The Ultimate Coastal California Road Trip Itinerary

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Are you looking for the best Pacific Coast highway road trip itinerary with kids? Well look no further, we have planned the best California family road trip for you! The Pacific Coast Highway may just be the prettiest stretch of highway in the United States! Living in California, we have done this trip multiple times with our daughter, always starting in San Francisco and driving down to our house in Orange County but you can keep on going all the way down to San Diego and we suggest you do! This trip begins in San Francisco and heads South. There are lots of spots near SF and north of SF but that’s a whole other blog post!

From San Francisco to San Diego, it takes approximately 9 hours to drive the 500 miles. We highly suggest taking your time and making some stops along the beautiful California coast along the way! Here are the best stops along the California coast and Pacific Coast Highway with kids. Of course, there are many other great spots to stop besides the ones mentioned but for the purpose of this post, these are the easiest and best for first time coast travelers. Here is the best itinerary for your coastal California family road trip with kids. If you’re traveling with toddlers, be sure to keep them occupied with these essential toddler road trip activities.

Stop 1-San Francisco

It’s not a trip to California without visiting San Francisco! A very family friendly city, you will not run out of things to do with kids in San Francisco. We recommend spending at least 2 days exploring all that San Francisco has to offer before renting your car and heading on down the coast. Go eat some yummy crab, see the Golden Gate Bridge and visit Dolores Park, where your kids will have a blast sliding down the massive slides before heading to your next destination. If you’re looking for a family friendly hotel in San Francisco, we highly recommend the Hilton in the Financial District! A very short walk to Chinatown (one block away!) and less than 15 minutes to the Ferry Building Marketplace, this is an awesome family hotel in a great location.

If you have several days to spare while in San Francisco, we highly recommend a side trip to Yosemite National Park. It’s one of the most beautiful places in California and Yosemite National Park is very family friendly!

Stop 2-Santa Cruz

Just under 1.5 hours from San Francisco is Santa Cruz, a cute and family friendly coastal city. It’s the only city in California with a true boardwalk and amusement rides, similar to what you would find on East coast beaches. We recommend stopping her for a few hours, eating some food on the boardwalk and maybe going on some rides before heading down to your next stop.

Stop 3-Monterey/Carmel

One of our favorite cities on the California coast is Monterey. Known for its aquarium, it’s a great overnight stop on your coastal California road trip. Visit the aquarium, Dennis the Menace playground and Cannery row. Our preferred hotel in Monterey is the Hyatt, we have stayed here on all of our trips to the area and love the location and how family friendly it is. Now I’ll be honest and say that the aquarium is not worth the $50/person price tag but people seem to love it so decide for yourself!

Now we lumped Montery and Carmel into one because they are so close to each other (about 15 minutes apart) and it makes sense to visit them during the same trip. One of the most popular attractions in Carmel is the 17 mile drive and we definitely recommend it! You’ll have the opportunity to stop along some beautiful coastline, it’s a must when in Carmel!

Cannery Row has lots of shops and restaurants, as well as family friend tasting rooms. We got to try some wines while Milana played with the toys, it’s a win for everyone! Bargetto Winery has a tasting room in Monterey and it’s very family friendly.

Another must in Carmel is eating at the Mission Ranch restaurant. Owned by Clint Eastwood, it’s our favorite restaurant in the area with some great views and amazing food. If the weather is nice, they have a large outdoor patio that’s perfect for families. We had Sunday brunch here on our last trip and it was awesome! They don’t take reservations, so come early because the line to get in is long before they even open.

Stop 4-Big Sur

This is going to be one of the most scenic parts of your drive! Big Sur is breathtaking, with redwood trees on one side and stunning ocean views on the other side. We don’t recommend spending a night here but certainly make sure your coastal California road trip takes you through Big Sur! Something to note: if anyone in your traveling party gets car sick, this isn’t the road for you. It’s very windy and very long, so someone with car sickness will be very miserable! It’s also a road we don’t recommend doing once it gets dark, as not only will you miss the views, the lack of street lights will make it hard to navigate the very windy road that is so close to the edge of the cliffs.

Stop 5-Hearst Castle and San Simeon

Now we haven’t actually gone inside Hearst Castle as it doesn’t particularly interest us but it’s a very popular destination! While driving down this stretch of Highway 1, be sure to take a pit stop and see the sea lions on the beach in San Simeon. There are hundreds of them, it’s worth a quick stop!

Stop 6-Morro Bay

On our way to Pismo Beach, we made a quick stop in Morro Bay. Morro Bay is known for Morro Rock, a huge, ancient volcanic mound at Morro Bay Beach. We walked around for a little bit before heading on to our next stop, Pismo Beach. You can drive right up to the rock and there you will see lots of sea otters hanging out!

Stop 7-Pismo Beach and San Luis Obispo

Pismo Beach is another popular surf town on the coast of California. If you’re spending the night, we highly recommend the SeaCrest Oceanfront Hotel. It’s family friendly and the beach is right below the hotel, with some fun caves to explore.

