Good morning everyone

The end of my upcoming trip will be four nights in San Francisco which means I could take a day out of it to go to the wineries.

Any reason to pick one area over the other? This would be mid-week, not a weekend.

I also want to visit Point Reyes and Muir Woods, which would likely be another day or an alternate entirely. The redwoods would trump the wineries, at any rate.

Last but not least, if there are any wineries you enjoyed and that are easy to get into that would be super to know. A splashout winery for tasting and a reasonable but good one for buying... thank you for any thoughts!

>> four nights in San Francisco which means I could take a day out of it to go to the wineries.>The redwoods would trump the wineries

Both are nice. Traffic is a reason to do Sonoma over Napa on weekends. During the week, you'll be fine. You can also move from one to the other as you head north. Muir Woods won't take a lot of time, so you can do that first and then head north. Spend the night in wine country - no matter which valley. I have my favorite wineries but I don't have any idea if you'd call them "splashout". The ones I am thinking about are very quiet. Do stop at the some of the olive oil places too. We loved Dry Creek during the barrel tasting weekend -
http://www.sonomacounty.com/culinary...-olive-company
http://www.sonoma.com/2015/12/08/sonoma-olive-oil/


Also stop at the Dry Creek General Store

Thank you!

Would it make more sense to go straight there after Yosemite and stay over - and then head into San Francisco for three nights?

I need to stop using the word trump! What is a good synonym...

>>Would it make more sense to go straight there after Yosemite and stay over - and then head into San Francisco for three nights?>What is a good synonym

>> after Yosemite

The Yosemite redwoods are a different species. Not the same.

You could head to the Armstrong redwoods near the Russian River. A big winery is Korbel Champagne Cellars near Armstrong. You could then take the Westside Road up to Dry Creek and Healdsburg.

If you visit Napa - DO NOT drive to San Francisco on Hwy 80 & the Bay Bridge. It is the most congested and ugliest route in the entire Bay Area. Go over the Golden Gate Bridge and consult my link above and take the "best view in the Bay Area" just before the GG Bridge.

Stu Dudley

Okay, I've decided on three wineries. Not sure if these would be considered "splashout" but they are the three I'd return to if I were planning a trip like yours -

St. Supery - wonderful setting but we were wow'd by the modern interior and their approach. Take a look at their offerings -
https://www.stsupery.com/visit/explore/

Clos Pegase - I wandered here on a solo wine day when I had an extra day on a work trip. I was randomly selecting wineries and when I drove onto the estate, I just felt "ahhh". Loved everything about it. When I learned that Michael Graves designed the estate I understood my reaction.
http://www.clospegase.com/grounds

Hurst Truett - one of my very favorite settings ever. The vintage truck at the entrance. Lovely pastoral setting. Wandering down to sit by the creek to visit and drink wine. Fantastic port that I still regret not buying and sending home. Loved it. Probably my favorite -
https://www.truetthurst.com/

Visit the Dry Creek General Store nearby. Maybe even pick up sandwiches to take at the park at Lake Sonoma. We were thrilled to still see snow on the mountains (from afar).

That route would be about an hour. It would be a little more than an hour back to Muir Woods. I have to respectfully disagree about Muir Woods. Yes, you can see redwoods elsewhere, but there is something special about Muir Woods. Go earlier or later in the day to miss the crowds.

If you are looking for an overnight in the area, we had difficulty finding a place that would allow only one night on weekends. We stayed at the Jack London Lodge for one night. Nothing fancy but very nice and gorgeous grounds on the river. Lovely town of Glen Ellen across the street. We enjoyed a hike (stroll) at Jack London SP the next morning - which you may not have time for but do visit the house. Maitaitom has a current TR.

If you do that and love reds, go to Ravenswood -
http://www.ravenswoodwinery.com/inde...s-and-Tastings

Of course, there are dozens of other good choices. That's just a nice routing that would be an easy drive with some of my favorites.

Maybe flygirl is a redwood tree enthusiast, but I would not spend 3 additional hours or so driving to, parking(difficult in the summer), and visiting Muir Woods just to see a different species of Redwood trees. I would rather spend that time in Yosemite or San Francisco).

Stu Dudley

I've always stopped on the way to or from the drive to wine country.
Every time.

I have fond memories, none negative.

