Mendocino - Sonoma
 

My husband and I are planning a week-long trip to Mendocino and Sonoma in late June. We will be flying in to San Francisco and would appreciate advice if it would make sense to drive to Mendocino first and stay for three nights, then drive to Sonoma for three nights and back to San Francisco to return to Philadelphia. Also, please suggest lodging, preferably B&Bs, in both the Mendocino and Sonoma areas. We are especially interested in seeing Mendocino, Eureka, if possible, Healdsburg, Sonoma and surrounding towns. Our budget is in the $200/night range. Thank you in advance for your advice.

I might suggest staying a night in SF first before heading to Mendocino, mostly because combining your flight from Philly with a drive to Mendocino would, for me, be a very long day. But that issue aside, I think combining Mendocino with Sonoma County is very nice. My husband and I did just that (with four nights in SF as well) last year and had a great time. We stayed in Healdsburg and really loved it. We only had two nights in Healdsburg though and it was one too few. We didn't get to see/do as much as we hoped.

What do you most want to do in Mendocino? I think driving to Eureka from Mendocino is too long as a daytrip, but there is plenty to do closer to Mendocino.

In Mendocino, we stayed here and absolutely loved it:
http://www.vrbo.com/449643
It's about a 10-minute drive from the village in a town called Little River. The owners were just wonderful.

We stayed at a B&B (Irish Rose Inn, if memory serves) in Healdsburg. Unfortunately, I would not recommend it. For the money, it was adequate but there were a number things that were just weird/off.

I would suggest stopping in Sonoma first. Here is a great list of B&B's within your budget that's worth taking a look at: http://www.bedandbreakfast.com/sonoma-california.html. Mendocino is such a beautiful little town, I would suggest trying the Headlands Inn B&B! I would definitely not miss out on going to downtown Healdsburg either. It has a great stretch of restaurants, shops, art galleries, wine bars, and one of my favorite dessert stops Moustache Baked Goods - you have to try their home made Whoopie Pies (they are larger than normal)!

I wondered abiout going to Sonoma first, but wasn't sure the OP could get from Mendo back to SFO Iin time for their flight home. I would note that if the OP can plan the itinerary such that they pick their car up in downtown San Francisco rather than the airport, they may save some money. We noticed a significant price difference between picking the car up in the city versus the airport. The drop off location made less of a difference.

In order to avoid driving all the way to Mendo the day we landed at SFO, we stayed in Boonville the first night, at the Boonville Hotel, which became one of my favorite places to stay, anywhere--just loved it. We then stayed in Little River, at a hotel I wouldn't recommend. And finally proceeded to Glen Ellen, but I much prefer Healdsburg.

We loved Glendeven Inn, just south of Mendocino. Among its other charms is the access just across the road to a trail that leads right out to the ocean. There's usually wildlife to be seen along the 20-minute walk. The inn itself is absolutely charming.

depending on when you arrive in SFO it could take a very long time to get your luggage, car and fight the traffic going north thru the City over the bridge and upward. It would make more sense to me to drive a short distance, spend the night and then get up and drive to Mendo. Or stay in the City but parking at hotels could run you up to $50.00. The wharf might be cheaper but I don't know that for sure as we don't generally stay there. You could check with Parc 55 as they often have parking included in their daily rates and it is very close to downtown also a nice hotel to stay in. I Agree that Eureka would be quite a drive for just a day visit from Mendo. Mendo first seems more logical to me as it would be quite a long drive from Mendo thru the City to the airport, return the car, get there 1.5 hours ahead of flight to catch a flight home if you visited it 2nd. You would be looking at probably 6 hours

Following up on Shar's comment, stay in the city and then pick up the car the next day. Like I said, you may find significantly lower rates picking up downtown. We rented from National from their Union Square location. It was relatively easy to get out of the city (it was on a Sunday morning). We used BART to get into the city from the airport.

I think a lot depends on what time you land at SFO. We usually land at around 11 am. I could see taking the night to rest if you land late at night, but otherwise, there's no reason to go into the city unless, well, you want to go into the city.

Landing, as I said, at 11am, we got to Lagunitas Brewery in Petaluma by about 1:30. Had lunch. Drove to Booneville. Spent he night. Continued to Mendo the next day. Had we driven all the way into Mendocino proper, we would have arrived in the evening, as I recall. Not undoable at all.

Keep in mind that flying from Philly, they're gaining 3 hours.

Why not drive directly to Healdsburg? Its an easy 2 hrs. north of SFO. Straight over the Golden Gate Bridge and up Hwy #101. Stay in a vacation rental instead of a hotel. Check out www.vrbo.com/healdsburg Much cheaper and more bang for the buck, IMO. Then you can decide to drive on to Mendocino or not.

On the drive once you land - think that's a personal preference based on "you" and whether you are tired after a five or so hour flight. And, it also depends on whether you want to go to Sonoma town; Sebastopol; Healdsburg; etc. There are literally hundreds of choices for B&B's and Hotels in Sonoma town and Healdsburg - in Sonoma town there are:
Inn at Sonoma - quaint and charming just off the Sonoma Plaza;
Lodge at Sonoma - nice but several blocks from the Plaza (the have a shuttle);
Ledson Hotel - wonderful old world style hotel but likely not in your price range;

In Healdsburg you have many hotels - the Hotel Healdsburg; Madrona Manor; H2; The Inn on the Plaza; etc., etc.

In Mendocino: more selections - we recently stayed at the partially/almost renovated "Heritage House Resort" - we got a good deal, though it may now be out of your $200 price range.

And remember - you are pretty much going in "high tourist season" - these days, with the drought - almost the entire year has turned into tourist season! But finding something in June in either Sonoma or Mendocino in the $200 range might be tricky!

We have stayed at all the places we mentioned - all are nice and all have their pluses and minuses. Also, while not on the coast in Mendocino, my wife and I stayed a small, beautiful and charming spot in Philo (just north of Boonville and about 40 or so minutes from Mendocio) called "The Madrones" - it is in the middle of nowwhere - but it is like a small Tuscan Villa - granted there are few restaurants and not a lot to do (except visit neighboring wineries if you're into wine) - still, it's a beautiful oasis in the middle of nowwhere...

Good luck on deciding.