jr

all,

how much time do you think i need to 'do' wine country and, separately, monterrey peninsula? if i have an extra night to split between the two places, where would you choose to spend it?

jr

Joe

jr: Where are you coming from; by car, by plane, by train? You cannot do wine country and Monterey in same day. Depending on your starting point, you could do a reasonable tour with a day in each area. Give us a little more information and we will try to help you.

jr

have 7 nights total to split between sf proper, monterrey pen/big sur, and wine country. trying to come up with a rationale plan logistically. will be flying into sfo.

fred

fly into sfo. spend two nights in sf. drive to monterrey. spend one night. drive back to sf. spend night. drive to sonoma. spend night. drive to napa. spend night. back to sf for one night.

RSR

With no knowledge of your likes or dislikes I would propose the following as I don't like big cities.

Fly into SFO and head North for Napa and visit Napa and Sonoma on a one or two day schedule.

Leave early enough to enjoy a drive through San Francisco on the way South through Half Moon Bay and on down through Santa Cruz. Stop off and visit the pier and amusement park (closed in winter, I believe) and then head down Rt. 1 to the Monterey Peninsula.

Best to exit Rt.1 at Del Monte Blvd. for Pacific Grove. You can stop off at Old Fisherman's Wharf and walk through Old Monterey. See the First Order Fresnel Lens from the Point Sur Light Station and get your land legs.

Head over to Cannery Row and rubberneck a little bit but be sure to allow several hours for a visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Locating a motel in Pacific Grove will give you a good location to go on down South through Big Sur, down to Hearst Castle, and perhaps a stop at Cambria before heading back North to visit Point Lobos State Reserve, Carmel Valley, Carmel By The Sea and back to Pacific Grove.

Splitting your time this way will only serve to give you cause to return to the Monterey Peninsula sometime later on for a longer stay.

There are a lot of sites available for info on each of the places mentioned. Just point your search engine for any of them. So much to see, so little time to enjoy.

Most of all, have a great trip!

Ron

Susan

I think you need to probably choose which one you prefer and split your time between San Francisco and the other. You could stay four nights in SF with one day's jaunt into Sonoma. Or, you could make one day's loooong jaunt to Monterey from SF. What do you want to do in Monterey? If it were me I'd opt for the wine country, but I have a thing for great restaurants and great wines. Have you been to SF before?

Hollie

I personally prefer Monterey over SF, and I very much like SF (to underscore the meaning of the first). It's smaller and quaint. Very good food. We found a lovely restaurant (known only to locals) that seated about 14 people. The chef was the maitre 'de and the waiter. Cash only, but majorly worth it. Ask a Monterey local for the name. Carmel is lovely, but I prefer to stay in Monterey or Pacific Grove. The people seem friendlier overall. Carmel is very charming and 'Hansel and Gretal' in architecture, however can be a bit stiff dependent on who you meet. Good shops. The drive down to Big Sur is spectacular with a stop at Nepenthe - a lovely restaurant perched on top of a cliff overlooking the ocean. You can spend a day hiking in Big Sur if you like. If you aren't hiking or traveling further south than Big Sur, then you could enjoy 3 days/2 nights in the Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur area. It's about 2 hours from SF. When in SF, a must do is Alcatraz. A bit of a touristy to-do, but I found it extremely interesting. You must rent the headset tour guide to gain the full benefit of the history. Outside of that and an afternoon of shopping, I would shoot to the wine country and spend 2-3 days in that direction. It's about 1 1/2 or 2 hours to Napa. Have a great time. Monterey penisula is the most beautiful spot and one of my all time fav vacations!

don

It all depends what you mean by "do". I would spend two or three days in the Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur area. As far as the wine country goes, it depends on what you want. you can do it as a daytrip from San Francisco, if you just want to see and visit a few wineries, or take several days if you are looking for something more leisurely. It just depends on what you are looking for. As for me, I love San Francisco and the surrounding area, but find the wine country pretty much the same throughout(I have also visited the wine areas in Washington, Oregon and Canada). Although I do enjoy the wine areas and think they are definetely worth visiting they are not places that I care to spend a lot of my vacation time and would make it a day trip.

jr

thanks all for the replies. now thinking of arriving in sf around 3 pm, heading straight to sonoma. spend 3 nights in napa/sonoma at the gaige inn, then wander down to big sur for late check in at ranch post inn. 2 nights at ranch post, then wander back through monterey/carmel, finish up with 2 nights in sf. seems to work fairly well. . .

jr

Suzie

jr,

Your Trip sounds fantastic!

Promise to do a trip report on the Gaige please. I've always wanted to stay there for our anniversary but it's in Sept during the crush and it's always booked by the time I get around to planning. I'd love to hear how you liked it. I'm sure the front desk looks forward to hearing from me each year when they tell me they're booked. I do have the brochures though!

cagal

Oh, and please do a report on the Post Ranch Inn, too. I hear it's great. Enjoy CA

jr

will do on post ranch and gaige.