California Road Trip. Help Me Out

[Two-Fortee]

I'm planning a road trip with some buddies and we want to go to california on the coast. Right now my travel agent consists of a map of California and googling what the towns and beaches look like. Sanata Barbara looks great. Basically we want a nice area, probably smaller towns prefered, with a nice beach and whatnot. Were only gonna have like 4 days, but any places recommended?

ps, I'm from canada lol.

[Two-Fortee]

no dice eh?

[Jdmstyles]

I'm assuming you're not only obligated to staying in socal yes?

If so Santa Cruz is pretty nice. It's away from the major cities and when i was there it was pretty quiet. Another one would be Malibu.

I dont recommend going to places such as long beach or huntington beach or newport.

Santa Monica however is a good choice.

[Two-Fortee]

I dont recommend going to places such as long beach or huntington beach or newport.

Why is that? ^^^

[Jdmstyles]

Because it's not that pretty nor are there many places to stay. In addition many people are there on weekends and traffic is a hassle here. I dont know how to explain the atmosphere there. I dislike it though.

[carps13guy]

im from santa barbara, and you'll def like the area. but like prev. posted santa cruz is very nice. some of the nicest/funnest roads ive driven on in cali. if your dead set on santa barbara, lemme know and ill tell you of some great beaches, and scenic drives.

[sr20detman]

you can stop anywhere on Pacific coast highway and enjoy yourself

[BlueMango]

Being an HB resident I'm going to have to defend.

#1 All SoCal beaches are crowded in the summer. There are plenty of places to stay (hotels, motels, camping). While main areas of the beaches are crowded it is still possible to avoid the crowds if you know how. In HB check out Main street and the Pier because they are neat to see but for your beach day go a mile north or south of the pier and enjoy less crowded areas. If you're avoiding the summer time crowds then come on down anytime because the weather is amazing (75 and sunny today) and the beaches are near empty. HB is a nice city with a small town feel. Very community oriented and lots of mom & pop shops to eat and shop versus chains that you can find everywhere. And Huntington Beach is the historical/original "Surf City, USA". Santa Barbara & Santa Cruz are nice but they are just different, more of a hippie/artsy vibe. HB has a surf/sport vibe, laid back and active.

I can't speak much for long beach other than I like going to dinner in their downtown area. As for Newport, I enjoy it there as well but in the summer parking is a nightmare so you better get there early in the morning or stay there and rent bikes to get around, it's also a very unique area with an interesting boardwalk.

However for 4 days isn't alot of time but hey good luck with wherever you choose to go. The whole state is beautiful, let us know where you end up.

[centralcoaster33]

Um, did you go already? Take highway 1 period. Start at the North end and see how far you get in 4 days. From Legget to S.F. is b****en coastal curveys, mountains and woods. From S.F. to Monterey is scenic straights, you could pop over from Half Moon Bay with 92 to 35 to 9 with back roads galore to connect you back to 1 in Santa Cruz, From Monterey to SLO is more b****en coastal curveys with Redwoods and such. From SLO, take back roads (227 or something) to Pismo and then South on 1 again. There's a coastal bypass near Casmalia. Don't get shot in Lompoc and you'll be in Santa Barbara in no time. Look for Drum Canyon around there. CA is great and we have roads and scenery galore. Highway 1 is easy to follow and will give you a nice sample. Oh, there's more... Hop onto the PCH (south highway 1) near Oxnard, Ventura and keep going. Dont leave your wallet in El Segundo! Reply with pictures of your trip.

[S133P3R]

Because it's not that pretty nor are there many places to stay. In addition many people are there on weekends and traffic is a hassle here. I dont know how to explain the atmosphere there. I dislike it though.

all this from a Valley guy... nice.

[CsTyLz]

if you have four days you can damn near go all the way up to frisco and back on the 101. that is a beautiful drive. also plan on stopping by pebble beach/monterey area. in central cali stop by pismo beach and morro bay. if your gonna roam in socal then the usual spot like dana point to san diego is nice. there is a place just south of newport beach call balboa that is a great place but like all socal places on the weekends parking is a b****.