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8 Day California Coast Road Trip Itinerary & Planning Guide

LE Travels
View from a lookout point in Big Sur, California

A California road trip has been on my bucket list for a while now and this past May, Eric and I finally made it happen. From jaw-dropping coastal landscapes to wine tastings and delicious food, the California coast has it all.

We started our journey in San Jose and ended in Santa Barbara with several stops along Highway 1 (The Pacific Coast Highway) in between. As with any road trip, you have to be ready for the unexpected: good and bad. Here’s our entire itinerary with some helpful tips to help you build your own bucket-list-worthy California road trip itinerary!

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8 Day California Coast Road Trip Itinerary

Logistics

Before you hop on a plane and head west, you need to nail down some logistics. Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

Map it out

Once you’ve got your flights and know what you want to do, map out your route using Google Maps. Keep in mind that maps can be deceiving. Two places may look close but once you hit the “directions” button it could be a different story. I’ll get more into this as I go through our itinerary, but the day we drove from Monterey to Paso Robles took way longer than I thought it would. We didn’t take into account how much we would be stopping along the way!

Remember, this drive is scenic and I’m not just saying that. It’s absolutely beautiful and you will want to stop every 5 minutes. So if the map says it will take 3 hours, go ahead and make that 5 or 6 hours.

Here is our California road trip route. I’ll break it down into smaller sections for each day below.

Day 1—Travel

The first day of our California road trip was mostly spent in transit to San Jose since we traveled from the East Coast.

We were lucky enough to fit in some family time while we were in San Jose. This worked out in our favor since we didn’t have to worry about accommodations for 3 nights of our trip (and of course, we got some quality time with my brother-in-law and his girlfriend).

If you do need a place to stay, I suggest going ahead and making the drive to Santa Cruz for your first night. It’s only a 45-minute drive and Santa Cruz is beautiful!

Hotels in Santa Cruz:

Day 2—Wine tasting in Saratoga

Since we planned to have one full day with family near San Jose, we decided to spend it nearby in the wonderful town of Saratoga. Saratoga was absolutely beautiful and I highly recommend it if you’re staying in the area.

Saratoga is about a 40-minute drive up through the mountains from either San Jose or Santa Cruz, so it doesn’t matter which area you come from. All of the wineries had spectacular views and were a quarter of the price of wineries in Napa or Sonoma.

Saratoga Wineries to visit:

Day 3—Santa Cruz and Monterey

Santa Cruz was not originally on our list of places to stop, but since we would be passing right through it to get to Monterey, we decided to add it on. First, we stopped at Natural Bridges State Park and right after that, we stumbled upon a surf competition. That was really cool to watch since it’s not something we get to see back home!

We enjoyed spending a few hours walking along the beach and seeing the sea lions below the wharf. There was also a great taco spot where we grabbed a late lunch!

Things to do in Santa Cruz:

Places to eat in Santa Cruz:

After we left Santa Cruz we headed to our final stop of the day, Monterey. The drive was a little under an hour and left us with just enough time to check into our hotel and then head to dinner.

Hotels in Monterey:

Dinner in Monterey:

Day 4—Monterey and Carmel-by-the-sea

We had one full day in Monterey which was just enough to see the main sights. We did not go to the aquarium, so if that is something on your list you might want to consider adding another day to your stay in Monterey.

Our first stop of the day was to the Old Fisherman’s Wharf. We visited at the very end of May and it was very cold. Make sure you check the weather before you pack! The Wharf was especially cold since it was on the water. Parking was plentiful and not too expensive at $1.00 every half hour.

In my opinion, the Wharf was not a must-do. It was very touristy. However, we did enjoy walking from the Wharf to the main part of Monterey. There is a lovely path along the water.

After the wharf, we made the scenic 17 Mile Drive through Pebble Beach and then made our way to Carmel-by-the-sea for lunch.

Things to do in Monterey:

Fisherman’s Wharf

Day 5—Big Sur

We only passed through Big Sur, but it took most of our day. I was so surprised at how little there was in this area in terms of civilization. It was wonderful to see such a popular place seem almost untouched by man, but at the same time, it presented an issue when we got hungry or needed a restroom.

Our day started with breakfast near our hotel in Pacific Grove (next to Monterey). We ate at an incredible cafe called Crema, which I highly recommend if you’re staying in Monterey or Pacific Grove. I had avocado toast and a latte.

After breakfast, we started on our long drive to Paso Robles. We severely underestimated how long it would take us to get there. We knew we would be stopping along the way to take pictures but we didn’t realize just how many times we would be stopping.