Michelle's suggestion of Armstrong Redwoods is an excellent one. One of my favorite day trips to take visitors is SF to Healdsburg, then follow the Russian River towards Guernville. Choose a winery or three along the way. Stop in Guernville at Armstrong Redwoods, a wonderful grove of old growth redwoods. Then continue on to the coast, drive south toward Bodega Bay. Turn inland to the town of Bodega and visit the old schoolhouse from The Birds. Then continue on to Sebastapol connecting eventually with 101 and returning to SF. Stop to view the Bridge and City from the Marin Headlands (follow the curving road up on the West side of the highway) on the outbound or return, whichever is not fogged in. Great photo op.

There are some wonderful choices for lunch in Healdsburg. An interactive map on wineroad.com will help you choose the wineries you want to visit.

My recommendation (if you head toward Sonoma) is to couple your wineries with a visit to Jack London State Historic Park...we just went last weekend (story with photos below). It's about an hour from the Golden Gate Bridge. Well worth a visit.

About five minutes from the park is a great little winery called Eric Ross (we just became members last week after tasting there...good whites and reds). Have fun.

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/22755-2/

FYI, here is our day at Point Reyes Lighthouse a couple of yers ago. Hope you get lucky with the weather like we did.

http://travelswithmaitaitom.com/poin...reyes-station/

Thank you everyone! This is great!

Sounds like I will definitely be doing this after Yosemite and maybe even make it two nights instead of one...

two nights in the wine region will still give me three nights in SF at the very end. That's really just 2.5 days on the ground...

I was ALSO thinking of going to Half Moon Bay or even down the PCH to Nepenthe one day, as I didn't see much the last time due to heavy fog. But if I make it two nights up north I don't think I'm going to leave SF after that... so that is a choice to ponder.

Clearly I need more time!

I would definitely do just one night in wine region if getting to Nepenthe is an option. You could do wineries south of SF if you wanted. The route I listed above is about an hour in driving and an hour back down to Muir Woods. With one overnight in the area, you could do a full day of touring and still gain that extra day for Nepenthe. I adore Carmel if you've not spent much time there.

In 2010 I stayed in Pacific Grove, and visited Carmel one afternoon... Nepenthe another day (foggy) and after leaving Pacific Grove I went to Salinas and spent an afternoon there before heading to San Francisco.

Loved Pacific Grove and really loved the B&B there. I did a lot of Steinbeck reading beforehand so I spent time in Monterey (walked to it) but the aquarium was closed for draining when I wanted to go...

I've lived in the Bay Area for the last 41 years, and Southern Calif for 28 years before that. I think Yosemite, San Francisco, and Carmel/Nepenghe/Big Sur Coast are all a LOT more interesting than the Wine Country - for someone with limited time (and I'm a huge wine fan). If you do go down to Nepenthe - there's your Coastal Redwoods!!!! - like those in Muir Woods. We have 3 in our back yard and around 50-75 in the immediate neighborhood.

You can get your winery "fix" in the Gold Country just outside of Yosemite. If this was my trip, I would skip the Sonoma/Napa/Muir Woods thing and add Carmel/Nepenthe.

On Sunday, we're off to Carmel and Big Sur for 3 nights. Dinner at Nepenthe.

Stu Dudley

You should spend the night in Carmel. I'd been back and forth for years, but it was completely different when I stayed the night there. Fell in love with it. Watched the sun set at Dog Beach - with families and pups playing. I cancelled the next night's stay to spend another night.

I would definitely back it work so I could return if I were you. If you want to kayak, highly recommend Monterrey Bay. We were staying at a waterside hotel and several of us went kayaking together. I deliberately drifted off a bit by myself and waited...hoping... and an otter slipped up onto the bow to look at me for about 10 seconds. One of the most magical moments of my life. We went to SF for meetings every summer for about six years so I spent a lot of time up or down the coast before or after those meetings. We even went to Hearst castle as a day trip. A long day but worth it.

Whatever you do, go back to Nepenthe on a clear day. Fantastic!

Any reason to pick one area over the other?

I would base it upon which type of wine you prefer. Napa will be more Bordeaux varietals, while Sonoma also has sizable production of Pinot and Zinfandel.

Napa has the more well-regarded restaurant scene (at the high end) if that is a consideration.

Otherwise, both are good wine tasting experiences.