BIG SUR, HEARST CASTLE, SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIA
Best Time to Visit California
Big Sur is one of the most beautiful stretches of California's central coast. To the south, the Hearst Castle and San Luis Obispo are two compulsory visits in the coast between San Francisco and Los Angeles. They are perfect examples of the famous California's Highway 1 landscape.
See:
Best time to visit the Big Sur-San Luis-Hearst Castle
When not to go to the Big Sur-San Luis-Hearst Castle
What to visit in the Big Sur-San Luis Obispo-Hearst Castle
Hotels and flights to Big Sur-San Luis Obispo-Hearst Castle
See also:
Best time to travel to Santa Barbara
Best time to travel to the Monterey Peninsula
MAIN GEOGRAPHICAL REFERENCES
WHAT TO VISIT IN BIG SUR, HEARST CASTLE AND SAN LUIS OBISPO
San Luis Obispo
Halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, San Luis Obispo is an excellent hub to explore the surrounding coast. San Luis Obispo's downtown contains excellent examples of Californian nineteen-century buildings and architecture.
Hearst Castle
44 miles north San Luis Obispo, the Hearst Castle - a former vacations home of the media magnate William Hearst - is an unexpected, extravagant and luxurious example of classical and medieval European architecture in the Californian coast.
The Big Sur Coast
The Big Sur coastline is home of the most famous stretch of Highway 1: here, sea and mountains form a marvellous, capricious and wild travel attraction.
See: California State map
BEST TIME TO TRAVEL TO THE BIG SUR COAST, SAN LUIS OBISPO AND THE HEARST CASTLE
Summer is the most popular period in this region.
California's Central Coast is hospitable and agreeable to travel most of the year. Fog often appears in the summer, and nights are cool near the coast. It almost doesn't rain in the Summer, and even in Autumn and Spring rainfalls are scarce (rainfall appears December through March).
But if you want to cheap hotel prices, Summer is the worst time. The best time, in this case, is from April to early June and in September and October, when the weather is often agreeable but the crowds have gone.
Along the coastline temperatures are often cool, even during Summer. Fog and cool breezes make coastal temperatures much higher than those of inland: in Salinas or Carmel Valley temperatures can be much warmer than those in the Big Sur Coast or San Luis Obispo.
Obviously, if you want to save in accommodation prices, winter is the best choice.
WHEN NOT TO GO TO THE BIG SUR COAST, SAN LUIS OBISPO AND THE HEARST CASTLE
If you want to avoid crowds and benefit from lower prices in accommodation, then avoid the most popular months and periods: the summer months and the holiday periods.
If you want to avoid packed periods, then do not visit the Big Sur Coast and San Luis Obispo in holiday times as Fourth of July Week, Spring Break (1st week of March until mid April), Memorial Day Weekend or the Summer Break (2nd week of June until 2nd week of August) and the President's Day... In the case of Hearst Castle visits, take into account that the Castle is closed in Thanksgiving, and in December 25 (though the Castle is specially decorated in the Christmas period) and January 1, and that the visit lines may be very long in the summer (in a time when temperature may tend to be high in the hilltop of the castle).
WEATHER DATA for THE BIG SUR COAST, SAN LUIS OBISPO AND THE HEARST CASTLE
See:
California Monterey weather map
California Los Angeles weather map
HOTELS AND FLIGHTS TO THE BIG SUR COAST, SAN LUIS OBISPO AND THE HEARST CASTLE
It's easy to get good accommodation in San Luis Obispo or even in some places of the Big Sur Coast.
