I have to disagree. I've driven all of east and west coastal roads and
Carmel to San Simeon is one of my favorites drives. Views like:
http://travel.sndimg.com/static_file...ia_966x543.jpg
or
http://www.travelchannel.com/interes...hway-road-trip

I've done it 7 or 8 times. From Monterey down to San Simeone. Stay overnight
at the Cavalier hotel on the water. Fire pits on the ocean at night. THE
best apple pie at their restaurant, and drive back up the next day. Driving
south I think is the better view, car on the outside and curvy roads are in
view ahead and below you. On way north, you're on the inside and sometimes
not as nice a view. It is true that it CAN be dangerous to cruise and gawk
at same time so pull over often and enjoy it.

I DO agree with the advice on foggy, dank conditions. Although when I'm
there off season and it is overcast/damp, rather than the drive, I head to
Pebble Beach and often get on the course for cheap money. A few years ago I
played Spanish Bay for $85 ! Just wait until about 12 noon, as the fog
lifts. I'm not an avid golfer but love walking those courses. Spanish bay is
a links course so a lot of water views.

Saw a poster a few years ago - the perspective was looking down at that
coastline and the caption read " View from Heaven".


"David Hatunen" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 1 Jan 2013 09:44:53 -0600, Dan Stephenson
wrote:

Belatedly, unless someone is catching up on articles like myself: the
Big Sur drive is interesting mostly as a technical exercise. The slope
is too steep and the frequently sinuations of the road into valleys,
for you to really see anything. And the highly curving natural, steep
grades, and lack of shoulder means you shouldn't be trying to make it a
scenic drive to take in the scenery, anyway. I thought it to be a
miserable and tiring drive.

And especially, don't make the mistake of taking the Big Sur route in
the summer when coastal fog is prevalent.

If you like coastal drives, try instead the pacific coast highway north
of San Francisco. The roads are more straight and the slope of the
land is more gradual. You can appreciate the scenary, and still
appreciate the driving. There is also a pull-over to see elephant
seals sunning themselves on the beach

Wouldn't that be Point Ano Nuevo, south of San Francisco?

And there are plenty of places to pull over, so direct doesn't really
matter so much.

Hwy 1 north of San Francisco is the "Shoreline Highway", not the
Pacific Coast Highway (as you tacitly indicate by not capitalizing the
term). It is a very nice drive, and has stops and side trips such as
the Marin Headlands, the Muir Woods redwoods, Point Reyes (including
effects of the 1906 earthquake), Bodega Bay, Fort Brag and the Skunk
Railway, and Mendocino. But it's not really on the way for many
travelers in California the way Hwy 1 from LA to SF connects those two
sometimes ultimate destinations.

Dave Hatunen, Tucson
Viva Baja Arizona