Books
to Help You Make the Most
of the Pacific Coast Highway

The cover of Moon's West Coast RV Camping Guidebook

Don't just take our word for what's good, as there are plenty of books to help you with your research into any Pacific Coast Highway trip, or any vacation anywhere along the way. There are several good guides that cover the entire route, for both drivers and cyclists, and you should pack at least one of these in your luggage.

There are also general guidebooks on the Pacific Coast, and on the individual states of California, Oregon and Washington. There are books about the wildlife, and the kinds of guides we most enjoy reading – restaurant guides.


Accommodation Guides

California Camping (Moon)

California Bed and Breakfast Inns

Camping

See under RV Parks and Campgrounds below


City Guides

San Francisco: 101 Free Things to Do in San Francisco (Kindle Guide)

San Francisco: Frommer's San Francisco Free and Dirt Cheap

San Francisco: Make My Day (Lonely Planet)

San Francisco: Your Insider's Guide to San Francisco

Seattle: Frommer's Guide to Seattle 2009



Cycling Guides

Bicycling the Pacific Coast

Cycling the USA West Coast

Two Wheels North: Bicycling the West Coast in 1909



Driving Guides

Backroads of the California Coast

Epic Drives of the World

Pacific Coast Highway Road Trip (Moon Handbooks)

Pacific Coast Highway Road Trip Guide

Pacific Coast Highway Road Trips (Lonely Planet)

Road Trip USA: Pacific Coast Highway

Our recommended guide for
driving the Pacific coast:

Pacific Coast Highway Road Trip
(Moon Handbooks)


Food, Drink, and Restaurant Guides

Good Beer Guide to the West Coast USA

Los Angeles and SoCal Restaurants: Zagat Guide 2011

Moon Handbooks’ Napa and Sonoma Guidebook

Northwest Wine Country: Wine's New Frontier

San Diego Restaurants: Zagat Guide

San Francisco Bay Area Restaurants: Zagat Guide 2011

Seattle Restaurants: Zagat Guide


General Guides

Culture Trails: 52 Perfect Weekends

Greetings from California

A Journey into John Steinbeck's California

Lighthouses of the Pacific Coast


State, Regional, and USA Guides

California Coastal Access Guide

Coastal California (Lonely Planet)

Discover USA (Lonely Planet)

Frommer's Guide to California 2009

Frommer's Guide to Oregon

Frommer's Washington State Travel Guide

Hidden Pacific Northwest (Ulysses Guides)

Los Angeles, San Diego and Southern California (Lonely Planet)

Michelin Green Guide: California

Michelin Green Guide: USA West

Moon Handbooks: Santa Barbara and the Central Coast

Moon Spotlight Guide to the Olympic Peninsula


RV Parks and Campgrounds Guides

California Camping (Moon)

West Coast RV Camping (Moon Outdoors series)





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The Best PCH Guide
We've read lots of guides to the Pacific Coast, and easily the best one is the Moon Handbook. You can read our review here, or buy it through the Amazon link below.

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Our PCH Hotels Guide

To help you in choosing your Pacific Coast Highway hotel, guesthouse, inn, bed-and-breakfast, resort, motel or other accommodations, we've prepared our Pacific Coast Highway Hotels Guide. In it we do mini-reviews of accommodations along the Highway, from Seattle to San Diego, through Washington, Oregon, and California.

In all there are over 200 hotels listed, complete with 8 pages of color maps showing the towns where our recommended hotels can be found. There are both alphabetical and geographical indexes, helping you plan your journey.

We also include color photos of all the hotels that are our Personal Favorites. Here's the link to read more about our ebook guide to Pacific Coast Highway hotels.

KINDLE EDITION
The 2018 edition of our Hotels Guide is available for the Kindle, with maps and photos in color, if you have a color reader. You can buy it in the US Kindle Store and in the UK Kindle Store and around the world. 

PAPERBACK EDITION
If you want a paperback edition of the 2016 guide  with only black and white photos and black-and-white maps, it costs $6.99 at the US Amazon Book Store and £4.99 in the UK Amazon Store.