judyaw03

This is my first trip to San Francisco, and I would appreciate a critique of
my planned trip. I will be flying from Florida to Oakland on July 2 and
plan to take the BART into San Francisco. I have reservations at The
Chancellor Hotel in Union Square. I plan to leave San Francisco on the
morning of July 7 and drive Highway 1 to Carmel. I have reservations to
stay at The Cobblestone Inn for 2 nights in Carmel and plan to drive to
Hearst Castle along the Big Sur coastline on July 9. I then plan to stay
one night in Cambria and start out to the Oakhurst area to see the large
trees. I have reservations the next four nights at Curry Village, and I
plan to return to Oakland to spend the night on July 15 for a return flight
on the 16th. My trip is a total of 2 weeks. Please tell me what you think
about the drives, hotels, and any suggestions on sight seeing. Thanks for
your help!

J_Correa

I was also going to suggest cutting a day out of SF and adding it to Yosemite, but at this late date, it may not be possible to change hotel reservations - not just in Yosemite, but also in Carmel. It's worth looking into, but the places may already be booked solid.

BayArea

Judy,

Part of the answer depends on your interests. Your first night in SF will likely by a wash, since you're coming in from Florida you'll be 3 hours ahead and likely crash quite early.

That leaves you with 4 days in SF. Your interests will pretty much define how much time is too much. What are your interests?

I personally wouldn't go to San Jose. It's not an interesting city to me, and is architecturally hideous to boot. I would say that Big Basin is worth while, as is the Aquarium in Monterey.

Catmomma

It is possible to have an active time for 5 days in SF depending on what you do.

If you are into nature, Muir Woods and Mt. Tamalpais---both just a little North of SF are great.

A little further north is Bolinas, which has a tide pool preserve. It's neat. But we had to have one of those Hidden Guides to find it b/c the people of Bolinas knock down the signs to it.

There's also a place where Sea Lions hang out at Fisherman's wharf in SF.

We went to the art museum. It was nice, but we were not wowed. My husband is an artist---so he does enjoy that kind of thing. But there are better museums in the world.

There's Alcatraz---but I've never been.

My husband says don't go to the Winchester mansion---I've never been because he says it's lame.

You can visit some wineries without going to Napa or Sonoma too if you want. There is one in Los Gatos and one in Saratoga---both of which are a little south.

There's a park with Sea Lions down further South-I think it's Nuevo Ano.

The Aquarium at Monterray is a fabulous aquarium. I was bored there b/c my husband takes too long looking at exhibits. But it is a great aquarium.

The Carmel Mission is neat.

Of course, the fourteen mile drive is nice.

We stayed in a hotel in Cambria, and now I don't remember what it was called. Most of the hotels there are along the water. They all seemed decent.

Clayton

Cutting 1 or 2 nights from SF is a good idea. It will give you more time to explore other nice areas in northern California.

San Jose would definitely be a nice sidetrip. There is actually a lot of nice old architecture in the dowtown area as well as in a number of different neighborhoods like Willow Glen, Naglee Park, and the Rosegarden. The Tech Museum in SJ is really interesting, even for the non-techie type people. Another interesting museum is the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum. If you are downtown, the Guadalupe River Park and Gardens is beautiful place to take a stroll.

Big Basin is the best park for viewing the redwoods. It's more impressive than Muir Woods.

www.bigbasin.org

There are a number of very nice wineries in the Santa Cruz Mountains above San Jose.

http://santacruz.winecountry.com/index.html

On the way to Monterey on route 1 Phil's Fishmarket is a great place to stop for lunch or dinner for excellent seafood.

Big Sur is amazing. I second the advice about making Hearst Castle reservations.

rouge

I agree with Clayton's statements.

For a very good dining experience I recommend A.P Stumps in San Pedro Square. The last time I went there was last summer. Can''t wait to to again on my next trip there. The following sites have moe information on places to eat/things to do in the area.

http://siliconvalley.citysearch.com/

http://sanjose.org/index.cfm


In Monterey the Fisherman's Wharf is also a great place with plenty of seafood restaurants and shops. I also agree with stopping in Point Lobos for breathtaking views. Take your time when driving down Hwy. 1 along Big Sur to enjoy the vistas.

judyaw03

Thanks for your help! I will check into cutting a day off SF for more time
in Yosemite. If I can't, I will take "Catmomma's" advice and see the sights
north of SF. "Bayarea," my interest are architecture, nature, getting to
know the people, and I love to eat where the locals eat. I was thinking of
spending a night or two in Oakhurst. I wanted to see Mariposa Groves before
driving into the Yosemite Valley. Is that a good place to stay to see
Mariposa Groves? Also MSN maps directed me to take Hwy 41 from Cambria to
Oakhurst. Do you recommend that route?

BayArea

Judy,

Taking highway 41 is the most direct route to the south entrance for Yosemite. This is the entrance closest to the Mariposa Grove, so yes, this is the entrance you want.

Since you're interested in architecture and nature, be sure to check out Groveland on highway 120 on your way out of Yosemite. It's a very cute gold rush town with impressive, well kept Victorian buildings still standing.

Also, I would highly recommend that you make a day trip up to Point Reyes Natl Seashore. It's beautiful and totally different than anything you will see on the rest of your journeys.

