roxanne

Ok, I posted earlier, but I still need help. I'll be leaving my baby with my mother in Sacramento for four days, and my boyfriend and I would like to take a short road trip. We have narrowed it down to either SF or Tahoe. We've both done SF a couple of times and loved it. I've only been to Tahoe once to ski. Would it be possible to do 2 days and 2 days, or is that pushing it? If we do Tahoe, what area would you reccomend? We're not that into gambling. North seemed easier to get to from Sacramento, but I don't know what town/area. Also this is a very cheap trip, does anyone know of a reasonably priced place to stay. Thanks

xxx

How about Big Sur/Carmel/Monterey? A great area for a long weekend.

Calli

The posting about Big Sur would be about a 5 hour drive from Sac, whereas Tahoe or San Francisco are 1.5 to 2 hours either way. So, it depends on how much time you want to spend driving. Also depends on activities you are seeking.

kam

Two days in SF and then another two in Bodega Bay or Inverness sound great to me. The Monterey suggestion is good, but that area tends to be very expensive. As young parents, you could probably use the pampering of SF and the restfulness of the North Coast. If it fits your budget 10 Inverness Way is a very romantic little place. Enjoy.

janis

With your criteria - starting from Sac and looking for budgets saving ideas - here's my suggestion.

Skip SF - It is wonderful but also very expensive to stay overnight, plus you have been there before.

Spend 2 nights at North Lake Tahoe (between Tahoe City and Crystal Bay). There are many budget motels on the North shore so it is cheaper than the South. But you can still drive all the way around the lake and see everything.

Then if you still have $$ left - maybe you will win enough at the Lake to subsidize the rest of the trip - then go over to the north coast - around Fort Brag. The accomodations around Bodega Bay, etc. are fine but more expensive than up around Ft Brag. You can visit Mendocino and the Russian River on the Way over to the coast.

A third option - and the cheapest and most unusual - about a 3-4 hour drive north is to go to Siskiyou County up near the Oregon border. Lots of CHEAP places and amazing scenery (Mt Shasta, Burney Falls, Castle Crags, etc)

Tony

Both the North Shore and the South Shore of Lake Tahoe are about 2 hours away from Sacramento. To get to the North Shore, you take Interstate 80 to Truckee. From Truckee its about 15 miles to the Lake. To get to South Shore, you take Highway 50. Its four lanes for about half the trip and two lanes for the rest. Unless you are traveling on a holiday weekend, the trip either way is quite nice and scenic. One advantage of the Highway 50 route is the beautiful view of the lake you get once you enter the valley. There all all kinds and levels of accomodations at the lake. There are hotels, motel, condos, and cabins for rent. The lake has a very involved Chamber of Commerce and I am sure you can do a web search for Lake Tahoe and find thousands of choices for places to stay within your budget. It doesn't really matter where you stay, the entire lake is beautiful. The North Shore has the heaviest concentration of ski areas. The South Shore has most of the major casinos. Whether you choose to stay at the North Shore or the South Shore, you should certainly plan on taking an entire day to drive around the lake. There are so many interesting things to see. There are also lots of fabulous restaurants. You could easily spend your entire four days in Tahoe and never get bored. For the best view, you can take the tram to the top of Heavenly Valley ski area (located on South Shore). There are also paddlewheel steamers that do lake tours. There are several public beaches and golf courses. In response to your other question, you could spend two days in Tahoe and then two in San Francisco, but SF is a four+ hour drive from Lake Tahoe and two more back to San Francisco. Do you really want to spend so much of your four days traveling, especially if you have been to SF before. A lot of the other areas that people have described here are quite lovely and worth a trip, but they also involve an even longer drive than SF. If you really want to go somewhere else other than Lake Tahoe, I would suggest you go to the Napa area. Its quite pretty and you can spend a day touring all the different wineries. Napa is less than two hours from your home base in Sacramento.

kam

I never thought it was a very long trip from Sacramento to SF and started thinking about this post. When I looked up distances my atlas says it's 87 miles Sacto to SF and 102 miles Sacto to South Lake Tahoe. So, it seems to be a tossup which place roxanne should go. SF to Bodega Bay is 64 BTW, but because of the smaller roads will take you longer.

aj

Since you have narrowed it down and want to go both places--go for it! You sound young and energetic. Tony has good advice. I would personally go to South Shore Tahoe via Hwy 50 (take chains if it is winter). There are lots of Travelodge/Best Western places along South Shore. You can take day trips from there. Then, pack your bags and head to SF. Cheap is harder to come by there, but maybe stay in San Mateo and go into town for day or evening. You will have a good time no matter where you are, as being away from baby is good sometimes!!

Art

Tony is right. You could easily spend 4 or more enjoyable days in Tahoe. However, if you really want to spend only two days there, I would agree with his suggestion that you spend the other two days in the wine country, unless you definitely want to see SF again. As regards the other comments, I can't imagine why anyone would suggest that you drive all the way from Tahoe to Monterey, Bodega Bay, Fort Bragg, or the Oregon border for that matter. Given that you will eventually have to return to Sacramento, you'll end up spending most of your 2 extra days driving. If you're trying to get away and enjoy yourselves, you should really try to cut down on the driving.

janis

Just remember - with the traffic from Fairfield to SF the driving time from Sacramento can be 2 to 3 hours - you can get all the way to Dunsmuir in 3 1/2 hours w/o fighting any traffic.

karen

what about Napa or Sonoma? beautiful countryside, stop and get picnic supplies every day and have lunch at a vineyard,. its gods country.you can probably find an inexpensive b and B or courtyard, and the wine tastings are free entertainment!!

roxanne

Thank you all for your great advice. I'll let you know what we decide to do. (Daddy's a procrastinator!).

seamus

Don't procrastinate too long. The hotels and B&Bs in Napa and Sonoma are already 1/2 full for October.