For my third and final weekend that I would be staying in San Francisco, my mom was coming to visit, so I sent her a list of places I wanted to see so that she could pick how to spend her weekend. She settled on a Big Sur and Sonoma, so I started planning the jam-packed itinerary so we could actually see it all. Since we were heading that far south to see Big Sur, naturally, I wanted to add in a couple of pit stops along the way so it quickly became a day trip to Monterey, Carmel-by-the-Sea, and multiple parks within Big Sur.

Details

Monterey

Monterey is located in the Monterey County of California on the southern end of the Monterey Bay. It is known for its abundance of marine life and is home to one of the largest aquariums in the United States. Fun fact – in the 1920s, it was home to several large sardine canneries that operated until the 1950s when the sardines were overfished and the entire industry collapsed. The previously named Ocean View Boulevard along the water is now called Cannery Row.

Carmel-by-the-Sea

Carmel is also located in the Monterey Country of California, just south of Monterey. The entire city is only 1.08 square miles and is home to about 4,000 residents. There is a small town filled with stores and restaurants and is just the most adorable place!

Big Sur

Big Sur is a mountainous area in the Central Coast of California in the Santa Lucia Mountains. Big Sur is the home of 12 different state parks, state reserves or federal lands over a 73-mile area beginning just south of Carmel. There are numerous hiking trails and beaches throughout all of Big Sur, as well as other attractions such as the Bixby Creek Bridge and McWay Falls, which is one of two waterfalls on the Pacific Coast that falls into the ocean. It’s becoming a more and more popular tourist spot for people from all over the world!

Itinerary

With so many stops and must-see places in Big Sur, my initial list of things to do was completely not doable within one day, so I recommend picking and choosing what you are most interested in and always allowing extra time! We found ourselves quite behind schedule because it took us longer to get from place to place and in some spots, we decided to spend more time than planned. A couple of stops on my itinerary ended up not happening, but we still had an AMAZING time!

We kicked off the morning bright and early with a 6:30 am rental car pickup. From there we hit the road and began making the 2ish hour drive to Monterey.

Monterey

We were already running a little behind when we got to Monterey around 9:10 so we headed straight to the C restaurant + bar, where I’d made reservations for breakfast because we were starving! We were seated outside with a beautiful view of the water and it was a gorgeous morning. We had a hard time decided what to eat and settled on splitting the Egg Selection and Belgian Waffle and were not disappointed!

• 

• 

• 

After breakfast, we walked along Cannery Row looking at some of the shops, took in a few more views from the dock and then grabbed the car to make our way to the next stop.

There were so many restaurants on the water with yummy looking menus! Here are some other suggestions:

• Loulou’s Griddle in the Middle
• Wave Street Cafe
• Schooners Coastal Kitchen and Bar

17-Mile Drive

We drove along the 17-Mile Drive on our way to Carmel, which had a $10.50 entrance fee per car that I wasn’t aware of ahead of time (no big deal). According to the website, the gate fee is reimbursed with a purchase of $35 or more at all Pebble Beach Resorts restaurants, excluding Pebble Beach Market. We were provided a map with tons of different stops to see along the way. We made the below stops from the map and the views absolutely did not disappoint! At most stops, there are viewfinders that require quarters, so I recommend having a handful with you if you want to look closer at some of the faraway sights.

• Stop 3 – Spanish Bay Beach
• Stop 4/5 – Point Joe looking out over the Restless Sea
• Stop 6 – China Rock
• Stop 7 – Bird Rock
• Stop 10 – Cypress Point Lookout
• Stop 12 – The Lone Cypress
• Stop 15 – Pebble Beach Golf Links

Once we’d seen everything we wanted, we took the exit at the Carmel Gate and kept heading south!

Carmel-by-the-Sea

By the time we got to Carmel, we were running WAY behind already. Since we had just eaten breakfast, we went straight to downtown to walk around the shops and look for ice cream (because why not?). We fell in love with the Burns Cowboy Shop (which was just a little out of my price range) and stopped at the most ridiculous (and amazing) pet store called Diggidy Dog.

We grabbed ice cream and baked goods for the road from the Carmel Bakery (yummm) and started to make our way out of town.

**At this point, I stopped for gas (and snacks), which was a HUGE mistake. The station was packed and we realized that we ultimately didn’t need it, but I would rather have been safe than sorry. The stop took us about 30 minutes, so just make sure to plan ahead if you do want to make this stop.

Big Sur

Big Sur is so incredibly large and has so many parks that you’ll want to plan to hit multiple, but you can’t hit them all (at least not during a day trip). After much research and talking to friends, I planned the following stops in the following order (pretty much timed out to the minute):

• Hike at Point Lobos State Natural Reserve (China Cove)
• Photo Op stop at Bixby Creek Bridge
• Hike at Limekiln State Park
• Hike at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park (McWay Fall)
• Dinner at Nepenthe
• Sunset at Pfeiffer Beach

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

I really wanted to see China Cove, so I planned to drive into the park and park at the farthest parking lot near the Bird Island Trail so that we could take that trail to see China Cove. Upon arrival, the parking lots were all full, so we street parked and walked. We realized park entry was $10 per car, so there was some money saved! Since the Bird Island Trail wasn’t near the park entrance and we didn’t have enough time to walk there, we took the Carmelo Meadow Trail and a part of Granite Point Trail up to Cannery Point overlooking Whaler’s Cove. The trail was very flat and easy to walk. The walk up to Cannery Point did require the climbing of stairs.

