Need help with itinerary Seattle - Monterey/Carmel

[Misskitty3]

I am in the beginning stages of planning a driving trip from Seattle to Monterey/Carmel and have some questions.

From Seattle, we will probably stop someplace in Southern Oregon and then head into Calif and I would like to see the Redwoods, San Francisco (for a day or two) and then onto see Santa Cruz, Carmel and Monterey.

Questions:

1) From Medford, how far is it to see the redwoods? What town(s) should we aim for?

2) From the redwoods, how far is it to San Francisco?

3) Between Santa Cruz, Monterey and Carmel -- where should we plan to overnight? Or should I plan to overnight in each place? We will have our 5 yr old and 2.5 yr old with us so plan to do the Santa Cruz amusement park and lots of time at various beaches plus the aquarium in Monterey.

 

[mamacatnv]

Let me see if I can help...the mileage estimates as well as drive times are from the AAA trip planner on their website.

Seattle to Medford is 445 miles approx 7 hours drive time.

Medford to the entrance of the Redwood Nat'l Park, Crescent City entrance is 115 miles a little over 2 hours of drive time.

From there to San Francisco is approx. 350 miles approx. 7 hours drive time - down Hwy 1 to the Eureka area and then head inland to 101.

San Francisco to Santa Cruz is about 75 miles 1.25 hours of drive time

Santa Cruz to Monterey is about 45 miles and Monterey to Carmel is close.

There is a Best Western Sea Cliff Inn that is just south of Santa Cruz in Aptos, right off Hwy 1 - we love it! The pool and grounds complete with Koi ponds, walkways and bridges are beautiful, they also have a restaurant on the property and when we stayed their last a "limited" made to order breakfast was part of the room costs and it was IMO a really good deal. Be careful of the "motels" in Santa Cruz near the boardwalk, they tend to be cheesy, dirty and expensive.

We have also stayed at the Monterey Bay Lodge in Monterey and enjoyed it immensely. Tripadvisor.com is a great source for room reviews.

Happy travels

 

[CA_Stitch]

From Santa Cruz to Carmel.

In Marina, CA - right on the beach

http://www.marinadunes.com

In Seaside - right on the beach

http://www.montereybeachresort.com/

In Monterey - on Cannery Row down the street from the Aquarium

http://www.woodsidehotels.com/monterey/
http://www.spindriftinn.com/

In Monterey - one street off of Cannery Row

http://www.victorianinn.com/

In Pacific Grove - Mostly B&B

Seven Gables - http://www.pginns.com/
Martine Inn - http://www.martineinn.com/
Green Gables Inn - http://www.greengablesinnpg.com/
Centrella Inn - http://www.centrellainn.com/

In Carmel - Downtown

La Playa Hotel - http://www.laplayahotel.com/
Cypress Inn (Pet Friendly - Owner Doris Day) - http://www.cypress-inn.com/
The Pine Inn - http://www.pineinn.com/
The Tally Ho - http://tallyho-inn.com/
The Lobos Lodge - http://www.loboslodge.com/

Hopefully this helps, there are a lots more hotels, B&B in the area. All of these hotels/B&B are within 15-20 min from each other and the Aquarium.

Have a great time visiting this area...