Spring Break Trip to San Francisco/Northern California

[MRM]

We're planning a spring break trip with our college junior son. We had a great time in Olympic National Park a couple of years ago and we thought we would continue to explore the northwest part of the country. We got great advice on that trip here, so I thought I would tap the brain trust again and see what advice people have.

We would likely fly into San Francisco on Saturday and rent a car. The tentative plan would be to spend Saturday and Sunday in the city doing pretty typical tourist stuff before venturing out into the parks and mountains and maybe a little Wine Country for the rest of the week. We would fly back on Sunday.

We were thinking that the Redwood National Forrest would make a good center of operations and we would drive out from there for day hikes and sightseeing. The goal is to be outside as much as possible. We're from the upper Midwest, so mountains and oceans are pretty exotic to us.

Does anyone have any suggestions for where to stay or places to visit?

[Deschodt]

Muir woods is very cool and incredibly busy on week ends so hit it during the week...
Book alcatraz in advance - if you still can. Not only is is interesting as a jail/history, it's a nice ferry ride with great picture ops. Take your rental car to treasure island 1/2 way across the bay bridge in the evening just for the sights of the city from a distance... (no toll if you turn back)
If possible book the sonoma Inn for the wine country portion of your trip, it's nicely located and very comfy little houses with fireplaces and heated pool... The sebastopol area is also quite nice and hilly for wine slightly out of the beaten path... Winery wise I'd recommend Chateau St jean with nice gardens and good wine to boot but you have choices galore...
If you feel like heading all the way to Napa/St helena, The culinary institute of america (CIA) in the greystone building is a super good restaurant without the price or reservation times of the french laundry ;-)
Lots of great hikes all over Marin county... with waterfalls no less... don't drive into sausalito unless you want to do bicycle dodging all day, take a *ferry* to sausalito from the ferry building in SFO...
I'd add a trip 2.5hrs south to Carmel/monterey area for the day/maybe sleep there, and do the 17 miles drive for its gorgeous waterfront scenery, pass by pebble beach and up end in lovely Carmel. That's plenty for a week... Warning: lots of homeless and sidewalk human turds in SFO proper...

[vash]

Google Armstrong woods.

it is located near a town called Guerneville. (pronounced: Gern-ville) the town itself is a bit "alternative". DONT go into the bar on the main strip for a quick beer, UNLESS you're into "shirtless tuesdays".. despite the titillating title. it is not the population i wanted to see shirtless. there is a GREAT beer place down the road that is awesome and everyone has their shirts on.

in town is a badass pie place. fresh pies that are over the top good. and it is attached to a building that makes "bespoke" icecream..(sorry, low hanging fruit) it is awesome.

there is a restaurant called AGRICULTURE my wife and i want to try. BTW, that town is the first overnighter my wife and i spent out. we rented a room there. it was awesome and pretty much sealed the deal that we were gonna get married. the Russian River is there, so there is stuff to see and do.

back to Armstrong woods. it has some great redwoods. a nice hike..very rain foresty feel to the place. and you will be SMACK dabs at ground zero of Sonoma Wine country.

i live nearby now..so if you need anything...............

[Tom '74 911]

We did this w/our kids & another family for spring break a few years ago and it was super fun. We stayed in Noe Valley on Church Street at a VRBO and took the bus everywhere - parking is a MAJOR PITA in-town so if you can find a place to ditch your car, the public transport system is great and easy to navigate.

We did Alcatraz, Golden Gate Park, CA Academy of Sciences museum, did a drive by of the Mythbuster's Studio, Fort Point tour @ SF end of Golden Gate Bridge, Muir Woods & Muir Beach on the other side of the bridge, Exploratorium, Coit Tower and just a lot of general walking and exploring etc...

We also drove down and checked out the Stanford campus.

For us, it was a visit to a place that was the complete opposite of where we live (small, rural, mt. town) and all of us enjoyed it a lot.

You will not run out of things to do and explore.

Enjoy,
Tom

[Tom '74 911]

Oh yeah, we also walked down the zig-zags of Lombard Street... and saw some car scraping and carnage...

What can I say, we were very much tourists!

[Seahawk]

A friend of mine used to own a surf kayaking school in Bodega Bay...I was a substitute teacher there a few times on vacation in the 80's.

I am sure there are still a few folks doing it. They supply everything, even wet suits.

It is a lot of fun.

