Welcome to San Luis Obispo
Almost midway between LA and San Francisco, at the junction of Hwys 101 and 1, San Luis Obispo is a popular overnight stop for road-trippers. With no must-see attractions, SLO might not seem to warrant much of your time. Even so, this low-key town has an enviably high quality of life – in fact, it has been named America’s happiest city. CalPoly university students inject a healthy dose of hubbub into the city’s streets, bars and cafes throughout the school year. Nestled at the base of the Santa Lucia foothills, SLO is just a grape’s throw from Edna Valley wineries, too.
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San Luis Obispo activities
Hop-On Hop-Off Wine Tour from San Luis Obispo and Pismo Beach
S.L.O./Pismo Beach pickups are scheduled for 10:30-11:00am, picked up first and returned last. Your driver will call between 9:30-10:00 on the morning of service with your specific time. Returns begin around 4pm from your last winery. You should visit 4-5 wineries, depending on how long you stay at each winery and lunch plans. When you “hop off” your driver walks you in and introduces you to the tasting room staff who will guide you through your tasting experience. S/he returns in approx. 40mins, lets you know s/he is back, and if ready, you “hop on” and proceed your next chosen winery. If you are enjoying yourself, or not ready to go, they'll return. Typically you are shuttled directly between wineries throughout the day, so it almost feels like a private tour. Occasionally other customers may need to be picked up along the way, but, it's not like a city bus, stopping at every stop. They “hop-scotch” around the wineries.They service 70+ premier Paso Robles wineries, between the East side, West side & Downtown. The full list is available on the "Wineries" page on their website. Tasting fees vary at each winery. Note: due to poor traffic conditions, both sides for the same day are not possible.Gratuity is not included in your total but is greatly appreciated for your driver. 18% would be a standard amount. They ask that you pay the driver the gratuity directly if you are pleased with the service, as it is a considerable portion of their pay.If choosing the tour with lunch, include your order (Option #/Pasta or Salad) in the "additional info" section:#1-Lg. Salad w/Spring Mix, Shallot Vinaigrette, Roasted Beets, Grape Tomato, Cucumber, Manchego Cheese, Chicken BreastSANDWICHES (All Sandwiches are Prepared with Babe Farms Spring Mix on Rustic Ciabatta)#2–Chicken w/Goat Cheese, Toasted Pistachio, Red Grapes#3–Roast Turkey w/Fig Butter, Brie Cheese#4–Salami w/Pesto, Manchego Cheese, Roma Tomato#5–Vegetarian w/Smoked Gouda, Shallot Vinaigrette, Roma Tomato, Cucumber, Grilled ArtichokeSIDES–CHOICE OF SM. SALAD OR PASTASmall House Salad (Above-No Chicken)Pasta Salad-Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette, Tomato, Parmesan Cheese, Fresh Basil, Red OnionIf choosing the tour with lunch & tasting fees please review:You can choose 4 from the following (choose East OR West):West: AronHill, Croad, Dark Star, Doce Robles, Grey Wolf, Hope Family, Hunt, J Dusi, Midnight, Peachy Canyon, Summerwood or Red SolesEast: Bianchi, Eberle, Glunz, J. Lohr, LDT, Le Vigne, Pear Valley (not Sat/Sun), Rails Nap, Rio Seco, Steinbeck, Tobin James, Via Vega or Vina RoblesPlease include your choices, if any. If not, they will pick the route and you just chat with your driver about the wineries on the side they take you on the day of service.
