Three years after landslides and a road collapse shut down a 90-mile stretch of the Pacific Coast Highway, the full 655-mile route reopened on January 14. And now Time Magazine has named Highway 1 as “One of the World’s Greatest Places of 2026.”
This is the stretch people picture when they think of California: fog peeling off the Big Sur coastline at breakfast, burning off by the time you’re approaching Ragged Point. Elephant seals sprawling across the sand at Piedras Blancas like they own the place (they do). Hearst Castle perched above San Simeon looking like nothing else on earth.
Keep driving. Cambria has its art galleries and Moonstone Beach sunsets. Cayucos has the pier, the fish tacos, and a pace that’ll make you cancel the rest of your itinerary. Los Osos opens onto Montaña de Oro, where the wildflowers don’t seem to know they’re supposed to be a secret. Avila Beach turns south-facing and warm. Oceano has dunes you can actually drive on. Nipomo sends you off with world famous steak.
We might be partial, but we think Time got it right. The road is back. The towns are ready. And the elephant seals couldn’t care less — which, honestly, is the whole point.
Come drive it.
Read the full list of The World’s Greatest Places of 2026 at Time Magazine.
