My husband and I are planning a trip to San Francisco to celebrate both our 30th wedding anniversary and his 60th birthday. We agree on spending 4 days or so in San Francisco, but then I would like to spend a few days in the Carmel/Monterey/Big Sur area, and he would like to spend those 4 days in wine country.

Which would you do? I know we can't do both--most we would have is 10 days all together for this vacation.

Cindy

I would do the Monterey/Big Sur area, going as far as Hearst Castle. BTW, there are vineyards inland from Monterey--I believe that Chalone Vineyards is near Pinnacles national Monument.

With ten days, you can certainly do both Carmel/Monterey AND wine country.

I'd suggest going to wine country directly after you land (are you coming into San Francisco or Oakland airport?). Depending on when you arrive in wine country, you could do Napa the first day, spend the night there, then move over and spend the second night in Sonoma, which is by far the prettier area of the two "wine countries".

Then three or four days in San Francisco.

Then drive down early to Carmel/Monterey and spend a couple of nights there.

San Francisco Airport is closer to Carmel/Monterey, so - depending on your time of departure. If you have an early flight out of SFO, then I'd suggest spending the night at one of the many hotels near the airport. Almost all of them have free shuttle service to the airport, thus reducing the stress of having to return the car just before departure.

Good luck in your planning and welcome to California!

You can definitely do both, or you can check out the wineries in the Monterey area. Sonoma and Napa are the most famous wine regions of California, but there are wineries in many places.

I think a couple days in Carmel and Montery is plenty. Don't get me wrong--it's a beautiful place and I love going there. But Napa is a wonderful experience too. You really should try to do both. With 4 days, it is possible.

Ok-I booked flights and we will be arriving on a Friday and departing the following saturday late evening. SO not really 10 days.
How does this sound:
Fri-Sun Napa/Sonoma Area
Mon-Wed Drive to Carmel/Monterey
Wed-Sat Return to SF Wed. afternoon
and return car. Wed. eve, Thursday, Friday and most of Saturday in SF. (Flight doesn't leave until 10 p.m)

Do you think that is enough time for San Francisco?

Yes, you can do both Napa/Sonoma Valley and Monterey/Carmel AND S.F., but do you want to spend all that time travelling? Granted, most of your drive will be beautiful, but still...

We did a similar trip several years ago, to celebrate a significant birthday of my husband's, and it was a lot of driving. I would have skipped Napa, except that (i) it wasn't my birthday! and (ii) we had a special dinner in Yountville that I wouldn't have missed for the world.

I find the coastline south of S.F. (and other places in California, too) to be absolutely stunning, and not to be beat by many other sights. Napa Valley (we haven't visited Sonoma) was pretty, but IMO, nothing like the coast.

We've visited S.F. several times, and can always find enough to do.

I would say to think about how you would spend your days in each location, and use that to help you make your decision. I feel there's a lot more to do in the coast area - there's the scenic drives, of course, and many hiking/walking opportunities, beach-walking, biking in some locations, and of course shopping and great restaurants. Big Basin Redwoods forest is in between S.F. and Monterey, which we really enjoyed. And there's the Monterey Aquarium. In Napa, I feel (though others more familiar with the area may have more info) there's less variety, though of course if you prefer wine-tasting, you can do that all day, every day. And wonderful hotels/B&Bs and great restaurants.

What have previous trips and travel been like? Have you visited other wine regions before? Do you prefer coastal areas? Think about those kinds of things in making your decision, but any choice you make, you'll have a wonderful time!

Thanks for your help -- still undecided, but leaning towards skipping napa--
My husband now says he doesn't mind if we skip it and he wants to see redwoods. So I think we will stay in SF and then move down the coast for the 2nd half of the trip.

I'd suggest following your last itinerary, but spending the nights in Sonoma County (Healdsburg, etc), maybe the first night even in Marin county.

Saturday morning go to Muir Woods. If you want to see redwoods, this would be the best and fastest way to do it. While Big Basin is great for redwoods, it's an all day trip and is not convenient for your schedule. You will get essentially the same thing at Muir Woods.

Then spend the rest of Saturday and all of Sunday visiting wineries in Sonoma and Napa. Stay Sunday night north of SF.

Monday morning, start out around 9/10 am to avoid peak traffic hours and drive down to Monterey. Spend Monday through Wednesday in Carmel/Monterey.

Return to SF either Wednesday night or Thursday morning (personally, I'd opt for a leisurely drive on Thursday, unless you are leaving early Saturday morning).

BTW, a 7 day (one week) rental is usually the same price as a five day rental, so I'd keep the car until the week is up. If you pick up the car at San Francisco Airport, you can still return the car downtown without having to drive all the way back to the airport. Check with the rental agency first.

Check back on this forum for a lot of information for what to do, where to eat, which hotel, etc. for each region that you going to visit. Plenty of information here.

BTW, Happy Anniversary!

The Monterey Peninsula has more activities and options than the Napa Valley unless your primary focus is wine tasting. There are more wine tasting rooms in Napa than in Monterey County (although there are plenty of places available). Check out a site at www.cityitinerary.com and click on the activities link. It will give you some good ideas. There is also a company in the Monterey area that decorates hotel rooms for anniversaries with rose petals, candles, flowers etc..that can help make it a memorable anniversary.

The Monterey Peninsula has more activities and options than the Napa Valley unless your primary focus is wine tasting. There are more wine tasting rooms in Napa than in Monterey County (although there are plenty of places available). Check out a site at cityitinerary.com and click on the activities link. It will give you some good ideas. There is also a company in the Monterey area that decorates hotel rooms for anniversaries with rose petals, candles, flowers etc..that can help make it a memorable anniversary.

Thanks to suggestions we recieved from this post, we really found some treasures on our March trip to Carmel and surrounds. While we have visited before, things change, and we so much appreciated learning what's new. We stayed in Carmel, and cruised around from there. Favorite meals: Katy's in Carmel for breakfast. Cafe Rustica in the Carmel Valley for lunch/dinner. Passion Fish in Pacific Grove for Dinner--a treasure.

I'd pick Monterey/Carmel/ Pacific Grove over Napa area. I agree with previous poster: there is a lot more to do. I love it down there. I live in San Jose, in between the city and Monterey Bay.

Now I see you're going to do both. If it was me, I'd skip Napa, and spend more time in the city and Monterey/ Carmel.