You can start the scenic drive along the coast by taking Pacific Coast Highway to Palos Verdes Boulevard in Torrance. Head south (turn right if you’re coming from Redondo Beach, left if you’re coming from the 110 freeway or Long Beach). It becomes Palos Verdes Drive West when you pass Malaga Cove Plaza (but see “Watch Out!”, below).

To reach Malaga Cove from Palos Verdes Drive West, turn right at the first street past Malaga Cove Plaza (Via Corta), then right again on Via Arroyo past Malaga Cove School (with its distinctive tower) to Paseo del Mar.

To get to Lunada Bay, look for the parking turnoff just after Palos Verdes Drive West turns into a divided road (the turnoff provides a nice view from the southern end of Bluff Cove). At the parking area, turn right onto Paseo del Mar (this is a different Paseo del Mar from the one that leads to Malaga Cove). Ignore the sign that says “Lunada Bay”; following it will take you along Palos Verdes Drive West to the residential area and shopping arcade named for Lunada Bay. Take Paseo del Mar past Rocky Point Road until you get to what looks like a stretch of undeveloped land to the right (on weekends there probably will be lots of cars parked there). This is Lunada Bay; it’s marked only with a small trident “shoreline access” sign. You can hike down one of the steep trails to the ocean. Past Lunada Bay, Paseo del Mar turns into Paseo Lunado before it rejoins Palos Verdes Drive West. Turn right to continue to Point Vicente.

To get to the cliff-top trails north of Point Vicente from Palos Verdes Drive West, turn onto either Calle Entradero or Via Vicente. Follow either road as it curves toward the ocean, and park on the street. Walkways lead from the road to the trails. Via Vicente (the southern entrance) has a traffic light and is a westward extension of Hawthorne Boulevard.

From the Wayfarers Chapel and Abalone Cove, you can continue south on Palos Verdes Drive South through the Portuguese Bend Landslide Area. Do heed the speed limit signs, since the road is bumpy, full of dips, and constantly under construction. Once you get into San Pedro (actually the City of Los Angeles), the road changes its name to 25th street. Continue on to Gaffey Street and turn right. You’ll get to Angel’s Gate Park and the Korean Friendship Bell (on the right) before the road ends at Point Fermin Park. Coming back, simply head north on Gaffey Street until it turns into the 110 freeway.

If you don’t want to continue to San Pedro, you can head back toward Point Vicente and continue to Hawthorne Boulevard. Turn right and head up the hill for some very nice “high altitude” views of the Peninsula and the ocean. Going down the hill you’ll get a panoramic “city view” of the entire Los Angeles basin.

In keeping with its original concept as an exclusive planned community, the City of Palos Verdes Estates strives to maintain a tranquil and rural setting that’s unusual in Los Angeles County. There are no traffic lights anywhere in the city, and the maximum speed limit is 35 miles per hour (56 km/h).

The intersection at Malaga Cove Plaza is a shameful travesty of road design, where several divided roads converge with no helpful signs or traffic lights. It’s diabolically hazardous and confusing even to long-time Peninsula residents.

Driving south on Palos Verdes Boulevard from Redondo Beach and Torrance, get in the left lane after you turn off Pacific Coast Highway. That way you’ll have an easier time when the road becomes a single lane as you enter Palos Verdes Estates. Just look out for vehicles in the right lane accelerating to merge as that lane disappears. As you round the curve and pass Malaga Cove Plaza (on your left), head for the middle lane as you approach the stop sign at the south end of the Plaza. That is the only lane going straight through to Palos Verdes Drive West. You probably won’t notice the rather inconspicuous sign that shows where the lanes lead— it’s about 50 meters from the intersection on the right edge of the road, under a large tree that isn’t always trimmed.

If you blinked when you passed that sign, arrows painted on the asphalt just before the stop sign are the only other indications of where each lane goes. If there’s any traffic, the queue of cars at the stop sign will cover the arrows and you won’t see them until it’s too late to change lanes. If you weren’t confused about which lane to use, you surely will be confused about who should proceed next through the stop signs scattered all around this very wide intersection. Look very carefully in all directions before proceeding!

While the Peninsula’s other three cities have contracts with the Los Angeles County Sheriff, Palos Verdes Estates vigilantly protects its tranquility and seclusion with its own highly professional police force, equipped with state-of-the-art laser radar. Especially on summer weekends, these officers assiduously dispense their very special brand of warm welcome to as many unwary sightseers as they can. This is not a “speed trap,” since the California Vehicle Code expressly prohibits such things. The City is just very strongly committed to maintaining its special bucolic tranquility. So when you visit Palos Verdes Estates, please remember to savor the scenery at the appropriate leisurely pace. That way you’ll have pleasant memories of coastal splendor and avoid an extremely costly “souvenir.”

Early in 2009, Palos Verdes Estates lowered the speed limit from 35 mph to 30 (48 km/h) on the half-kilometer section of Palos Verdes Drive West just north of the Rancho Palos Verdes city limit. The apparent reason was to correct a long-standing safety hazard caused by the 45mph (72 km/h) speed limit in Rancho Palos Verdes. Drivers heading south were accelerating prematurely when they saw the speed limit sign beckoning just beyond the city limit. Drivers going north were not slowing down quickly enough. So in addition to protecting both the children and the rural tranquility of Palos Verdes Estates, the reduced speed limit affords police a special opportunity to remind southbound drivers not to be in such a hurry to leave their beautiful city, and also to caution some northbound drivers about their excessive eagerness to enter it. So again, pay very careful attention to the speed limits.

Rancho Palos Verdes has its own “gotcha.” The only parking anywhere near Abalone Cove is in a city-owned lot for the shoreline park, off of Palos Verdes Drive South. It costs $5 to park in that lot. Parking is prohibited on a stretch of several kilometers of Palos Verdes Drive South. The Wayfarers Chapel has its own free parking lot, but signs warn ominously of “No Beach Parking.”

The coastal route is not the only scenic drive on the Peninsula. Palos Verdes Drive North, which splits eastward from Malaga Cove, is a countrified tree-lined route where you’ll often encounter horses (and their riders). This road intersects the main arteries of Hawthorne and Crenshaw Boulevards that lead to the Los Angeles freeways.

Besides Palos Verdes Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes, there are two other cities on the Peninsula. “Rolling Hills 90274” is possibly the poshest and most exclusive address in Southern California, surpassing even “Beverly Hills 90210.” Its bucolic byways are sequestered behind guarded gates, accessible only at the invitation of a resident. The fourth city, Rolling Hills Estates, is a mostly residential area that includes the agglomeration of shopping malls at the top of the hill.