more time.

[BEAV]

Originally Posted by zephyr17

Just want to reiterate that to go from San Francisco to San Diego via Hwy 1 and Big Sur in one day will simply be grueling. If you need to stick to one day, don't take 1. Take 101, there are some sights and quite a bit of coast on it, and it is a lot faster and easier. Save 1 for when you have more time.

As a native Northern Californian, I couldn't agree more!

[Kartgv]

For more help planning your road trip, check Cruise Critic's sister travel site Trip Advisor. On the "More" tab, select "Travel Forums" from the drop-down menu. You can then choose your forum from the geographical listing, or go to the "Road Trips" forum on the right side of the listings.

[kenish]

This is an article about Hwy 1 in a motorcycling website: http://pashnit.com/roads/cal/Hwy1BigSur.htm

It gives a very good overview of what to see and expect, as well as the highway itself.

[MTL=CRUISEFAMILY]

Originally Posted by kenish

This is an article about Hwy 1 in a motorcycling website: http://pashnit.com/roads/cal/Hwy1BigSur.htm

It gives a very good overview of what to see and expect, as well as the highway itself.

Great article, thanks, lots of good info.

[sarafinadh]

Walk or use transit in San Francisco.

Drive in San Diego.

Fly from one to the other. Save that beautiful coastal drive for another time when you can take a week or longer and really stop along the way. It's a trip all in itself!

San Francisco to: Santa Cruz, Monterey/Caramel, San Simeon/Herst Castle, Cambria, Santa Barbara, Santa Monica/Getty Museum, Carlsbad, winding up in San Diego.

Have a great time.

[wjhon53245]

San Diego’s Best Pacific Limo Bus offering First Class San Diego Party Bus and Limo Service. With the wide range of tourist destinations in San Diego, Pacific Limo Bus has party buses and limousines that hold 1 to 60 passengers per vehicle.