Planning trip to California?

My boyfriend and I are planning a trip to california for about a month this summer. We plan on camping along route 1 between San Francisco and Los Angeles. I was wondering if it would be better to spend more time in Los Angeles or San Francisco since we have to rent a car for the drive along hwy 1 and we'll have to go back after at most 10 days. So we need to decide which city we should see less of. I hear San Francisco can be cold and foggy and since we're poor college kids we keep it cheap by spending most of our time on the beach. What do you think would be the best destination around those two cities, and which city has more to offer in general?