Clousie

Returning from a two week trip in northern CA, we plan to get back through San Francisco fairly early in the day to avoid traffic to our hotel near SFO for a flight the next morning.

Obviously, we don't just want to sit around so am considering visiting Sunset Magazine's Gardens and/or Stanford U. Has anyone been to either and did you consider them interesting/worthwhile?

Shanti

I went to Sunset Gardens a few years ago and was underwhelmed. I had expected a lot more after looking at all those gorgeous photos in their magazine.

sf7307

I've never been to the Sunset Gardens, but the Stanford Campus is very nice. However, it's also very spread out, and as a visitor, I'm not sure what you would "see" except for a drive through to get a feel for it. There are some excellent museums on campus, though.

That said, what time are you planning on "getting through San Francisco" and returning to your hotel at SFO? It's just not that big a deal, so I want to be sure you know that. If it were me (and I live near SFO, about 18 miles north of the Stanford campus), I'd spend the day in San Francisco, have dinner in San Francisco, and then, after the commute clears (after about 7 p.m.), drive to my hotel at SFO (about 30 minutes without traffic). I drive in the commute traffic everyday, so I can also tell you how long that will take depending on where you are starting and ending.

janisj

I'd either do what sf7307 suggests (spend the day in the city)-- or -- maybe go to Filoli.

http://www.filoli.org/

sf7307

How about Filoli, then a drive through the Stanford campus, hang out on Univeristy Avenue in Palo Alto (dinner?), then return to your hotel (easy drive, less than 30 minutes).

Or, maybe this interests you, a tour of the Stanford Linear Accelerator?

https://oraweb.slac.stanford.edu/ape...79376604018270

Clousie

Okay, it's sounds as though the Sunset Gardens and possibly Stanford aren't "must sees." Filoli sounds interesting (never heard of it before) but it closes at 3:30.

We'll be driving down from the somewhere near Chico and figure it will take at least 4 hours. We're not too interested in visiting the city, but would like to hear of any other suggestions of places to visit either north or south of the city. After many years of commuting in NJ traffic, DH doesn't want to ruin his (own) last day of vacation sitting in traffic getting to the airport area., so wonder what time we should plan to come through the city to avoid the heaviest traffic.

sf7307

If you come through the city between 10 and 3, or after 7:30 pm, you won't hit much traffic. FWIW, traffic through San Francisco is not in the same league as NJ commute traffic.

BTW , you can call 511 to get traffic reports, or log onto sigalert.com and put in the highway you're traveling on.

Unless you want to do some hiking or walking, really, from San Francisco south is just a string of suburbs, some nicer than others, but no different from any suburban area. If you want to, there's a very good paved path called the "Bay Trail" which starts near the airport hotels (Millbrae/Burlingame) and continues for quite a distance alongside the Bay. Lots of walkers, bikers, kite-surfers, windsurfers.

If you just want to hang out/shop/eat near the airport, head to Burlingame Avenue in Burlingame.

Winesafaris

Having lived in both Chico and SF, here's what I would do based on our style of traveling (depends on what you have seen and want to see and experience): don't rush to SFO (4 hours is a good estimate of how long it will take you going non-stop). Take Hiway 20 through Lake County to Calistoga. Come down through the Napa Valley. Stop in any of the towns along the way: Calistoga, St. Helena, Yountville for wandering and/or wine tasting. There's a Safari Park between Calistoga and Sonoma http://www.safariwest.com/ if you're into that type of thing--it's pretty good--or lunch at the California Institute of America http://www.ciachef.edu/california/ if you're foodies.

If you're shopaholics, go to Vacaville on Hiway 80 instead and stop at the Outlets, 150 or so stores to while away your time. Both the Jelly Belly factory and the Budweiser Brewery are on Hiway 80 and open for tours.

We'd arrive @ SFO as late as possible.

(If you should decide you want a day in SF, definitely take BART from the airport after you checked in to your hotel,--don't drive.)

Let us know what you decide on.