TerryLFred

I'm planning on staying in Sunnyvale to visit some friends but during the day I was thinking of driving to San Francisco. What is the traffic like? Would I be going with or against traffic? What would be the best time to go and return (on a weekday) to avoid the rush hour traffic? It will be me and my husband so we could do the car pool lane if there are any for us to use.

Or other suggestions on what to do during the day near Sunnyvale or wherever as we will have a car. Again, keep in mind the traffic as we will want to be back in Sunnyvale for dinner with our friends. We do plan to go to Stanford to visit their museum one day. We are foodies and also enjoy museums. Cute towns, or someplace for an easy to moderate hike would interest us also.

We have been to San Francisco many times and we will also be there at the end of our trip for a couple of days after we turn in our rental car. We will start this trip in Sacramento visiting family, then drive to Sunnyvale to visit friends and end in San Francisco for a couple of days.

Since our friends work during the day, we are trying to think of what to do during the day and then be back in Sunnyvale for dinner. Any ideas in helping me plan our day plus the best times to be on the road would be greatly appreciated.

november_moon

Commute traffic is generally the worst from about 7:30-9:30 in the morning and 3:30-7 in the evenings. So you should plan to drive before of after those hours to avoid traffic. There are carpool lanes to use, which may or may not get you there any faster, depending on the time of day and what else is going on. An alternative is to drive to the nearest Caltrain station and take Caltrain into SF from there.

For other things to do, other than SF, you can head over to the coast - Santa Cruz, Pescadero, Half Moon Bay and all the various beaches along there. Monterey and Carmel are a little farther, but also make a good day trip. You'll be traveling in the non-commute direction to get to those places, so should be fine. The Santa Cruz mountains are also a good choice.

StuDudley

If you plan to visit "outlying" areas (GG Park, Bridge, Union St, Crissy Field, Haight/Ashbury, Noe Valley) and not visit downtown SF - take 280 into the city & get off at 19th Ave or San Jose Ave. If your main interests are downtown - take Caltrain. Downtown area is pretty "dug up" with construction going on - and parking is very difficult.

Stu Dudley

starrs

"We are foodies and also enjoy museums. Cute towns"

If you have the time and the flexibility, maybe as you leave Sacramento, consider Chez Panisse - if you can get a reservation.
http://www.chezpanisse.com/about/alice-waters/

Pacifica_Grove

Two suggestions which you might consider:

Filoli – If you enjoy historic country estates and gardens, Filoli is beautiful and would be an easy drive. It's in the hills about halfway to SF. http://filoli.org

San Juan Bautista – I love visiting this little town. It's small, but I find it fascinating. It has the feel of Old California. There's a historic Spanish mission (it had a small part in the film Vertigo); you can stand on the San Andreas fault; there's a State Historic Park with a few historic buildings and museum, and the town has a small main street with antique stores, saloons, and restaurants. One feels as if the 21st century has passed it by. (Don't drink the water now though…..) It's enroute to the Monterey Peninsula or about an hour south of San Jose.
http://www.san-juan-bautista.ca.us

Pacifica

Pacifica_Grove

OH-OH-OH !!

I forgot. If you're coming in Feb/March, this is a fantastic guided walk!! Elephant seals at Año Nuevo State Park north of Santa Cruz.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=27613

StuDudley

>>Elephant seals at Año Nuevo State Park north of Santa Cruz.

TerryLFred

Thanks so much! These are all great ideas. Unfortunately we will be going in April so will miss the guided walks for the Elephant seals. I'll put that on my list for another time. Chez Panisse sounds amazing! Will try and put that in. Also, Filoli looks really neat. I will do more research on each of the ideas as they all sound like things that would interest us. Really appreciate your help!

starrs

"Chez Panisse sounds amazing! Will try and put that in. "

Try to get a reservation as soon as possible, a month out from your visit.

http://www.chezpanisse.com/reservations/restaurant/

The downstairs Restaurant accepts reservations for dinner up to one month in advance, to the calendar date.To reserve a table, call (510) 548-5525 between 9:00 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. Pacific time, Monday through Saturday. All reservations require a deposit of $25 per person, payable by credit card. The deposit is refundable if we receive notice of cancellation more than forty-eight hours before the reservation.

Online reservations are 28 days in advance only. See bold above.
Make an online reservation for the Restaurant through OpenTable

The Café upstairs accepts reservations for lunch and dinner up to one month in advance, to the calendar date. To reserve a table, call (510) 548-5049 between 9:00 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. Pacific time, Monday through Saturday. Please let the reservationist know if anyone in your party requires special accommodation to access our upstairs Café dining room