jenny

I would love suggestions for beautiful/interesting places to visit within a 3-4 hour drive from San Francisco. We will be in No. Cal. for a week. Thanks!

J Correa

The first place that comes to mind is the Monterey Bay area - Big Sur, Monterey, Carmel, Capitola, Santa Cruz, the Santa Cruz mountains.

David

The Monterey area is definitely a must see. In Monterey www.monterey.com the Aquarium, Fisherman's Wharf, and 17 Mile Drive are nice to visit. While in the area, I would also visit the quaint town of Carmel www.carmelbythesea.com Further south along highway 1 the Big Sur coastline is the most scenic area of the Central Coast. Farther south in San Simeon, Hearst Castle www.hearst-castle.org is also a must see. Do make reservations for Hearst Castle.

On the way to Monterey from San Francisco, I would suggest the scenic 280 freeway with a stop at the Filoli Estate www.filoli.org in the town of Woodside for a tour of the Georgian Mansion. In the San Jose area www.sanjose.org there are a number of interesting places to see including the Tech Museum of Innovation www.thetech.org the Rosicrucian Eqyptian Museum www.rosicrucian.org as well as the Winchester Mystery House www.winchestermystereyhouse.com The Japanese Gardens in Kelley Park as well as the History Museum of San Jose www.historysanjose.org are also worth a stop. There are plenty of great resturants in the city, especially downtown in San Pedro Square www.sanpedrosquare.com From San Jose you can head down to Monterey via highway 17 south toward Santa Cruz and then to highway 1 south to the Monterey and Carmel areas. On the way to Monterey on highway 1 in the town of Moss Landing, stop at Phil's for some of the best seafood. The clam chowder is out of this world. In the Santa Cruz Mountains, I would also recommend Big Basin Redwoods State Park www.bigbasin.org as well as the Roaring Camp steam train tour through the redwood forests www.roaringcamp.com

I would also look into possibly going to Yosemite http://www.scenicwonders.com/ The key with Yosemite is to make reservations early.

Michael

Mt. Tamalpais, Muir Woods, Point Reyes (all in the same direction)

kal

Jenny,
Going North and up through the Redwoods then back down thru the Wine Country would be a nice drive too.
Mahalo,
Kal

Tom

Muir Woods can't hold a candle to Big Basin. Big Basin has some of the most spectacular redwoods in Northern California.

J Correa

If I were choosing between Muir woods and Big Basin, I'd choose Big Basin. Muir woods is nice too, and if seeing the wine country is your primary goal and you want to see some redwoods along the way, it's definitely worth a visit.

Carolyn

With 3-4 hrs you can go to many places:

North of SF: Bodega Bay / Sonoma & Napa wine country area / possible as far as Mendocino & Ft. Bragg/ Fort Ross in Jenner.

South of SF: Half Moon Bay / San Jose - Winchester Mystery House / Santa Cruz / Monterery & Carmel area.

East of SF: Hwy 80 all the way to Sacramento / Hwy 49 - Gold rush country / All along the east bay area (Oakland, Walnut Creek,...)

Yosemite & Lake Tahoe would be best done with an overnite to the area - from SF it would be about 5-7 hr drive. (I live in the Central valley area - south of Stockton - and it take me about 3-4 hrs from our home to get to Yosemite)
Do spend some time in SF - have a great time!