(MONEY Magazine) – Like many people, I frequently travel to San Francisco and Los Angeles, either for business or to visit friends. But until recently, I had not driven between the two cities, a stretch renowned for some of the planet's most consistently breathtaking intersections of land and water. Figuring I was long overdue to fill this gap in my travel experience, I recently flew to San Francisco, picked up my Berkeley-based pal Karen and headed down the coast.

The central-California coastline is covered by Highway 1 (or, in local parlance, "the 1"--Californians like to append the definite article to their highway numbers), and it's even better than I'd imagined. It's so good, in fact, that I'd unreservedly recommend that anyone traveling to San Francisco or L.A. take a few extra days to make the drive. The 450-mile route has enough attractions to fill a weeklong trip, but even a bare-bones two-day itinerary will provide a lifetime's worth of stunning shoreline views. Karen and I chose an intermediate time frame, giving ourselves four days. Here's how it went.

DAY ONE We head south out of San Francisco, stopping in Pacifica to see what must surely be America's coolest Taco Bell. Overlooking an ocean cove, it allows customers to watch the sea while munching their chicken quesadillas. I figure if the junk food joints along the route are this scenic, then the nature attractions must be mind blowing. This hunch is soon borne out at James V. Fitzgerald Marine Reserve (California St., Moss Beach; 650-728-3584; www.eparks.net/parks/fitzgerald), a lovely tidal basin featuring sea anemones, rock formations and one very sociable harbor seal who entertains us as he swims offshore. But that's nothing compared with what we see later at Ano Nuevo State Reserve (New Year's Creek Rd., Pescadero; 650-879-0227; www.anonuevo.org), famous for its elephant seals. After a 1 1/2-mile hike, we see them sunbathing on the beach--hundreds of them, barking, snorting, flopping about and generally looking adorable while we gawk in rapt fascination.

DAY TWO We begin at the Mystery Spot (465 Mystery Spot Rd., Santa Cruz; 831-423-8897; www.mysteryspot.com), one of those endearingly hokey old-school tourist traps where balls roll uphill, trees grow sideways and people appear to shrink, grow and lean--great stuff. Then we hit Santa Cruz's boardwalk (831-423-5590; www.beachboardwalk.com), where we ride a gorgeous carousel, circa 1911, and the Giant Dipper, a wooden roller coaster that's been packing 'em in since 1924. From there we head south, stopping in Castroville to see the World's Largest Artichoke (man-made, not grown) and eventually arriving in Monterey, where we visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium (886 Cannery Row; 831-648-4888; www.montereybayaquarium.org), widely considered the world's finest. We marvel at the jellyfish, penguins, sharks and an incredible seabird aviary, and I make a mental note to come back in my next life as a sea otter, which may have the world's best job description: "Play around, be really cute, have fun." Afterward, we take a late-afternoon spin along the 17-Mile Drive (www.pebblebeach.com/17miledrive.html), which hugs the Monterey Peninsula's coast. Although the $8.25 toll is ridiculous, it's easy to see why this is considered one of America's most scenic routes: Every bend brings a new postcard-worthy view of the surf crashing against the rocks, with innumerable pelicans and cormorants soaring by--an idyllic end to a very, very good day.

DAY THREE We shoot out of Monterey and down the 90-mile stretch of coastline known as Big Sur, which is simply one of the most staggeringly beautiful drives I've ever experienced. I lose count of all the jaw-dropping vistas featuring cliffs, mountains, rocks and sea, and Karen jokes that I appear to have lost the ability to say anything besides "Oh, my God!" No toll either--take that, 17-Mile Drive! We stop along the way at Point Lobos State Reserve (Hwy. 1, Carmel; 831-624-4909; www.ptlobos.org), where we hike a nature trail filled with cypress trees, wildflowers and the now obligatory views of seals and sea lions frolicking in the surf below. Things shift from sublime to surreal in San Simeon, home of Hearst Castle (800-444-4445; www.hearstcastle.com), press baron William Randolph Hearst's unspeakably lavish monument to excess. It's an amazing place, as much for its priceless artifacts (a 15th-century tapestry here, a 3,000-year-old Egyptian sculpture there) as for its attestation to Hearst's megalomania, skewered so expertly in Citizen Kane. We indulge in a bit of excess ourselves by bunking at the Madonna Inn, a spectacularly over-the-top theme-room motel (see the box below) that's our own little road-tripper's castle.

DAY FOUR Temporarily putting aside thoughts of seals and surf, we begin the day in San Luis Obispo with a visit to Bubblegum Alley (Higuera Street between Garden and Broad; www.roadtripamerica.com/whatsit/76a.htm), an alleyway that local residents have been decorating with wads of gum for decades--gross, yet engrossing. Next stop: Ventura, whose main drag is packed with antique and thrift emporiums. I score a supercool vintage jacket for $5, and then it's on to Simi Valley, our last stop-off point. Unfortunately, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library has closed for the day, but we're able to visit Bottle Village (4595 Cochrane St.; 805-583-1627; www.bottlevillage.com), an eccentric sculpture garden created from bottles, car parts and other detritus. Like much of what we've seen on the trip, it's both beautiful and utterly transporting, making the rest of the world feel very far away--exactly the feeling I want as we drive the last miles to Los Angeles.

If Paul Lukas can't come back as a sea otter, he'd gladly settle for being a harbor seal.