Big Sur: The Sublime Driving Holiday

Starting out of San Luis Obispo, south of Big Sur, my first major appointment was with the home of Newspaper magnate, William Randolph Hearst – Hearst Castle.

You must book in advance to see California’s most famous monument to wealth and power, as this 165-room homage to excess, is only viewable by extremely popular guided tours.

A few miles north is a piece of beach that offers close up views of a mainland breeding colony of the huge and loud Elephant Seals as they laze on the sand only a few feet below you.

Big Sur itself is simply stunning. There are no major towns along this 100-mile stretch of remote, thinly populated and spectacular coastline, so you can easily lose yourself in the sheer grandness of the region’s natural beauty.

There are plenty of state parks and reserves to feast your eyes on such as the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park were the 50ft McWay Falls drop straight into the sea. Ventana Wilderness is another popular spot with mineral pools at Sykes Hot Springs.

Throughout the region are wonderfully secluded boutique inns and hotels such as Deetjen’s Big Sur Inn.

You can understand why Henry Miller chose to live here!

Quick Tips:

Firstly, take your time! This scenic drive takes longer than it looks on the map, the journey from San Luis Obispo to Carmel is about five hours without stopping to look around – you want to spend a whole day at least to do it any justice at all. Preferably you would stay the night at some point along the way.

Make sure you have plenty of film for your camera, as you will be pulling over wherever possible to photograph as much of this awesome coastline as you can!

Above all, fill up at Carmel or San Luis Obispo before you start your journey, as petrol prices are exorbitant, we were going to stop until we saw the petrol priced at .39/gal and decided to risk limping into Carmel instead!

Try and bring your own food for picnicking, as this too is quite pricey here. The only cheaply priced café/restaurant we noticed was Café Kevah, underneath Nepenthe, but that had closed before we got there.

Other things to note is that most of the beaches are private, and swimming is discouraged as, apart from being cold, the water here has plenty of rips and undertows.

Best Way To Get Around:

The only way to truly do this journey justice is to drive, drive, drive!

This is one of the foremost driving routes in the World, it is made for driving and driving is the only way that you will be able to really appreciate the stunning natural splendour of this wild and rugged region…

With a car (preferably a convertible!), you can stop at your leisure at the many cliff-side vantage points to gaze in wonder as the slate grey Pacific Ocean crashes against the rock strewn cliff sides

If you enjoy driving, you will love this winding and curvy highway with its challenging banks and turns. Try and avoid the high season of summer however, as this is when this two-lane highway can become choked with holidaymakers – summer also brings fogs rolling in from the ocean, which can make driving this stretch of road a dangerous chore rather than the absolute joy that it's supposed to be…

Winter also brings the prospect of storms that can often close the highway to vehicles, so it is always best to check the weather before undertaking this long journey.

Greyhound runs a service through Big Sur.

Helmuth Deetjen arrived in California in the early 1930s, on the run from the authorities of his native Norway. He discovered the outstanding and secluded beauty of Big Sur at a time when Highway 1 had just been built.

He and his wife acquired land in Castro Canyon, which offered the privacy and isolation they were looking for.

Initially, Helmuth constructed a redwood barn to contain livestock and a workshop, with used material obtained from along Monterey's Cannery Row. This building is now the centrepiece of Deetjen's, as it is a restaurant with an extraordinarily romantic setting, offering hearty meals and a roaring fire!

Deetjen's became a mecca for Hollywood due to its inspiration and privacy, and people could come for weeks to hike, write, or sleep in the certain knowledge that they weren't going to be disturbed.

We happened by Deetjen's on our drive up the coast and stopped for a quick drink in the restaurant, warming ourselves by the fire. It really is a beautiful spot, but you have to wonder just what it is that "Grandpa" Deetjen was on the run for - perhaps we should be grateful, because without that reason, Deetjen's Inn might not have been built!

Over the years, with the help of prison labor, more and more rooms were added in the style of Helmuth's native Norway, and each of them was given a unique personality and name to match. All of the rooms were built from scavenged, locally milled redwood.

Check out the website for an insight into this magical place!

Nestled under the watchful gaze of the forest clad Santa Lucia Mountains and open since April 24th 1949, the hugely romantic setting of Nepenthe's* beautifully manicured gardens, outdoor terraces and restaurant perched on the edge of magnificent cliffs, high above the slate grey seas of the Pacific ocean, has beckoned enticingly for the last 50-odd years to the many artists, poets, travellers and lost souls that have passed through these parts.

Why not stay a while, relax and unwind with a fine glass of wine and an elegant meal in these wonderfully salubrious surroundings. Dine here in the evening and gasp with awe at the majesty of a Big Sur sunset as it sinks below the waters of the ocean!

Ever budget conscious, we were aiming for Café Kevah in a lower part of the same building, but this was unfortunately closed. Hungry and in need of sustenance, we resolved to eat at the more expensive but highly recommended Nepenthe.

Even in early spring, Nepenthe was so popular that we had to kick our heels for about half an hour in the tasteful tourist shop below. When it was our turn, we were seated at a table in the open dining room with stunning vistas of the ocean below near the open fireplace which, due to the chill in the March air, was sending much needed warmth our way as we eagerly plunged into our menus.

Since even the salads in the US are gargantuan I opted for the smoked salmon salad at $16 knowing that this would more than fill me. My partner plumped for Nepenthe’s own ‘Famous Ambrosiaburger’ at $12. These were served by friendly and professional staff who added to our contentment by looking after us perfectly. We both washed our meals down with a glass of crisp Californian White wine each (the sacrifices of driving!) whilst a gorgeous made to order sunset kept us company before finally saying farewell under the western horizon!

