California itinerary

Day 2: Half moon bay, Santa Cruz, Monterey peninsula

10 AM – wake up, get ready, go grab some breakfast

• Went to 85 degrees bakery (great pastries & coffee)

11 AM – head out to Half moon bay (35 min drive)

• Make sure you take the route along the coast (Route 1/PCH), Google maps will direct you the fast route via highway

11:45 AM – Parked in the lot for Half Moon Bay State Beach Park, hung out on beach, absolutely beautiful

2 PM – Drove over to Redondo Beach (10 min drive)

• Nice cliff here, great views/photo ops

2:30 PM – Head out to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk (1 hr drive)

• One of the best boardwalks in the country, lots of food/games/rides

4:30 PM – Left boardwalk and headed to hotel in Monterey (1 hr drive)

5:30 PM – Checked into hotel and relaxed for a bit

7 PM – headed out to the 17-mile drive to catch Sunset

• There are many stops along the way, stop with sign #5 was the best view!

8 PM – drove through downtown Monterey and got some Sushi

9:30 PM – head back to the hotel

Day 3: Big Sur (Part 1)

10 AM – wake up, get ready, grab some breakfast

– We had breakfast at “The breakfast club” – order the Cinnamon French Toast, you will not be disappointed

11 AM – Headed out to Point Lobos (20 min drive)

– There are a few trails here, we went on Cypress Grove & Bird Island, both very scenic

• Parking is limited here so expect to walk quite a bit
• In the middle of Bird Island is a hidden beach called Emerald Beach, the water is Emerald green, don’t miss it!

3 PM – Headed out to Bixby Creek Bridge (25 min drive)

• Garrapata State Park is on the way, if you have time, stop here and check out one of the trails, nice views
• Right before Bixby is another bridge called Rocky Creek Bridge, stop here for photos as well
• Right after Bixby bridge (2 min drive) is Hurricane Point, this is the highest point on all of PCH, stop here to take photos as well

4:15 PM – Head down to Pfeiffer Beach (30 min drive)

• Before Pfeiffer Beach, is Pfieffer Big Sur State Park, time permitting, check out the Valley View Trail, will see tall, beautiful trees
• Before you head down to Pfeiffer Beach, drive past the entrance 1 mile and hit the deli for food to eat on the beach

7 PM – Headed back to Bixby Bridge to catch the Sunset

8 PM – grabbed dinner back in Monterey

10 PM – head back to hotel

Day 4: Big Sur (Part 2)

10 AM – wake up, get ready, grab some breakfast

11 AM – Head to Julia Burns State Park (1 hr drive)

• This park includes 2 trails but the most popular destination is McVay falls (about a 15 min trail)

12:30 PM – Head to Big Creek Bridge (12 min drive)

• There is a view point right after the bridge you can stop at to take pictures

1 PM – Drive up to Gamboa Point (5 min drive)

• One of the best view points on the entire drive, do not miss it!

1:30 PM – Head over to Sand Dollar Beach (21 min drive)

• Grab some food for lunch on the way to take on the beach, not many options around the beach itself

5 PM – Head over to Morro Bay (1 hr 15 min drive)

6:15 PM – Check into Airbnb, rest/freshen up and head out to Pismo Beach

• On the way to the beach you can see the huge Volcanic Rock in the middle of the ocean, stop and take pictures (can’t see much of it if cloudy)

7 PM – Hang out at Pismo Beach, watch the sunset

8 PM – Grab dinner in the area, lots of options

9 PM – Head over to San Luis Obispo for dessert

• Grab ice cream @ Nite Creamery – delicious!

Day 5: Malibu

11 AM – wake up, get ready

12 PM – head over to the Morro Bay area, grab some breakfast, nice area to walk around

1 PM – head out to Malibu (3 hr drive)

• Expect to get traffic on this drive as you get closer to more populated regions of California

5 PM – Check into Malibu Airbnb and relax for a bit

**Not much planned in Malibu, we mostly hung out in our Airbnb but you can easily drive 10-15 mins in either direction and hit a nice beach

8 PM – grabbed dinner

 

Day 6: Los Angeles (day of flight back)

11 AM – wake up, get ready, check out of Airbnb

12 PM – went to grab breakfast @ 85 degrees bakery in Century City (40 min drive)

• Very nice outdoor mall, walk around, shop

1 PM – headed over to Beverly Hills/Rodeo Drive (10 min drive)

• Drove through Beverly hills and then parked a block away from Rodeo Drive, walked around, shopped for a bit

2:30 PM – headed to lunch in Irvine, CA – Korean BBQ – I Can BBQ (1 hr drive)

4 PM – headed over to Manhattan Beach (1 hr drive)

• Parked the car, grabbed ice cream, walked on the pier

6 PM – Headed to LAX (20 min drive)