My mother grew up in Petaluma so I spent a lot of time there as a kid. The surrounding areas and towns are really great. Enjoy!

https://www.airbnb.com/s/Bodega-Bay--CA--United-States/homes?checkin=2018-03-19&checkout=2018-03-24&adults=2&children=3&infants=0&place_id=ChIJXTyyuk0nhIARCEl4F1o56uQ&guests=5&source=mc_search_bar&s_tag=ptP6yjen&allow_override%5B%5D=

[LakeCleElum]

Drive Hwy 1 from Mill Valley to Legget. Back on 101.......In the city: Twin Peaks Park for 360 degree view of the city, bay, ocean and Oakland.....

[aigel]

Go to Big Basin Redwoods State Park instead of Muir Woods. Bigger, less crowded and on your way to Monterey / Big Sur.

Don't rent a car until you are ready to leave the city.

G

[Tobra]

Sundays in Golden Gate Park the roads are largely closed to cars, nice for walking. Renting bikes would be the way I would go, good way to get around SF, if you want to see SF. Check out the Presidio and Fr Point. Mt Diablo on the other side of the bay has a great view. Ferry to Angel Island, if you can't get Alcatraz and want a boat ride, again, bike is the best way to see the island, IMHO. Off season for wine country, which is good.

What are their interests?

[vash]

your time is limited..avoid HWY 1 like the plague. they are still doing winter 2017 storm damage coming out of the city on the Marin side. it is single lane, a LOT..traffic signal on a loop letting one direction go at a time.

it's the opposite of spring break fun. it is where spring break fun goes to die.

[rcooled]

While in SF: Don't miss the Alcatraz tour...get your tickets early. Tour the WWII submarine USS Pampanito, which is permanently docked at Pier 45. Try riding the Cable Cars too...the POWELL-HYDE line has the best views and the CALIFORNIA line is the least crowded. The Cable Car Museum is really interesting too. Head up to Twin Peaks for a fantastic 360° view of the City.

Here's some info on hiking around the SF Bay Area:
https://www.timeout.com/san-francisco/things-to-do/best-hikes-in-san-francisco

Driving around SF is a total PITA and trying to park a car in the downtown area is nearly impossible...use public transit if you can. And bring some warm clothes...Spring weather in SF can still be quite chilly, especially in the evenings.

The Blackhawk Museum across the Bay in Danville is worth a visit if you want to see some amazing classic & vintage sports cars showcased in a beautiful purpose-built facility.

If you make it down to Carmel, be sure to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium right next door on Monterey's Cannery Row.

[MRM]

Wow. Such good information already. Our interests in the city are to see some of the highlights and get a taste of San Francisco. We will do Fisherman's Warf and Ghirardelli Square for sure. Ft. Point, the Presidio, GG Park, Alcatraz are all good suggestions. I had never heard of Angell Island or Mt. Diablo and I love ferries so they'll be on our short lists. We won't be total tame tourists, so I'll make sure we do some activities that push our boundaries a little.

Our interests outside the city are mostly to do relatively light day hikes and see nature. So everything from beaches to the Redwood forests and mountains are fair game.

I'm leaning toward spending Saturday and Sunday in the city. Then driving through Big Basin down to Carmel Sunday afternoon, staying maybe until Tuesday. Then driving up north of the City near and using one of the towns like Guerneville as a base of operation for the rest of the week. Is that too long in Carmel?

[aigel]

I would not stay at Redwoods National Park region as your base. That is a HAUL from SF and the towns are sleepy at best, run down otherwise. The 101 is a snaky, slow highway up there and the weather can be damp, cold and unpleasant. It is special up there, I love to go and may even retire in that area, but it isn't a good cross-section of CA IMHO. It also is a bit one-dimensional: Rough coast and redwoods. Of course this changes if your main interest is the trees. There is no better place than Norther NorCal for that. But for a good dose of redwood trees and some nice day hikes, the Big Basin will be perfect and on your way to Monterey / Carmel.

Mount Diablo is a good suggestion. Has some nice hikes and a nice drive as well. And close to the city. Or you can bike up it. I do that every now and then.

Keep the questions coming. Maybe you can see what's happening at Laguna Seca during that time as well? It is a great track to visit and watch. Definitely do the 17 mile drive. I am not a big fan of the town of Monterey, but Carmel is worth a half day.

G

[Aerkuld]

As others have said, avoid getting the car until you're ready to leave the city. Once you have it, THEN do things like Lombard Street, and preferably on Sunday evening or a weekday when there are less people around.

