Big Sur & Wine Country: An Epic California Road Trip
In June 2021, we spent a few glorious days in California, visiting our friend who lives in Sacramento. While discussing upcoming travel plans, our friend mentioned that he really wanted to see Santa Barbara, and that we should fly out to visit him again and drive down to Santa Barbara. No way, I thought – I’ll fly and meet you there! – but given that the possibility of a fall trip to Europe was looking grim, and after I started to look at a map of the coast, the road trip began manifesting into reality. I hadn’t been to Monterey since I was a child, I had never seen Big Sur, the wine lover in me couldn’t resist Paso Robles, and Santa Barbara was on our bucket list. Best of all, we had a driver! (don’t worry – we took good care of him in exchange for his efforts!). So in October 2021, loaded down with a giant wine suitcase, a few changes of clothes, and a lot of kale chips (this is California, after all), we hit the road.
Planning your trip
A Big Sur road trip is best done north to south, so that your car will be on the coastal side during the drive (this will also make it much, much easier to stop and take pictures along the way). If you don’t live in California and are flying in, I recommend flying open jaw. For wine country, I find Sacramento to be an easy airport and it is just 45 minutes from Napa with much less traffic and hassle than SFO or San Jose, so we used Southwest points and our companion pass to fly us both into Sacramento (alternatively, the Santa Rosa/Sonoma airport is super easy for flying into wine country). Our trip ended in Santa Barbara, so we would fly out of the Santa Barbara airport (also serviced by Southwest). We would pack our wine suitcase with us, which would fly free, so that we could bring home some of the liquid treasures we would accumulate.
Certain destinations on this trip are better visited on a weekday when crowds are thinner, particularly Carmel-by-the-Sea and Big Sur, so consider this when planning.
Next was lodging and deciding where we wanted to overnight. This will depend on what you hope to see, activities you have planned, and how much time you have – we wrote out several itinerary variations. With 3 of us, we also wanted to try to find rooms we could share, that would have either 2 bedrooms or separate sleeping quarters. To cover some of the cost of the rooms, our options were Marriott (using the three 35k and one 50k free night certificates that we have from our 4 Marriott Bonvoy credit cards), Hyatt (transferring points from Chase Ultimate Rewards), or booking direct through Chase’s Ultimate Rewards portal on points. I found this road trip to be a great use of Marriott 35k night certificates which we sometimes find hard to use domestically – we used some at the Marriott Courtyard Paso Robles. Santa Barbara had multiple options for free nights using Marriott, Hyatt, or Chase points. We could not find any reasonable options in the Napa area so we opted to pay for a 2-bedroom room at the Golden Haven Hot Springs in Calistoga, booking on Hotels.com (working towards my next 10th night free, which is effectively a 10% discount). Do note that hotels in the Napa and Sonoma areas frequently have a 2-night minimum during peak seasons and over the weekend; for October, we didn’t have any problems booking single night stays anywhere else along our journey.
Tips on the Drive:
- Book lodging as soon as you know your dates of travel. Big Sur in particular has very limited lodging; ideally spend a night in Big Sur to break up the drive and allow more time to enjoy the area.
- Most wineries throughout California are currently reservation only – if there are particular wineries you want to visit, book at least 1 month in advance. Likewise, consider making a dinner reservation well in advance for each night of your trip; you can usually cancel if plans change. We found it hard to find a good restaurant without reservations.
- Leave Monterey/Carmel with a full tank of gas on your way to Big Sur. Options for gas are extremely limited (and expensive).
- Cell phone service along much of the Big Sur coastline is non-existent, so make sure to print out or download any maps beforehand.
- Pack plenty of water and snacks for the Big Sur drive to prevent hangry. Bring layers of clothes as weather can change.
Our 1 Week California Road Trip Itinerary
Day 1: Wine Country – Napa/Sonoma
We late arrived the night prior so that we could start our day in the Napa valley. Lodging in this area is a bit difficult – prices are exorbitantly high and if traveling with friends, I often find it difficult to find double bed rooms that are easily shareable. We found ourselves back at the Golden Haven Hot Springs in Calistoga for a second time. It is an old-fashioned motel, nothing fancy, but with updated and very clean rooms, several hot springs pools, a rooftop sundeck, and a fire pit. It is a short 5-10 minute walk to downtown Calistoga, and it is only a 10-15 minute drive to many of the St. Helena wineries we like. Best of all, they have 2-bedroom rooms that work perfect if you are traveling with a friend!