Ultimate Wine Experience in San Luis Obispo
Start off your day by having a large breakfast or lunch before being picked up at your local lodging. You’ll also be provided your guide’s name, the vehicle to look for, and where to meet for boarding. After pickup, you’ll be off to collect a few more guests and then on to wine tasting. Enjoy a ride down scenic backcountry roads in comfort and style in an air-conditioned, private tour vehicle. Experience a leisurely paced tour, where you’ll get approximately 45 minutes at each winery.On the full-day wine tour, lunch is included so you get extra time at the second winery you visit. Enjoy your time with a tour operator savor a picnic lunch and a bottle of water. The lunch is sourced by top food purveyors and delivered fresh to the second winery on the tour. There you’ll take in the winery’s beauty, shade, shelter, and ample seating while eating artisan sandwiches, seasonal salads, and tasty treats. Dietary restrictions can be accommodated with notice prior to departure date. water is provided throughout the day and with lunch.Both the half- and full-day wine tours include the signature, “Deliciously Fun, Wine Education” by guides that are passionate about wine and sharing it with others. Learn the Five S’s: see, swirl, sniff, sip, and savor. Learn if you’re a sweet wine lover or a drier white or rose you like, perhaps even a lighter bodied reds like Pinot Noir or fruitier ones like Zinfandel and let's not forget all the inbetweens. At the end of the day, maybe you’ll know your palate better and have even discovered new favorites. If you’re just looking for a relaxing beautiful day in wine country, you don’t have to sit and listen.
San Luis Obispo Puzzling Adventure
Choose your own start time and embark on your adventure. With your smartphone as your guide, go on a brain-teasing and educational walking tour of your chosen neighborhood. Visit a series of locations and answer the questions or solve puzzles to receive your next instruction. There is no need to race as quickly as possible from start to finish. Part of the fun is enjoying the sights, sounds, and tastes of the tour. Before heading to your next location, you’ll have time to eat, drink, enjoy the sights, and use the bathroom while the game clock is not running. You’re only timed on your travel and puzzles. At the end of your adventure, see your rank based on a combination of your answers to the questions and game clock time.
2 days Monterey and California Coast Rail Excursion San Francisco to Los Angeles
This enjoyable trip transportation is by local sightseeing tour company with driver guide and by AMTRAK Long Distance train . Our customers like this arrangement instead of whole trip by bus. Day 1 - San Francisco to Monterey 154 miles: San Francisco to Monterey. Pick up from your hotel around 8:30 a.m. Departure by 9:00 a.m. Driving via Half Moon Bay or through Silicon Valley to Castroville. See miles of artichoke and strawberry fields with beautiful views of Monterey Bay. By midday stop at Cannery Row allowing time for lunch. Drive along the seaside flower gardens of Pacific Grove to 17 Mile Drive. See the ocean crash on shore and mansions and golf courses. Stop at Pebble Beach. Continue to Carmel by the Sea, the idyllic village with its art galleries and cottages set in Pine trees. Arrive at your hotel by 5:30.*Red Lion Hotel, Monterey. Day 2 - Monterey to Salinas and Los Angeles. 375 miles: After a relaxing morning, at 10:15 Sal's taxi (prepaid) transfers you to Salinas Train Station. This takes about 30 minutes. AMTRAK Train #11 that started in Seattle the day before now takes us through the Salinas Valley, center of Monterey Country's agricultural region. The route takes us by Salinas River through small towns, fields of lettuce, broccoli and acres of green houses. Suddenly by King City we see miles and miles of newly planted vineyards where just a few years ago there was only cattle pasture. The oil fields appear and then the military installations at Camp Roberts. Soon we reach historic Paso Robles. Leaving the level areas we now climb Cuesta Grade and drop down to sea level at San Luis Obispo. The ocean briefly appears at Pismo Beach. Heading south the rails go by Vandenberg Space station and near Goleta you see some of the most scenic ocean views all the way through Santa Barbara to Oxnard. Turning inland in early evening the train goes past miles of orange groves then through Fillmore and Simi Valley to Glendale and the great metropolis of Los Angeles. It is now about 9:00 p.m. as we arrive at the in the heart of Los Angeles at the Union Station that you may recognize from many Hollywood films. If you are staying in Los Angeles taxicabs to downtown locations cost about $20, twice as much to Hollywood, West Los Angeles, and Beverly Hills or to Los Angeles International Airport. If you are going further south the train connects to Surfliner #794 at 10:05 that arrives in Anaheim at 10:51.
