Places to visit outside San Francisco
 

We're flying into San Francisco in June on our way to Yosemite. We decided (since we've been to SF previously) not to visit SF, but rent a car at the airport and drive towards Yosemite. Since we'll be flying in from NJ we wanted to find somewhere to stop and relax and do some sightseeing before proceeding to Yosemite. Any ideas of places to visit that might be along the way? It looks like Napa is out of the way. Right?

I live about half way between those two spots and to be honest there really isn't much.

I assume you are going Hwy 120 toward the park?

After flying all the way from NJ you won't want to spend much time on the road and if you can not get out of SFO by 2:00 PM you will be hitting all the commute traffic.

If it were me I would go south from the airport on Hwy 101 and find a place around Santa Cruz and visit the Boardwalk and if time have dinner at Shadowbrook.

Then I would drive Hwy 152 over toward I-5 and then take the most direct route into Yosemite, depending on where you are staying.

If you want to head directly east then I would go to Sonora, which is on Hwy 120 but a little double back the next day to Yosemite (20 miles) and just hang around downtown Sonora and sleep in the next day as you are only about 40 miles from Yosemite.

It really really depends on what time you will arrive. Hard to recommend what to do without knowing how much time you will have before heading to Yosemite. I assume you already have hotel reservations at Yosemite?

If you fly into Sacramento, you could go up to Lake Tahoe for a very relaxing few days or visit the Sierra foothills Motherlode country which has many interesting sights and also its own lovely wineries and vineyards.

Avoiding SFO if you are not going to see the city would be a top priority if it were me flying into the area.

I'm curious too how much more time you have and if your flight is set into SFO. I LOVE the Sacramento airport and its easy car rental system. Of course you may be flying into SFO nonstop which is a nice advantage.

Have you been to Lake Tahoe? If you had a couple of days, I'd head there from Sacramento and then head to Yosemite to come in the "back way" -- so beautiful.

I must say the drive between SF and Yosemite is pretty bleak to say the least. I can't imagine anything along the way worth stopping for.

Sonora and Columbiaville come to mind.

Near Sonora, I like Jamestown and Columbia. http://www.columbiacalifornia.com/