Author Topic: California Coast PCH Master Thread (Read 166320 times)

Yehoshua · « **Reply #220 on:** April 11, 2016, 03:32:19 PM »

Quote from: Dan on April 11, 2016, 03:29:51 PM

Wow, how are you supposed to pick a time down to 10 minutes for when you'll arrive there?
Tour is 1 hour. Say we spend 2 hours there, how would you allocate 5 more hours of activities?

It's a popular attraction, that's why you need extra time. You just have to try to either make it late in the day and risk having extra time or make it earlier and potentially rush through earlier activities. It's tough, but advanced tickets are pretty much a necessity.

shiframeir · « **Reply #221 on:** April 11, 2016, 03:36:00 PM »

Quote from: Dan on April 11, 2016, 03:09:03 PM

If we went southbound, the goal would be to get to Tierra Sur by 8:30pm.
If we left at 8:30am that would leave 5 hours for driving and 7 hours for activities.

How long would you spend at Big Sur, Hearst Castle and Morro Bay?

with small children, we went down and stopped in Santa Maria at the holiday inn there (capable and clean 2br suites for a lil over $100, and useful for the IHG promo...) and then went to Oxnard for a great lunch. We stopped at big sur at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park (note there is no reception around there so plot and download itinerary on google maps before u go) and took some great pictures and stopped every once in a while on the way, drive took 7+ hours separate from our major stops. picked up lots of Izzys bagels/pizza/tuna for lunch with enough for dinner, which we ate on the picnic tables at the park.
If u are taking the PCH the whole way, dont trust Google maps exact times, assuming random amazing view stops etc and slow cars in front will prob be 6 hours+. Was told by many the Hearst castle wasnt worth it with little kids.

Dan · « **Reply #222 on:** April 11, 2016, 03:38:18 PM »

I'm not planning on doing PCH with kids. I'm not that crazy

Yehoshua · « **Reply #223 on:** April 11, 2016, 03:43:56 PM »

Quote from: Dan on April 11, 2016, 03:38:18 PM

I'm not planning on doing PCH with kids. I'm not that crazy

I figured as much. HC with kids under 10 would be really hard, since they'd be bored.

LAGS · « **Reply #224 on:** April 11, 2016, 04:39:38 PM »

Quote from: Dan on April 11, 2016, 03:29:51 PM

Wow, how are you supposed to pick a time down to 10 minutes for when you'll arrive there?

I don't know if there is an official policy, but for what it's worth we missed our scheduled tour time (got caught up along the way) and they immediately rescheduled us onto the next tour with availability. Lucky for us that was only 5 minutes later.

Dan · « **Reply #225 on:** April 11, 2016, 04:41:38 PM »

Good to know.

Do you have a trip report you want to share?

MC · « **Reply #226 on:** April 11, 2016, 04:53:04 PM »

Solvang is also a great place to stop. It's between Hearst Castle and Oxnard, so you can decide whether or not to based on how long you spend in Hearst Castle.

Dan · « **Reply #227 on:** April 11, 2016, 04:55:31 PM »

Quote from: MC on April 11, 2016, 04:53:04 PM

Solvang is also a great place to stop.

What do you do there?

Yehoshua · « **Reply #228 on:** April 11, 2016, 05:10:04 PM »

Quote from: Dan on April 11, 2016, 04:55:31 PM

What do you do there?

Mainly look around. It's a Danish town, complete with wooden shoes and windmills. It's a cool place to check out.

Dan · « **Reply #229 on:** April 11, 2016, 05:12:50 PM »

-1 hour for McWay Falls in Big Sur
-2 hours for HC
-1 hour for Solvang.

3 more hours to figure out.

Yehoshua · « **Reply #230 on:** April 11, 2016, 05:14:21 PM »

Quote from: Dan on April 11, 2016, 05:12:50 PM

-1 hour for McWay Falls in Big Sur
-2 hours for HC
-1 hour for Solvang.

3 more hours to figure out.

What about the other places I mentioned? Truth is you can do PCH as fast or as slow as you want. The main attraction is the drive itself. You can spend 3 days if you wanted to stop all over the place, but some of the places I mentioned are just few-minute stops.

hachover · « **Reply #231 on:** April 11, 2016, 06:37:10 PM »

Quote from: Yehoshua on April 11, 2016, 05:10:04 PM

Mainly look around. It's a Dutch town, complete with wooden shoes and windmills. It's a cool place to check out.

Nej. It is a Danish town, not Dutch.

Now out with all any geographically challenged folks and their obvious jokes

cf · « **Reply #232 on:** April 11, 2016, 06:39:56 PM »

Quote from: Dan on April 11, 2016, 05:12:50 PM

-1 hour for McWay Falls in Big Sur
-2 hours for HC
-1 hour for Solvang.

3 more hours to figure out.

To see the falls is just a 5 min walk.
When i was there it was dripping water from the falls.

Yehoshua · « **Reply #233 on:** April 11, 2016, 06:47:57 PM »

Quote from: hachover on April 11, 2016, 06:37:10 PM

Nej. It is a Danish town, not Dutch.

Now out with all any geographically challenged folks and their obvious jokes

My mistake. I for one am not geographically challenged.

tzifanya54 · « **Reply #234 on:** April 11, 2016, 07:15:27 PM »

Quote from: Dan on April 11, 2016, 03:29:51 PM

Wow, how are you supposed to pick a time down to 10 minutes for when you'll arrive there?
Tour is 1 hour. Say we spend 2 hours there, how would you allocate 5 more hours of activities?

If they aren't completely sold out on a different time slot, they let you switch free of charge. They usually don't sell out, I went mid August (peak season) and basically every time slot had at least 4 openings the day of.