Drive down route 1 to San Diego

Well we made it down to San Diego in one piece! We rented a car in San Francisco and drove down the coast. We got a lovely Toyota Prius in the end after they tried to send us off in a Pontiac with no petrol! We weren't having any of that!

We took Highway 1 down the coastline, despite advice that highway 101 would get us there quicker. The advice was on the money, but we were so glad we didn't follow it! We wanted the views of the cliffs, the Pacific and the various gorgeous towns on the way through and we weren't disappointed!!

The first leg of the journey brought us out of San Francisco city, down by Ocean beach and onto the windy roads that lead to Monterey! The car was an automatic which definitely helped.
The roads wound around bays, alongside cliffs and across tight bridges, with rest stops and vistas along the roadside for rests and opportunities to take in the breathtaking scenery. It took us approximately 3 hours to reach Monterey which was 100 miles away..

When we reached Monterey the tricky part began, trying to find the motel in the dark! We weren't helped by the fact that we had no map! We had a major road map, none of Monterey itself, only an address. However we found it after only a couple of wrong turns! We took a nighttime spin down to the bay and strolled around for a little bit.. nice place but I'm sure its even nicer during the day! haha

Next day it was up nice + early for the free coffee + muffins before we hit the road again. Hit it a bit harder too we drove 290 miles and for about hours this time! This was the really amazing part of the drive we felt. After Monterey we encountered Carmel. Then onto Big Sur. The coastal highway from Carmel to Big Sur is only 30 miles long, but it takes more than an hour of careful driving. Squeezed in between the Pacific and the Santa Lucia mountains, the road twists and turns along a quite narrow ledge hacked out high above the pounding surf, with spectacular bridges spanning the deep canyons. Which led us eventually down beyond Santa Barbara and onto the town of Ventura, with the motel again a little tricky to find in the dark. The elderly gentleman behind the desk who checked us in, was later on found asleep a couple of times when we went back with a couple of queries. He was quite quickly woken by Lynsey!

Ventura was a quiet affair as we rested up after our long journey, and the next morning we got back on the road for the final leg towards San Diego! A leg which brought us through Malabu and onto Santa Monica, where we stopped off on the pier for a stroll and a romantic lunch. The beach was awesome. . .like something straight out of a movie or tv show! And coincidentally as we drove out of the car park, we noticed something being filmed in one corner. It was all roped off with all the trailers and refreshment tables taking up quite an amount of space! The funny part was what they were filming! They had a guy dangling precariously from a huge crane in full ski-wear and helmet! On a beach may I remind you!! With the lighting rigs all round and a huge wind machine, it was a strange sight indeed!

Then came the worst part of the journey.. the drive through LA. We didn't need to head in towards the downtown area thankfully, though the road down by LAX and down past Venice Beach, Redondo Beach and Long Beach was long and tiresome! Lots of stop starting with lights at pretty much every block, was worsened by the fact that we were further inland then we expected and couldn't see these places as we drove past!

So on we pushed onto our destination, a seemingly simple ending which turned complicated. From highway 1 we had to turn onto highway 5 and straight into downtown San Diego. Straightforward enough you may think? Well it was easy to find and merge onto highway 5. However, without realising, we missed a turn off to continue on highway 5, and we ended up heading straight down highway 805 towards the border, and subsequently couldnt exactly take our downtown exit! We didn't travel too far off course however, and when we exited the highway and took stock of our whereabouts, we quickly realised where we were and how to get to the hostel.

All in all, the drive down highway 1 was spectacular, and definitely don't regret taking the longer route down. We would recommend it to anybody planning a similar trip, with a full tank of gas and a few days to spare.. (and maybe a good sense of direction)

---

---

---