California’s Ravishing Route 1: Hearst Castle, Big Sur, Monterey and Carmel

There are so many reasons to fly into Los Angeles and out from San Francisco if you’re travelling to California. Route 1, or the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH for short), which connects the two cities the slow way - via the coast - has been called the most beautiful road in America. That’s true at least of the stretch which runs the 350 miles from Los Angeles to the Monterey Peninsula, and also of the craggier stretch north from San Francisco to the redwoods.

But it’s not just scenery which makes a trip to the Monterey Peninsula worthwhile - there is just so much to see, do and enjoy on California's central Coast.

Two great cultural attractions which have made this area a must for tourists are the fabulous Monterey Bay Aquarium - surely the world’s best, with unmissable displays of glowing jellyfish and fragile seahorses - and the National Steinbeck Centre at Salinas, the hometown so evocatively portrayed by the author in East of Eden. Steinbeck also wrote about Cannery Row, still standing in Monterey, though now a tacky tourist strip rather than a row of bustling canneries, and there’s a nostalgic melancholy about the surrounding streets, named for the waves and surf which lap nearby over the moorings of Fisherman's Wharf.

An even greater attraction of the peninsula is the great beaches at Carmel and Pacific Grove, both within a couple of miles of Monterey and connected by the beautiful private road known as the 17-Mile Drive. But if you want to save the toll, each of the three peninsula cities is just five minutes apart from the next on the highway.

Whatever the temptation to rush for the beach, do plan an overnight stop at Hearst Castle on the way to Monterey. Taking the freeway from LA to San Luis Obispo to save valuable time, it’s less than a five-hour drive total to San Simeon, where the Hotel Morgan, named for the female architect who built Hearst’s fantastic hilltop compound, makes a comfortable oceanside base.

Nip along early to Hearst Castle, where the Imax film offers a fascinating introduction to the man and property on which Citizen Kane were based, before making the actual visit.  New self-guided tours are now possible, although first-time visitors will get much more out of their visit on the organised tours

led by guides.  Returners, though, and those who hate regimentation, will enjoy lingering in the gardens and the atmospheric tranquility of the golden hour between the end of the guided tours, when the self-guided visits begin,and sunset.

After drooling over the Roman pool, the antique furniture and the fabulous vistas from one of the world’s great houses, drive 90 minutes north past fantastic vistas of coast and clifftop to Big Sur.

At Big Sur, an outdoor lunch at Nepenthe may well be the most atmospheric meal you will enjoy in California. It’s worth waiting for two seats at the bench with heart stopping views of the Pacific and blue jays diving in and out of the intervening trees. Leave enough time to explore the New Age shop, one of the best in the state. If you really want to stay here, pricey Ventana Inn and Post Ranch Inn are the luxe options, cabins in Big Sur State Park and along the highway the best budget bets. Wherever you stay, book ahead to enjoy a romantic dinner at either Nepenthe (where you will find the fire pit lit) or posher, plusher Ventana.

Half an hour north lay the many joys of the Monterey Peninsula, including the quaint town of Carmel-by-the-Sea, where stars actually own hotels rather than stay in them. Clint Eastwood has taken over the modest Mission Ranch, while Doris Day has made the laid-back Cypress Inn a haven for dogs and their owners - the joint positively jumps during tea-time Yappy Hour!

No stars were in evidence, just luxury and very fine food at L’Auberge Carmel, the best reason to stay in rather twee Carmel apart from the beach. L’Auberge is the first Relais & Chateaux property to arrive on the peninsula and has brought a touch of chic to Carmel it hitherto lacked. Do splurge on one special dinner at the inn's Aubergine restaurant even if a full-blown stay is beyond your means.

It won’t totally break the bank to follow a visit to Monterey’s aquarium with dinner at C Restaurant, the romantic but fairly-priced wharf-side restaurant at the new Intercontinental Hotel, a few steps along on Cannery Row. Salinas catering options are more modest, but lunch at the Steinbeck House charmingly recalls the era of the author’s heyday.