HELP San Francisco in 4 days!!!
Oct 16th, 2005, 03:31 PM
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HELP San Francisco in 4 days!!!
My wife and I are beginning to plan a trip to San Francisco and would like help if possible. We arrive in S.F.(airport) 12pm November 4th (Friday) and will depart 9am November 9th (Wednesday). We're not big art buffs; however, we love history, trees, and good food.
1)Could someone recommend a good hotel.. we're not on a strict budget; location is more important.
2)What's traffic like during the week? We're flying into airport in SF and will likely rent a car.
3) What's the best way to see the redwoods? Bus? Rental Car?
4) We love wine.. is there a good tour or is it better to do it on the fly?
Thanks for your input and additional thoughts are welcom.
Andy
1)Could someone recommend a good hotel.. we're not on a strict budget; location is more important.
2)What's traffic like during the week? We're flying into airport in SF and will likely rent a car.
3) What's the best way to see the redwoods? Bus? Rental Car?
4) We love wine.. is there a good tour or is it better to do it on the fly?
Thanks for your input and additional thoughts are welcom.
Andy
Oct 16th, 2005, 10:19 PM
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Hi Andy,
Sounds like this is your first trip to SF. Good for you! Let's see if I can help with a few of your questions. Hotels in the Union Square area are quite central, plus you can walk to places without having to move the car. I've recommended the Pacific Heights Inn many times. (http://www.pacificheightsinn.com) and it's where my family stays when they visit. It's on the end of Union Street near Van Ness. Union street (not square) is a great area, safe, lots of little shops and great restaurants too. It's a lovely neighbourhood also called "Cow Hollow" if you are trying to find it on hotel sites) It's clean, nice sized rooms and great prices. Plus, they have free parking (that can easily add $20-$30/day at hotels) and comp. breakfast.
Traffic: Will depend on the time you are arriving. If you arrive during rush hour (anytime after 3 pm) you will definitely hit more traffic. Should take you about 20-30 minutes to get to your hotel from the airport.
Sorry, can't help with the redwoods, but I'm sure other posters will be happy to help.
Wine...that's my passion. My father is a winemaker back East. There are tours, but I highly recommend renting a car and going at your own pace. The tours hit large wineries and it's very commercial, not a true feeling of the wine country, esp. if you really love wine. You have enough time to do both Napa AND Sonoma. I would do them on different days. It takes about an hour to get to either place from the City. It's a very easy drive. My preference (as well as most locals) is Sonoma. Not as commercial. Count on visiting about 4 wineries in a day. Most are open 10-4. Make sure to have a great lunch too. There are a lot of picnic sites at many of the wineries...a nice way to spend the day. Be sure to drink lots of water. If I can help with winery ideas, or where to get food for picnics, please post back and ask. I'd be happy to help, but don't want to bore you with it now if you are not interested.
About tours/history...Although there are things like Grey Line tours (big buses that take you to the main parts of the city), there are also various walking tours of neighbourhoods. Those can be quite fun and interesting. The City is easy to get around, and if you have a car, you can see the sites without a formal tour.
Good food: Well, you are coming to the right city! If you post a little more about types of foods you like (Chinese, Italian, Thai, etc), budgets, etc. I'm sure fodorites will be happy to help with restaurant suggestions.
Keep in mind that we are a windy city, and weather can change during the day, as well as your location in the City. The best thing to do is "layer". It's also a very casual city, as far as dressing is concerned. Bring comfortable walking shoes, SF is a fun city to walk around!
So, welcome!!!! And I wish you and your wife a fabulous holiday! Please post back with any questions, or if I can be more specific about something I've mentioned.
Happy travels
Andiamo
Sounds like this is your first trip to SF. Good for you! Let's see if I can help with a few of your questions. Hotels in the Union Square area are quite central, plus you can walk to places without having to move the car. I've recommended the Pacific Heights Inn many times. (http://www.pacificheightsinn.com) and it's where my family stays when they visit. It's on the end of Union Street near Van Ness. Union street (not square) is a great area, safe, lots of little shops and great restaurants too. It's a lovely neighbourhood also called "Cow Hollow" if you are trying to find it on hotel sites) It's clean, nice sized rooms and great prices. Plus, they have free parking (that can easily add $20-$30/day at hotels) and comp. breakfast.
Traffic: Will depend on the time you are arriving. If you arrive during rush hour (anytime after 3 pm) you will definitely hit more traffic. Should take you about 20-30 minutes to get to your hotel from the airport.
Sorry, can't help with the redwoods, but I'm sure other posters will be happy to help.
Wine...that's my passion. My father is a winemaker back East. There are tours, but I highly recommend renting a car and going at your own pace. The tours hit large wineries and it's very commercial, not a true feeling of the wine country, esp. if you really love wine. You have enough time to do both Napa AND Sonoma. I would do them on different days. It takes about an hour to get to either place from the City. It's a very easy drive. My preference (as well as most locals) is Sonoma. Not as commercial. Count on visiting about 4 wineries in a day. Most are open 10-4. Make sure to have a great lunch too. There are a lot of picnic sites at many of the wineries...a nice way to spend the day. Be sure to drink lots of water. If I can help with winery ideas, or where to get food for picnics, please post back and ask. I'd be happy to help, but don't want to bore you with it now if you are not interested.
