Epic Travel → North America → The West Coast → Southern California → Southern Pacific Coast

There’s a lot of great stuff between Los Angeles and Big Sur – for lack of a better term, I’m calling this area the “Southern Pacific Coast”, although technically this could obviously include everything from LA to San Diego. On this website it doesn’t; those areas get their own pages. Because we live here and we can therefore do what we want. We generally find ourselves coming through this area when we’re on a Route 1 road trip and have found some great spots during our travels; all of the places listed here have excellent stops for breaking up your time behind the wheel.

---

---

Santa Barbara

---

---

Where to Stay

Cambria: The Squibb House Inn – lovely historic home converted into a B&B, steps away from Cambria’s adorable historic Main Street. They serve a great breakfast!

The Rigdon House – newly renovated and restored boutique hotel in a historic home (previously it was The Burton Inn), they offer five suites, all the modern amenities, and more privacy than a bed and breakfast style establishment.

Santa Barbara: El Capitan Canyon – feel like a little glamping? You can reserve either a cabin or a safari tent and enjoy a little peace and quiet communing with nature in this beautiful canyon setting.

---

---

Itineraries

As mentioned in the intro, we’re typically in this area when we’re on a road trip up Route 1. The trip shown here is designed as a 3 day road trip up to Big Sur from the LA area, stopping at destinations along the Southern Pacific Coast on the way to and from Big Sur.

Day 0: Arrive in LA, travel to Malibu for the night

Day 1: Leave early and drive to San Luis Obispo and visit Pirate’s Cove at Avila Bay

             Continue on to Cambria and stop for brunch at Linn’s, before heading to Hearst Castle.

            Drive Route 1 through Big Sur as far as Bixby Bridge, then turn around

            Hike Partington Cove and McWay Waterfall trails

            Camp in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park

Day 2: Hike Tanbark Trail and Tin House, the Ewoldsen Trail, and Limekiln Trails

              Camp at Limekiln

Day 3: Continue driving south along Route 1 and leave Big Sur

             Stop to visit Elephant Seal Rookery in Cambria

             Drive to Santa Barbara and stop at Cold Spring Tavern for lunch

             After lunch, detour by Chumash Cave

             Return home

Epic Travel → North America → The West Coast → Southern California → Southern Pacific Coast