North to South or S-N for best LA to Portland coastal trip?

North to South or S-N for best LA to Portland coastal trip?

We will shortly be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary, and have decided on a scenic coastal road trip on the west coast of the USA. It will be in April, and my query is:

Which is the best way to travel: Astoria, OR to Los Angeles, CA - or LA to Astoria? We will be hugging the coast the whole way, using Highway 1 in CA and route 101 in OR.

We have 12 nights for the journey, and I have planned where to stay each night, but need some advice (with reasons why!) as to whether we should fly to LA and drive north, or fly to Portland and drive south.

Thanks in advance for any help!!

DaviesUK

London, England.

North to South or S-N for best LA to Portland coastal trip?

Congratulations on 25 years together. I celebrated 25 years with DW last November on Maui.

No question you should start in the north and work your way south. The main reason is safety. By driving south, this keeps you from having to cross traffic to stop at the many scenic viewpoints along the way.

Den

North to South or S-N for best LA to Portland coastal trip?

I agree. Oh, and one other thing, hopefully you know that people with vertigo or car sickness can really be bothered by parts of the drive, so be prepared for that. I have done the drive only one time in my life because of that!

Definatetly North to South. Like said before, it%26#39;s a ton easier to get to all the pull-off areas...marked or non-marked ones (it%26#39;s really hard to see a small gravel pull-off and go across the 101 to stop at it when traveling North). Plus you might as well be driving as close to the ocean and scenery as possible (no cars whizzing by to ruin your view and pictures)

And, if the driver need not get ouy sometimes, the passenger will have a good photo - op if you pull to the right.

Don%26#39;t forget the Redwoods, you will be going right through them, with Jedediah Smith Redwoods just a few miles off 101 past Crescent City, CA....

http://www.mdvaden.com/album_Redwoods.shtml

Since you are taking such a long coastal drive, it will be a fine opportunity to make a photographic record or DVD to show your friends, who may also want to plan for a similar trip.

For a trip like this it%26#39;s well worth having at least a 10x (plus) zoom camera.

A 3x zoom digital just won%26#39;t capture the Pacific coast the same way.