The Pacific Coast Highway is a drive people put on lists and then treat like a commute. They leave San Francisco after breakfast and try to make Los Angeles by dinner, and they spend the day frustrated that the most beautiful road in America keeps slowing them down. The road is not the problem. The plan is.
Drive northbound — or don’t, but know why
Conventional wisdom says drive north-to-south so you are on the ocean side of the road. The counter-argument, which I hold to, is that southbound puts you in the fast lane and northbound gives you the pull-outs, the slow pace, and the sea filling your windshield at every turn.
Highway 1 through Big Sur is periodically closed by landslides, and Caltrans publishes live road conditions travellers should check before departing. [1]
The stops that matter
- Bixby Creek Bridge — the most photographed span on the coast; arrive early to beat the tripods.
- McWay Falls — an 80-foot waterfall that drops onto a beach you cannot reach, which is somehow the point.
- Pfeiffer Beach — purple-tinged sand and a keyhole rock, down an unmarked road that keeps the crowds away.
- Nepenthe — lunch on a terrace 800 feet above the sea, worth the wait for a table.
You do not drive Big Sur to get somewhere. You drive it to be nowhere in particular, beautifully.
— Mara Ellison
Where to break the drive
Two days beats one, and three beats two. Base a night in Big Sur itself if the budget allows, or Cambria if it does not. For more routes in this spirit, browse our full collection of coastal drives.
Where to Eat
Four Highway 1 stops worth planning your driving day around, from a clifftop icon to a wood-fired roadside bakery.
NepentheCalifornian, cliffside terrace — Big Sur
A clifftop terrace restaurant high above the Pacific beneath the Santa Lucia Mountains, long a gathering place for poets, artists and travellers.
Why it’s so good: A Big Sur icon open since April 1949, with one of the best wine lists on the Central Coast.
Top picks: The Ambrosia Burger · Jidori half-chicken
Deetjen's Big Sur Inn RestaurantAmerican home cooking — Big Sur
Four intimate rooms with fireplaces, candlelight and classical music, serving simple, hearty home cooking.
Why it’s so good: A historic Big Sur inn known for its romantic candlelit rooms and homestyle sensibility.
Top picks: Eggs Benedict · Buttermilk pancakes · Breakfast burrito
Big Sur BakeryBakery, café and wood-fired restaurant — Big Sur
A Highway 1 must with an impressive spread of sweet and savoury pastries, excellent coffee, and a patio with rustic wooden tables under a redwood tree.
Why it’s so good: A cited must-stop on Highway 1, especially loved for its wood-fired dinner pizzas.
Top picks: Wood-fired pizza · Croissants · Blueberry strudel
Sierra MarFine dining — Post Ranch Inn, Big Sur
Set in the cliffside Post Ranch Inn with gorgeous views over the Big Sur cliffs, serving a four-course prix-fixe menu.
Why it’s so good: The corridor's special-occasion destination — an excellent choice for fine dining with a Pacific sunset view.
Top picks: Duck with preserved cherry and turnip · Smoked mussels with fermented vichyssoise
