Big Sur lies about 150 miles south of San Francisco and 300 miles north of LA. Why the name? In the early days this empty, wild area was called El Sur Grande, aka The Big South, a great name for this 90 mile, thrillingly rugged, awesomely beautiful tract of coastline between Carmel and San Simeon. Legendary landscapes await you, as majestic as they are stunning, and the scuba diving is remarkable.
Coast Gallery and Hawthorne Gallery are marvellous, ideal for picking up classy souvenirs.
There's so much to do here, you'll want to spend weeks exploring Big Sur in all her glory.
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Visit the Esalen Institute for a Big Sur hot tub experience you'll never forget
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Party the night away at the friendly Big Sur Taphouse, great service plus excellent craft beers
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Take the easy-to-handle, super-scenic Overlook Trail to the spectacular 80 foot high McWay Falls
Tanbark Trail and Hare Creek Trail. Pfeiffer Falls and the Valley View Trail. Junipero Serra Peak and Pine Ridge Trail. They're all Big Sur classics, all astonishingly beautiful, all delivering bucket loads of uniquely wild splendour.
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City Streets to Southern Beaches
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This is a popular wilderness retreat for artists and writers, loved by Henry Miller. The Beat Generation adopted it as their own and the area still attracts creatives, writers, musicians, mystics, new-agers and hippies.
Point Sur lighthouse sits atop a dizzying high rock to the north, giving safe passage to ships since 1889. It's just one of the area's countless attractions including:
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The extraordinary Sierra Mar restaurant
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The Henry Miller Memorial Library
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The beautiful Limekiln State Park
Capture the essence of the region through all three, then continue your epic-scale adventure into the Big Sur's great unknown and beyond.
There are no traffic lights, banks or strip malls, and when the sun goes down, the moon and the stars are the only streetlights.
It's that famous waterfall, the one that drops right onto the beach: visit Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park for one of the most extraordinary natural wonders on the Sur. It's absolutely drop-dead gorgeous there. Check out the extraordinary purple sand at remote Pfieffer Beach, only accessible via a tiny one-lane road. And discover the hidden gem of Partington Cove, with its old access tunnel literally blasted out of the solid rock. The short but incredibly sweet four mile Ewoldsen Trail takes you through some of the most heart-stoppingly pretty woodland in the entire area, studded with rushing streams, verdant and fresh, and easily accessible from the McWay Waterfall car park. The best of nature awaits you.
Bunter Spring Winery has a great reputation for a friendly welcome. And the exceptional Big Sur River hotel is the perfect place to kick off your shoes, lie back and relax with a long, cold drink. Imagine you're on the stunning Italian Amalfi coast... then times it by ten. This place is totally breathtaking. This really is big country. If you fancy getting married somewhere seriously special, forget Las Vegas. Why not do it with a bit of class and join celebrities Drew Barrymore, Anne Hathaway and Natalie Portman, all of whom have tied the knot in Big Sur?