I'd like to take a 2-3 day
California getaway with scenery
sightseeing, but not much hiking.

I've some questions:

1. Weatherwise, is it better to
go in July or in late Sept/early Oct?

2. Do you recommend for best scenery
to visit SF Golden Gate, Big Sur and
Muir Woods.

OR

3. Fly to Fresno and hit Sequoia and
Kings Canyon, instead?

4. What is a good city to fly to that
is close enough to transportation and
scenery as well as guided tours?

I think my options for flying in (
out of FL) are:
1. SFO
2. Oakland
3. Fresno
4. San Jose
5. Monterey ??

Thanks a bunch!

I'd consider a trip to the Morro Bay/Cambria/San Simeon area if you want a peaceful place with plenty of scenery. Come in September and you should find some very pleasant weather.

Morro Bay is wonderful - but not near any of the airports you mentioned. You asked about tours - this sounds like you don't want to drive. You will have a hard time finding any tours that meet your specific needs.

As for when/weather? It totally depends on where you end up. The coast is generally warmer and clearer during Sept-Oct than in July - when it is 100F in the Valley it can be 60F and foggy in SF. But by late Oct there can be snow in Kings Canyon.

As for best scenery - all you mentioned have Fabulous scenery. Muir woods and the Marin coast, SF, Big Sur, sequoia --- all of them. Since you only want 3 days and near an airport consider these:

1) in/out SF and stay on the Marin coast - Tomales Bay or anywhere along there. You can see Muir woods, the amazing Marin headlands and Angel Island -plus the bonus of driving thru SF on the way to the airport. But you would need a car unless you want to hike miles.

2) In/out San Jose - pick up a car and drive south through Monterey, Carmel as far as Big Sur - then return through the Salinas valley back to San Jose.

San Francisco's summer is in the fall, so I would say generally late Sept or early Oct would be nice.

I would rent bikes in the Marina and bike over the bridge to Sausalito or Tiburon if you want beautiful scenery or hike up the Dipsea Trail from Muir Woods for a pretty hike through the redwoods that ends up on the cliffs above the ocean.

SFO or Oakland airports are equally easy to get to San Francisco-San Jose is an hour or more drive

just noticed you said you don't want to hike.

if you have a car you could drive up to the top of Mt. Tam or take the short drive along highway 1 to Stinson Beach and have lunch.

Go in and out of San Jose: Drive up hwy 17 and go a few miles north at the summit to Big Basin State Park. See beautiful redwood forest there. Drive down hwy 17 to 1 and south to Monterey/Carmel, stop at Pt. Lobos Park and then through Big Sur to Cambria and Morro Bay. Coming back you can cut over to 101 and blast up the freeway in a couple hours. That should be a great 2-3 days and SJC is an easy airport compared to SFO.

If you fly into Fresno it's a quick trip to Yosemite. It's very nice in September and very uncrowded. Stay a night or 2 in the valley and see it and the eastern part of the park like Tuolomne Meadows. Then stay a night in the south and see the giant redwoods and Wawona. Easy drive back to Fresno from the south.