One day trip that I could suggest would be to take highway 101 up to Santa Rosa where it junctions with highway 12. Head west to Freestone. At Freestone head north for a short distance til you get to Occidental. Occidental is a very cute, small artist's enclave with more well kept Victorians. They have nice galleries and good cafes. After an hour or so there, turn around. When you get to Freestone, turn right and head towards the ocean. Pick up PCH 1 and head down to Point Reyes.

You'll pass amazing scenery all the while.

youngtom2910

you are getting personal reactions--i think big sur/carmel adn yosemite are two of the most majestic places in the world--so i woud vote to max out there

roosterlady

We just recently returned from San Franisco, Monterey/Carmel and Yosemite (10 days).

My least favorite hike in Yosemite was the Mariposa Groves. Seen one Sequoia tree seen them all. We only did the 1 mile hike to Grizzly Giant and turned back around. It's all uphill and it was very hot. The other two hikes we absolutely loved was Taft Point and Vernal Falls via the mist trail. Glacier Point was also very good although not really a hike but a gorgeous view of the valley. We ate at Curry Villiage and Yosemite Lodge and we thought Yosemite Lodge had better food. This is just my two cents.

I should also mention that Point Lobos (Cypress Creek trail) was awesome! Monterey Fish house has great food but do make reservations.

My only tip on San Francisco is the cable car line from Fishermans' Wharf is much longer than at the Union Square turnaround. We had a 1 hour wait at Fisherman's Wharf and the Powel street turnaround there was hardly anyone in line. This was on a Monday afternoon at 5pm. Pack a sweater and a light jacket. Although, I did see many of the people wearing leather jackets. It was cold this past weekend.

judyaw03

"RoosterLady," it is really exciting to hear that you just returned from a
trip that we plan to make in a couple weeks. Will you please share some
more details of your trip? Did you stay in the Union Square area? What
route did you take from Yosemite back to San Francisco? Did you fly into
Oakland or San Francisco? We have never seen the sequoia trees. Do you
think we will find it interesting at Mariposa Grove? As you know from
previous responses, the redwoods out of San Jose were recommended. Did you
see that park? I would just like all the information that you would feel
comfortable sharing. Thanks!

judyaw03

"BayArea" the route to Occidental was easy to follow on my map, thanks for such great directions! Would you recommend Oakhurst to stay in to see the Mariposa Groves?

elberko

We enjoyed our hike in the Mariposa grove.

We did a ranger-led hike that included taking a tram to the highest point of the loop, then a slow hike back down with commentary from the ranger. It was a dry/dusty day, but the trees are worth seeing!

roan

Judy,

Clayton, Rouge, and J Correa have provided you with good advice. If you can take a couple of days out of SF it would give you a chance to see a greater variety of sites. Yosemite, Carmel, and San Jose are all good places to see with some of your extra time.

In the Carmel area, try looking into stay ing at Pacific Grove instead. It may be easier to find places to stay than in Carmel itself. Pacific Grove is a short drive from both Monterey and Carmel.

BayArea

Judy,

I personally, have never stayed in Oakhurst because I live too close to Yosemite to need to stay outside the park. I know that a lot of people DO stay in Oakhurst, I just haven't been one of them.

Another option, which is even closer to the park is Fishcamp. Again, I don't know what the lodging situation is like as I've never needed to stay there.

Is it that you need to find a place for one night's lodging before your reservation at Curry Village? If that is the case then Oakhurst is as good a place as any.

J_Correa

We stayed at the Tenaya Lodge a couple years ago, which is right outside of Fishcamp. It was pricey, but nice - and only a few miles from the entrance to the park. The drive down to the valley took about 45 minutes and seemed very long on the way back to the hotel after a day of hiking, so as a base to explore the valley I don't think it is very well located, but it was convinient to the Wawona area.

roosterlady

I agree with the previous poster about taking the tram up and hiking down in the Mariposa Grove. This option would not have been as tiresome for our daughters 9 & 10.

We did not stay in Union Square on purpose and after being in Union Square I was glad we didn't. I didn't particularly care for the type of people I saw there. I'm not referring to tourists nor business professionals either. Plus, there's nothing at Union Square that I can't get in Houston. All the stores there are here and I didn't go on vacation to shop at the major dept stores. I'm not knocking Union Square it just wasn't for us. We stayed at the Royal Pacific Motor Inn on Broadway. It is located on the edge of Chinatown and Northbeach. We had Dim Sum and Italian food almost daily. No parking fee and room was < $100. I would stay here again. Rooms were very clean and large and walked around late at night without any problem. The muni stop was 1 block away which took us to Chrissy Field to view Golden Gate Bridge and Palace of Fine Arts.

We flew into Oakland, drove to Monterey/Carmel, then drove to Yosemite and back to San Francisco. I don't have a map in front of me right so I can't remember the highway number but I think it was 140. It's the road that takes you pass Merced to Manteca and then we traveled west to SFO. We stayed at Yosemite View Lodge in Portal. Only 3 miles from the Arch entrance. I was pleased with the accomodations and it had a kitchenette. Although I didn't particular care for the male maids that worked there. Didn't let the girls out of my site that's for sure.

Judyaw03, feel free to ask me anything else.