Ackislander

As you can tell, people have strong and contradictory ideas about what you should do.

I personally would not try to do it all from a base in the city. I would move mid-trip to somewhere north of the city. Coastal Sonoma is to me very beautiful, and you can certainly tour the wine country and Muir Woods from there.

I have had really good luck with Priceline in San Francisco, particularly if you don't mind staying in the dreaded tourist areas near Fisherman's Wharf, which will be fine if you have children with you.

Finally, the areas of Oakland near Berkeley, while not very useful for your trip because of travel times, are very pleasant and not the least scary, with good restaurants and interesting shopping.

janisj

Unfortunately, to use priceline, you'd need to book three rooms - they only do doubles)

sf7307

>>

and no hotels.

StuDudley

Stay in the City. When I was young (many moons ago), I loved "hanging out" around North Beach in the evenings (Little Italy - very active with all the outside dining), and Union/Chestnut streets. Nothing like that in Pleasant Hill.

I actually like the idea of staying on Lombard St (closer to Van Ness the better). You can rent a car for all or a portion of your stay here and head out to the Wine Country, Marin/Sonoma coast, Golden Gate Park, Ocean Beach, Zoo, Haight, Mill Valley, Muir Woods, etc anytime you feel like it. Lombard is only a few minutes (2-3) away from the GG Bridge & places north. Close to Union/Chestnut streets too.

Here are my ideas of things to do & see in the Bay Area.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...mendations.cfm

Stu Dudley

rebelrebel

Don't rule out staying in apartments! HomeAway.com

suz24

North oakland-berkeley border hosts a fine hotel with a pool and spa... The Claremont. BUT it is likely pricier than what the OP is looking for And it is not near BART.

I would stay in sf for sf days, and then perhaps use petaluma as a base for adfordable hotel in the North Bay, with good access to muir woods, sonoma coast or sonoma valley. Nice old Small downtown. Hiking nearby and kayaking. Good food. Good chain hotels not far from downtown petaluma. Just need to plan around commute traffic anywhere from the golden gate bridge north to Windsor (north of santa rosa).

Tomsd

You might try to find a suite or an Apt (check www.VRBO.com,) in the City for 3 or 4 nights - and while I am not necessarily a big fan of Santa Cruz (hour and a half south) - the kids might like the Boardwalk/Roller Coaster, etc. http://beachboardwalk.com/faq/

You could also go to pretty/easy to navigate Half Moon Bay - and use that as a base to explore further south.

Tomsd

For Half Moon Bay - an hour or so from SF - see: http://tinyurl.com/7a993kx

sf7307

I knew someone would bring up the Claremont -- yes, there is one choice in the nicer parts of Oakland.