Big Sur via Highway 1

The Pacific Coast Highway is justifiably California’s most famous scenic drive. Unless you have at least a week to drive all 1050 miles, you’ll have to settle for just a bite-sized portion of the highway. For scenery alone, it’s hard to beat the 100-mile stretch of Highway 1 that starts at Monterey Bay and passes through Big Sur country before reaching the beach town of Cambria, just south of Hearst Castle, a state historic site. Along the way are rugged beaches; hiking trailheads that lead to waterfalls and through old-growth redwood forests; and quirky art galleries, eateries, and small roadside lodgings in Big Sur, a bohemian escape for San Francisco city dwellers, as well as for artists and poets since the 1930s. South of Big Sur, don’t miss seeing the huge seasonal colony of elephant seals, just south of historic Piedras Blancas Light Station.