Twin peaks is great and you'll need a car for that.

Highway 1 is OK, but busy at the weekends. If you want a more interesting drive, take State Route 35 (Skyline Blvd) through the Santa Cruz Mountains. There are several good short hikes on the Peninsular, and several places to stop as you drive down Skyline. California wouldn't be the same without the earthquake experience, and there's one short hike in the Los Trancos open space which has a San Andreas fault trail.

https://www.openspace.org/preserves/los-trancos

I'm not promising anything super exciting, but the trail highlights several geographical features created by fault lines, and in particular the 1906 San Andreas earthquake. It may be worth an hour or so to get out and look around.

Also, I'll second Big Basin. Muir Woods is great, but really busy and can be quite difficult to park. Big Basin is less popular, and still impressive. Again, there are several short hikes you can take from the car which will give you a good impression of the area.

Big Basin Redwoods SP

Continue down 35 to 17, then take that towards Santa Cruz. Again, try not to do that on a weekend or during commute hours.

Monterey and Carmel are lovely. You could easily spend a couple of days there. In Carmel you can head down to the beach and walk quite a distance along it. Coming back along the residential area above the beach there are some stunning homes. In Monterey you'll probably want to spend time around Cannery Row. This doesn't seem to get too busy even at weekends. It's a nice place to stroll around and soak up the atmosphere. The aquarium is a little pricey, but very, very good - worth a visit IMO.

Highway 1 is much more impressive to the south of Monterey as you head down towards Big Sur. Worth the drive, but it's probably still closed south of Big Sur itself. Still, you can drive down and enjoy the sights and a look at the Bixby Creek Bridge.

[tabs]

March/April is the wrong time for the Redwoods and N Coast, damp and cold..U might as well stay in your own refrigerator of a home town.

The steam train from Willits to Fort Bragg is a pleasant day diversion.

Go South Carmel, Monterey...you might even run into Clint.

Hearst Castle at San Simeon,* San Luis Obispo, Morro Bay, Pismo, Solvang and Santa Barbara...

**Don't forget to stop in and visit your friends (ex clients) at Lompoc on visiting day.


*While at San Simeon/Cambria you can even stop by and see the infamous parking lot where the Black Audi had the audacity to be parked among the R Gruppe klan.

[vash]

Originally Posted by tabs

March/April is the wrong time for the Redwoods and N Coast, damp and cold..U might as well stay in your own refrigerator of a home town.

.

wrong. i could wear shorts right now. cept i'm working. word on the streets; gonna be dry and hot early.

[LWJ]

I am not a local but we get to that part of the world a bit.

Yosemite is killer. Not sure if it is do-able for you.

San Francisco is one of the best cities in the US. It is just fun.

The Redwoods are cool but I think you can find better. Read above for ideas.

Mountains? Washington is really very nice, but you have seen that. I don't really think of California as being "mountain" country. Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado - they have mountains.

We have mountains in Oregon as well but on a conical, snow-covered one at a time basis. I like them but that is what I am used to. Don't know if they will float your boat.

Keep us posted.

[dan88911]

Word of caution, there is an epidemic of car break ends in S.F.
Do not leave valuables in the car while visiting sites even for short periods of time.
Tourists spots as well as residents are targeted in the city.
This crime is very low on leos priority list and the criminals have been taking advantage of that fact.

[tabs]

Originally Posted by LWJ

I am not a local but we get to that part of the world a bit.

Yosemite is killer. Not sure if it is do-able for you.

San Francisco is one of the best cities in the US. It is just fun.

The Redwoods are cool but I think you can find better. Read above for ideas.

Mountains? Washington is really very nice, but you have seen that. I don't really think of California as being "mountain" country. Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado - they have mountains.

We have mountains in Oregon as well but on a conical, snow-covered one at a time basis. I like them but that is what I am used to. Don't know if they will float your boat.

Keep us posted.

What do ya call MT Shasta? Did you ever hear of the Sierra Nevada's or Klamath Mountains?

[tabs]

Originally Posted by vash

wrong. i could wear shorts right now. cept i'm working. word on the streets; gonna be dry and hot early.

Ok Oracle Jones...

https://www.visitredwoods.com/listing/redwood-coast-climate/662/


https://www.usclimatedata.com/climate/san-luis-obispo/california/united-states/usca1502