About tours/history...Although there are things like Grey Line tours (big buses that take you to the main parts of the city), there are also various walking tours of neighbourhoods. Those can be quite fun and interesting. The City is easy to get around, and if you have a car, you can see the sites without a formal tour.
Good food: Well, you are coming to the right city! If you post a little more about types of foods you like (Chinese, Italian, Thai, etc), budgets, etc. I'm sure fodorites will be happy to help with restaurant suggestions.
Keep in mind that we are a windy city, and weather can change during the day, as well as your location in the City. The best thing to do is "layer". It's also a very casual city, as far as dressing is concerned. Bring comfortable walking shoes, SF is a fun city to walk around!
So, welcome!!!! And I wish you and your wife a fabulous holiday! Please post back with any questions, or if I can be more specific about something I've mentioned.
Happy travels
Andiamo
Oct 17th, 2005, 06:10 AM
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Which redwoods? My suggestion would be to do a Muir Woods, Mt. Tam, Stinson Beach Olema Inn day trip, coming back Sir Francis Drake to San Raphel. Marin County is the most beautiful of the bay area counties to me.
Oct 17th, 2005, 02:03 PM
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Staying down toward Van Ness is a bit far and you would need to drive to get around the city IMHO. My husband and I often spend the night in the city at smaller boutique hotels. Several offer good internet prices:
Harbour Court, Griffon Hotel,Savoy, Donatello to mention a few. Most however charge for parking car $24-30 roughly but sometimes they ahve specials (Try Donatello which is in the theatre district for prking included rates) These hotels are centrally located around either Embarcadero or union square area.
Traffic into the City on Friday is busy but at the time you arrive, it shouldn't be too bad.
Redwoods - Muir woods and yes you would be better of driving unless you take a greyline tour but then you are limited by their time schedule. Driving, you can also take in Stinson Beech and other scenery.
Defintely do the wine country. We like SOnoma Valley rather than Napa which tends to be very crowded especially on weekends but both have good wineries. Be prepared to pay for your tastings however. Depending on how far up you want to go, wineries in the HEaldsburg area (about 1.5 to 2 hours hours from SF) are wonderful and it is such a charming little town. Enjoy your visit
Harbour Court, Griffon Hotel,Savoy, Donatello to mention a few. Most however charge for parking car $24-30 roughly but sometimes they ahve specials (Try Donatello which is in the theatre district for prking included rates) These hotels are centrally located around either Embarcadero or union square area.
Traffic into the City on Friday is busy but at the time you arrive, it shouldn't be too bad.
Redwoods - Muir woods and yes you would be better of driving unless you take a greyline tour but then you are limited by their time schedule. Driving, you can also take in Stinson Beech and other scenery.
Defintely do the wine country. We like SOnoma Valley rather than Napa which tends to be very crowded especially on weekends but both have good wineries. Be prepared to pay for your tastings however. Depending on how far up you want to go, wineries in the HEaldsburg area (about 1.5 to 2 hours hours from SF) are wonderful and it is such a charming little town. Enjoy your visit
Oct 19th, 2005, 07:13 PM
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Bus is not a good option for redwoods. The only place busses go is Muir Woods and when they get there the place is overrun. Muir Woods is not the best place for redwoods anyway, the trees there are not very big for redwoods. It's a pretty enough place, but it has a sort of "museum" feel to it.
You could combine wine and redwoods with a couple of days in the Sonoma Valley and Russian River areas. Sonoma is well enough known, but the Russian River produces some very good Pinot Noirs and sparkling wines (Healdsburg is the capitol of the Russian River wine country).
Redwoods at Armstrong Woods just 2 miles north of the little town of Guerneville. About the same size as Muir Woods, but much less crowded, taller, bigger trees, and a more park-like atmosphere.
Follow the River road all the way to the ocean at Jenner, then highway one back to SF. You could do all this in a day, but that's probably not a good idea if you'll be wine-tasting, stay overnight somewhere in Sonoma or Healdsburg.
You could combine wine and redwoods with a couple of days in the Sonoma Valley and Russian River areas. Sonoma is well enough known, but the Russian River produces some very good Pinot Noirs and sparkling wines (Healdsburg is the capitol of the Russian River wine country).
Redwoods at Armstrong Woods just 2 miles north of the little town of Guerneville. About the same size as Muir Woods, but much less crowded, taller, bigger trees, and a more park-like atmosphere.
Follow the River road all the way to the ocean at Jenner, then highway one back to SF. You could do all this in a day, but that's probably not a good idea if you'll be wine-tasting, stay overnight somewhere in Sonoma or Healdsburg.
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