After our quick stop in Solvang, we continued our adventure and headed up driving the California Coastline. For this trip, I had a few places in mind to stop for views but in reality, we just drove and stopped as we wanted to. This drive really is one of the most beautiful we’ve seen in the world, from cliffside vistas to ocean waves crashing against huge rock islands. The day we drove up the California coastline, it stayed really foggy the whole way so we did miss out on some of the famous views that I’ve seen photos of, but overall, this drive really was really memorable.
For our route, here’s what we did:
- Started in LA and headed to Santa Barbara for a quick stop for lunch. We’ve been to Santa Barbara before, but if you haven’t, it’s well worth a stop in itself! My parents joined us in Santa Barbara for lunch before they headed back to LA and we headed North.
- Drove to Solvang in the mountains
- Drove North on the 101 towards Pismo Beach
- Connected to the Highway 1 in San Luis Obispo and drove North
- Stopped in San Simeon to seal the Elephant Seals on the beach
- Drove North and stopped as we wanted to. The road gets really windy in this part of the drive.
- Stop throughout the Big Sur area for spectacular views.
- Quick stop through Carmel-by-the-Sea, which we’d like to go back and spend some dedicated time there.
- Drive the famous 17 Mile Drive through famous golf courses and see incredible houses.