Bixby Creek Bridge

We continued the drive south and by this point, we had no cell service. I was following signs only and knew some of the distances between locations. Since I didn’t know exactly where we were, we completely missed the stop for the bridge. It was a very popular spot and by the time we realized where we were, there was nowhere to park so we crossed with no pictures. If you definitely want to make this stop on your way south, the bridge is at mile marker 60 so plan accordingly!

Limekiln State Park

For this next drive, we were heading as far south as we would travel to Limekiln State Park (MM 21) to do all three different hiking trails that the park had to offer. It’s about 50 miles between Point Lobos and Limekiln and took a little over two hours. We also stopped along the way and I highly recommend the Vista Point Lookout at mile marker 27. THIS ONE WAS OF MY FAVORITE VIEWS!

At Limekiln, we paid the $10 to park and made our way to the first of three trails – Hare Creek Trail. We made it about halfway and there were a lot of fallen trees and branches and we couldn’t quite tell where to go, so we turned around to make our way to the Limekiln Trail.

Disclaimer – if you plan to hike the Falls Trail at Limekiln, PACK WATER SHOES.

On this trail, you have to cross the creek FIVE TIMES in each direction. The first and fourth crossings were fairly easy, but the other three were not and it was much easier to just walk through the creek. It took us a long time to get to Limekiln Falls, but once we made it up, it was SO WORTH IT.

After we got back to the bottom of the Falls Trail, we made our way up the last part of the Limekiln Trail up to the old lime kilns. These giant kilns are the remaining structures from the Rockland Lime and Lumber Company’s limestone mining operations from 1887-1890. Take a peek at this post for more details about the history and use! These massive structures have rusted with some aging over time, but are mostly still intact. I didn’t know what to expect before this trip, but the small hike up this trail is definitely worth it.

Of all of our stops, this park was my favorite by far. I had planned to be in Limekiln for about an hour and a half for the total 2.5 miles of hiking, but we ended up spending more time there, so I suggest giving yourself at least two hours or more!

Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park

Next up on the agenda was to stop and do the short hike to McWay Fall in the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, but the park was closed due to storm damage. Fortunately, the website directed us to the viewing point of McWay Fall from highway 1 at mile marker 36.2. There were lots of people stopped, so you definitely can’t miss it!

Dinner

We planned to go to Nepenthe for dinner (a recommendation from a friend), but once we arrived there was a long wait and the menu was pretty fancy. We decided to take a seat and take in the views for a bit before looking for another place to stop and eat. We ended up driving north until we came across the Big Sur Taphouse. The food was good and not too expensive. It was a much more casual spot, which was better since we were kind of gross from our activities. It just so happened that the UVA v. Purdue game was on and we met some fellow Virginians. It’s a small world out there, folks!

Pfeiffer Beach

We rushed out of the restaurant so that we could make it to Pfeiffer Beach to watch the sunset. Again, not having any cell reception and after pulling into the wrong park, we somehow missed the entrance for the beach and had no idea where it was or how to get back there. We kept on making moves and watched the sunset from the car along the drive. Right as the sun was setting at the horizon, we pulled off on the side of the road to watch. It wasn’t what I had planned, but it was still a damn good view.

We hit the road and started making the three-hour trip back to San Francisco. It was still light enough when we passed over the Bixby Creek Bridge again, so we were able to stop for our missed photo op from earlier then keep making moves. We got back to the city around 10:30 and were beat, but the trip was SO worth it.

Transportation

Self-guided via car – I do recommend renting a car and making this drive. You’ll have the flexibility to see what you want on your own terms. It is quite a bit of time in the car throughout the day, but the longest segment is about three hours. Most parks do charge $10 per car for the park entrance fee, so make sure to have cash or a card!

Tour company – when we were planning, I could only find a private tour (that does hit all of these spots) that is pretty pricey. If you’d rather not deal with the roads though, it’s definitely an option!

What to Bring

Pack up the car with the essentials, including your backpack with the following:

• Make sure to pack plenty of water, especially if you’re going to hike any of the longer trails.
• I always recommend having some food (my choice is a protein bar and a piece of fruit) for any hike. Also, with so much time in the car, pack up the road trip snacks, baby!
• Bring sunscreen, sunglasses and a hat to protect yourself from the sun.
• I also recommend traveling with a portable charger to ensure that your phone is fully charged, whether to take pictures or for emergencies!
• Don’t forget to bring something to take pictures of the amazing views, whether that is just your phone, a camera, a GoPro or all of the above!
• Make sure to have all of the critical itinerary details since there is very little to no cell receptions in most parts of Big Sur. I recommend noting the mile markers for all stops to ensure you don’t miss anything!
• WATER SHOES! WATER SHOES! WATER SHOES! Don’t forget water shoes! About a year ago, I invested in what was the best $70 or so that I’ve spent, as these were the perfect shoes for hiking/travel. If you don’t own water shoes – I recommend checking these out! TropicFeel Monsoon

What to Wear

I highly suggest wearing comfortable clothes and dressing in layers. Check the weather for the area, as the temperatures can fluctuate throughout the day. Plan to wear shoes that you can hike in for extended periods of time (hiking boots if you’re a pro or good non-slip, water-resistant sneakers if you’re not). If you are going to hike the Limekiln Falls Trail (because I’m about to remind you again), don’t forget the water shoes!

Thanks for visiting! Check out my other San Francisco day trip itineraries below and come back soon for even more!

• San Francisco Day Trip Muir Woods and Sausalito
• San Francisco Day Trip Santa Cruz
• San Francisco Day Trip Yosemite