If you’re not sick of seafood yet at this point, head to the Cracked Crab for lunch or dinner. It’s our favorite restaurant in Pismo Beach and we make it a point to stop here on each trip!

Pismo Beach is also 15 minutes from San Luis Obispo, a beautiful area with lots of wineries, many family friendly! If you like wine, I would seek out a few wineries and visit!

Stop 8-Solvang

After traveling down the coast and seeing so many beautiful beaches, Solvang will be a nice surprise to your itinerary! It looks nothing like what you imagine California to look like. Solvang is known for its Danish style architecture and looks more like a European village than a California city! It’s super cute and a must stop on your way down the coast. We like to stay at the Santa Ynez Valley Marriott when passing through here, a short 10 minute drive to Solvang.

A popular attraction in Solvang is Ostrichland, and surprisingly the animals are pretty docile! A must eat while in Solvang is aebleskiver, which you can find in pretty much every restaurant. These are traditional Danish round pancake like balls. You can get them filled or plain, and dip in jam on the side.

Stop 9-Santa Barbara

Another huge favorite of ours, we come to Santa Barbara often for quick weekend getaways. It’s another very family friendly city, with so much to do and see! A must stop and preferably an overnight one, as you won’t be able to fit everything into one day. A great family friendly hotel here is the Hilton Beachfront Resort, which is across the street from the beach and walking distance to many attractions.

Stop 10-Malibu

Aah, Malibu! One of the most famous stretches of coast in CA. This is a gorgeous stretch of road that will take you right into the popular LA beach towns. Stop here for lunch, we love Malibu Seafood, which has gorgeous views of the ocean from their restaurant.

Stop 11-Santa Monica/Venice Beach

It’s not a visit to Los Angeles without seeing Santa Monica and Venice Beach! Stop by the Santa Monica Pier, let your kids ride a few rides then drive on down to Venice Beach and check out the scene. Now we aren’t fans of either to be quite honest but I feel like if you are visiting from out of state, you should at least see these beach towns once! Santa Monica has two great playgrounds right by the pier, which makes it a great spot to stop and let the kids run around a bit.

Stop 12-Redondo/Manhattan/Hermosa Beach

Take your pick, you really can’t go wrong with any of these! These are our favorite LA beach towns. Super cute, with cute downtowns and very family friendly. Redondo has a fun pier you can walk around and eat some yummy seafood on. Manhattan’s downtown is one of our favorites and very family friendly! There is a small and free aquarium at the end of the Manhattan Beach pier in case you haven’t had enough sea life yet!

Stop 13-Long Beach

Long Beach seems to be the forgotten city, smack dab between Los Angeles and Orange County but it’s worth a stop. If you need to stretch your legs, this is a great spot to stop with kids. Aquarium of the Pacific is here and while not as nice as the one you visited in Monterey, still worth a visit! There are many great restaurants in Long Beach and the city is very family friendly. Queen Mary is another popular attraction here!

Once you reach the LA/Long Beach/Orange County area, another option is to head a bit inland and explore Palm Springs with your kids!

Stop 14-Orange County

Our home county! There are many awesome spots to stop in Orange County, however you can do the coastal stops just by driving down the Pacific Coast Highway. Huntington Beach should be your first stop and while these aren’t exactly authentic recommendations, we think every tourist should eat at Ruby’s on the HB Pier at least once. Please note: As of 2020, Ruby’s no longer exists. It has been replaced by a seafood restaurant that opened July 2022. Just keep in mind that if you walk the pier on a windy or cold day, it will feel like your face is freezing off as there is nothing stopping the cold cross wind from hitting you! Another tourist hit is Fred’s Mexican, which has awesome views of the ocean from their patio. Sure, it’s not the most or even a little authentic when it comes to all the Mexican food we have in SoCal, but the atmosphere is great and the views are amazing. Wander around Main Street and Pacific City before heading on down the coast.

Great coastal cities to visit in Orange County besides Huntington Beach are Newport Beach, Laguna Beach and San Clemente. Yes there are others, but most people aren’t going to stop at each beach city and we think these are great spots to stop. If you want some kid friendly attractions in Orange County that aren’t Disneyland, check out our Orange County blog post.

Stop 15-San Diego

You made it to your final destination! San Diego has lots to see and do, so you should plan on spending several days here to explore all the city has to offer. Our daughter was born in San Diego and we lived here for several years, so we’re quite familiar with the city and neighborhoods. Thinking of moving to San Diego? There are lots of affordable San Diego suburbs you can call home. Some of our favorite hotels in San Diego are the Hilton Resort in Mission Bay and the San Diego Marriott Gaslamp Quarter if you want to be downtown. You can split your stay between North County San Diego (Carlsbad, Encinitas, etc) and then San Diego proper.

Have you driven down the CA coast? What are some of your favorite spots to stop?