Here are some (of the many) activities and restaurants in and
around the San Luis Obispo area. Hope you enjoy!
PISMO
BEACH
A fun little Southern California beach
town about 15 minutes south of San Luis Obispo on highway 101. Aim toward the
pier and there’s some fun shopping close by as well as the pier and a long
sandy beach.
·
Pismo Beach Pier
100
Pomeroy Ave
Pismo
Beach, CA 93449
·
The best clam chowder at SPLASH CAFE (there’s
also a couple in San Luis Obispo)
Splash Cafe
197 Pomeroy Ave
Pismo Beach, CA 93449
·
STEAMERS has some great views and good seafood
Steamers of Pismo
1601 Price St
Pismo Beach, CA 93449
·
CRACKED CRAB is very good especially if you
love shell fish
Cracked
Crab
751 Price
St
Pismo
Beach, CA 93449
AVILA
BEACH
A smaller beach between Pismo and San
Luis Obispo. There’s a hot springs spa, Avila barn for some homemade goodies /
local fruits and veggie, and a beautiful, winding drive through the rolling
hills.
·
Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort
1215 Avila Beach Dr
San Luis Obispo, CA 93405
·
Avila Valley Barn
560 Avila Beach Dr
San Luis Obispo, CA 93405
·
See Canyon
You can
reach See Canyon Rd by taking the Avila Road/ San Luis Bay Dr exit just south
of San Luis Obispo off of Highway 101. Travel towards Avila Beach and a few
miles up on the right, you'll see See Canyon Rd. About 1/2 mile past the See
Canyon Rd turnoff San Luis Bay Dr ends at Avila Rd which means you've gone too
far. As far as apple farms go, the Daisy D is just three miles down the road
followed by the See Canyon Ranch (our favorite) and the Ruda Ranch which is
only 3.7 miles after the turnoff. Beyond the apple Farms See Canyon Road is
partially gravel and at times can be narrow. Although fine for passenger cars,
the drive is not for someone in a hurry, especially on the one lane non-paved
parts. You should allow about 45 minutes to get back to San Luis Obispo.
SAN LUIS
OBISPO (SLO)
It’s a beautiful small college town.
There’s lots of unique shopping, bars, and some great restaurants especially in
the several blocks of their downtown. If you happen to be SLO on Thursday
night, visit their amazing Farmers market.
·
Downtown SLO (this is a conveniently located
parking garage)
1260 Chorro St
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
·
The FREMONT THEATER is one of the most
beautiful historic art deco movie theaters still in operation. It feels like
stepping into old Hollywood
Fremont
Theater
1025
Monterey St
San Luis
Obispo, CA 93401
·
Hands down the best tri-tip steak sandwiches
(a local creation) is FIRESTONE GRILL
Firestone Grill
1001 Higuera St
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
·
WOODSTOCK PIZZA is good for a few slices and a
pitcher
Woodstock's Pizza SLO
1000 Higuera St
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
·
BUONA TAVOLA is a romantic and delicious
Italian spot
Buona Tavola
1037 Monterey St
San Luis Obispo, CA 93408
·
San Luis Obispo also has a SPLASH CAFE
locations (see Pismo Beach)
Splash Cafe Seafood and Grill
893 Higuera St
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
·
BARS DOWNTOWN: It’s been a while since I’ve
frequented these, but BLACK SHEEP, SLO BREWING CO, MOTHERS, and FROG &
PEACH PUB were favorites
·
THE APPLE FARM is a short drive from downtown,
but is has infamous an bakery, oh-so-cute shopping, and breakfasts worth
remembering.
Apple Farm
2015 Monterey St
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
·
MADONNA INN: There are very few words to
describe the gaudiest, pinkest place ever. It’s fun to just walk through the
public areas and gawk at it all. And don’t forget to hit the men’s public
restroom and its tropic waterfall urinal (yes, there’s even fake rocks).
The Madonna Inn
100 Madonna Rd
San Luis Obispo, CA 93405
·
Hike BISHOP’S PEAK. It’s a reasonably
strenuous hike to the top of one of the peaks overlooking San Luis Obispo, but
if you can climb the boulders at the very top, the view is the best you’ll get
anywhere. Below is a link to how to get to the trail head as well as info on
other SLO hikes.
MORRO BAY
/ LOS OSOS
A couple of small towns north of San
Luis Obispo on (or near) highway 1 and both are more reminiscent of Northern
California (versus Pismo which is all southern CA). There’s some beautiful coastline and hiking
too.
·
MONTANO DE ORO has some really nice hikes
along the bluffs over the ocean as well as a few small beaches.
Montana De Oro State Park
3550 Pecho Valley Rd
Los Osos, CA 93402
·
MORRO
ROCK is a gigantic slab of rock sticking off the coast and is really neat to
see. There’s a nice beach there too.
Morro Bay State Park
Morro Bay State park Road
Morro Bay, CA 93442
·
The only place we ate consistently at in Morro
Bay area was THE TACO TEMPLE and while the Mexican is very good, the carrot
cake is what we went for.
Taco
Temple
2680 Main
St
Morro Bay,
CA 93442
·
Even farther north on highway 1 are the towns
of CAYUCOS and CAMBRIA. Both are worth the drive with CAYUCOS being more a
beach town with a pier and CAMBRIA having more of a quaint town vibe set back
in the pines.
·
Just past Cambria is San Simeon and THE HEARST
CASTLE, an estate built by the Hearst family (the media mogul) and truly one of
the few places in the USA which rival the castles of old Europe. Pools rimmed
with gold tiles, private zoos, ancient art…you get the idea. It takes a good
portion of the day to see and is impressive.
Hearst
Castle
750 Hearst
Castle Rd
San
Simeon, CA 93452
PASO
ROBLES
North of San Luis Obispo on Highway
101 is the larger town of Paso Robles.
·
WINE TASTING: This area is becoming almost as
well known for their wines as Napa & Sonoma and the wineries are becoming
just as swanky. There’s so many new ones, it’s hard to recommend any one in
particular. The link below is a tasting trail “Near Highway 101,” but that website
has several other suggestions for alternate tasting trails.
·
FIRESTONE BREWERY: This is the local brewery
of choice in SLO and they have a tasting room (with tours sometimes) in Paso.
Firestone Walker Brewing Company
1400 Ramada Dr
Paso Robles, CA 93446