California Coast and Monterey From Los Angeles to San Francisco - 2 Days
This enjoyable trip transportation is by AMTRAK Long Distance train and local sightseeing tour company with driver guide . Our customers like this arrangement instead of whole trip by bus. Day 1 - Anaheim or Los Angeles to Salinas and Monterey. 375 miles: On AMTRAK train leave Union Station, Los Angeles at 10:15 a.m. (or Anaheim at 8:07 a.m. for additional $15 per person). Riding through suburbs of Los Angeles we see Simi Valley and Fillmore, orange groves and green houses, reaching the Pacific coast at Oxnard. As the train hugs the shores we see the most magnificent vistas. West through Santa Barbara and then turning north at Goleta we pass by Vandenberg Space Station on the way to Pismo Beach. Fields of strawberries and miles of new vines are all around us as we ride north to San Luis Obispo. Soon the train chugs up Cuesta Grade and then drops down going to the horse ranches and pasture lands of Paso Robles. At Camp Roberts we enter Monterey County and run alongside the Salinas River. Oil fields give way to the Valley, one of the richest agricultural areas in California. Riding through one of the largest vineyards we come upon miles of broccoli, lettuce, flowers and berries. The train lets us off in Salinas where John Steinbeck chronicled the transformation of Monterey county from the days of depression to the wealthier times. Stay the night in Salinas or car transfer takes us past Laguna Seca to the ocean at Monterey Bay where Golf courses, mansions and scenic drives take over. It should be just after 7:15 in the evening. Check in at a hotel in Monterey on Munras Avenue Day 2 - Monterey Peninsula Tour and then to San Francisco. 154 miles: If you spent the night in Salinas a local resident takes you on very interesting visits to the farms, fields, and packing plants. At Steinbeck Center see the history of Valley of the World. Meet the travelers who stayed in Monterey at about 12:30 p.m. for a tour of Monterey, Cannery Row, Pacific Grove. See the Pacific crashing on to the rocks and swirling around on the 17 Mile Drive, where the Lone Cypress stands guard. Brush with luxury at the golf courses and resorts of Pebble Beach. Time in Carmel by the Sea for shopping & browsing. Around four we go east through Fort Ord and Castroville to Highway 101, turning north along the San Andreas fault line through Gilroy and Morgan Hill. Soon the artichoke and strawberry fields, green houses and pastures give way to the urban sprawl that emerges as we enter San Jose. The pace quickens and slows with the traffic as we drive with the San Francisco Bay on our right through the Silicon Valley, past the International Airport coming in to San Francisco after 7:30. The trip ends at your hotel.
2 days California Coast and Hearst Castle Tour from Los Angeles to San Francisco
This enjoyable trip transportation is by AMTRAK Long Distance train and small vehicle from Wine Wrangler. Our customers like this arrangement instead of a bus or a van tour. Day 1 - 9:00 a.m. Check in at Los Angeles Union Station for AMTRAK Coast Starlight train # 14 leaving at 10:10. Riding through San Fernando Valley you reach Pacific Coast at Ventura and continue on Santa Barbara Coast through the restricted Vandenberg Air Force Base from which rockets are launched. On through strawberry fields, small coastal towns and vineyards you reach San Luis Obispo at 3:30 or Paso Robles at 4:45. Short cab ride to your hotel. Day 2 - 7:40 a.m. Pick up by Wine Wrangler with a driver/guide in a small vehicle for a trip to Pacific Coast through Morro Bay to San Simeon for a 2 hour tour of Hearst Castle and then Elephant Seal Rookery with a picnic lunch. Return to San Luis Obispo to board Coast Starlight train leaving at 3:30. ride through Paso Robles, Camp Roberts, then along Salinas River past oil fields and vineyards. Riding through the valley a brief stop in Salinas then through fields of artichokes and strawberries to Moss Landing. See the unique Elkhorn Slough of Monterey Bay. The train crosses the San Andreas Fault Line near Gilroy and comes through San Jose and Silicon Valley to marshlands of ecological bird sanctuaries in the marshes of San Francisco Bay. Arriving in Oakland around 9:30 you are transferred to San Francisco. The time you spend on this trip and the places you see will remain in your memory for a long time.