Hi Everyone - To pay back all of my fellow Fodorites (who were a tremendous help as I planned this trip!!), I decided to post a trip report which I hope at least a few people will find helpful. My itinerary day included the following:
- Days 1, 2, 3 in San Francisco
- Day 4 Carmel/Monterey area
- Day 5 Point Lobos & Big Sur with overnight in Cambria
- Day 6 Hearst Castle in the AM and then drive to Santa Barbara
- Day 7, 8, 9 - Santa Barbara

I stayed at the Hotel Del Sol in the Marina neighborhood in SF. The hotel was fine - nothing fancy, but very reasonably priced and kind of quirky in it's own way. I found it to be very convenient to get to most of the major sites we wanted to see. There is a Muni stop a couple of blocks away in either direction and it's very nearby to the major restaurants and shops on Union Street. All in all, I would recommend this hotel if you aren't looking for anything really fancy & want to stay in more of a real SF neighborhood.

On our first day in SF, we followed Stu Dudley's advice and took one of the free walking tours offered by the Public Library. Due to schedules, the one that matched ours was the Palace of Fine Arts & Marina walking tour. This is really a beautiful area...The tour was very informative - maybe a little too informative for a first time visitor with limited time, but the Palace of Fine Arts is definitely worth a visit and the Marina area is a great neighborhood to wander around. Next, we were off to take advantage of the Golden Gate Greeter program which was offered through our hotel (and any Joire de Vive hotel). The GGG Program is a volunteer in SF who will basically spend a half day with you and take you on a tour of their SF (vs all the touristy stuff). Our GGG was phenomenal!! She took us around Russian Hill, Macondry Lane, Lombard St, San Francisco Art Institute, Ghiradelli Square, Fort Mason - she was amazing and we were able to see so many things we might not have seen on our own. If you can, take advantage of this program!! We were undecided at first b/c we are pretty independent travellers and like to do our own thing, but it was totally worth it. Our GGG was so pleasant and interesting as well, we are going to stay in touch. After a very long day, we were beat and decided to eat at a local Thai place near our hotel - I believe it was called Three Seasons - good place, pretty mellow, not touristy at all and good reasonably priced food.

Next day, we got up early and went to Alamo Square to check out the painted ladies. We followed Stu Dudley's 'walking tour' of this area which highlighted a number of lovely Victorians. This area seemed a little "shady" at times, but in the daytime I think it's fine. We walked to Haight Ashbury after this - it was probably about a 30 minute walk and I'm sure there are better ways to get there, but we didn't mind strolling around. As most of you know, Haight Ashbury is a pretty funky, hippy area. We saw Gerry Garcia's/Grateful Dead house and just strolled in and out of the streets. It was a Sunday and we had planned to take the 11AM public library tour of this area, but since we got there early and found so many places on our own, we skipped it. From there, we headed way across town to the Ferry Building - today was not our most logically mapped out itinerary, but we still saw a lot. Ferry Building was cool - beautiful views of the Bay Bridge. Took a cable car up to Nob Hill from here and saw Grace Cathedral & Top of the Mark among other things...We then took a taxi over to Pacific Heights and wandered around that area. It happened to be the day of the Filmore Jazz Fest which was GREAT!!! We ate, had a few beers and listened to some great jazz before heading to the Lyon Street Steps in Pacific Heights. I highly recommend heading over to the Lyon Street Steps. In fact, the "steps" (Filbert St steps, Greenwich St steps, etc.) of San Francisco are in my opinion one of the most unique and cool things about the city in general. Anyway, Lyon St steps are beautiful. Back to our hotel for a break after this and then to Tomasso's for dinner in North Beach. Tomasso's is supposed to have great pizza - coming from NYC, I have to say I was a little disappointed, but you have to check out North Beach at night and Tomasso's has great lasagna.

Last day in SF we took the 9:30AM Blue & Gold Fleet ferry to Alcatraz (book tix in advance). Did the audio tour which was very cool. Got back and took a quick stroll through Fisherman's Wharf & Pier 39 just to see it. Very touristy - least favorite part of SF, but I guess you "have to see it." After this, went to Coit Tower - didn't go up to the top since the views are beautiful from the main parking area. Went down Filbert St Steps - absolutely beautiful with lovely gardens and quaint little homes - LOVED it. Went up the Greenwich Street steps - much easier going down ...Still lovely, but Filbert St is nicer. Wandered around North Beach after this - City Lights bookstore, Vesuvio for a drink and THE best Chinese food place - House of Nanking - in Chinatown/North Beach. Go there!! Chinatown in NYC is much more impressive than Chinatown in SF, but good to stroll through. Back to the hotel for a break....Went to Grove for a quick bite to eat that night - weren't too hungry after our late lunch at House of NK. Caught the 4th of July fireworks from the balcony of our hotel and then called it a night

