My wife and I did this exact trip two years ago. In and out of San Fran, driving around and visiting Yosemite, over two weeks.
Re: that beach above, you can't get onto Julia Pfeiffer beach - it is a park or reserve or something, so you can wonder along the cliff path and take a picture but that's it. However the Big Sur drive is an absolute highlight and I would say a must do. That beach is just one of the stops along the way.
The way we did it was as follows – spent a day driving back from Yosemite to the coast at Monterey - really nice town. Day there and then left the next morning took in the Monterey peninsular en route to Big Sur (the peninsular is ace). If you are a golfer it’s really good as you can get into Pebble Beach and have a good nose around (it is a public course and there is no dress code for visitors). You can even play if you’ve got the readies (it was $500 a round when I asked! I didn’t play…)
We drove the Big Sur in both directions, which I think is worth it as you get both aspects of it. One day it was cloudy/foggy and we didn't see that much, then on the way back it was glorious. It's worth doing in both directions to get a contingency day as the weather/visibility is changeable to say the least.
There is a beach south of the Big Sur, once it all gets a bit flat, with elephant seals – really cool.
Car Hire:
- Don't get your hire car until the day you leave San Fran. The parking costs are mental and the public transport is excellent - you won't need the car until you leave town.
- GPS – is a god send. The road signage is garbage and who wants to faff with maps? We took our own Garmin and bought the north America maps as it was better value than renting one.
Other highlights:
In San Fran…
- Alcatraz, obviously.
- Breakfast at Dotties True Blue Café – worth the queue. Too cool for school locals will probably say it is too touristy now, and that may be but it was awesome. The area it is in is v close to the centre but quite run down, lots of homeless people hanging about.
- San Fran cable cars – great fun.
- Pub at the fishermans wharf with something like 80 draft beers. (need I say more?)
- Cycle the Golden Gate to Sausalito. It's an easy ride and you can get the ferry back. You can extend the ride further or ride back if you are both good cyclists. Good fun.
- Clam Chowder – not a euphemism (though you are on honeymoon…)
- Yosemite is SPECTACULAR. We loved it.
Make sure you get full on 100% Deet insect repellent - in the early evening there are lots of mossies. Fine during the day (we were there in late June, this advice may vary by time of year).
You have to book early if you want to stay in or near the park. We stayed in a nearby town and had an hour drive into the park in the morning. It was fine but may be better to stay closer.
The hike to the top of the yosemite falls is only a short distance but basically straight up! It's pretty tough but we thought worth it. We were woefully underprepared with inappropriate footwear, not enough water and only moderate fitness (the Mrs is especially unfit), but made it up and down OK and enjoyed it. Make sure you set off early enough as you wouldn't want to be caught up there as it gets dark.
The giant sequoia grove is still in the park but quite a long drive, it is probably half a day’s worth of activity so there and back in a day is fine.
- Napa Valley – if you like wine I would strongly recommend a day doing a wine tour. We used Platypus tours and they were pricey but excellent. Top (but pricey) restaurants available in Napa city centre with obligatory amazing wine lists, to continue the pickling well into the evening.
Things that were a bit meh:
- Santa Cruz. Big vagrancy and drug problem there. The town is very “different”, quite old fashioned. Was ok for a day I suppose hanging out on the beach and in the amusement park. Remember the Lost Boys, the town is just like that (I don't know if it was filmed there or not)
- San Jose – only visited cos an old friend lives there, it’s just a normal town without much going on.
- Crescent Bay (or something like that) – we only went to get away from aforementioned old friend (who has turned into a knob since moving stateside), and wanted to see some Californian surfers doing their thing. It was OK.
- the Ol' Faithful Geezer in Napa Valley.
Stuff I would have liked to have done but didn’t:
- Attend a sporting event. Was outside of football season and the Giants baseball team were on a road trip.
- Las Vegas – the drive was too far, it would have eaten up too much of our two weeks, will have to go back.
- Grand Canyon, as above.
- Mountain biking in Marin County – the Mrs isn’t a MTB’er.
- Head up the northern coast, above San Fran. We just didn’t have the time.
- San Diego – too far.
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