If you look up the trip from Pacific Grove to Paso Robles without any stops along Highway 1, it shows the drive as about 3.5 hours. Our trip took double that. Here are some of the key stops we made along the way (they are also highlighted in the map below):

Bixby Creek Bridge

This iconic bridge has become famous after being shown in the HBO show, Big Little Lies. Even if you know nothing about this show, it’s worth a stop. The view from the area right before the bridge is absolutely beautiful.

Pfeiffer Beach

The turn to get to Pfeiffer Beach was hard to spot from the road. From the turn off the highway, it was a long and difficult drive to the parking area. The reason it was difficult was that it was almost a single lane at some points and hard to see if anyone was coming the other way.

If you decide to stop here (and you definitely should) just be aware of this and try to let others pass if you have space to scoot over. Highlights at Pfeiffer Beach include purple sand, beautiful rock formations, and just an overall unique landscape. It’s especially striking for those of us who come from the East Coast.

McWay Falls

This waterfall is very unique because it spills out onto a gorgeous beach. You can hike down to the beach, but while we were there, the trail was closed. Even though we couldn’t get close to the falls, we could still catch a beautiful view from above.

Elephant Seal Vista Point

If you’ve ever dreamt of seeing elephant seals in their natural habitat, this is your moment! I can’t say this was a dream of mine, but it was very cool to see. There were so many of them scattered along the beach.

There were two parking lots for the elephant seals but Google Maps wanted us to stop at the second one. It looked more crowded, so we decided to stop at the first parking lot instead. I am so glad we did this because not only were the two parking lots connected by a boardwalk, but the boardwalk closest to our parking lot was completely empty. We didn’t have to fight a single person to get good photos!

Some reviews noted a foul smell at this stop due to all the seals, but we didn’t notice anything (and I have a very sensitive nose). It’s quite possible the wind was blowing in the right direction for us that day, so I can’t be sure on this.

Cake at The Madonna Inn

The last stop we made before heading to Paso Robles was the famous Madonna Inn. The Madonna Inn is known for its over-the-top rooms and eccentric decor. They are also famous for their over-the-top cakes. We didn’t stay there, but I couldn’t be that close and not stop for cake!

If you are dying to try their cake like I was, you can just make a quick stop into their restaurant to buy a slice to-go. This wasn’t clear on their website or any other blog I read so I wanted to make that clear in this post. When you drive up, park anywhere near the front (if you drive under an overhead walkway, you’ve gone too far).

The restaurant is to the left of the entrance to the reception area and it’s not marked at all. The bakery is to the left as soon as you walk into the restaurant. A slice was $8 and fed us for two days! We got the raspberry white chocolate and it was incredible.

Where to stay in Paso Robles

Paso Robles is the perfect place to utilize Airbnb both for the price and for the experience. The town is very spaced out and mostly farms and vineyards. Staying in an Airbnb allowed us to see the beautiful countryside and enjoy the peace and tranquility of being almost out in the middle of nowhere at a fraction of the cost of most of the hotels.

Get 15% off your first stay with Airbnb by clicking here!

Day 6—Paso Robles

If you subscribe to my newsletter, you already know a fun fact about Paso Robles. It is not pronounced how you would think. Instead of Paso ROBLAYS it is actually pronounced Paso ROBUHLZ. There, now you know. You can also just call it Paso (I heard many locals say this).

We started off our morning in Paso Robles having breakfast at Kitchenette which was actually in Templeton. It reminded me of a modern take on a cute local breakfast diner. I was really wanting a croissant, but they didn’t have any that morning. I decided to get a smoothie bowl which was delicious!

After breakfast, we hit the ground running with our first winery of the day at 10:00 am. Nothing says wine country like wine after breakfast!

Here are all the wineries we visited. I plan to do a more extensive post on Paso Robles wineries in the future, so stay tuned.

Paso Robles Wineries:

Tobin James tasting room

We were absolutely exhausted after our late lunch at Cass Winery. Our plan was to take a quick nap at our Airbnb and then head to dinner, but we ended up sleeping until 7:30 pm (SUPER unlike us). Our dinner that night ended up being Wendy’s because many of the restaurants in Paso Robles close at 9:00 pm (something I wish I knew ahead of time). I know that seems late enough, but with the location of our Airbnb, it would have taken us 30 minutes just to get to the downtown area. Not every travel day is going to be a winner!

If you don’t sleep through dinner like we did, check out the restaurants below.

Dinner in Paso Robles

Day 7—Pismo Beach and Santa Barbara

We left Paso Robles early and made a pit stop at a local donut shop called Templeton Donuts Plus. We both had the most incredible breakfast sandwiches and got a couple of donuts to-go for the road. By the way, Templeton is even smaller than Paso Robles (population: 7,700). As we sat inside the donut shop eating our sandwiches, every single person who walked in the door knew the entire staff and everyone else inside the shop (excluding us). It was so charming!

