interesting car trips around SF?
 

i'm visiting sf for 4 days next week with my girlfriend. we plan to have 2 days in the city but are renting a car and would like to drive somewhere outside the city and stay for 2 days. we need suggestions for places to stay too. thanks!

Go north from San Francisco. Either to Napa Valley for the wineries or up the coast for the scenery. Or you can make a circle tour. Use a search engine and put in Gualala, CA. Also, there is a web site for the chamber of commerce: &lt;mcn.org/1/mendocino_coast/ <BR>Personally, we prefer the coast, but have been to both. Have fun! <BR>

You could also go south about 1 1/2 hrs. to Monterey Bay and Carmel by the sea. The scenery is of course gorgeous, and there are good restaurants and interesting shopping in Carmel. Don't know about places to stay. Also there is the Monterey Bay Aquarium which is supposed to be awesome! You'll have a great time - whether you go north or south.

Just got back from a long weekend in Mendocino. Was great. The weather along the coast can be a problem, but you'll never forget a trip north or south on Highway 1. It's about 2.5 hours to Mendocino each way, so that might be a bit much. Bodega Bay is a fun little town, and that's only about an hour or hour and a half up highway 1. Fort Ross and Jenner are nice. The beaches are cool and can be rainy this time of year. <BR> <BR>Your weather is LIKELY to be better heading south. Monterey is fantastic, and the aquarium is well worth the trip. It's about 1 1/2 or so hours south on highway 1. <BR> <BR>Either direction, look for places to stop and for fun places to eat. You can find restaurant suggestions by doing a search on the city on the web. The San Francisco Chronicle had (and may still have) a listing of good restaurants in SF, south bay, east bay, and north bay. <BR> <BR>If you want to go to Napa Valley, try highway 29. The grapes are turning yellow, orange and red, and are very pretty. I like St. Helena about the best, though Calistoga and Napa are fun places to walk around. And you must try wine tasting up there. Hundreds of wineries to choose from. <BR> <BR>Have fun!

One of my favorite trips ever was a two day drive to the wine country year before last. We stayed in Napa Valley in Yountville at the Vintage Inn which is quite nice. The town of St Helena is very charming and we ate at two nice restaurants there- Tra Vigne which is an attractive, bustling place and Terra which is a quite, charming restaurant where I enjoyed one of the best meals I've ever had. Near Yountville the Domaine Chandon is worth a visit-where they make champagne and the restaurant there is top notch. The town of Sonoma is great for a leisurely stroll and the surrounding countryside with it's many wineries is very nice. A few wineries that we particularly enjoyed were The Hess Collection, Gloria Ferrar and Kunde. <BR>

I would strongly recommend traveling down the coast to Monterrey/Carmel. Take the 17 mile drive that is between Monterrey and Carmel. Actually you could do both the Napa valley and Monterrey/Carmel as day trips. You won't have a lot of idle time but each area can be done as a day trip. I have done it many times. <BR> <BR>The best way to reach the Monterrey/Carmel area is to travel south on 280 - 85 south - 17 south. This will bring you out at Santa Cruz. You can visit the pier in Santa Cruz and then proceed south on Hwy 1 to Monterrey. This route is a good combination of scenery taking into account time. <BR> <BR>The Napa Valley can easily be done in one day if you don't stop at every winery. I prefer to do it in a loop.

Our rains have started already and generally north of SF gets much more rain than south. But, I've been in Carmel, Big Sur during horrific rainstorms so weather is never predictable. Because Napa is inland it's still a good destination, but I think the Mendocino coast is best left for spring and summer. Looking at your date of arrival---50/50 chance of dry weather! Good luck. <BR>