36 Hours in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

Just a minor correction - there are upwards to 300 wineries in the county and counting. Thanks for an article that reminds locals how wonderful their city and county are!

I've passed through twice driving the coast on my way up to Carmel and SF. Both times I told myself I wanted to spend a few days there when I go back. It also seemed to me the best place that trip, though I started further south.

Those 36 hours have a lot of driving! Why not focus on each town in segments, instead of driving back and forth from what we call north county to south county? Gas is expensive around here! :) Or, since the article is "36 Hours in San Luis Obispo", actually spend that time in the town? There is a lot to see and do in San Luis Obispo in 36 hours.

I'm sorry to have to take issue with your description of our downtown core. I may have missed them, but I do not remember seeing lots of palm trees downtown to the effect of looking like a shopping mall. We have 40 year-old Ficus trees planted in front of the circa late-1800/early-1900 buildings serving as stores and restaurants, a beautiful but very low creek that meanders through the core, and a delightful area in front of the Mission.

Finally, we don't call our town "SLO" in conversation. Dead giveaway you are not a long-time local. We do shorten it to 'San Luis', and will write SLO to save time. But saying, "I live in SLO" usually is heard being said by one of the college kids.

Thanks for highlighting our little corner!

Really, you don't want to come, it's boring. Please, don't come.

There's not really much to see, but James Dean nuts, like me, might want to drive about 45 minutes inland from SLO to the intersection of highways 41 and 46 where he was killed in a car crash in 1955. The memorial there isn't much but the site gives fans an idea of how wasted Dean must have been and how fast he was driving to hit a car that could have been spotted from many miles away.

I see it. I just don't know why you'd want to advertise it like this . . .

Yikes!!! First it was the road trip last week up 1 to Capitola and now this article.
Yes there were some good directions and as you suggested some great eating spots, yes we are on drought alert. Don't ask for water!!! But give some cred to the people who make up this great spot. Yeah there are lots of students,SLO is a university town, yeah you better bring money if you plan to eat at places were the chefs were trained by Alice Waters.
There are still some fine places that are here in this area. Down home people and great vistas. A bottle of wine, crusty bread,cheese over a campfire, with the surf in the background can still be found on the cheap.

Wildflower season and green hills are a temporary phenomenon, long since gone for this year. If you come between now and next December, it will be bone dry or still browned over, quite unsightly to any Easterner's eyes. The smugness of the locals interviewed, all of whom have an economic interest in making things sound great, is offensive to us locals whose tax dollars are spent attracting rich people who are wrecking the place this once was. SLO is well on its way to becoming just another LA-like place, with less smog at the moment, but for how long? As for being the happiest place, that's history; today long-term homeowners are leaving in droves, and the homeownership percentage is similar to that of Isla Vista, the notorious student housing enclave adjacent to UC Santa Barbara. The town's only for the rich, or rich wannabees, who will need some out of town money source since local jobs pay notoriously little since this is such a "happy" place and we're supposed to be happy to work for crumbs.

I'm sure it's the format, but the driving involved in your suggested 36 hours is absurd. One of the GREAT things about the Central Coast is the lack of Eastern and LA-style traffic. But why would you spend all your time on the road? You can spend a very busy enjoyable weekend in downtown SLO and not even get in your car. Then stay another week and go to the other places on the tour and stay there too. They are all great, but the article was supposed to be about San Luis Obispo.

More winery details for SLO here http://www.californiawineryadvisor.com/regions/view/San_Luis_Obispo.

The Madonna Inn has an excellent pool for young kids that aren't swimming yet. There is also a great kids museum in the downtown area.

The central coast was great in the 60's. Tourists have ruined the place and this article will make it that much worse...

Spent 10 days in SLO County last month, stayed in SLO, and had a great time. Downtown SLO is badly mischaracterized in this article. It is attractive, with a wide variety of retail, a very responsive CofC place with lots of visitor info, with a creek running through downtown, and one of the old Spanish missions. There is fine dining to be had, completely missed by the article.

There are, in fact, shopping centers with chain stores in southern SLO, but indoor malls would be superfluous. Weather was lots warmer than average, and I needed to buy some lighter shirts.

Still, it would have been useful to have this in hand before visiting.

