Coastal California Guidebook
The Coastal California guidebook published by Lonely Planet is an essential travel guide for anyone driving or cycling the Pacific Coast Highway. It's a smart move on the publishers' part as the guide focuses on the busy tourist strip of California coastline, from Pelican State Beach on the Oregon border to Tijuana just across the Mexico border. The book therefore takes in San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as the best beaches and a little corner of wine country too.
Coastal California shows the variety of this region, which it's popular to dismiss as being all Baywatch and Disneyland. The two authors recommend you think of California as being two distinct states: northern California and southern California. After all, there's a world of difference between Oregon and Tijuana.
This guide reminds us that this stretch of the west coast takes in not only Disneyland and beaches, but giant redwood trees, hiking at Big Sur, writers like John Steinbeck, a bit of wine country, Hearst Castle, elk trails, whale-watching, gourmet cuisine and National Parks.
Coastal California Travel Literature
The music, art and literature of Coastal California is introduced to provide a background to anyone's travels, with reading recommendations including Joan Didion, Armistead Maupin, Dave Eggers, Jack Kerouac and of course the towering figure of John Steinbeck: 'If you've never read any novel by John Steinbeck, you Must do so before visiting Coastal California. Pick up Cannery Row, particularly if you plan to visit Monterey.'
Themed Travel Itineraries
Some suggestions for themed travel itineraries are given, including one focussed on natural history, another on family attractions, and one, naturally, for the 'Freaks and Weirdos'.
There's a section on surfing, including a list of places providing women-only surfing lessons, and information on popular west coast pursuits like cycling and whale-watching... not to mention eating and drinking.
The bulk of the book is the typically thorough Lonely Planet guidebook, with excellent town and city maps showing you exactly where the attractions, accommodation and restaurant recommendations can be found. While you won't get the detailed look at places like Los Angeles and San Francisco that a dedicated city guide provides, all the main information is there for anyone planning to maybe spend just a day or two in each place, as they travel along the California Coast.
With the index ranging from Accommodation to Zoos, the Lonely Planet Coastal California guide is a good buy for Pacific Coast Highway travelers.
Buying This Coastal California Guidebook
This review is of the 2nd edition of Coastal California, which was published in 2007 by Lonely Planet. Updated editions are available, including a Kindle edition.
Recent Articles
-
Brookings
Nov 27, 18 04:03 PM
Brookings is a small city in Oregon which stands on the Pacific Coast Highway at the southern end of the Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor, one of the most beautiful drives on the Oregon coast.
-
Bandon
Nov 26, 18 03:33 PM
The small town of Bandon on the Oregon coast is big in what it can offer visitors, including some of the finest golf along the Pacific Coast Highway.
-
Astoria in Oregon
Nov 23, 18 06:24 PM
The small port of Astoria in Oregon sits right on Highway 101, the Pacific Coast Highway, at the mouth of the Columbia River where the river flows into the Pacific Ocean.
FTC Disclosure: If you make a purchase via a link on this site, we may receive a small commission on the transaction - at no added cost to you. Thank you!
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.
Follow Us on Twitter
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.
Recent Articles
-
Brookings
Nov 27, 18 04:03 PM
Brookings is a small city in Oregon which stands on the Pacific Coast Highway at the southern end of the Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor, one of the most beautiful drives on the Oregon coast.
-
Bandon
Nov 26, 18 03:33 PM
The small town of Bandon on the Oregon coast is big in what it can offer visitors, including some of the finest golf along the Pacific Coast Highway.
-
Astoria in Oregon
Nov 23, 18 06:24 PM
The small port of Astoria in Oregon sits right on Highway 101, the Pacific Coast Highway, at the mouth of the Columbia River where the river flows into the Pacific Ocean.
No words or images to be used without prior permission.
This website was built using Site Build It!
