he last stop worth mentioning on the way to San Francisco is Santa Cruz. The town is a one-hour drive north of Monterey and located on the northern end of Monterey Bay. The big draw here is the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, a seaside promenade/amusement park that has dozens of rides, arcades, miniature golf courses and everything else that families traveling with children could desire, not to mention a beautiful beach. From Santa Cruz it’s only a 1.5-hour drive north into San Francisco on Highway 1.