Muir Woods or Big Basin for a day trip
 

We have decided to take the plunge and hire a car for a day while in S.F. (it is a bit frightening because we drive on the opposite side of the road at home) Our main objective is to see the big trees. For a day trip, taking into consideration the driving, should we head to Muir Woods and then perhaps to the beach areas and across to Napa Valley and back (is this too much in the day) or I have heard there are some great trees in Big Basin area , this would mean going down the coast road I guess and then across to this area for the day. Which would be the better day trip

You could do the Muir Woods/Napa Valley trip in one day and have a beautiful view of San Francisco from Marin County as you head toward the Golden Gate Bridge. That trip would give you more variety than the one to Big Basin, which on its own is quite beautiful. We took a friend from England to Muir Woods and she was ecstatic.

You can't really go wrong with either, but I do agree that a trip to Muir Woods/Stinson Beach and maybe Sonoma, instead of Napa would be a lovely day trip and would provide you with more variety. Big Basin is great, however, it may be more of a driving challenge for someone who is used to driving on the opposite side of the road.

You might also consider a bus tour through Grayline... they picked us up at the hotel and we had more than twenty different tours to choose from... we selected Golden Gate,Muir woods, bay cruise and Alcatraz, however you can find all the combinations at their web site... it sure beat driving!

The drive to Big Basin can definitely be a challenge, even to those of us lucky enough to live in or near the Bay Area. You certainly wouldn't want to go the Highway 17 route to Santa Cruz, which can be very nasty indeed.

I'd add my voice to the recommendations for Muir Woods.

As you drive across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco, take the first exit immediately after the bridge to the right. It will be to the viewpoint mentioned by Underhill.

Once you exit the viewpoint, follow the signs carefully. It might be easy to miss the signs for Muir Woods. Look for "Stinson Beach". A map might help! :)

Agree with SAB that a better winetasting area would be the greater Sonoma area. You could try Dry Creek Valley or Russian River Valley. Napa is not as scenic as the Sonoma valleys.

Driving to Big Basin would be the equivalent of driving, say, in Wales, except on the other side of the road. Also, you will not see lovely pastures and white baa-baa sheep happily munching, the way to Big Basin is filled with BIG trees that block off the view. If you are ardent hikers, then I would suggest Big Basin, otherwise, Muir Woods has wonderful user-friendly paths where you can enjoy the same sort of redwoods.

Hope this helps a bit! Enjoy California!