Why should you stop in San Luis Obispo on your California road trip? This comes up a lot in travel forums. Visitors to California want to know where they should stop for the night when traveling from Los Angeles to San Francisco. What is the halfway point?
The answer is San Luis Obispo. Three and a half hours from DTLA (in light traffic) and three hours, forty five minutes from SF (again, light traffic), it cuts that road trip nicely in half. And, it’s a great place to visit! That’s why you should stop in San Luis Obispo.
SLO is a destination all on its own – no need for the 7 hour drive to make a stop here. It’s a beautiful college town with a great vibe and a lot of California Mission history. Founded by Junipero Serra in 1772, SLO is one of California’s earliest communities – though the Chumash people were here for thousands of years before the Europeans showed up.
SLO is a great waypoint on your road trip because there are plenty of hotels, good food, and you can also do some sightseeing without taking yourself too far off of your itinerary – or you can easily build it into your itinerary as a destination.
It’s a good standalone destination because it makes a great home base for Central Coast sightseeing. If you take a look at San Luis Obispo on a map you’ll see that it lies where Highway 1 and CA 101 intersect, making it uniquely situated for travelers who want to explore the nearby coastal communities.
Avila Beach and Pismo beach are nearby. Morro Bay is about 20 minutes away. You can get to Hearst Castle in less than an hour, stopping in Harmony and Cambria as you go.
Wine country is all around you in SLO, with an Urban Wine Trail within the city of San Luis and several stunning wine trails in the surrounding area. The Paso Robles wine region lies within SLO county and includes hundreds of wineries across 40,000 vineyard acres.
Take yourself to Jocko’s in Nipomo for a steak (make a reservation or prepare for a very long wait) Cayucos for blue corn waffles, or eat at one of many great restaurants in SLO.
If you are in San Luis Obispo on a Thursday, do not miss the evening Farmer’s Market.
You should stop in San Luis Obispo if you are road tripping in California.
Table of Contents
Stop in San Luis Obispo: Getting There
Flying In
SLO does have an airport but it’s a small non-hub facility. Some large airlines route through it but it may not be that easy to find a cheap and convenient flight into San Luis directly.
Bakersfield can be a good option, depending on where you’re connecting from. There are car rental counters on site at Meadows Field and the drive from Bakersfield to San Luis is about 2 hours 15 minutes.
The closest big international airport is LAX. San Jose is also a good option and easier than driving in from Los Angeles.
By Train
The Amtrak Pacific Surfliner runs between San Diego and San Luis with multiple departures each day. Fly into San Diego, send a couple of days at the beach and the zoo, then hop a train to San Luis Obispo stopping at Disneyland and Santa Barbara along the way.
Driving
Again, two major freeways intersect in San Luis Obispo so it’s a driver friendly spot to stop. If you’re traversing the state north-south on I-5 you just have to take any highway that heads west and you’ll eventually get to 101 which will lead you straight in.
Stop in San Luis Obispo: Where to Stay
Our very favorite place in San Luis Obispo and maybe the entire state is The Madonna Inn on Madonna Road right off of the 101. This ultra kitschy motel first opened in 1958 but burned down in the ‘60’s. It reopened and became famous for the ornate and sometimes bizarrely themed room decor. Every room is different, with names like Cuernevaca, Swiss Rock and Barrel of Fun. Some are cavern-like, completely made of rock. Some have waterfall showers.
The Madonna Inn coffee shop offers fantastic baked goods and comfort food while The Alex Madonna Gold Rush Steak House has a more pared down, upscale menu. We love the rock candy stir sticks that are served with iced tea in the Inn’s collectible colored glass goblets. The champagne cake is a fan favorite.
The Inn also offers horseback riding, walking trails and easy freeway access for your trips around SLO county.
