Hello. Hopefully we can get some advice here? We're planning on a 2-week vacation in mid-September, visiting our daughter in the SF area. We also love the national parks, and would like to see Yosemite, maybe Sequoia or Redwoods (we really enjoy hiking and the outdoors). And check out the Napa valley or some winery region.

Anyway, we're realistic enough to know that we can't see it all! So -- any advice on:

1. How many days to see San Francisco? We'd like to do the typical tourist stuff, see Alcatraz, ride a cable car, Fisherman's Wharf, etc.

2. How many days to spend in Yosemite? Looks like there's places to stay within the park. We like to do more than just see the park from within a car -- do some hiking, etc.

3. Any suggestions on the wineries? We are from PA, never been to CA, all I have heard of is the Napa Valley....

4. How realistic is it to see other national parks like Sequoia, Redwood in addition to Yosemite?

Sorry for the rambling here... any thoughts or suggestions would be much appreciated. I'm getting overloaded with info from the 'net and various tourbooks. Although we did book our flights already!

Thank you very much for any suggestions

Actually you could easily do all of that in 2 weeks. many people posting here are trying to do that in 5 or 6 days. 2 weeks is a luxury. Now, I assume some of the time will be spent w/ your daughter. So if you have 10 or 11 free days you couls break it up like this:

3 days in SF, 1 day on the Marin coast (including redwoods in Muir Woods), 2 days in Napa/Sonoma, 2 or 3 days in Yosemite, a day in Sequoia, and a day to "play" with. Either add a day to any of the above or one along the coast on the way back to SF.

if you will actually have 2 full weeks then of course you can stretch out the time wherever you want.

As for Yosemite and what there is to do -- you'll have to pick and choose your favorites and it won't be from your car. The first place is the Visitor's Center. Not only do they have the Yosemite Guide paper, helpful rangers, but they have a short, beautiful movie on Yosemite. A must see. Then there is the www.yosemite.org website that lists the many questions you may have, along with the answers. This is a bit more informative than the National Park website.

2 weeks ahould give you plenty of time to explore Northern California. Being that SF is a relatively small city, you will be able to cover SF in 2 or 3 days. I would allow for 3 or 4 days in Yosemite. Be sure to make reservations ASAP. If you can, get a room in a hotel in the valley to save you from a 45 minute drive each way into and out of the park. You should also spend 2 days exploring the San Jose/Silicon Valley area including the redwoods in nearby Big Basin, and another 2 days in the Napa area. Napa Valley is not the only wine region in the California. There are many notable wineries just outside of San Jose in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Check out the following links to help you narrow down your plans. Hope you have an excellent trip.

www.yosemitepark.com

www.sanjose.org

www.bigbasin.org

http://santacruz.winecountry.com/wineries/

http://www.winecountry.com/

Just returned a few weeks ago from this area. Yosemite is about a 5hr drive from SF and, as another poster suggested,I recommend staying in the Valley of Yosemite. We stayed in Yosemite Lodge (ensuite), very clean and you can't beat the location. (however, no TV or music)Be sure to go to Mariposa Grove inside the park. It is home to giant Sequoias and a great and beautiful hike! Also walk to the bottom of Yosemite Falls, just beautiful!. Napa and Sonoma wine country are just an hour's drive from SF.We went to Sonoma, took a tram tour at Benziger winery and had lunch at Chateau Souverain winery, of course, along with tastings. We stayed on Fisherman's Wharf and had a bay view, although many here like other places better, we loved the location. We were across the street from Pier 41 where you will go for your Alcatraz tour (a very good tour) and Pier 39 that have hundreds of harbor seals. The cable cars and Chinatown were close. Our location was easy access to 101 and to GGB and Muir Woods, Sausalito, and wine country.

I just got back from Yosemite - can't wait to go again!!! I definitely recommend staying in the valley. We were there from Thursday through Sunday and never used the car the whole time. There is a shuttle bus you can take around the valley which drops off and picks up at different areas of interest, trail heads, and so on. You can rent bikes which is a popular way to get around. There are also ranger-led tours and hikes which are very interesting. The only time you would really need to use your car is if you explore the areas outside the valley. We

I'd recommend spending 3 nights in Yosemite because that will give you 2 full days to explore. If you can dedicate more time to Yosemite, so much the better.

In SF, 3 nights if you can as well. That will give you the opportunity to spread out your sightseeing over 2 days so you will be more relaxed.

I will be going to Yosemite next week for 5 days and can't wait. From what I am hearing, the waterfalls are excellent at this time of year. Of course, Yosemite is nice at any time of the year.

At least with your timeframe you can cover lots of ground in CA. I think that 2 or 3 days max is plenty to see everything in SF. I would devote at least 4 or 5 days to Yosemite, 2 or 3 days in the San Jose region, and another 2 days in the Monterey and Carmel areas and finally 2 days in the Napa and or Sonoma Valley areas.

I totally cuncur with Janis and Jcorrea. You have plenty of time to see everything.

I highly recommend that you time your trip in and out of yosemite to either early morning or late in the afternoon, so that you will miss the prodigious central valley heat.

I'd try to make Yosemite valley accomodation reservations NOW! They book out very quickly and it is so worth your while to stay in Yosemite valley.

I think that Marny and CAvacationer are right on the money. I also agree with J Correa about Yosemite. You are fortunate to have 2 weeks for this entire trip.

I cannot stress enough the importance of making reservations early for Yosemite.

CAvacationer - the waterfalls are incredible this year. The rains we had last month have added to the snow melt and it is beautiful. We took the open air tram tour around the valley floor and saw all the waterfalls - it was a lot of fun.

We only had 3 nights this time, for next year our group is talking about adding another night because none of us wanted to head home yesterday morning. I could easily spend a week there. I think next year with the extra day we will explore some of the park outside the valley.

The weather was great last weekend. It was a little chilly, but the sun was out most of the time. The weather should be glorious for your trip. Have fun.

CAV,

Lucky you. By weird coincidence I was also in YNP over the weekend, though only for 24 hours.

The days are low to mid 70s, quite mild at night, sunset is at 6, valley darkens up around 7:30-8:00.

The Dogwood is still blooming if you can believe that, and the Mist Trail is absolutely phenomenal. The top of Nevada Falls was like a beach with all kinds of people in bathing suit tops and shorts.

Just Remember that by mid-September there most likely will be no Yosemite Falls to see because the snowmelt that feeds the falls with water will be dried up.

Wow! Thanks to all for the quick and informative replies!

Now we're thinking, if so many folks say that two weeks is so much time, where the heck else should we go??