Julene

Hello!

My husband and I are traveling to the San Fran/Berkeley area the first week in May. We'll be spending 1 night in San Francisco, then 3 in Berkeley for a conference. We then have 3 full days/nights yet to plan, and I was hoping for some recommendations and advice! We will have a car.

We would love to take in the coast & ocean as part of our trip. We love good food & drinks, and want to experience gorgeous nature. More relaxation than GO GO GO tourist things.

My biggest dilemma now: do we drive north up the coast or south? Each seems to have lovely scenery and towns to visit.

Would love thoughts on best spots to visit, stay, & eat… and any other advice you can lend on how best to plan out our 3 days.

Thank you!

tomfuller

For San Francisco read through Stu Dudley's rec.
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...mendations.cfm
Why not stay in Berkley and take BART into SF for the day? The hotel will probably be cheaper and you won't have to worry about parking.
I would favor going south along the coast to Monterey or Big Sur.

Underhill

For relaxation, head down to Asilomar, at Pacific Grove. It's owned by the state park service and operated as a conference center but also as lodgings for people who want to get away from it all: no phones, no TV, walking trails, swimming pool, and lots of wildlife--including deer. We love the place. You can follow wooden walks out to the ocean, across the dunes. You can eat well in the dining hall or drive over to Pacific Grove, where there is a good selection of restaurants; it's a cute little town.

NorthwestMale

Julene, I kinda wish to know where you're from, in order to best tailor an idea for you.

I can't from your message decide how much driving you are actually willing to do.

But I do know that in 6 1/2 hours of steady driving from Berkeley, you could have yourself at/near Crater Lake, Oregon... from which you could point yourself toward the Oregon coast, and take a coastal path back to the south.

(the path along the coast would take much longer than 6 1/2 hours !!! - but it could be very pleasant if plotted ideally over a couple of days)

Just a thought...

yestravel

Drive up the coast to Mendocino.

Kailani

There are so many beautiful places you can go. I would also consider going north, highlighting Point Reyes and Inverness, and meandering up through Jenner, Ft. Ross and Gualala. Ending up in Mendocino would be a dream. There are lots of special food places, like Tomales Bay Oyster Co. http://www.tomalesbayoystercompany.com/ , also great cheese places.

If you want to take a quicker route back you can go through the Anderson Valley and check out Boonville, a town with its own language and good beer. http://www.boonvillehotel.com/ .

If you do go south, don't miss Point Lobos! http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=571 It is just south of Carmel, so somehow I never went there until a few years ago, and it is full of frolicking otters, fabulously diverse nature walks, and incredible shoreline views.

The weather should be good both places. The northern route will be more raw and rural, the southern more sunny and civilized, but very beautiful and fun, too.

kleroux

If you decide to go north, I'd suggest Healdsburg in Sonoma County. Its about 1.5 hrs. north of Berkeley. Cute town, great restaurants, wine tasting, pretty scenery. Then to see the Redwoods, go to Armstrong Woods State Park in Guerneville. Better than Muir woods outside of SF because there are so few tourists there. Check out vacation rentals by owner, (www.vrbo.com ) rather than hotels. As for the coast, route #1 up to Mendocino.. IMO its lovely but car-sick city. Two lane roads, lots of curves and once you are on it, hard to get off.

Julene

Thanks so much everyone! Northwestmale- we live in Austin, Texas. : )

We are now aiming to go south to Big Sur after lots of back and forth and research, staying 2 nights at the Post Ranch Inn. Would love any recommendations on places to stop along the way, and great spots to eat while down in that area.

There is SO much to do and see on the NOrthern Coast- I'm already thinking we'll need a 2nd trip out to take in all of your recommendations!

Patty

Stop in Point Lobos on the way. Look for whale spouts and dolphin pods any time you're near shore. If you have binoculars, bring them.

There aren't a lot of restaurants in Big Sur. It's a pretty isolated area which is the whole point. Sierra Mar at Post Ranch is supposed to be good. Also check out Big Sur Bakery. Everyone will tell you to go to Nepenthe but opinions are divided about the quality of the food. I've eaten at the restaurants at Treebones and Ragged Point but I wouldn't necessarily drive down that way just to eat there.

Are you spending a 3rd night somewhere?

Julene

Patty- we'll be heading back to San Fran for our 3rd night, since we have early flights out of Oakland the next morning. I've heard great things about Point Lobos- thinking we'll stop there on the way down, maybe Carmel on the way back up.

Patty

Sounds great, let me know if you want dining recs in Carmel.

Patty

You could also stop at Rocky Point Restaurant on your way to or from Big Sur. Heading south it's before Palo Colorado road on the ocean side of Hwy 1. The restaurant has gorgeous views and looks out toward Bixby Bridge. I had lunch there on Saturday and the food was very decent for a view restaurant. The restaurant has had its ups and downs over the years with so many management/chef changes it's hard to keep up but right now I can recommend it.

There are lots of nice spots to get out and walk in Garrapata state park on your way up or down too.

Julene

Thanks so much Patty! Appreciate the recommendations!