Sea, Sun and Sand not enough for you? How about adding the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, fabulous shopping and the odd famous face? Now what more could you want? And what more could you get on a Californian Road trip?

In the next few articles we’ll look along the Californian coastline exploring what some of this versatile state has to offer.

Second Stop: Route 1 and Carmel.

After the bright lights of LA we cool off for a bit in quiet Carmel but to get there we need to travel along the famed Route 1, also known as The Pacific Coast Highway, which as I’m sure you’ve guessed runs along California’s coastline with part of the route being the breathtaking Big Sur.

But before that stop off at Malibu! Home to Sting and Barbara Streisand, it feels like a very exclusive place, however you can hang out at the Malibu Colony Plaza that has a few shops and cafes. It’s close to the entrance of the Malibu Colony, a strip of shoreline home to many big names. It is hard to get access to that area of the beach. But all is not lost as stars do go about their everyday life around the area, even stopping for coffee at the plaza!

It takes a whole day to travel from LA to Carmel, but it isn’t just hours straight in the car, there are plenty of other fabulous little places to stop at along the way. Like Cambria, situated right in the middle of LA and San Francisco. It’s a small town which today is home to many artists. A place called Main Street joins both the West and East Village and is lined with Shops, restaurants and galleries. It also has an adorable little candy store, filled with vintage sweets and chocolate. Very Kitsch.

Carmel.
On the Road Trip we are staying in Carmel for 2 nights. So that only leaves one full day to plan!

I would recommend visiting Pebble Beach Golf Course. An extremely famous and prestigious course, where the big Golf tournament the U.S Open has been held!

I know you are thinking, “Why on Earth would I want to go there?!” but I am not a big Golf fan either, in fact I absolutely hate it! My Dad however is a fanatic and he dragged me there and I was pleasantly surprised and it’s always great to have been to such a famous place even you’ve never heard of it before!

Leaving Pebble Beach are the Ghost Trees, unusually shaped and sun bleached trees that lay by the sea, it is definitely a photo stop!

After that you can head into the heart of Carmel. It isn’t the best place for shopping, as it is very high maintenance, with lots of expensive designer boutiques and small quaint little tearooms that are scattered around the pretty streets. Even in this small town you can still get your fame fix! Clint Eastwood has a restaurant there, ‘The Hogs Breath Inn’ and Doris Day has a hotel, ‘The Cypress Inn’.

Carmel is very different to LA. The town center is a mixture of English, French and American whilst heading out of the town it feels more like Cowboy Country. Carmel although the smallest was one of my favourite places on the trip and I hope it will be yours too.

Next Time we leave Carmel and head thorough San Francisco to Napa Valley.