The mantra for our trip was all about balance, and given all the food and wine we were hoping to sample for the week, it was necessary to the corporate a mandatory physical activity every day. On day 1, we worked off the previous night’s dinner at Mustard Grill (don’t pass up the pork chop) with a run through Calistoga up the Oat Hill Mine trail for a look out over the valley before enjoying coffee at Calistoga roasters. Then it was back to Golden Haven For a dip in the hot springs and an iconic experience one can’t go without at Golden Haven: a mud bath. It was an interesting experience, highly entertaining but in reality very soothing and a great relaxing way to start the vacation. I will forewarn you will probably find yourself picking mud out of places you didn’t know mud could lodge, but I digress. Detox complete, time for retox!
We drove into Saint Helena for lunch at The Saint, a classy little wine bar run by a husband and wife duo. They also make wine. We had a lot on our agenda, but we did share a tasting of their wines – how could we not?
The majority of wineries we wanted to visit were near St Helena on this trip, so I mapped them out and devised a logistical route for tasting, minimizing driving for our amazing driver (we had plenty of that coming up later in the week!). A good rule of thumb is to allow 2 hours for each winery reservation, and ideally no more than 3 per day. Our first scheduled wine tasting stop for the day was at Hall, which came at the recommendation of a friend. Hall is a bit more commercial, but it was a fun place to tour due to the historical building on the property, the wonderful architecture, and unique art. A great place for art lovers to visit for sure. They have a beautiful garden and patio area to enjoy while tasting. Stop two was Frog’s Leap, which specializes in organic farming and wine-making and we stocked up on half bottles for our DIY advent calendar. Then, we culminated the day with a tasting at Alpha Omega, which I will say does have quite outstanding wine, at a price point we don’t usually drink at – so now we know what we are missing out on! Dinner that night was at one of our favorites, Bottega. We had a wonderful server and ended up having him pick out several pastas and dishes to share among our group of five friends, he chose dishes I probably wouldn’t have normally ordered, such as the Spaghetti alla Sophia Loren, but every dish was excellent and we were well taken care of.
Day 2: Calistoga to Santa Rosa to Monterey
Drive time: Approximately 2.5 to 3 hours from Napa/Sonoma in good traffic, and 2 hours from San Francisco (I recommend timing your drive to avoid peak traffic times, unless you have some audio books you are dying to get through). Carmel-by-the-Sea is just a short 15 minute drive from Monterey.
After our obligatory morning trail run, coffee at Calistoga Roasters, and a quick soak in the Golden Haven hot springs (we might be getting used to this routine!), our plan had been to drive directly to Monterey to enjoy the afternoon at the aquarium. Twist our arm, however, and friends talked us into going for a 10 am wine tasting in Santa Rosa at Croix, a sister winery to Venge with smaller productions, excelling in chardonnay and pinot noir. Our host at Croix was Brad, who was full of fun and the wine was quite lovely. So lovely, that before we knew it, it was 1 pm, our wine suitcase was half full, we were desperate for lunch, and it was pretty clear that the Monterey aquarium was not in our future. We drove to the nearby Sebastopol Market, which is a nice eclectic collection of restaurants, shops, and breweries for lunch.
Our timing for the drive to Monterey did work out quite well: we dove through the Bay area right during the San Francisco Fleet Week celebrations, which meant no traffic and we were able to see the entire Blue Angels air show from the car! (our poor driver missed much of the show… so we bought him dinner).
We arrived in Monterey around 5 pm after the aquarium had closed, but with a few hours to explore town before dinner. Cannery Row struck me as much more touristy than I was expecting, with the usual assortment of T-shirt and nick-knack shops. We did make a beeline for Troya Turkish Delight, a shop that sold Turkish coffee, pastries, and authentic Turkish delights – the three of us had traveled to Turkey together many years ago and it was lovely to reminisce about one of our favorite countries! We drove to check out Lover’s Point, and then we saw the charm that attracts people to Monterey – the residential neighborhoods are picturesque. Dinner was at Passionfish, and was outstanding. We shared several starters and entrees, with the standouts being the scallop appetizer, the beet salad, and the Mahi with red curry vinaigrette. Not that we needed more wine, but it was hard to turn down their reasonably priced and well sourced wine list.
Day 3: Carmel-by-the-Sea
Carmel-by-the-Sea was worthy of more than one full day, but we made the most of it. We had arrived in the dark the night before, so we were quite impressed with the morning view of the ocean from our room’s balcony at the Hosfra House (a budget stay with small rooms, but a good location). Our first stop was, of course, a local coffee house, before hitting the beach for a morning stroll. I loved the feel of Carmel: everything is quaint, walkable (downhill to the beach, uphill to most shops and restaurants), and my favorite – there are NO chain stores or restaurants. There are in fact no addresses – the intersection is used, or for houses, each house has a custom name which I found so charming. Bring good walking shoes: you will need them for the hills and cobblestone, not to mention you need a special permit to wear high heels here.
