Mrs A

Hi
We have had several wonderful holidays in Florida, staying in villas with private pools. These have been ideal (and reasonably cheap) bases for us to explore. Our children are now old enough to holiday on their own, so it's just the 2 of us now and we would love to visit California. Are there similar villas available for us to stay in? We are not Hotel people, we prefer our independence. We would like to stay around San Francisco (we think!) but are open to suggestions. Any help or advice gratefully received - this will be a completely new area for us and we are anxious to learn! Thanks.

cal

I can't answer your question directly, but you might try www.vrbo.com to check out the villas for rent.

Stan

I am not aware of any villas in the San Francisco area. You might want to consider staying along California's Central Coast in Monterey and Carmel and drive south on highway 1 to Big Sur and Hearst Castle. The scenery is amazing. Los Angeles and San Diego would also be nice to visit. SF is okay, but nothing that I would go out of my way for.

Tom Goodwin

California (at least the habitable parts) tends to be quite a bit more expensive than Florida. There are definitely rental agancies that do short-term rentals (mostly they are local to a specific area). When buying a house, I tend to think "half the house for twice the money"; renting may be similar. A little more description of what you are interested in could help; do you want the city, the coast, the mountains, ..., as well as the likely time of year you might visit.

The northern CA coast is quite different from Florida (a bit like Cornwall, only more rugged). You can find places along much of the coast. There is also much available around Lake Tahoe, in the mountains.

belinda

Check out www.home-exchange.com Maybe you can work out a swap with someone.

Sherry

I would take a look at some of the coastal areas in northern California, such as the Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur area, or the Bodega Bay area. There is also the Napa/Sonoma area. I don't think you will find many vacation rentals in the San Francisco immediate vicinity, but it is a day trip from those areas. Also, Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur, and Santa Cruz will have more swimmable beach area than SF. Bodega Bay is also beautiful, and you could drive up to the Redwoods for a bit, or down to SF. Napa and Sonoma are nice, but not on the water or anything. BUT, gorgeous vineyards, and not too far from the SF area.

Agreed on the home-exchange idea. That would be a good way to get something in SF, if that is what you want.

x

There are many homes for rent in the Dillon Beach area and Bodega Bay which are north of San Francisco.

http://10kvacationrentals.com/ads/ca/bdgabay.htm/

http://cyberrentals.com/CA/Haas2NOCA.html?id=kelly

http://nobhillplace.com/susamer/

http://www.latelet.com/rentals/21940.html