Next day, we picked up a convertible and drove about 2 1/2 hrs down to Salinas - we did not take highway 1 for this part of our trip. Stayed with a relative down here for 1 night - we were lucky since they know this area very well and they gave us all of the highlights in 1 day - Monterey (very touristy along Cannery Row), Carmel - very lovely, beautiful beach, amazing homes, cool galleries & shops, Pacific Grove, not built up at all with beautiful coastal views, parts of 17 Mile Drive - Pebble Beach, Lone Cypress, etc. (I thought it was worth it although there seems to be some dispute over this - I would see it). One of the highlights of this part of the trip was the Spanish Bay resort - SOOOO beautiful - amazing views, it was chilly so we lounged on a bench in front of one of their firepits and had wine and appetizers. In early evening, a bagpiper plays and it is surreal. After that, we hit Mission Ranch for dinner - also breahtaking views & great food with views of Pt. Lobos in the distance. Wish we had a bit more time in this area, but we hit the major points in 1 day. If you're not going to see the aquarium, I would skip Monterey.

Spent the AM at Point Lobos, Cypress Grove trail is the most beautiful trail. We hiked a few others as well. Drove down highway 1 with stop through Nepenthe for lunch. The views are as amazing as everyone says. We stopped at the many pull-offs along the way - McWay Falls is a MUST - absolutely beautiful. Wish we had more time to stop off at a few other state parks, but we wanted to be in Cambria by 6PM. We pulled off to see the elephant seals at Piedras Blancas close to Hearst. Amazing...Stayed at Cambria's J. Patrick House overnight and hit moonstone beach while there. Nice path along there for a stroll after dinner. Dinner was nothing noteworthy...

Next day, we had a Hearst tour at 9:30AM. Hearst was spectacular. We stayed for the National Geographic IMAX movie which I thought was great. We only did Tour # 1 and found it very interesting. After that, we checked out the elephant seals again and then headed for our 3 hour drive to Santa Barbara. We stayed at the Bacara Resort - a very upscale resort and very expensive - actually located in Goleta just outside of SB (my fiance won this part of the trip through his job, so it was covered ...I really enjoyed our stay at Bacara - wonderful spa, beautiful pools, we ate breakfast outside every day overlooking the beach. During our days in SB, we went to downtown SB & Montecito (home of Oprah, Michael Douglas, etc.), went horseback riding at Circle Bar B Ranch & of course, saw the Sidways vineyards. The SB wine country is beautiful and well worth the trip. Downtown SB is very nice and they have great restaurants - eat at Bouchon and you will NOT be disappointed. We saw the Mission (inside is ok, outside is much more impressive so I wouldn't have gone in again), the courthouse was beautiful. I am rambling now, but all in all, SB was a delightful part of our trip. You probably don't need a full 3 days in SB, but for us it was a leisurely way to spend a few days in this area. After this, we packed it up and went home...I'll definitely be back to California in the near future!!

Dude.. your report was too long.

Thank you for taking the time to post your report. It sounds like you had a fabulous trip. We love San Francisco!

Hi Imavolio, I just saw your trip report for the first time. Great report nnd interesting to read. I don't know how I missed your thread when you originally posted it. Thanks for sharing your California trip. I hope you can come back again.

Great trip report! I live in California and am taking notes on some of your stops. In all my days I've never heard of the Golden Gate Greeter experience. What a good thing!

Imavolio,
Great report... we did many of the same things in the Carmel area too... I agree wholeheartedly about Pt. Lobos!! What a great place. Can't you still smell the cypress?

Your trip sounds great! We visited several of the same places a few weeks prior to your visit so it was fun reliving it through your report. Thanks so much for posting!

Makai, yes i can still smell that fabulous cypress aroma! If only someone could bottle it...

Such a great report was "buried" with no replies? Thank you attimmons for topping, even though it's rude.

Interesting things one can learn from visitors! Never knew there are greaters in San Francisco.

Thank you Imavolio for posting, probably was one of "those Mondays" with little time for internet.

Imavolio

We hope very much to visit San Francisco next year and your report is packed with helpful information.

Thank you so much for taking the time to post and sharing.

It must have been quite a change from NYC which is one of my favourite places.

Sandy