You can drive by car on the scenic 17-Mile Drive from Monterey to Carmel-by-the-Sea; there is an entrance fee of $10.75 per vehicle which is reimbursed if you spend $35 or more at any of the Pebble Beach Resorts restaurants (excluding the market). I thought a bike ride sounded like more fun, given that we were spending so much time in the car. We opted for an electric bike tour with Mad Dogs & Englishmen bike shop, paired with a food and drink tour. The e-bikes were a great way to take in the views, and the steep hills that came with them. The bikes we had were excellent. The wind was not so cooperative….at one point, masks were flying out of pockets and it became hard to keep the bike from veering, so we didn’t stop to take as many scenic pictures as I had hoped. Next time!
Our Bikes, Bites, and Bevs tour continued in the afternoon with visits to local purveyors for snacks (I should say, multiple meals) and cocktails, starting at a brewery. One of the things I absolutely loved about Carmel-by-the-Sea was all of the cute little alleys and secret passages that I wouldn’t have found without a tour. I also loved how dog friendly Carmel was, with every business catering to the canine (doggie doughnuts, anyone?!) At one restaurant on our tour, Grasings, a waiter could bring your dog a dog bed and bowl, in addition to having probably the most upscale dog menu in town. Our pups would have loved filet mignon and salmon here! We ended at Buds Bar & Restaurant, which I ask that you don’t judge by the name: the Bud’s Bar in my own college town was infamous for its 10-seat bar, wood paneled walls, and slight odor of vomit; this Bud’s bar has an ocean view, wine storage for the regulars, classy cocktails, and a random 10 minute happy hour each day with 10 cent drinks (exact change is required, however). We had a lovely spin on an Aperol Spritz and soaked in the view.
Then, our own tour of town to walk off all those calories. We heard about the fun local fairy tale houses on our tour, so we decided to do our own walking tour. There is a brochure you can find with a guided self-walking tour of the fairy tale houses, but we found that it was just fun in general to walk around this adorable town, exploring all the alleys, niches, and character this town has. We stopped in a fantastic cheese shop and got some picnic items for Big Sur, and some local chocolates to go with. And then we were thirsty again, so we decided to try some local wine – on our food tour, our guide had pointed out Caraccioli Cellars tasting room, so we stopped in to share a tasting just so we could try it. What a lovely setting, and lovely wines to match! It was getting late, and we closed the tasting room down. I was still stuffed from lunch, but the other two in our group did not want to pass up dinner…except we had no reservation. We decided to try our luck at the Flying Fish Grill which we had also seen on our tour. The wonderful host was able to work us in since thankfully several tables with reservations wanted to sit outside. Everything sounded delicious in this super-cozy, Japanese fusion restaurant. We decided to share a specialty of the house, the seafood clay pot, and it did not disappoint. It took a lot of work to roll up those stairs and waddle back to our hotel.
Day 4: Big Sur (Monterey/Carmel to Paso Robles)
Drive time: Approximately 3 hours drive total, allow for 8-10 hours with stops for sightseeing and hiking. I recommend departing early enough to arrive at Point Lobos right when the gates open at 8 am. Be aware that you will not have cell phone service for most of your drive – I started Google Maps in Carmel and kept it running so we could know where we were at all times; download any maps or articles you will need ahead of time.
Point Lobos State Nature Reserve (15 min from Carmel-by-the-Sea, 25 min from Monterey)
This was one of my favorite stops on the tour, and in the future, I might suggest visiting this as a day trip from Carmel since it is so close. Here you will buy a $10 parking pass, good for 24 hours, which you can use for the rest of the day at each park you visit. Of note, the gates did not open until 8am, so don’t attempt to start too early!. This area has several low-key hiking trails that loop along the coast and come with excellent viewpoints. we saw deer and heard sea lions in the background (it was at this moment I realized we forgot our binoculars). I would allow 1-2 hours to take it all in.
Garrapata State Park (7 min drive from Point Lobos)
This offers some longer hikes (4.5 miles) or take the shorter 1.3-mile hike via the Soberanes Point Trail. We did a combination of both. The views of the coast were excellent, and hearing those big waves crash is something else!
Bixby Creek Bridge (10 min drive from Garrapata State Park)
A quick stopping point for pictures of the bridge. The viewpoint is best from the coastal side of the bridge (the parking lot on your right as you head south).
