Pacific Coast Highway: San Francisco to Los Angeles
≈ 720 km · ~10 h driving · ideal in 8 days · 7 stops
America's most famous drive: Highway 1 pinned between the Santa Lucia mountains and the Pacific, through Big Sur's bridges and fog, with sea otters, elephant seals and In-N-Out along the way.
Photo: Unsplash
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The route at a glance
- San Francisco — 1 night
- Santa Cruz — stop en route
- Monterey — 1 night
- Big Sur — 1 night
- San Luis Obispo — 1 night
- Santa Barbara — 1 night
- Los Angeles — 2 nights
The stops
- 1
San Francisco
Golden Gate viewpoint at Marin Headlands, then south past Half Moon Bay onto the 1.
- 2
Santa Cruz
Boardwalk nostalgia and surfers at Steamer Lane — a classic California lunch stop.
- 3
Monterey
The aquarium is world-class; Cannery Row is Steinbeck with gift shops. Fuel up here for Big Sur.
- 4
Big Sur
Bixby Bridge, McWay Falls, Pfeiffer Beach's purple sand — and nowhere better to overspend on a clifftop dinner.
- 5
San Luis Obispo
College-town ease after the wilderness, with Hearst Castle and the elephant seal beach just up the coast behind you.
- 6
Santa Barbara
The 'American Riviera': white mission, red roofs, and the Funk Zone's wine tasting rooms a walk from the pier.
- 7
Los Angeles
Roll down the PCH through Malibu into Santa Monica — the pier is the official end of the road.
Good to know
Drive north→south to be on the ocean side of the road. Check Caltrans for Highway 1 status — Big Sur slides close sections most winters. Bixby Bridge and McWay Falls pull-outs fill mid-morning; Big Sur has little fuel and less phone signal, so top up in Monterey. June gloom is real — September–October is the clear-sky season.
More road trips
Or start from a blank map and build your own — Stopful shows drive times between stops, splits long days, finds hotels and EV chargers along the route, and tracks the budget as you plan.