I live in the Monterey/Carmel area. There are very few chain hotels in Carmel, but Monterey has a go

Welcome to another post of helping a reader travel! As I ve mentioned before, I have not been to every destination (unfortunately), but do get questions from friends and other blog readers on all sort of travel destination questions. So this weeks travel destination includes the Pacific Coast Highway out in California. I received the following email from reader Becky:
"I want to drive the Pacific rental cars ford excursions Coast Highway from San Francisco to Los Angeles (or vice versa), however, I need help planning. How much time do I need? What are the big sites to see? What are some hotel recommendations, both using points and boutiques/B Bs? Are there any ways to get discounts rental cars ford excursions on a car since I am doing a one-way rental cars ford excursions rental?"
While I have been to both Los Angeles and San Francisco many times, I actually have not visited rental cars ford excursions the places in between. This sounds like an awesome vacation though! In regards to rental car, I ll be commenting on some ways to save money since you are correct many times they charge you a fee for a one-way rental and/or mileage. For staying in San Francisco, stay tuned for my trip report coming this week!
I am doing the same trip in August. For the car, my advice is just to keep checking Kayak or whatever travel aggregator you prefer. After daily searching for a few months, I have a full sized car reserved from Thrifty for 11 days, with pickup at LAX and drop off at SJC, for $245 all in.
The Big Sur part from Hearst Castle at San Simeon to Monterey is by far the huge highlight. It s probably the most beautiful drive in the world. Plan several hours for it. Carmel s 17- mile drive at it s end is also nice with some luxury homes.
This trip is high on my vacation list as well. A convertible and a seeming endless supply of time to drive as I want seems like heaven on the California coastline. I will ditto the above .don t miss Hearst Castle!
This is truly a great trip! Driving north is a bit safer as you have the mountainside of the road (further away from the cliffs). Just a few must see spots include Santa Barbara, Hearst Castle (take multiple tours), go inland to visit Solvang and Carmel/Monterey/17 mile drive.
Plan on spending a couple of days in the Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur area. Nepenthe Restaurant Big Sur you won t be disappointed at all. Monterey Bay Aquarium. Parker Lusseau Pastries Monterey yum. Don't miss the Best Big Sur Sight Seeing Spots such as Bixby Bridge, China Cove Beach, McWay Falls, and Hurricane Point (pictured above) and so much more!
I live in the Monterey/Carmel area. There are very few chain hotels in Carmel, but Monterey has a gorgeous Intercontinental right on the water. It would be ideal if you have priority club points. Pebble beach/17 mile drive are highlights for a lot of people, but if you are into boutique shops Carmel is THE place to go, and eating at Clint Eastwood s place, Mission Ranch, (and/or staying there) is great- try the scallops!
I would highly recommend Pfeiffer Burns State park if you are the outdoors type. Lots of good beaches along the way as well (many of which are not crowded). I have stayed at many of the places along the Coast in Big Sur, and my favorite rental cars ford excursions is Treebones resort allows you to experience Big Sur in a unique fashion!
Haha, that s funny cause I m flying rental cars ford excursions into San Diego tomorrow to take the drive up to San Francisco. rental cars ford excursions I rented a car at SAN and will return at SFO for 9 days for $143. I booked through Southwest portal rental cars ford excursions for an extra 1200 rapid reward points through Alamo and I wasn t charged a sur charge for one way travel. I looked up codes on other sites and used them on Southwest site and they worked fine. I m cashing in on the Club Carlson promotion and staying at their hotel for the extra points. I too am having a problem finding a place on the coast so I m heading over to Fresno to stay Park Inn. Hope this helps!
Just got home on Sunday from a coast line vacation. Started in San Fransisco and ended in Santa Monica. rental cars ford excursions We used Carrental8. It was the cheapest and didn t charge extra fees to pick up car in San Fran and drop it off at LAX. We rented a convertible. Wouldn t do it any other way! In Monterey the Pebble Beach 17 mile tour along the coastline is well worth it! Just beautiful! We stayed in Pismo Beach beautiful little beach town. Stayed at Sea Adventure on the beach for 109.00 up until Tuesday than prices pretty much doubled starting on Wednesdays. We didn t look for the big hotel names to stay at as we didn t spend a lot of time in our room. We enjoyed spending the extra on dining and sightseeing as there is so much to do and the food is delicious! It is all so breath taking you don t even know where to look! We drove inland 4 1/2 hour to Yosemite National Park and we were so glad we did that! Absolutely breath taking. Back to Montery for the evening. We ended at Santa Monica Pier. Wonderful beautiful vacation! rental cars ford excursions Make sure you go to Fishermans Wharf in San Fran especially if you enjoy seafood. We did the rocket boat ride there and a city tour. The city tour was well worth the money. $25.00 per person rental cars ford excursions on a double decker bus. It was a beautiful sunny day and it took us to the golden gate bridge at the end of the tour. San Fransisco is such a beautiful city to see and it was about 2 hours long. Soak it up.It s a trip of a lifetime!
I forgot to mention Santa Cruz. A wonderful 1940 s-60 s preserved beach town with a boardwalk and amusement arcade. Also the 60 s hippie town of CA. The main street is wonderful. As good as the Haight in San Francisco (which also is a MUST visit). Personally I much Santa Cruz over the normal touristy rental cars ford excursions stuff in Monterey.
Some of the links within Deals We Like will pay a small commission. Deals We Like has financial relationships with some of the credit cards mentioned, and Deals We Like may be compensated if consumers choose to apply for these links in the content, and ultimately sign up for them. Deals We Like takes no responsibility for any decisions and / or outcomes resulting from actions. This proprietor rental cars ford excursions of this site is not a financial adviser, rental cars ford excursions nor should be relied upon for individual advice.
Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by American Express. Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of American Express, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by American Express. This site may be compensated through American Express Affiliate Program.