California vacations: the Pacific Coast Highway
It's not uncommon for California vacations to be centered around the beach and the coast, but why not make yours about seeing as much of the coast as possible? The Pacific Coast Highway, or California State Route 1, offers motorists one of the most continuously breathtaking drives there is.
Beginning on the coast west of Los Angeles and heading north more than 200 miles past San Francisco, Highway 1 allows motorists to see a large portion of the California coast and contains enough points of interest for a whole lifetime. But if you only have a week or a few days, you can still see plenty on your drive up or down the coast. To get there, either hop in your car or check out cheap flights to either Los Angeles or San Francisco and rent a car.
Beginning in the southern portion of greater Los Angeles, Highway 1 will take you along the beach through Laguna Beach and Long Beach. As you wind north through El Segundo, you actually pass under runways at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). You'll then pass through some well-known beach communities of greater Los Angeles, including Santa Monica, Venice and then the posh and gorgeous Malibu.
The highway then travels further west through Point Magu State Park, where it cuts through a mountain and into Santa Barbara. Shortly thereafter, the road takes a turn north, up the more sparsely populated central California coast. On this portion of the road, travelers will be able to view the Pacific Ocean from great heights, especially near Big Sur, where the highway crosses the iconic Bixby Creek Bridge. The cement-arch bridge provides a fantastic panoramic view of the ocean. Just don't look down.
Once the highway reaches San Francisco, it crosses another famous span -- the Golden Gate Bridge -- after passing through Half Moon Bay and the city's gorgeous Golden Gate Park. The highway then winds northward into redwood country and offers more dramatic views of the ocean. About 20 miles after reaching Fort Bragg, the highway turns away from the ocean one last time and officially ends at Leggett. However, you may want to continue your voyage there and check out more of what the redwood forests have to offer.
Whether a majestic voyage along the coast is exactly what you were looking for, or if you have other California vacations in mind, it's a good idea to check out a travel site like Travelocity.com to find vacation packages that include flights, rental cars and lodging, before you book your trip to California.
Courtesy of ARAcontent