For our 20th anniversary, early October 2007, we have only 4-5 nights, and have never been to San Francisco. Please comment on the following plan: Day 1 - Fly into SFO, explore a few highlights of the city (cable car, fisherman's wharf, coit tower?, chinatown? ggbridge, what else is must-do-able in a day/evening?), take the ferry across to check into Inn Above Tide in Sausalito. Day 2 - Drive up through Muir Woods and explore Sonoma area wineries. Day 3 - drive down the coast to Carmel, stopping along the way to see ...? and check in at Tickle Pink Inn. Day 4 - explore Carmel, Point Lobos, Big Sur, etc. Day 5 - Fly back out of SFO. Please adjust! Thanks!

So you really aren't going to see SF other than a less than one day overview right? Seems like a hetic schedule for 4-5 days. BTW since you are taking ferry to Sausalito be aware the last ferry leaves at 6:30p.m on the weekend.

You are planning on doing too much on days 1 and 2. If you've never been to San Francisco, you should spend more time there during the trip. It is a VERY romantic city, perfect for an anniversary.

Day 1: What time does your plane arrive? How much time will you really have? Depending upon when your plane arrives, you could focus your time along the Waterfront, the Marina,, and the Presidio but you won't be able to see all the things you have listed. As you tour the city the day you arrive, what will you do with your luggage? I'd stay in the city instead of Sausalito.

Day 2: Pick either one, but not both. Doing the wineries in Sonoma would be a long day trip on its own. Many choose to stay overnight. Muir Woods and the cliffs along the Marin Headlands would make a fine day trip.
When and where are you picking up your rental car?

Day 3/4/5: Are you staying two nights at the Tickle Pink? If so, that is a decent amount of time to see what you want to see.

Have a great trip.

-Bill

Thanks for your help! Sounds like we need an extra day in the city, at least, to begin with. I guess we had the idea of doing Muir Woods and a couple wineries in the same day because many of the tours advertised on various websites put those events together in a day. Would it be better to stay in the city for 3 nights and Carmel for 2, and skip the Inn Above the Tide in Sausalito? We had heard it was a lovely place to stay rather than staying in the city, but perhaps we'll be missing out by doing that. What do you think? (oh- flight not booked yet, but probably an early one)
Thanks!

My suggestion would be if you want to see SF to stay in SF. The Inn Above the TIde is very nice and IF you had previously visited SF it would be a lovely place to stay on a return visit.

I hate to disagree with Bill, but I think Muir Woods and a couple of Sonoma wineries is doable as a day trip. It just depends on when you get started in the am and how in depth you want to explore. I have done this type of day with a few visitors who were interested in seeing Muir Woods but not spending a great deal of time there. However combing Muir Woods with a visit to Point Reyes would be a lovely day by itself.

i live here in the area.
for san francisco, skip fisherman's wharf.
you will only find tacky t shirt shops and wax musems.
treat yourself to a beautiful walk either along chrissy field at the base of the golden gate bridge, or actually walk across the bridge.
if your stay falls on a weekend, get tickets to beach blanket babylon. it is a and francisco tradition enjoyed by locals and tourists alike.
hope you enjoy your trip.

We just returned from the San Francisco area and we stayed 3 nights at the Inn Above the Tide. Our room was rather small but it is a lovely place, and the view was spectacular. We had the complimentary breakfast delivered to our room each morning and took the evening wine and cheese to the room so that we could sit out on our deck. We watched the seals, pelicans,ferries, sailboats, yachts, and cargo vessels. Make sure you get a room with a deck.

From there we spent one day up in Sonoma . Another day we took a ferry (there are 2 different ferry lines between Sausalito and San Francisco) to the Ferry Building in San Francisco and had lunch at the Slanted Door. Awesome food. Then we took a bus to Fisherman's Wharf and from there caught a 2 1/2 hour tour on a trolley. If you are short of time that is one way to take a look at the city and decide where you'd like to spend more time. The trolley returned us to the Wharf so we took that trolley line back to Sausalito.

We've also stayed at the Tickle Pink in the past and love it as well. In fact it is one of our favorite places to stay. From there you can head south to Big Sur and I would suggest stopping at Nepenthe for lunch. The views are spectacular and the food is good, too. That should still leave you with a day to visit Carmel and the surrounding area.

Just 2 notes:
1. We find the rush hour traffic congestion a real nuisance and so we avoid it.
2. You are planning to stay at 2 lovely hotels. Make sure you build in enough time to enjoy them and the wonderful views as well.

Have a great time.

Sheesh......last line in 2nd paragraph should read we took the "ferry line" back to Saucalito. Sorry about that.

Trivia: The owners of the TICKLE PINK INN are the Tickle's. The building is pink. Hence the name.

Limit your hotels to two...one in SF and one in Carmel. You will enjoy the two areas more.

You indicate you are ending the trip in the Carmel area and then flying out of SFO. Check the flights out of San Jose Airport as this airport is about 1 hour closer drive from the Monterey Peninsula and less inclined for delays.

Monterey even has an airport that may fly to where you want to go. I do not know where you are from, but if Monterey Airport would work for you this would almost add one day to your trip. You could leave the Tickle Pink and be sitting at the Monterey Airport in about 15 minutes versus 2 hours transit to get to SFO. Just a thought.