5 days from San Francisco north - need itinerary ideas
 

Hello - we've done the Napa/Sonoma trip several times and would like to try something a bit different this time. We'll fly into SF, spend one night and then head north - perhaps along the coast, see the redwoods, muir woods, anderson valley, alexander valley, etc. Just need some ideas from those with experience on what is do-able, fun places to stop, if possible, some unique inns or hotels with charm. Ideally, we'll try to go the last week of June to coincide with our anniversary but if that isn't possible, it will be shortly after labor day. Budget is flexible - would like to be under $300/night for hotels. Thanks!

Just speaking weather-wise, you'd be smart to come after Labor Day, since September/early October is typically our best weather of the year.

After Labor Day will likely be better weather - warmer temps, less fog. Late June is fine, just be prepared for fog along the coast. You don't have to go too far inland usually to find fog-free skies and the fog in and of itself is interesting.

I would put Fort Bragg/Mendocino on the list of stops. It is a neat area.

If you want to go further north, Humboldt area is great also.

Between San Francisco and Eureka (for the redwoods) in one direction drive Highway 1 and the other direction drive Highway 128 between Albion and Cloverdale (for Mendocino wine country) and Highway 101 between Cloverdale and the Bay Area.

(Weather will be warm inland.)

HTTY

Here's what has been sketched out so far:
day 1 - arrv SFO and drive to Healdsburg via Muir Woods and Bodega Bay; stay in healdsburg
day 2 - visit wineries around Healdsburg; stay in healdsburg
day 3 - drive from healdsburg to napa visiting wineries along the way; stay in napa
day 4 - half day spa near napa; half day shopping in napa; stay in napa
day 5- drive back to SFO and fly home

I could also envision driving directly to Eureka and then meandering our way back south.

If you're going to Healdsburg, I'd go to Armstrong Woods (http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=450) instead of Muir Woods. Muir Woods gets very crowded.

The plan sounds like a good one (I agree about Armstrong Woods in place of Muir Woods) - the only thing about the plan is that it doesn't sound much different than previous trips, so if different is what you are interested in, I'd go further north.

Yes, you said you wanted to do something different but this sounds like the same old thing. What happened to the redwoods and Anderson Valley? There's some great redwood groves up in Mendocino County. And there's outstanding coastal scenery too. I'd go further north if it was my trip.

I live in Napa but day 4 sounds especially boring. Napa is known for food and wine not for its shops and you can find spas almost anywhere these days. But, spending a half day in one? I hope your husband has something else planned.

Go further north to Mendocino or even up to Trinidad...

Otis, there's at least a couple of hours of good shopping in St. Helena!

"A couple of hours of good shopping in St. Helena!"

Is that all. I could spend a couple of hours just in the wine shops there. The OP was talking about shopping "in Napa" not St.Helena.

Sorry, but to me the reference to "shopping in Napa" means the Napa Valley, not the city of Napa.

for the benefit of the poster, there are a number of upscale women's boutique clothing shops in St. Helena.

Check out The Little River Inn just south of Mendocino.

sf307- St. Helena is in the Napa Valley. It's not "Napa". When you visit San Jose or Saratoga, do you tell everyone you are going to Santa Clara?

Otis, I know you live in Napa, but like it or not, those of us who don't definitely refer to the entire valley when we say "Napa". If someone asks me what I'm doing for the weekend, and I say "we're going to Napa", I'm sure they don't think I'm spending the weekend in the CITY of Napa.