CA Travel Help

Going to spend four nights at Post Ranch Inn in Sept/Oct to celebrate a 50t birthday. Looking for another stop for a three or four night stay to finish out the trip (again celebrating a milestone so making the most of our time in CA). Something 3-4 hour drive time from PR INN is preferable but open to all suggestions. I have not spent much time in that part of CA so looking forward to any suggestions you may have. Thanks for all the help.

Scott

Where is Post Ranch inn?

Big Sur, Monterey area.

SF if you’re into restaurants, Yosemite if you like hiking.

Take Highway 1 south from Big Sur and head toward Santa Barbara. I hear the Bacara Resort where they have the World of Pinot event is a nice place. That’s probably a little longer than 4 hours south of Big Sur. 3 hours north is San Francisco where there’s plenty to do, but might be too much of an urban shock after Post Ranch. You could always just go across the street from Post Ranch and spend a few days at Ventana. Happy upcoming 50th.

I would agree that Santa Barbara is loaded with fun stuff to do. You can also head the other direction up to Carmel. A little sleepier than SB, but there are some good eats, a great beach to stroll and pretty drives around Pebble Beach. There are also a few wineries in the area. Nothing world class, but some decent ones to taste and eat at.

Kind of depends on what you want to do, what type of environment/atmosphere you’re looking for, where you fly from, etc. Will you venture away from Post Ranch to drive some of the Big Sur coast, head to Carmel for the day, etc? If so, you may want to go somewhere other than Carmel for your next stop. If not, that could be a good next stop. Or you can get to San Francisco within 4 hours.

We just did a 3 night stay in Pacific Grove for our anniversary. Monterey peninsula is a great place to hang out, with some nice little restaurants, plenty of scenery, walking/hiking, shopping, wineries nearby.

Tell us a little more about your experience in the area and what you want to do, and we can hone the suggestions.

We love Carmel, Pacific Grove, Monterey… Park Hyatt Highlans, right outside of Carmel, though not cheap is very nice.

JD