The goal of the day was to reach Santa Barbara with enough time to walk around town and see the sunset on the wharf. This drive didn’t take us as long as our day driving through Big Sur because there weren’t as many stops to make. Here are all the stops we made along the way:

Morro Bay

Morro Bay is known for its massive Morro Rock which juts straight out of the Pacific. You can drive right up to it, which we did, but it was really cold and windy so we didn’t walk on the beach.

Instead, we stopped in front of the rock at the bay where playful otters were swimming. They were absolutely precious! This stop took us about 30 minutes, although, Eric had to practically pull me away from the otters.

Dinosaur Caves Park

The tiny, but beautiful, Dinosaur Caves Park sits on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The views are breathtaking and no, there are no dinosaurs.

So what’s with the name? Funny you ask. In the 1940s, the owner of the park partially built an enormous dinosaur on the land. The idea was that visitors would be able to walk into the caves below through the body of the dino.

The project was eventually abandoned in 1950 and the property was left to sit for almost 45 years. Then a group of locals formed a society committed to the preservation of the land after their own city council couldn’t decide what to do with it. The locals put in their own money to create the beautiful park as it is today. The caves have since collapsed, so you cannot walk into them anymore, but the name still piques the interest of travelers driving along Highway 1.

Pismo Beach

Have you ever watched a TV show set on the California coast where everyone seems to know how to surf and people say things like “rad” or “stoked”? That is Pismo Beach.

It was cloudy when we first arrived but luckily, by lunchtime, the sun came out warming up the area. We parked in a free parallel spot by some homes and walked out to the end of the pier. There were tons of surfers and we even spotted a sea otter paddling playfully along the shore with a clam in its paws!

Since it was lunchtime, we decided to eat at a restaurant on the beach called Wooly’s. It was your typical American beachside restaurant. We split an order of nachos and onion rings (they said they were the best, so we had to).

Our order of onion rings was massive. There were at least 15 in the basket. Similarly, the nachos were so big you would have thought we were a family of five. Based on the prices we had been paying in other parts of California, I was shocked by how much we got for what we paid.

Santa Barbara

Our final stop of the day was the gorgeous beachside town of Santa Barbara. I think what shocked me the most was the contrasting landscape. The city seemed to be surrounded by mountains and then all of a sudden they dropped into the ocean. It was gorgeous!

First, we checked into our hotel for the night, A White Jasmine Inn. The reviews for this bed and breakfast were wonderful and it was a fraction of the cost of other hotels in the area which is why we went for it.

However, the owner rubbed us the wrong way when he initially checked us in. As he was getting our room key I guess he thought Eric didn’t look happy. Eric was just tired from driving all day but the owner looked at him and said something like, “Don’t look so sad, your marriage can’t be that bad can it?” I was shocked as was the couple standing next to me who were checking in at the same time. Not the best first impression to say the least.

Anyway, I think our stay was tainted because of that incident. The fact that the house was extremely old with beds that felt like they were from the 1800s didn’t help either. Also, we were at least 30 years younger than anyone else staying there. I was glad we were only staying one night.

Moral of the story: You win some, you lose some.

Where to stay in Santa Barbara

I linked our hotel above if you’d like to try it out, but I can’t recommend it to anyone based on our experience. Other people seem to have loved their stay, so if you’re on a budget it might be a good option for you. Here are a few others to check out:

Where to eat in Santa Barbara

If you only have one night like us, I suggest eating on the wharf. The food might not be Michelin Star rated, but it’s all in the experience.

We loved grabbing a table outside with a view of the sunset. It was cold but absolutely beautiful. Keep in mind that the sun will not set straight into the water in Santa Barbara like most places on the west coast. The city is set at an angle so your best view of the sunset will be on the wharf.

Sunset from the Wharf

Day 8—Drive back to San Jose or spend the night in Los Angeles

If we had found a good flight option going home through Los Angeles, we would have spent our last night there. However, our most cost-effective option was to fly home through San Jose.

Since we didn’t want to spend 8 consecutive hours in the car, we chose to drive the boring but fastest way back on Highway 5 (making a quick detour through Beverly Hills just because). Thank goodness for podcasts.

If you can avoid this, I would. That was the most boring drive I’ve ever had to endure.

If you’re able to spend the night in Los Angeles, check out this TripAdvisor post on the best neighborhoods. Depending on your interests, you might like one part of LA better than the other.

Keep in mind, the traffic in LA is horrendous, so either try to stick to areas not too far from the airport or plan to leave for the airport several hours before your flight.

California is such a beautiful state and so diverse in what it has to offer travelers. Whether you decide to take a road trip or just spend your time in one of the wonderful cities on this list, you’re sure to have an incredible vacation.

Looking for more California travel inspiration? Check out my top picks for guidebooks here:


Bisous!

 

 

 

 

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