California - San Jose, Napa/Sonoma
 

Hello! We are planning a trip to California in June, flying into San Jose on a Sunday(good deal on airfare) staying there Sunday night, driving to Napa/Sonoma area on Monday - and staying there until Thursday.
We have yet to figure out Thursday and Friday night hotels and are debating between staying in the Napa/Sonoma region another day and then driving back to San Jose on Friday (flying out Saturday AM)... or visiting another city in the area for Thursday and Friday.

Any suggestions?

We're big walkers (and runners) and are planning to do San Francisco another time (we want to stay there a whole week - not just a day).
Thanks for any assistance!

For a very scenic drive, take route 4 out of Stockton to Angels Camp. In Angels Camp turn north on Route 49 and go through the CA Gold country. Make sure to stop at the Marshall Gold Discovery Historic Park.
The Capitol Grounds in Sacramento are a great place to walk.
Try to see Old Sacramento and the CA Railroad Museum.

Personally, I'd make my way down the coast north of San Francisco (Marshall, Point Reyes Station, Mt. Tam, Mill Valley, Sausalito) on Thursday, spend Thursday night and all day Friday and Friday night in San Francisco, then leave early Saturday morning for San Jose. What time is your Saturday morning flight -- if its really early, I'd spend Friday night in San Jose near the airport, although I wouldn't hit the road from San Francisco until at least 7:30p.m.

Unless your flight arrives <i>very</i> late -- I'd probably drive up to somewhere in Marin/Sonoma/Napa that night.

Traffic on Sunday night will be nothing, traffic on Monday morning will be very heavy.

Traffic won't be bad on Monday morning if you take 680 north towards Napa. If you go up 880, 280 or 101 that's another story. Where are you staying in Napa/Sonoma?

For those two extra nights, maybe spend them in another part of the Wine Country. So, if staying in Napa then stay in Healdsburg or Sonoma on Thursday, Friday. Then if the weather is nice, you could take day trips out to the coast.

The problem with June is that the coast can be foggy. So committing in advance to a coastal itinerary is not a good idea. Nor is going out to the Sierra Foothills or Sacramento because it could be brutally hot.

Another option would be to drive down to Santa Cruz on Thursday and stay in that area. Then, if it's foggy on Friday, you can always go visit one of the nearby redwood parks and do some hiking or visit some of the mountain wineries. It's also easy to get to the San Jose airport on Saturday morning.

I don't think I'd recommend the Hwy 49 foothills either (and I actually prefer tasting in Plymouth/Amador County to Napa)

Late June could be lovely or hotter than <B><red>Hades</B></red> -- same goes for Napa BTW.

And yes, 680 would be OK -- You said San Jose and I read San Jose -- but brain went into SFO mode :) . . .

Thanks for all the tips! We're actually staying in downtown Napa (River Terrace Inn), but are very laid-back travelers so day-trips to various locales is probably in the cards for us but we most likely won't plan them too much ahead of time.

Pt. Reyes Station looked intriguing - so we may check that out.

We get in pretty early on Sunday (noon-ish) - is it not even worth staying the day and checking out San Jose?

Unfortunately we also leave pretty early Sat am, so will spend the last night close to the airport.

Thanks for the heads up on the foggy coast - I wouldn't have thought about that. As for the heat, it'll be welcome (it snowed in Detroit last week).

Thanks again for all the great information!

I think you might enjoy the contrast between Napa and Sonoma. I'd suggest a couple of days in Sonoma County (for example, I recently enjoyed the Vintner's Inn in Santa Rosa). Healdsburg is a lovely town as well.

Yes, don't miss Healdsburg. Its beyond fabulous.

<<<is it not even worth staying the day and checking out San Jose?>>>

Not so much.

The Santana Row area of San Jose is very nice- lots of shops, restaurants

Also, you could drive over to Los Gatos- it is also a very nice area with shops and restaurants-
might be a nice area to spend your first night

Los Gatos is a very nice upscale <i>suburb</i>. Santana Row is a very nice upscale <i>shopping center</i>. Nice places, if that's what you're looking for.

"is it not even worth staying the day and checking out San Jose?"

no.

San Jose is a nice place to live, but doesn't have a lot to draw visitors. There are places that are nice to spend some time if you are in town - such as Santana Row, Los Gatos, etc. - however they aren't unique or interesting enough IMO to warrant spending time there over heading straight up to wine country, spending time on the coast, etc.

If you love to hike, Pt Reyes is absolutely the best, as is Mount Tamalpais. Napa is likely to be warm...could be hot, which I don't like to exercise in. If you want an interessting non-winery trip, check out Jack London state park. Lots of history and several nice walks. There are so many trail choices around Point Reyes; check out the park website. About 2 hour drive from San Jose.

Kabradle will be staying in downtown Napa. Typical highs in June are in the high '70s and low "80s. If it's much hotter than that it's because the whole Bay Area is suffering from a heat wave. Napa has a very mild climate.

Point Reyes, on the other hand, in June could be downright chilly unless we are all having one of those rare heat waves. Then, the coast is a great place to head to.

My husband's family lives in San Jose and we were just there over Christmas. I agree with what one of the pp said, in that even though Santana Row is nice, and Los Gatos is really nice, it's not worth making an extra trip out there.

We've been to both Napa and Sonoma and personally, prefer Sonoma. The downtown area is very quant, and it's just a different feel from Napa.