Southern California San Diego traffic questions

[mackeymouse4eva]

We will be visiting Anaheim but will travel to San Diego to spend one night. It will be a whirlwind trip so we would like to get an early start to the day.
*is it counterproductive to head out early? Im not sure how bad the rush hour traffic is? Would it be better to not leave at crack of dawn and delay our departure to avoid traffic?

*should we go the PCH fron Anaheim area to SD. Is this a nice stretch? Less congested? Good stops along the way?

*how long does this route typically take?

*finally....once we leave SD we will head to Carlsbad....approx how long for this?

This will all be on a Mon/Tues
TIA !!!

 

[alex881]

We just drove to SD from OC (about 20 min south of DL) last Friday. Traffic isn't bad heading to SD, just the opposite way. I would definitely head out early since there is so much to do there. We particularly love Old Town and the food there but that's just one of the many things.

I think Carlsbad is about 30-40 minutes north of San Diego but I don't remember now.

If you have time, then take pch but after Dana point, I5 is your best bet all the way.

 

[Plaid Princess]

We will be visiting Anaheim but will travel to San Diego to spend one night. It will be a whirlwind trip so we would like to get an early start to the day.
*is it counterproductive to head out early? Im not sure how bad the rush hour traffic is? Would it be better to not leave at crack of dawn and delay our departure to avoid traffic?

That depends on your idea of early. To beat traffic you'll want to drive before 7:00am or after 9:30. There's no guarantees though, because of the Marine Base at Pendleton, there's no way to reroute traffic if there's an accident on that stretch of I-5.

*should we go the PCH fron Anaheim area to SD. Is this a nice stretch? Less congested? Good stops along the way?

You could. It's not nessecarily less congested, and you're driving a fair bit out of your way to reach it. Plus, you will have to cut back over to I-5 to pass through Camp Pendleton. In the sections of PCH you'd be driving there's not really anything in particular to stop at. Just lots of pretty views.

*finally....once we leave SD we will head to Carlsbad....approx how long for this?

Anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour+ depending on traffic.

 

[Purrkins]

Might want to look into the train - it's a lovely ride, and if you are just coming for a day it might be what you need. The Pacific Surfliner is the one you want.