Big Sur
Coast highway switchbacks with a cliffside view the whole way, and redwoods standing right up against the surf.
Best time to visit
April – June, Sept – Oct
Fly into
Monterey (MRY) or San Jose (SJC)
Good for
Road trips, hiking, coastline
Suggested stay
2–3 nights
A destination that’s also a drive
Big Sur isn’t a town so much as ninety miles of Highway 1 between Carmel and San Simeon, and the road itself is most of the point. Break it into two days instead of pushing straight through — the turnouts are worth stopping for, and the light changes everything by late afternoon.
Book a room actually in Big Sur rather than day-tripping from Monterey. The stretch empties out after the tour buses head back north, and evenings here are some of the quietest on the coast.
What a couple of days actually looks like
Start at Bixby Bridge before the light crowds arrive — it’s the most photographed span on the coast, and the pullout fills fast by mid-morning. From there, the drive south passes McWay Falls, dropping straight onto a beach most people only see from the overlook above.
Save an afternoon for a short hike into the redwoods at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, where the trees crowd right up to the Big Sur River — a different kind of quiet than the coastline just a mile away.
Worth building your trip around
Bixby Bridge
The coast’s most photographed span, best seen from the overlook just south as the fog burns off.
McWay Falls
An eighty-foot waterfall dropping straight onto a private cove beach — visible only from the trail above.
Pfeiffer Big Sur redwoods
A short, shaded hike where old-growth redwoods crowd the riverbank a mile inland from the cliffs.