San Clemente was designed to look Spanish. When the developer Ole Hanson founded the town in the 1920s, he wanted a Mediterranean village on the California coast, and early deeds required white walls and red tile roofs. Many of those buildings still stand, on hills that slope down to the Pacific, and the town has kept a relaxed, sunny feel, with a long wooden pier, surf shops and cafés.
It also has a presidential past. Richard Nixon bought a house on the bluffs at the southern edge of town in 1969, La Casa Pacifica, which became known as the Western White House, and he hosted world leaders there and returned to it after he resigned in 1974. The house is private, but its location, above one of the best surf breaks in California, is well known. Trestles, at San Onofre State Beach just south of town, is a world-famous surf spot, and you will see surfers walking with boards along the beach trails.
As a fuel stop, San Clemente does the job easily, with stations right off Interstate 5, the main road between Los Angeles and San Diego. South of town lies Camp Pendleton, a huge Marine Corps base that keeps the coast undeveloped for many kilometres, and the freeway runs through open hills with the ocean on one side. North of town, the Pacific Coast Highway runs through Dana Point and Laguna Beach, with cliffs, coves and expensive houses, and it is a beautiful ride, although busy with traffic on weekends.
If you are on the way to the Angeles Crest Highway or Death Valley, you have a long day ahead. The Angeles Crest, Route 2, climbs from La Cañada Flintridge into the San Gabriel Mountains, with sweeping bends and big views, and it is one of the most famous motorcycle roads in California. Death Valley is much further, through the desert. Either way, fill the tank here, eat something and drink plenty of water.
The best times on this coast are the early mornings, when the light is soft and the roads are empty, and late spring, though June can bring a grey layer of fog known as June Gloom. Order a breakfast burrito, then walk out onto the pier and watch the surfers before you head inland.