tdelano

I have always wanted to see the Redwoods. What is the best area and closest airport? Is there a fantastic place to stay? I will be traveling with three older teens. We like outdoor activity, museums, history.
THANKS!

tchoiniere

I would suggest San Francisco. Stay in the city and do a day trip to Muir Woods

SpartanTartan

If you REALLY want to see the best redwoods, you should visit Redwoods National and State Park in the northern most part of California. Unfortunately, there are no major airports anywhere near. However, there are other places to see redwoods. If you want easy viewing, fly into San Francisco and go to Muir Woods. You'll see plenty of beautiful redwoods there. If you keep driving up CA Rt. 1, you'll be treated to beautiful scenery (albeit very twisty road just north of Muir Woods - although it gets much better after a bit). Keep driving, and you'll end up on the Sonoma Coast where there's hiking and beautiful ocean scenery. Keep driving up to Mendocino - more trees, hikes and scenery. Stay overnight in Mendocino or Ft. Bragg and drive north. The highway will cut inland to US101. Keep driving and you will go through some magnificent redwoods as you leave US101 for Old US101, the Avenue of the Giants.

But wait! Are you interested in Coastal Redwoods or the Sequoia's? The Coastal Redwoods are the tall trees, and the Sequoia's are the not quite as tall but wide trees. They are the largest living things on earth and quite stunning. To see them, fly into Los Angeles International (LAX) or Burbank Airport and drive about 4 hours to Sequoia National Park. While you're at it, visit Kings Canyon National Park. It's adjacent to Sequoia. If you have time, it's not too far to Yosemite National Park.

Either trip, you won't be sorry!

Supercilious

Yes, if you are talking about coast redwoods, the best place to go is Eureka. Redwood National and State Parks are north of town and there are a number of excellent state parks to the south as well. The Arcata-Eureka airport (ACV) in McKinleyville is the closest but most visitors fly into one of the Bay Area airports and then drive the Redwood Highway north. From San Francisco, it's about a 5 hour drive to Eureka but you'll be in the redwoods in about 3 1/2 hours.

There are some very nice places to stay up on the North Coast but I'm not sure I'd recommend them to someone traveling with teens. Romantic Inns and B&Bs may not be your best choice but there are a number of very serviceable motels in the area.

There are also some very nice redwood parks between San Jose and Santa Cruz. These might be a good choice if you are wanting to visit other attractions in the South Bay or on the San Mateo/Santa Cruz/Monterey coast.

Muir Woods is very nice too but it is not a destination in itself. Instead, it's a couple of hours diversion when visiting San Francisco.