There is a drive in California that I have made more times than I can count, and every single time it surprises me. The Pacific Coast Highway, Highway 1, is not simply a road. It is a living painting, one that changes with the season, the hour, the angle of the light. I have driven it alone in silence and with my wife Alexandra beside me, windows down, and the salt air doing something good to both of us.
The stretch from Los Angeles north to Big Sur is, in my estimation, one of the most breathtaking drives on the planet. My Porsche will say that without hesitation. It is a route that deserves to be taken slowly, with a camera always within reach and no fixed schedule. Here are the stops I return to, the ones that have never disappointed.
1. Malibu Where the City Finally Lets Go
The drive begins the moment you leave the Santa Monica Pier behind, and the highway starts to hug the cliffs above the Pacific. Malibu is the first exhale. The houses stack themselves improbably on the hillsides, the surf breaks clean below, and you realize the city is already behind you in a way that has nothing to do with miles.
2. Oxnard and Channel Islands Harbor: The Underrated Pit Stop
Most drivers blow past Oxnard without a second thought. I used to as well. Then one afternoon, I pulled off on a whim and found Channel Islands Harbor, a working marina full of fishing boats, pelicans, and the kind of quiet that a big harbor has when the tourists have not found it yet.
The Channel Islands themselves loom offshore, dark and rugged against the sky. They have been called “California’s Galapagos,” and the nickname is not an exaggeration. Even viewed from the shore on a clear day, they carry a magnetic quality, a sense of wilderness held at arm’s length. If you have an extra day, Island Packers runs day trips out to the islands. I have been twice and would go a third time without hesitation.
3. Ventura, an Old California on a Slow Afternoon
Ventura has a way of making you feel like you have discovered something that everyone else drove past. The downtown is low-rise, a little sun-faded, and honest. The Mission San Buenaventura sits at the top of Main Street, whitewashed and serene, and the farmers’ market on Saturdays is one of the better ones on the coast.
The pier is wonderful at dusk. Pelicans roost on the pilings, and the light turns the whole scene amber. Ventura is close to Ojai, a town I have written about with great affection, and the two make a natural pairing for an overnight stay.
4. Santa Barbara, The Jewel of the Central Coast
I have written before about our time at the Ritz-Carlton in Santa Barbara. It’s a beautiful small city in California. The red-tiled roofs, the white stucco walls, the palm-lined State Street, it all adds up to something that feels almost Mediterranean.
The Santa Barbara Courthouse is widely regarded as one of the most architecturally significant public buildings in the region. Known for its Spanish Colonial Revival design, the courthouse features a landscaped sunken garden, detailed interior murals, and a prominent clock tower. Visitors can access the tower for panoramic views that extend across the city, with clear sightlines to both the surrounding mountains and the Pacific Ocean.
For photography, the Santa Barbara Harbor in the early morning is hard to beat. The boats are still, the water is glassy, and the light does things to the masts and rigging.
5. San Luis Obispo, The College Town That Gets Everything Right
San Luis Obispo, or SLO, as the locals call it, has been ranked among the happiest cities in America, and when you spend an afternoon there, you start to understand why. It has the energy of a college town without the self-consciousness. The creek walk through downtown is genuinely lovely, and Bubblegum Alley, a narrow passage whose walls are covered floor-to-ceiling in decades of chewing gum, is either delightful or revolting depending on your sensibilities. I find it strangely charming.
The farmers’ market on Thursday evenings takes over Higuera Street and is one of the great street-life experiences on the coast. Local musicians play, vendors grill everything from tri-tip to kettle corn, and the whole town seems to show up. I have never left without a full stomach and a lighter mood.
6. Morro Bay The Rock and the Herons
Morro Rock rises out of the bay like a sleeping giant, volcanic and immovable. It is one of those geological features that takes a moment to fully register: 576 feet of ancient lava plug sitting at the edge of the Pacific, connected to shore by a narrow causeway. It is also a protected sanctuary for peregrine falcons, which nest near the summit.
The waterfront is the right place to be here. The Great Blue Herons in this area are famously unafraid of people, and if you sit quietly enough, they will stalk past at arm’s length. If you’re fond of taking pictures, like Richard Uzelac, then I would say this kind of access is almost embarrassingly good. The clam chowder at the waterfront stands is also, I will confess, entirely the reason I sometimes drive an extra twenty minutes off-route.
7. Cambria Where the Pines Meet the Sea
Cambria is the last town before the highway starts its truly dramatic climb into the Big Sur coast, and it has the feeling of a place that knows it. The village is split into two halves: the East Village with its antique shops and galleries, and the West Village near the ocean, and both are worth an hour of wandering.
Moonstone Beach, just west of town, is named for the smooth agates that wash ashore and catch the light like small fires. The boardwalk above the tideline gives you a front-row view of the surf and the rock formations, and the sunsets here are the kind that make you stand still with your arms at your sides, not even reaching for the camera, because some things you want to experience first and photograph second.
Nearby Hearst Castle sits above the hills like a dream someone forgot to wake up from. Even if grand estates are not usually your thing, the architecture and the view from San Simeon Point are worth the stop.
8. The Lost Coast Highway 1 at Its Most Untamed
North of Cambria, after the highway curves away from San Simeon and the elephant seal rookery at Piedras Blancas, the road begins to climb and the world contracts to something elemental: cliffs, ocean, sky. There are no towns here for long stretches. The road narrows. Cattle graze on hillsides that drop hundreds of feet to the surf below.
I always stop at the Piedras Blancas elephant seal viewpoint when I pass through between November and March. The colony numbers in the thousands and the scene hundreds of massive animals hauled out on the sand, barking, sparring, and generally conducting their extraordinary lives is one of the great wildlife spectacles in North America. Admission is free. The smell is not for the faint-hearted. Bring a long lens.
9. Big Sur: The Destination That Earns Every Mile
I have written a guide to Big Sur separately. What I will say is that after everything that comes before the beaches and the harbors, the missions and the rock, the wine country and the herons, Big Sur arrives as a kind of culmination. The Bixby Creek Bridge. McWay Falls. Pfeiffer Beach with its purple sand. Point Lobos. Carmel-by-the-Sea at the northern end. It would be magnificent as a destination in itself.
A Few Notes Before You Go
The full drive from Los Angeles to Big Sur covers roughly 300 miles and should not be rushed into a single day if you want to do it justice. I recommend two to three days at minimum, ideally with an overnight in Santa Barbara and another in Cambria or Morro Bay.
Highway 1 north of San Simeon is occasionally subject to closures due to landslides, particularly in winter and early spring. Always check Caltrans road conditions at dot.ca.gov before you leave.
For photography, the road rewards early risers. The fog that often sits over the coast in the morning burns off by mid-morning and gives you extraordinary atmospheric conditions— soft light, mist in the canyons, a sea that seems to glow from within. Late afternoon light on the cliffs south of Big Sur is as good as any light I have found anywhere in the world.
Drive it slowly. Pull over often. Leave the schedule loose. That, in my experience, is the only way to do the PCH properly.