I was a bit irritated to see the article. You see, SLO county is my secret winter vacation spot - a retreat from the miseries of Upstate NY winters - and I don't want the secret of just how wonderful it is to get out.
Nevertheless, I picked up quite a few good tips for next year's vacation - thanks for that.
Here's one you missed - SLO county is just about the further place south on the Pacific coast that you can get fresh, right off the boat dungeness crab. Try Giovanni's in Morro Bay - they'll cook a live on just for you.

Favorites

Kayak the back bay of Morro Bay not Pismo

Take the hike from Montana de Oro to Diablo Canyon or the Lighthouse tour both on PG and E property . Both require reservations but are free.

Galley in Morro for seafood. Buy smoked fish at Togazzini's.

Stay in Baywood not SLO.

Claiborne and Churchill Winery for Alsatian whites.

The only thing that is missing from SLO is large trees. If you love trees, you should come to Mendocino rather than SLO. It's a bit further up the coast, on the north coast as a matter of fact, but the beauty is unparalleled.

Ow, ow, ow. This made me homesick--and the descriptions here aren't even the half of it! The Central Coast is a truly magical place: good people, beautiful landscape, the best of indoor and outdoor living, and just generally a wonderful lifestyle. I miss it like crazy.

I visited SLO many times from the early 90s through 2006, and last month I went back for the first time in 9 years. SLO is great, but this video is nothing but slick, superficial, chamber-of-commerce garbage. It does a real disservice to the people and character of the city.

Love SLO. I still remember it more fondly back in the early 80's when I was there as a student....back when the town had no national chains and had more of a local central coast feel. Upon a return visit years later, I cringed when I saw one of those trolley shuttle buses up and down Marsh St. It is still a great town and is located in a beautiful area, but I would hate to see it lose all of its Central Coast charm as it gets overrun by tourists.

Downtown SLO a "mall with palm trees" not at all, and a much more enjoyable experience than Paso, also we just gonna skip Cayucos and Cambria?

Ah yes. Pork Belly, charm and custom-made pillow-top mattresses - how charming, how like any other cutesy area in America. I'm curious. Does anyone else here wonder whatever happened to real road trips?

The entire California coast from Santa Barbara north to Big Sur is a fantastic area to visit; we last visited in late March 2014. But the reality is that California has lived on borrowed water for decades...and now the bills are coming due.

Oh ouch! A mall with palm trees? San Luis Obispo has a unique and beautiful downtown - with all due respect to Paso Robles.

Very nice! You hit many of my 'FAVES' - and visitors can find more, too.

Naturally speaking however, there is NO 'Spanish moss' on the coast live oaks in California. Spanish moss is a flowering plant related to pineapples and may be found (in the USA) in the southeastern portion of our country living on southern live oaks.

Our 'Spanish moss look-alike' is not even a vascular plant - but a lichen. Lace lichen, Ramalina menziesii.

Visit and see for yourself!

There are many fine wineries around Paso Robles-- Peachy Canyon, Tablas Creek, Proulx to name a few. Beautiful countryside as well, far enough from SF and LA to avoid overdevelopment. A terrific place for a weekend.

Great list! My biggest recommendation would be to bundle your activities according to the regions of the county North (Paso Robles, Templeton, Atascadero, Santa Margarita, Cambria), Central (San Luis Obispo, Los Osos for Elfin forest and Montana de Oro, Morro Bay), and South (Avila, Pismo, Arroyo Grande, etc)-- that way you aren't spending too much precious time driving back and forth.

You missed some of our favorites! Novo for creekside dining http://www.novorestaurant.com; San Marcos Creek Winery for the best Red Table Wine http://sanmarcoscreek.com; and Emily's Cinnamon Rolls for the best gluten you'll ever have http://www.emilyscinnamonrolls.com. And how could you miss Cal Poly? http://calpoly.edu

Downtown SLO "a mall with palm trees"? Sorry, no palms to be found, no mall like features either. My advice: head downtown, and immerse yourself in a dreamy dose of the Central Coast.

Arroyo Grande is most definitely not 45 minutes south of SLO. It's about 20 minutes, at most. Other than that, a pretty good article on one of the best places on Earth. Too bad it's difficult to find a job that pays a living wage!

How lucky I was to spend 5 years in this truly special place! SLO is a MUST visit for anyone traveling along the central coast of California.

Where to stay?? You forgot the Madonna Inn! And if you are there on a Thursday night there's The Most Amazing Farmers Market.

One summer we spent a delightful evening in SLO after winding our way down Hwy 1. It was a Thursday evening and they had a farmers market / faire with food, music, etc. Tons of fun.