Smart Traveller

Officially, California Highway 1 (also known as the Pacific Coast Highway or the US 101) is a 130 mile stretch of road between Dana Point and Oxnard in California but, when using the name, most people are referring to a route consisting of a number of highways that run along the west coast of the USA. The most famous section of this is a 405 mile winding coastal route which stretches from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

If you hire a car in Los Angeles you can drive to San Francisco to see attractions such as the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and Fisherman’s Wharf, whilst seeing some of the most beautiful views that the USA has to offer en route.

It will take you about nine hours to drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco via this route if you don’t stop, but there are so many things to see along the way that it’s best to take a few days in order to experience it properly. There are plenty of places where you can stay along the way, and doing this will provide you with a fantastic contrast between Californian city life and life in some of the small, picturesque towns and villages.

If you hire a car at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), you can join the route there and drive through the beach cities of Santa Monica and Malibu towards Oxnard. The seaside city of Oxnard has restaurants, hotels, cafes and shops, and you can visit the historic Heritage Square.

Continuing along the Pacific Coast Highway in your hire car will take you to the historic city of Santa Barbara, which was originally a Mission, and on to the small community of Morro Bay. From here, you’ll head on to the most scenic section of the route, which will take you through Cambria, past the famous Hearst Castle and on through the beautiful Big Sur area, which is famous for its rugged coastline and its wildlife.

The route then takes you to the seaside town of Carmel, which is a perfect place for a stopover, past the city of Monterey and on to Santa Cruz, which is famous for its beach boardwalk. From here, you’ll enter the San Francisco Bay area, where you’ll drive through a number of picturesque coastal towns, and into San Francisco itself.

After exploring the city, you can then either drive back to Los Angeles, return your hire car and fly back to Los Angeles, or finish your holiday here and fly home.

If you’re thinking of taking a roadtrip along the Pacific Coast Highway, car hire firm Easycar will allow you to pick up your hire car in Los Angeles and drop it off at San Francisco Airport.

Image courtesy of© Alexandr Tkachuk | Dreamstime.com

UK retailer Argos has got together with Monarch Holidays in order to offer you the chance to win a three night trip for four (2 adults and 2 children) to visit Santa in Lapland.

The prize, which includes return flights from Gatwick or Manchester (departing on December 3, 2008) together with your hotel accommodation, meals and activities, is worth £4,000.

You can enter the competition by visiting the Argos website and completing the online entry form. Entries must be received by 5 November 2008.

With Spanish airline LTE becoming the next in the seemingly long-line of airlines and travel operators to suffer from the downtown in the global economy, and a report yesterday on the Telegraph Online claiming that thousands of flights are likely to be cut from operators’ schedules between now and the end of 2008, train travel may become an increasingly popular travel method for holidaymakers.

For many of us in the UK, train travel is synonomous with the daily commute to work, and as far as holidays go, we only really think of the Eurostar.

However, travelling by train can be a great way to see the world whilst relaxing in comfort. The journey itself becomes the most important part of your holiday, making this form of travel a refreshing change from the norm.

It’s even possible to travel from London to Australia without flying, as you can travel as far as Singapore by train and then finish your journey by sea.

Anyone interested in train travel should visit The Man in Seat 61, a website operated by UK-based train travel expert Mark Smith. The site is a mine of information, with route suggestions and costings for train travel holidays around the world, together with photos of many of the trains mentioned.

In light of the air industry’s current difficulties, perhaps 2009 could mark the beginning of a new golden age of the railway?

Image courtesy of: © Dawn Hudson | Dreamstime.com