Driving from San Diego to San Francisco via Los Angeles?

From San Diego go up I-5 to I-405 and stop at the Getty Center

Los Angeles has all the major tourist traps like Disneyland, Magic Mountain and Universal Studios, but try and take in some sights like the Getty Center. The Getty Center is one of the most impressive architectural achievements in the United States and it also contains some of the finest works of art in the world. Because if it's large endowment, it's free. You'll find Renaissance paintings, 20th-century American photography, graphic arts, Baroque sculptures, Byzantine illuminated manuscripts, and more, all amidst a sprawling, modern campus in the Santa Monica Mountains. The museum also offers spectacular views of Los Angeles on clear days. It also has one of the best restaurants in LA

http://www.getty.edu/index.html

If you want to do a Hollywood studio tour, take the Paramount Studio Tour. It's the only one that isn't an amusement park ride and actually lets you tour an actual working production studio.

http://www.paramountstudiotour.com/

Have lunch at Jerry's Famous Deli in Studio City.

http://www.jerrysfamousdeli.com/cgi-bin/cNc/showPa...

Continue up the 405 and take US 101 (Ventura Highway) west to Santa Barbara (their zoo is right on the ocean). Head up to the Central Coast by car on US 101 and switch over to CA 1 at San Luis Obispo.

Take CA 1 past Morro Bay to San Simeon and spend the night (there are a bunch of small motels there). The next morning, tour Hearst Castle. It's one of those places you must see before you die. You'll need to buy advanced tickets for your tour. I recommend the Upstairs Suites Tour.

http://www.hearstcastle.org/

After lunch, continue up the coast on CA 1 to Big Sur and the Monterey Peninsula. Stay the night and the next day visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Cannery Row. The Aquarium is where Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home was filmed. The aquarium's Kelp Forest exhibit is amazing.

http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/efc/kelp.aspx

http://www.canneryrow.com/

Then ride along 17 mile drive in Carmel and view the world famous Lone Cypress. From there, head to SF.

http://www.pebblebeach.com/activities/explore-the-...