Central Coast California: A Trip Inspired by National Geographic Traveler
Central Coast California is also known as “The Original Road Trip” combining urban scenes, rural farms and villages through wine regions, parks, beaches and more. When we read National Geographic Traveler’s The Insider Guide to Central Coast, California (December 2013/January 2014) issue we knew we had to plan this trip using Travelmath’s tools.
A road trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco is
382 miles. According to Central Coast Tourism, the region is divided into four areas – Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Monterey Bay. These regions will take you from rocky shoreline, beaches for swimming and surfing, panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean, rolling hills and even desert-like land. (Source:
Central Coast Tourism)
Following National Geographic’s itinerary, pick up a car from
Los Angeles International Airport and drive
95 miles north to Santa Barbara. For a list of missions in
Central Coast check out this list.
Our first stop
La Purisima Mission State Park in Lompoc is
54 miles from Santa Barbara. This mission was founded in 1787 and visitors can see restored original buildings, go hiking or enjoy the re-creation of life during the 1820s where residents are engaged in weaving, pottery making, candle making, blacksmithing, livestock production and leatherwork.
While in Lompoc take a one-mile
Old Town Lompoc Heritage Walk through 18 different stops including The Lompoc Museum, The Andrew Huyck House, The Lilley Building and The Lost Mission mural.
Next stop is The Happiest City in America, San Luis Obispo. Located
60 miles north of Lompoc, San Luis Obispo was named the happiest city by author Dan Buettner and even
Oprah sent her team there to check it out. Check out the video here.
San Luis Obispo is a healthy and happy city providing hiking, biking, beaches, daily farmers markets, wine tasting and fine dining opportunities and no fast food drive-thrus.
The Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa is the fifth California mission founded by Father Junipero Serra in 1772. It is named after Saint Louis, Bishop of Toulouse France. Restoration of the mission started in 1933 by Father Harnett and today it is still being used as a mission house. It has a museum and a gift shop.
Paso Robles is the next destination in this road trip.
28 miles north of San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles is a wine producing region with close accessibility to mountains, beaches and the desert.
Check out Tablas Creek Vineyard, Nadeau Family Vintners and Kiler Ridge Olive Oils as suggested by National Geographic.
The Perrin family proprietors of Château de Beaucastel and Robert Haas own
Tablas Creek Vineyard since the 1970s. The tasting room is located at 9339 Adelaida Road, Paso Robles, CA 93446. They provide full tasting and winery tours.
Nadeau Family Vintners is located four miles outside of Paso Robles in the Santa Lucia Mountains. This family-owned winery produces handcrafted wines and their tasting room is open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
What got us excited about this region was an olive oil production tour, walking orchard tour and olive oil tasting. According to National Geographic, the missions brought olive oil production to California. In the past decades olive oil has returned to the Central Coast with 80 small growers found in the Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo regions.
Kiler Ridge Olive Oils is a family owned farm with over 2,700 olive trees in 58-acres of land. Their first year olive oil production was in 2010 and the company has received numerous olive oil awards. You can take a production tour or participate in the olive oil tasting experience.
Before leaving Paso Robles, drive
9 miles to Mission San Miguel in San Miguel. This adobe building with 200 years of history was named after Archangel Saint Michael in 1797. Today the wall frescos are the original. This State and National Historical Landmark is an important historical heritage of California.
64 miles north of San Miguel is the Mission Soledad also known as
La Mision de Maria Santisima Nuestra Senora Dolorosisima de la Soledad in Soledad. This mission was established in 1791 of adobe brick and close to the then famous mineral baths of Paraiso Hot Springs.
Self-guided tours are available daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. except Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day.
The
Old Mission San Juan Bautista is 47 miles north of Soledad. The mission was built in 1803 and completed in 1817. The mission reminded visitors to pay close attention to the church floor tiles. There are animal prints in the tiles and check out the “Cat Door.” The “Cat Door” was built so cats could access the Guadalupe Chapel to catch mice.
San Francisco is 92 miles north of San Juan Bautista. You need at least five days to take a road trip along Central Coast California with stops outlined in this article.