Though not nearly as fun as the Madonna, The Apple Farm is another SLO institution. The guest rooms are comfortable and the property is lovely. The onsite restaurant is probably more well known than the hotel and is famous locally for pastry wrapped baked apples. Room rates are quite reasonable, especially during down times and the hotel is conveniently located off of the 101 about a mile from the Mission San Luis and about a mile in the other direction from Cal Poly.
A couple of great options that are sadly without themed rooms but offer a nice, clean, quiet place to rest your head are Quality Suites Downtown San Luis Obispo and the Embassy Suites by Hilton on Madonna Road. For something upscale in a great location try the Hotel Cerro.
Stop in San Luis Obispo: Things to Do
Visit the Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa at 751 Palm Street.
San Luis Obispo was the 5th mission founded by Junipero Serra in 1772. As with most of the mission buildings in California, this mission has undergone significant decay, change and restoration over the course of its lifetime but is now a stately beauty that stands at the heart of San Luis. There are some historical displays inside the building that visitors to the church can wander through. It is still an active parish with masses being said regularly.
Shop, eat and drink on Higuera Street
There is a good mix of chain retail and locally owned shops on Higuera, including a large Barnes and Noble and Lush, and a recently added Brandy Melville store.
Don’t miss Rocket Fizz, the super cool candy and soda store at 699 Higuera. Stock up on nostalgia candy and Ramune soda – and don’t forget the bubblegum, you’re going to need it.
Before you leave Higuera, make sure you stop at what is arguably the most famous and most gross tourist attraction in all of SLO County: Bubblegum Alley.
Bubblegum Alley is exactly what the name implies: an alleyway coated in a layer of chewed up bubblegum. You have to stop by and stick your gum on the wall. I’m sorry, it’s the law. 733 Higuera Street.
Hike Bishop Peak
The most well known hike on Bishop Peak is a 3 mile loop known as Felsman Loop Trail. Get to the top and be rewarded with sweeping views of San Luis Obispo County and beyond. The official entrance is on Patricia Drive near Anacapa Circle. Enter on Patricia Drive and follow the sign. It’s a short trail but fairly strenuous, use good outdoor sense – take water, take snacks, tell someone where you’re going. More info here.
Go Bowling at Cal Poly
Mustang Lanes is open to the public except 9am-5pm Monday-Thursday when school is in session. Located on the bottom floor of the Julian A. Mcphee University Union (UU) on the Cal Poly campus. Find a map here.
Take the kids to Sinsheimer Park and the San Luis Obispo Children’s Museum
Sinsheimer park recently reopened after an extensive and spendy remodel and by all accounts it is a huge hit. It features an artificial grass hill for cardboard sledding, a miniature zipline, a climbing wall, a snowboard simulator and swings. 900 Southwood Drive
The Children’s Museum is a fun stop for your littles who have tagged all day while you shopped at Sephora and they were soooo bored Mom and why can’t they ever do what they want to do, jeez! Also it’s close to Bubblegum Alley so get them some Big League Chew at Rocket Fizz and let them go nuts. 1010 Nipomo Street
Go the the beach
There are several good beaches within easy driving distance of San Luis but the closest and best one is Avila. It’s 10 miles up the road from San Luis and though it lost most of the ramshackle beach town charm that once made it so special, it’s very kid friendly since they completely demolished and rebuilt the waterfront two decades ago. There’s actually a playground and a nice bathroom. Sometimes there are carts selling shaved ice! The best part about Avila is that it’s almost always sunny even when it’s grey and murky in Pismo or Morro Bay. Go early, follow the signs for parking.
And while you’re in Avila check out the Avila Valley Barn at 560 Avila Beach Drive. It’s a combination fruit stand, u pick farm, sweet shop, bakery, petting zoo and cool spot to take the kids. Be aware that this place gets bananas around Halloween because of the pumpkins and it’s a good idea to get there early although parking is more plentiful than it seems from the road.
San Luis Obispo is a beautiful place to visit with a rich history and would make a great place to stop whether you meant to go there or not.
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