Christmas in SF

Hi Everyone,

My husband and I have decided to spend our first Christmas away from family drama and are heading to San Fran and San Diego for the holidays.

We%26#39;re planning to fly into San Fran on Christmas day and leave from San Diego on January 2nd. I just have 2 major questions...

1 - what will the weather be like in both places

2 - how long of a drive is it from San Fran to San Diego? Can it be done in a day? Are there any sights that we MUST see?

Thanks in advance for all your advice and assistance.

Christmas in SF

Weather in SF will be cool and potentially rainy.

SD can be sunny or overcast but definitely mild.

SF-SD will be an 8-10 hour drive depending on your route, how fast you drive, and how many pitstops.

For places to see along the way, search for ';SF to LA'; ... it%26#39;s a common question.

Christmas in SF

for the central CA area just south of San Francisco, you should look at this article recently published in the Sacramento Magazine titled ';Road Trip to Romance: San Francisco to Monterey on Highway 1';: http://tinyurl.com/666poe

San Diego will be warmer than SF but still not beach weather. You will want sweaters and jackets for both places (unless you plan to go out to the desert east of San Diego but even then it%26#39;s cool at night).

I%26#39;ve driven it a number of times as my folks live in San Diego. I usually take Hway 101 all the way to LA and pick up the 405 to the 5. It is always 10 hours and my folks live in the north part of SD county. If you take Hiway 1 along the coast it will take a great deal longer.

Take care to avoid LA at rush hour. Although you%26#39;ll be able to use carpool lanes (where they exist) it%26#39;s still a nail-biter. Even Saturday/Sundays can be crowded.

San Luis Obispo (or a variety of the little towns in the area) make a nice half way stop. Or Santa Barbara. If the weather is nice a stop at Hearst Castle would be glorious. I did it one January and there were no crowds and no need for reservation. During the Christmas holidays it might be a bit busier.

If you take Hiway 101, try to stop at one or two of the California Missions. My favorite -- San Antonio de Padua -- is a bit out of the way but it%26#39;s on an army base and as a result the area around the Mission has not been developed and it%26#39;s a lovely spot. http://www.missiontour.org/sanantonio/

However, there are others in San Luis Opisbo, Santa Barbara, Solvang, Carmel ... well you get the idea.