Please any advice on the following would be great: I am looking for a vacation in CA that will give us incredible scenic beauty, nice beaches, not a lot of crowds, wilderness hiking, good food & wine and plenty of rest and relaxation. I have already been to SF, Monterrey, Big Sur, Tahoe, San Diego, La Jolla, Laguna Beach/Hills, Sacremento, & LA. Therefore I am considering the North Coast-Mendocino, Redwood N.P., Sonoma. I was thinking of flying into SF and spending the day in Sonoma probably going to a winery. Spend the night, wake up in the AM and driving from SF up the coast to Mendocino and staying in a very nice B&B for 4 nights. Then drive up the coast to Redwood N.P. and stay up there for 2 nights and head back.
Do you think this would be a fun, adventeresome and scenic trip? Do we need to add a few more days? Any B&B's, hotels or lodges that you would recommend, we tend to like mid to high end type places and don't mind paying if its worth it. Or if you can think of things we should do and see while here please let me know. Also, when is the best time to go? I was thinking of going in May. Any other advice tips you can think of would be great.
Thanks,
Poogie

When you say great beaches, do you mean to see or in terms of swimming? You probably know that the northern California waters are generally cold. But the coastline is spectacular, and the itinerary you have outlined should work very nicely for you, given your interests. However, why return to San Francisco from Sonoma when you could spend the night there and then head right over to Bodega Bay the next day to start the trip up Highway 1 to Mendocino? There are good places to stop along the way and you would have a nice, leisurely drive (especially if you get behind a slow-moving car). Mendocino is a fun place to stay: good lodgings, good restaurants, good places to explore on foot.

Underhill, I should have stated, the beaches would be for viewing and aweing at, since my wife feels that all CA beaches are way too cold to swim in.
As for your other suggestion, it is a good one, since I don't have any reason to go into SF, I will drive from Sonoma to

I will drive straight from Sonoma to Bodega Bay to Mendoncino then on up the Coast to the Redwoods.

www.gualala.com

www.storitz.com

Poogie, on the Mendocino coast I recommend the Greenwood Pier Inn in the tiny town of Elk, if you can get any of these three rooms: The two Sea Castle units, or Cliffside. These are simply the most dramatically set, romantic accommodations I've seen on the Pacific Coast. The rest of the rooms are fine, but not nearly as extraordinary. Look at their excellent website at www.greenwoodpierinn.com for great pictures of the rooms I'm recommending, their view, and more info.

I'll bet the previous poster meant to direct you to www.storres.com but mispelled the name. This is a very interesting inn near the town of Gualala, done in imperial Russian style. Surprisingly, it's historically appropriate for the area, and it works. It's not on the ocean, though. The restaurant is exceedingly romantic and may be the very best on this part of the Coast.

I strongly recommend you start a new thread with a more specific title, like "Sonoma, Mendocino Coast and Redwoods NP" to attract more responses.

thanks jc, I just knew that didn't look right!