Andrew Molera State Park (12 min drive from Bixby Creek Bridge)
Just past the turn for the Point Sur lighthouse, this is the largest state park on the Big Sur coastline and offers some great day hikes, but due to spending too much time hiking elsewhere, we skipped the longer hike and just walked the 2 mile hike to the beach. The hike itself down to the beach wasn’t anything to write home about, but the beach was nice for a picnic or to watch the surfers.
Big Sur River Inn (12 min drive from Andrew Molera State Park)
We skipped this, but it was tempting to take a break from driving and settle down into one of the chairs in the river, and enjoy a cocktail and picnic lunch. They also have an outdoor deck you can dine on. The Inn is also an option for an overnight at the adjoining hotel, but must be booked very far in advance.
Pfeiffer State Park (10 min drive from Big Sur River Inn)
Here, there are a few short hiking options: the 2.6 mile Buzzard’s Roost trail through the redwoods, or the 1.5 mile Pfeiffer falls trail, which starts out with a walk along redwoods. There are bathrooms, a little cafe, and a water bottle filling station.
Pfeiffer Beach (15 min drive from Big Sur River Inn)
This is a do not miss stop, and one of our favorites – turn right onto Sycamore Rd just before the Pfeiffer canyon bridge – if you hit the bridge, you missed the turn. Fair warning: it is a bit of a hairy drive on a curvy one-lane road down to the beach (allow plenty of time for the 2 mile drive). Your driving efforts will be rewarded with a purple sand beach and the Pfeiffer Keyhole Rock (one of the most photographed areas in Big Sur).
Nepenthe Restaurant (15 min drive from Pfeiffer Beach parking lot)
This stop came recommended by several Caramel locals, and for good reason – a fun, laid back open-air restaurant and bar with gorgeous views. Be forewarned, the restaurant turns over the kitchen from 4-5pm every day so if you arrive at that time, like we did, they are only serving drinks. Sigh. (at this point our car snack selection was down to kale chips and cashews.)
McWay Falls at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park (15 min drive from Pfeiffer Beach)
Late afternoon you will supposedly find some of the best lighting to view the 80 foot waterfall..unless the afternoon is getting too late which it was for us.
Limekiln State Park (22 min drive from McWay Falls)
This stop contains 2 hiking trails, both of which are less than a mile long, so I thought we could squeeze this in, but if you are getting hangry like we were, you might just keep drivin’.
Sand Dollar Beach (12 min drive from Limekiln State Park)
A large stretch of sand beach, we did stop for a quick stroll and overlook here, but didn’t have time to hike all the way down to enjoy the beach. Another spot to visit on the next trip!
Ragged Point Inn (27 min drive from Sand Dollar Beach)
The Ragged Point Inn and Resort has awesome views and a gourmet restaurant. Since we were about 1 hour from Paso Robles, we opted just to keep driving.
Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery (23 min drive from Ragged Point)
Our last and final stop before Paso Robles. We were lucky to arrive just in time to watch the sun set….and catch a glimpse of elephant seals playing in the water! There was also a pack of seals lazing on the beach. This is a free area to visit and one I wouldn’t pass up.
Paso Robles (50 min drive from Piedras Blancas)
Oh boy were we ready for dinner! Many of the restaurants in Paso Robles are closed on Tuesday nights, the night we arrived, but we had a great dinner at The Hatch, which had upscale comfort food perfect to end a day of hiking.
Day 5: Paso Robles
Paso Robles is an up-and-coming wine town. Downtown, there is a mix of the industrial and the upscale, with lots of new restaurants and shops. It is quite easy to navigate the tiny town. Most wineries are within a 15 to 20 minute radius of the town. Wineries that I had on my to-do list included Turley, Clos Selene, Daou (that view!), Austin Hope, Booker, Herman Story, Tablas, and Calcareous. Be aware that many wineries are closed mid-week; our laundry list of wineries we wanted to try became narrowed down pretty darn quick! Our first stop for the day was coffee at the highly recommended AMSTRDM cafe, Before venturing out into the beautiful rolling hills to Clos Solene. I had contacted the winery in advance to arrange for the winemakers wife, Solene, to give us a private yoga class in the vineyard (because every day of our trip had to have a mandatory physical activity!) The warm up for yoga was a hike up Not one, but two steep hills to a beautiful perch in the center of the vineyard where we were lead through a wonderful, rejuvenating yoga class. After a hike back downhill, we were treated to a tasting of their beautiful French wine. It was a lovely, memorable experience and a great way to start the day.
