My wife and I are looking for recommendations on a 10 day trip flying into SFO Sep 1. We like city life (dining/clubbing/shopping), nature(hiking / biking) and scenic car rides. I want to avoid crowds if at all possible. I have thought of Monterey, Marin, Sonoma, Yosemite and San Francisco. I am looking for advice on when (weekdays vs. weekends) and how to save some money$$$$$$$$$$$$

First question - when? It makes a LOT of difference of where you might want to go. You can't avoid crowds in SF but other palces are definitely seasonal.

Tha being said - here is a sample that would work for 10 semi-leisurely days. Fly into SFO - don't pick up a car (yet). Go into San Francisco and spend 4 days. That give youe enough to see a lot but still give you time to tour around. After four days pick up a rental car and . . .

1) Head south down the San Mateo coast (Half moon bay, etc) then on thru' Santa Cruz, around Monterey Bay to Monterey, Carmel and Big Sur, then back inland north towards SF and fly out of SFO. 1 or 2 nights near Half Moon Bay, three nights in the Monterrey Carmel area and one night in San Juan Bautista. That fill the time nicely/

2) North thru Marin county along the coast, 1 night in Pt Reyes or Bodega Bay, two nights in Mendocino or Ft Bragg, and three nights in the Napa or Sonoma wine country.

If you like scenery and want to avoid crowds, drive into the EAST BAY AREA. It is very pretty there. There are lots of hiking trails and charming towns. How do I know this? Because I live there!

OOPS - I missed the Sep 1st bit. For that date both of the itineraries would work. Most Calif schoold kids go back before labor day so the crowds shrink a lot in Sept.

We are doing a 9 night trip in mid-Sept. w/ the same places you are going & want to see. 4 nights in SF, rent a car on Tuesday in SF, so if we want to drive N or S of the city we can on that day. Then on Wed, we will drive to Yosemite, 2 nights there, we'll leave Yosemite after dinner on Fr & stay over night in Fresno, then an Sat. we head over to the coast. We want to see the mission in SLO, then we have a room in Cambria Sat. nite. We hope to do the nite tour at Hearst Castle that night & then Sunday we will spend the day driving up PCH, take our time doing that. We want to see Monterey, but don't know if we will have time that night. Not sure where we are staying Sun night. Our flight back is at 4:30 p.m. Monday, so want to leave ourselves enough time to get to the airport. I wish we had a 10th night!
It's a lot of driving, but we want to see as much of California as we can.
Have as much fun planning your trip as we have. As for the money part...it's hard to make a trip like this "cheap",
but if you search hard, you can find some really nice hotels/motels for around $125. We are staying at the Hotel Del Sol in SF for $125. The most expensive room on our trip is at the Yosemite Lodge for $140. If you want to stay in Yosemite...you better book now!
Our way of saving money is staying in Fresno & probably Santa Cruz the last night...you can get moderate chain hotel rooms for around $65.

Susan, a good plan. There are affordable hotels in Monterey as well but you might enjoy Santa Cruz. San Luis has a lot of affordable hotels since it's a university town. Morro Bay would be less than Cambria.

Kam, I posted over a week ago about our Sept trip to CA & you gave me some good advice then...pretty sure it was you.
We found the Blue Dolphin Inn on Moonstone Beach in Cambria...not too bad, $119, but really like the idea of staying on the beach. We are still undecided about our last night, we really wanted to spend some time in Monterey, but the jazz fest is that weekend, so no rooms available. We are hoping now to go to San Juan Bautista Mission Monday morn before our flight.
Do you recommend this? My boyfriend is a big "Vertigo" fan...maybe we could do this mission & then it wouldn't be that bad if we didn't do the mission in SLO. Also..since you are here, what kind of advice can you give me on driving to SFO that Monday. If we are in the Santa Cruz vincinty, I suppose it would be wise to head to the airport by 12n for a 4:30p.m. flight. How's traffic...bad, no doubt! Thanks.

Hi Susan, You will love the Blue Dolphin and Moonstone Beach! The San Juan Bautista mission is one of the prettiest. The whole plaza around the mission has been preserved so it gives you a good feel for what it must have been like. Town is very Mexican/American. Some really authentic Mexican restaurants--be sure to have lunch while there. Look for Jardines de San Juan, La Casa Rosa or Felip's Mexican Food.You will also be very close to the upscale outlet mall at Gilroy (just off 101 at Leaveley Road exit). To drive back to SFO from Santa Cruz take hwy 17 over the mountains and go north on 280, just near SFO you will see signs that will take you east on 380 to the airport. You won't need to go near the city. I would allow an hour to do the drive at that time of day and then you'll need to turn in car etc. If you wanted to leave earlier, you could detour at the summit and go to Big Basin State Park to see the redwoods. Really lovely, you need to turn the car lights on it's so dark. In Santa Cruz check the Dream Inn on the beach, or the towns of Aptos and Capitola for nice hotels. Not all the motels in Santa Cruz are near enough to the water. Hope Robert and Anita benefit from this answer as well. Have a great trip.

Kam, again thanks for all your advice.
The morning at San Juan Bautista before our flight sounds perfect.

One good tip depending on how you have your airline set up:

If you are finishing your trip in the Monterey area book your return flight home out of San Jose Airport. Great airport, less delays than SFO and only about 1 and 1/2 hours from Monterey versus a longer 2 1/2 hour drive in traffic up to SFO. Plus, Monterey has a small airport that would really eliminate some hassle. Check those alternatives out. The natives all know this, the visitors all seem to think SFO is the only airport.

Pacific Grove is a great spot to stay when on the Monterey peninsula. It is more beautiful than Monterey and has more coastline than Carmel or Monterey.Has many B and Bs and some that are on the ocean. Again, the natives all know this, the visitors do not.

Have a great time.

Robert, you're giving away some of our secrets! I just recently heard someone talk about a UAL flight (I think it was UAL) that departs SJC and flies into SFO and then goes on from there. Sounds pretty weird to me, but you might look into whether you can go in and out of either. SFO is best for visiting the city and Marin, but SJC is best for Monterey and Big Sur. Plus, as stated above, SJC is the much easier airport. SWA does a great business there but has cancelled all flights to SFO because the airport is such a problem.

Kam is right. Talk to your travel agent/airline about "open jaw." You fly into one airport and out of another. We did it last year on American--into San Diego and out of SFO.

Too late for the good advice of flying out of San Jose, we bought our tickets already. We got a really good fare, $258 rt to SFO from Chicago. Isn't an open jaw itinerary more expensive?

As a point of clarification - UAL doesn't "fly" from SJC - SFO - they use a bus to transport you back and forth. Another excellent alternative is to fly into OAK. Southwest flies here on a regular basis and the airport is wonderful! No delays, helpful people, clean, and small. Only takes about 35 minutes to get into the city too.