Going to SF in March 06'-would like to rent a car for a day and travel highway 1. Some say traveling north is best and some say south. Which would be best? Want to see great coastline and visit any interesting spots along the way.

If you're only planning on a day, then north is probably your best bet, because once you cross the GG bridge and peel off on SR 1, you're in scenic country right away, vs. an hour or two in suburban country if you head south.

In March you still won't have a lot of daylight, so if you head out early you could hit Mendocino for a late lunch, then hook over to 101 after Ft Bragg and make it back into SF that night. Fair amount of driving but a beautiful ride.

That is a beautiful drive, but you wouldn't have time to do much stopping. I would not enjoy trying that trip in one day.

Another alternative would be to start the same way and go as far as Fort Ross Historical State Park, 13 miles above Jenner, where the Russian River enters the Pacific Ocean. On the way you can stop and explore Point Reyes National Seashore, maybe the Tomales Bay oyster beds, and stretch your legs in Bodega Bay, watching the fishing boats. Fort Ross is a fort built by the Russians in the 1820's when they were hunting seals on the California coast. It has a small interesting Russian Orthodox church and restored barracks, etc. Two miles above that is the Timber Cove Inn, which is an interesting construction with a soaring lobby and great views from the bar and dining room.

The spectacular coast from Jenner up will remind you of car ads where you see the driver high on curvy cliffs.

I would then trace my way back to Jenner. If you do not want to drive the same coast back, take Timber Cove Road, across from the Inn, up to the top and turn right. This road will take you over Meyers Grade, which is a beautiful drive and plunk you back on Hwy. 1 just north of Jenner.

Turn left at Jenner and follow the Russian River. At Guerneville is Armstrong Redwoods State Park. Quiet and beautiful. Make your way to Hwy 101 at Santa Rosa and you can get to San Francisco in less than an hour.

Better yet, if you still have time, take the Highway 12 exit and drive through the Valley of the Moon to Sonoma,(altogether, about 20 miles from Santa Rosa), maybe taking a little detour to Glen Ellen and Jack London State Park, to see the remains of his Wolf House, which burnt before it was finished. Right there is also a good winery tour, Benziger winery. (I didn't mention it before, but the whole area is rife with wineries. This one just happens to have a really good tour.)

Sonoma is a town built during the Mexican era around an 11-acre plaza. Many of the original adobe buldings are still standing, turned into boutiques, etc. The Sonoma Cheese Factory is worth a visit. It is just a store, on the north side of the plaza, but it contains a wide variety of great cheeses, deli stuff, etc. The building itself is worth mentioning because it is a hideous 50's modern, way out of keeping with its surroundings. A couple of miles out of town is another winery worth mentioning, the tiny Buena Vista Winery. It was here that the Hungarian count Harasthzy (sp? brought the first wine grapes to California from Europe. Again, there are many wineries in the area. 45 minutes gets you back to San Francisco.

If you decide to go south,it is true that you will be driving through some communities, but from Half Moon Bay on, the drive is very pretty. No cliff hangers, though. Santa Cruz would be a good destination. It's main street, Pacfic Avenue is lined with trees and sidewalk cafes and boutiques. The University of California at Santa Cruz campus sits up on a hill with drop-dead views of the Monterey Bay. The Municipal Wharf has restaurants and barking sea lions, and right next door is the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, with a beautiful 1906 building by William Weeks which serves as a convention venu now. Rides, etc. not open in March, except perhaps on weekends. Up the coast a few blocks is Steamer Lane, where you wlll probably find surfers practicing their art, and a small surfer's museum looking like a lighthouse.

Are you sure you can only do one day? <grin>

I think that you can't go wrong with either direction. I would probably be inclined to go north because no visit to SF would be complete without a ride over the GG Bridge

I'm not sure what Gardyloo is talking about going south though. There is definitely not an hour or two of suburbia along Hwy 1 south of SF. It is fairly developed until you get to Pacifica, but after that there are only a few small towns until you reach Santa Cruz. The area is pretty wide open with long stretches of undeveloped or farm land on one side of the highway and the ocean on the other.

Poor choice of words on my part. Suburban for a while, but not especially scenic for quite a while. I think when people hear "Highway 1" they're thinking of Big Sur-type scenery, which is not (IMO) within daytrip range of SF, whereas excellent coastal (as well as rural) scenery is more immediate north of the city.

OK, Garyloo, but the Devil's Slide area is pretty dramatic, no?

I haven't been past Devil's Slide since the road got wiped some years ago, so my info is not current. It's scenic enough but I don't think it equates to SR1 north for a day trip for a visitor to the region.

Garyloo,

Agreed. I was just trying to be fair <grin>. The coastal drive from San Francisco to Monterey is very pretty, but not nearly as dramatic as that above Jenner.

North for sure. I'd head up to the top of Mt. Tamalpais on the way, and spend some time at Point Reyes. My inclination would be to take my time, stop at the beaches and funky towns of Bolinas (it's not signed-take the left west after the lagoon), Point Reyes Station (stop in at Tomales Bay Foods in the old barn for great picnic provisions like locally made cheeses and sandwiches), and Stinson Beach. Then take a walk at Point Reyes either to the Pt. Reyes Lighthouse or to Chimney Rock (just the drive out onto the Point is fantastic), eat oysters on Tomales Bay at the Marshall Store at Marshall, drive north until you feel like heading home. You can take 101 back to SF.

It's not an easy call. We like to return to Seattle driving up Highway 1 from San Francisco. However, for a day trip, the drive south through Half Moon Bay is hard to beat--it offers great views of the ocean. When we took that drive last October, we stopped in Santa Cruz and checked out the downtown area which has been pleasingly redeveloped following an earthquake a few years ago. The old-fashioned amusement park in Santa Cruz is also fun. (It is possible to visit a redwood forest on the way to Santa Cruz or on the way back to San Francisco.)