We had skipped breakfast, so it was time for an early lunch at La Cochetta where we enjoyed the Brazilian fish stew, and stopped by Herman Story to pick up some wine (we weren’t able to arrange the tasting unfortunately, but I was glad to finally be able to try their wines and match them to the comical newsletters they send). In the afternoon, we picked Booker for the chill vibe, option for bocce ball, and Ella the dog (who was unfortunately much less enamored with us as we were enamored with her!). Booker is named after a ranching family that donated their land to the city of Paso Robles to be auctioned off into plots designated only for agricultural use. And in California, farming = wine! So, after a rough afternoon supporting the local agriculture industry, we headed out of Paso mid afternoon with a stop in San Louis Obispo, a cute college town about 20 minutes south of Paso Robles, where we got a mid afternoon perk up at Scout coffee and narrowly avoided a parking ticket (whew!). United has a direct flight here out of Denver, so it’s good to know that we have a great option to fly easily into Paso Robles, because we are certainly coming back! I overall loved the chill vibe and low-key atmosphere, and while you aren’t going to find those big heavy Napa cabs here, the wines we had were all excellent. A 2 hour drive later through Pismo Beach and Los Olivios, we landed ourselves in Santa Barbara, our last destination.
Day 6: Santa Barbara
Drive time: 2 hours from Paso Robles, 1 hr 15 min from Pismo Beach. I recommend timing your drive to avoid peak traffic times, though traffic didn’t seem nearly as terrible as the Bay Area.
Arriving in Santa Barbara, the first question I had for myself was, why have I not been here before? I loved this city a lot: the locals claim it’s a small town, but it’s big enough that there’s plenty to do, with the beach, hiking, Hot Springs, wineries, and great restaurants. My kind of city (er, “small town”). Who could ask for anything more? Even the airport doesn’t resemble an airport, and you might mistake it for a Spanish mission when you first drive up to it.My lodging requirement here was something affordable, yet walkable to the beach and to the pedestrian area known as the funk zone. We were quite happy with the West Beach Inn. One of the things I loved about Santa Barbara was the lack of towering condos or big box hotels, rather, along the beach you will find a lot of older motels that have been subsequently renovated. While the West Beach Inn looked dated from the outside, the rooms were very nice and modern, with spacious bathrooms (and even bathrobes were provided), and a lovely large hot tub which we took great advantage of. The staff was fantastic. They also had a complementary wine and cheese happy hour every afternoon, but after drinking all of the lovely wine we had on our trip, it was hard to go back to what I like to refer to as “headache wine.” The location worked well – it was wonderful to be able to walk everywhere and not have to sit in the car for the remainder of our trip.
On both our mornings here, we started with a morning beachside jog followed with coffee and breakfast at Jeannine’s, a local staple that recently opened a new location. The ham and cheese croissants were amazing for a quick breakfast on the go, while the sit-down breakfast entrées and mimosa buckets were perfect for a leisurely breakfast (we tried both options). We were lucky enough to have friends in Santa Barbara that could serve as tour guides, so after breakfast they drove us to visit the Mission (one of the oldest in the country) and stroll through the botanical gardens. For lunch, we couldn’t pass up La Super Rica Taqueria – a legendary hole-in-the-wall where the tortillas are made fresh while you wait. I am pretty certain we ordered one of everything on the menu.After lunch, our friends dropped us off at the Santa Barbara historical museum, and we wandered through downtown Santa Barbara back towards the funk zone. There were several charming wine tasting rooms near the museum, and for recommendation of our friends, we popped into the tasting room at Happy Canyon Vineyard. Being a horse person, I loved pouring over all of the polo and equestrian memorabilia in the tasting room, and we enjoyed a very lovely flight of wines outdoors – The wines were so good, we ended up joining their wine club! Next time, we hope to visit the little wine tasting area, Los Olivios, which is about 45 minutes outside of Santa Barbara but on this trip we didn’t feel like driving or dealing with traffic at this point in our vacation. After our tasting, we strolled back along State Street towards the Funk zone and meandered. We walked past The Lark, where we had an excellent dinner with our friends the night before. Tonight’s dinner was at Loquita, a Spanish restaurant. The food options in Santa Barbara were overwhelming – hence, it’s my kind of place.
Day 7: Santa Barbara, fly home
Sigh, the end of our wonderful trip, and we concluded with a hike to a hot springs in the mountains behind Santa Barbara, and a leisurely brunch at Jeannine‘s. Overall, I enjoyed our road trip on more than I would’ve expected and it was awesome to find some new places bitter and easy quick flight away to enjoy on a long weekend. Carmel-by-the-Sea, Pasa Robles, and Santa Barbara are all destinations we hope to visit again and again. I have a hard time suppressing my international travel bug, but sometimes it is worth checking out what’s in your own backyard!
All photos on this page are © Buona Forchetta 2021.
