Pacific
Coast Highway Road Trips
Review of the Pacific Coast Highway Road Trips book from Lonely Planet, which includes a California Driving Guide, by the Pacific Coast Highway Travel website.
Lonely Planet Pacific Coast Highway Road Trips
The Pacific
Coast Highway is in the new Road Trips series of guides from Lonely Planet,
which also include Route 66 (natch), The Chateaux of the Loire Valley, and
Provence and Southeast France.
Highway or Highways?
What's
the name of the book we're reviewing, though? On the cover of our review copy
the title is Pacific Coast Highways, in the plural. That's also the title used
throughout the book, as in Pacific Coast Highways Highlights. It's an odd
choice as the road is known as the Pacific Coast Highway.
But
on Amazon, the book cover shows Pacific Coast Highway, in the singular, even
though the written description says Pacific Coast Highways. From what it says
inside the book, it seems the plan was to range 'From backcountry lanes to
beachside highways'. But apart from veering inland to include Disneyland, which
is hardly a backcountry lane, and a few small detours, the book sticks to the
coast. Very strange.
Lonely Planet Pacific Coast Highway Road Trips Contents
The PCH Driving Guide
The book covers the entire California coast, from near the Oregon border down to San Diego, just short of the Mexico border.
It's
very oddly organized, and gives the impression of having been put together in a
cut-and-paste job from other Lonely Planet guides. There's an initial Plan Your
Trip section, which is then followed by four Road Trips. The first is the
entire coast, and this is then followed by three more trip ideas, each of which
is part of the main drive but the three together don't join up to make the
first drive. The other three are:
- Northern
Redwood Coast, from the Redwoods State Parks to the Samoa Peninsula.
- Big
Sur, from Bixby Bridge to Ragged Point.
- Disneyland
and Orange County Beaches, from Disneyland to Dana Point.
For
some reason the first two drives are described south to north and the second
two are north to south.
It
gets more confusing. The Road Trips are then followed by a Destinations
section, which describes in more detail the stops on the way. This
is also done north to south although it starts with San Francisco, then jumps
north to the Northern Coast and the Redwoods, and then works its way south to
San Diego. So Mendocino, for example, appears on page 26 as part of the main
Pacific Coast Highways drive, but if you want to read about Mendocino in more
detail you have to turn to page 66 to find the Activities, Eating, Sleeping,
and Drinking & Nightlife recommendations.
California Driving Guide
One
very useful section of the book is right at the back: A California Driving
Guide. This 5-page spread covers everything you'll need to know about driving
in California. This includes road rules, parking, the border crossing and
possibility of an agricultural inspection (better eat those apples before you
enter California!), and a host of other good practical information. There's
even a California coast playlist – headed by The Beach Boys, of course.
The Verdict
We
had hoped this would be the guide to the PCH that we could really recommend,
and while there is a lot of information in its 128 pages, it's confusing to
use. Also, it seems to be put together from other guides, which is what a lot
of guidebook publishers do in order to repackage existing material.
At a cover price of $12.99
(£7.99 in the UK) it won't break the bank and is probably the most up-to-date
guide you'll find, but a bigger guide to the whole of California would probably
serve you better. You can buy it on Amazon.
Other book pages
This John Steinbeck California Guide, A Journey into Steinbeck's California, shows readers how towns like Monterey, Carmel and Salinas influenced the author.
The Santa Barbara Guidebook from Moon Handbooks also covers California’s Central Coast with Ventura, San Luis Obispo, wine country, and Hearst Castle.
Lighthouses of the Pacific Coast, published by Voyageur Press, is a guide in words and pictures to historic lighthouses along the Pacific Coast Highway.
Greetings from California is a beautiful coffee-table book which describes the legends, landmarks and lore of California, including the Pacific Coast Highway.
Pacific Coast Highway Travel reviews an Olympic Peninsula Travel Guide published by the Beautiful Pacific Northwest website.
California Living and Eating by Eleanor Maidment is a handsome coffee table book celebrating the food and lifestyle of the Golden State with 80 tasty recipes.
The Napa and Sonoma Guidebook to California Wine Country is from the Moon Handbooks’ travel guide series with reviews of wineries,vineyards, and wine tastings.
Moon's Spotlight Guide to the Olympic Peninsula covers hotels, restaurants, and sights, including Forks, the Olympic National Park and other places.
One of the best California coast guides is the California Coastal Access Guide, describing the coast’s beaches, National Parks, State Parks, with many maps.
To John Steinbeck Monterey's Cannery Row was a place of sardine canneries, bums and honky tonks, but today the Monterey Aquarium attracts visitors.
Pacific Coast Highway Travel reviews the Pacific Coast Highway Road Trip guide from Moon covering California, Oregon and Washington
101 free San Francisco attractions and things to do are in the Kindle guide, 101 Free Things to Do in San Francisco, in the Travel Free eGuidebooks series.
The Los Angeles travel guide book from Lonely Planet also covers San Diego and Southern California, including Palm Springs, Santa Barbara, and Disneyland.
Plant lovers can visit hundreds of gardens along or near the Pacific Coast Highway,ranging from lush gardens in the Pacific North-West to southern California.
Books About the Pacific Coast Highway in California, Oregon and Washington including travel guidebooks, route guides, restaurant guides, and many more.
The guide to California Bed and Breakfast Inns lists over 250 boutique hotels, wine country cottages and more.
Pacific Coast Highway Travel's book review of Insider's Guide to San Francisco guidebook by Jill Loeffler, publisher of the San Francisco Tourism Tips website.
Epic Drives of the World from Lonely Planet describes 50 of the world's most exciting road trips, including, of course, the Pacific Coast Highway.
West Coast Road Eats is a road food guide covering the Pacific Coast from California through Oregon to Washington, giving the best road trip food stops.
Northwest Wine Country is a food and wine lover's guide to vineyards, fine dining, accommodation, restaurants in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, British Columbia.
The Frommer's Guide to Seattle has good information about the city and side excursions to the Olympic National Park and elsewhere, plus free city and area map.
Pacific Coast Highway Travel reviews the Pacific Coast Highway Road Trip Guide book covering the drive from Vancouver to San Diego.
The Pacific Coast Highway in California book shows in historic photos the building of the Pacific Coast Highway from its earliest beginnings in 1911.
The Green Guide to the USA West from Michelin covers California, the Pacific North West, the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, New Mexico, and even Kansas and Alaska.
Vintage Hollywood in Los Angeles is an extract from the Lonely Planets book Culture Trails.
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May 01, 24 11:10 AM
Beaches. Mountains. Deserts. Cities. California has a lot, and it’s known for a lot, but in the mix of some of the most incredible scenery in the United States, one excellent feature is often overlook…
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Apr 30, 24 07:57 PM
The best things to do in Monterey, chosen by Pacific Coast Highway Travel, include the Monterey Bay Aquarium, Cannery Row, whale watching and Fisherman's Wharf.
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Apr 24, 24 11:14 AM
After two months of lane closures on PCH in Malibu, the highway has fully reopened.
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