Both meals were excellent and well worth the money, the setting however was worth a million dollars - luckily we weren't billed for that!

* For further menu details follow the link to Nepenthe's website above.

Hearst Castle is the magnificent fantasy palace of William Randolph Hearst, the early 20th century’s answer to Rupert Murdoch and controversial muse for Orson Welles’s classic film Citizen Kane.

Overlooking the wild California coastline just before Big Sur, Hearst Castle stands imperiously atop the old camping grounds of the Hearst family.

Once the land passed into Hearst’s ownership, he envisaged more civilised surroundings for his visits, and in 1919 simply instructed the famed San Francisco architect Julia Morgan that he "would like to build a little something."

This great collaboration that was to last a lifetime created one of the world’s foremost private residences, always seemingly under construction, as Hearst changed his whims and added yet more outlandish and spectacular features to it.

Hearst renamed Camp Hill "La Cuesta Encantada"--the Enchanted Hill--and by 1947, Hearst and Morgan had created a massive estate of 165 rooms and 127 acres of gardens, terraces, and walkways--including two pools!

Hearst Castle is a cosmopolitan blend of differing styles. Casa Grande, the estate's beautiful main building, and three of the guest houses are of the Mediterranean Revival style, whereas the massive towers of Casa Grande were inspired by a Spanish cathedral. This blending and Hearst's amazing art collection combined so well that world-renowned architectural historian Lord John Julius Norwich was moved to say that "Hearst Castle is a palace in every sense of the word."

Before setting out for Hearst Castle, we had been warned to book ahead for tickets so as not to be disappointed, and duly did so. We were glad that we had, because despite being the morning of an off-season weekday, the gigantic mall-sized car park was already crowded and people without tickets were already faced with waits of well over an hour!

Everything about the Hearst Castle operation is massive, so much so that there is not just one tour, but five main ones, plus a host of other special-event tours! The main "Experience" tour for Hearst Castle novices explores most of the main features, including the gardens, the two swimming pools, and the ground floor of the Casa Grande; it lasts 1 hour and 45 minutes. This weighs in at a pricey $18, but is well worth every cent! In keeping with a man who was never one to turn down a fast buck, if you were to manage all the main tours, it would set you back a total of $78! No wonder they have trademarked "Hearst Castle" . . .

A quick drive along the coast from Hearst Castle is the home of one of California's largest populations of elephant seals. There are around 7,500 here and it is a year round home for the seals. Highlights include seeing females giving birth to their young, huge males battling for mates and young pups frolicking in the surf!

The best time to visit is around January/February when the females birth their young and the mating begins, peaking around Valentine’s Day (what a romantic lot!). The elephant seals can be visited from 8 am to sunset all year round.

There are often guides in blue jackets on hand to allow visitors to get up close and personal with these amazing animals. This is an excellent opportunity to observe these remarkable creatures in their native habitat and along the viewing areas are a number of excellent educational and informational signs.

The beach is easily spotted from the highway with ample parking and we had a fabulous time watching the seals doze in the sun and sand, and watch as one female became bad tempered and started chasing other females off around her with loud raucous barks.

The beach is maintained by the ‘Friends of the Elephant Seal’, a non-profit organisation dedicated to educating people about elephant seals and other marine life. Their office in San Simeon is located in Plaza de Cavalier and it's a great place to get more information, gifts and other goodies.

This makes a great stopping off point on the Big Sur drive!

One last word of warning is that these seals should under no circumstances be approached closely on the beach as they are wild animals that are prone to vicious attacks if felt threatened! Male seals can weigh at 5,000lbs -- do the math!

For more information, call 1-805-924-1628 or check out their .

Big Sur: From Sequoia National Park, on the way to San Francisco, one of the most ruggedly beautiful stretches of coastal road on the planet.

Getting up early, as we knew we had a long day ahead of us, we left San Luis Obispo by 8am and took Highway One heading north. At San Simeone we stopped for a huge breakfast at an excellent restaurant, which I think was called the Cavalier - it was certainly the coastal side of the road at any rate.

Next was our first major appointment at Hearst Castle. This was a wonderful experience and is covered in full under my must-see activities. Just a bit further along is the Elephant Seal colony at Piedras Blancas, where you can watch and find out about these magnificent creatures.

Distractions aside, we headed further into Big Sur and marvelled at the spectacular views on either side of the road, stopping briefly at the many vantage points and attractions along the road as detailed in my tips.

It was somewhat unfortunate that we only had one day to experience this wonderful untamed coast, as we were a bit rushed towards the end as it grew dark and we knew that the beauty of Big Sur was being shrouded from our sight by the advancing night.

About this point we were rudely awakened by the fact that our need for petrol meant our potentially becoming victims of the most expensive petrol station in the USA! On principle, I drove on even though we were running on empty, and it was a nerve-wracking drive to Carmel. We found a decent B&B almost immediately and settled for the night.

The next day we took a tour of the world-famous Monarch Butterfly groves in Pacific Grove that gives the town its name before taking a tour round the foreshore of Carmel and Monterey and Cannery Row, before heading off to San Francisco…

Fondest Memories: Highlights had to be the amazingly opulent Hearst Castle - a must see if you're in this area!

The sheer beauty of Big Sur is difficult to quantify, except to say that it definitely compares favourably with the 'Great Ocean Road' in Australia as one of the most impressive coastal roads in the world - this might have been because during early spring there wasn't much traffic, and you definitely felt a world away in an untamed wilderness.

Other places I would really recommend visiting are Nepenthe Restaurant, which was a fabulous experience as the sun set, and the art gallery across the road.

If you're looking for a stand-out place to stay, try Deetjen's, as its cabins really capture the essence of Big Sur.

All of these places are covered in my tips - enjoy!