San Francisco & Yosemite in April
 

We are meeting in San Francisco with family who will have flown in from abroad, and us from another part of the country in late April. We will spend about 3 days out of 7 in SF and would like to go and see Yosemite NP if possible. I don't know if we will be able to see very much of the park because of remaining snow, and also if 4 days are a bit too much time there. We are middle aged and not hikers so would be doing most of it from a car. If that is too much time there, Sonoma and/or Napa is something that would probably interest us if it wasn't too much out of our way. Any ideas or suggestions either way are welcome.

In April you probably won't have snow in Yosemite Valley - maybe a late season dusting, but it is low enough in elevation that snow of any quantity is rare that late in the season. The high country will still be snowed in though. There is a lot to see in Yosemite Valley itself - I could spent 4 days there no problem, but for a lot of people it might be too much.

You could consider a loop - SF, Monterey, Yosemite if you wanted to add a location to your itinerary. Monterey is about 2 hours south of SF, 4 hours west of Yosemite.

Here is my trip report from March -- one night in the hwy 49 Gold Rush Country and 2 nights in Yosemite Valley (3 nights would have been better but that is all the time I had this trip)

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...rt-getaway.cfm

By combining YNP and the Sierra foothills you could kill both Yosemite and Wine country birds at the same time. There is a GLORIOUS wine region in Amador County and there are other vineyards/wineries even closer to YNP.

Amador County is what Napa/Sonoma was 30 years ago. Vineyards around every bend in the road -- but no crowds or tour buses, and the tasting is 95% free.

IMO - 3 nights in SF, 1 night in the foothills, and 2 or 3 nights in Yosemite Valley would be near perfect.

OH - meant to add -- IF the Gold Rush foothills and wine region doesn't appeal -- then I agree SF/Monterey/YNP would be good. There are wineries in the Santa Cruz mountains and in Monterey county so you wouldn't have to detour up to Napa/Sonoma.

To give you an idea of how much the weather can vary in April in Yosemite - I went there April of this year. When I arrived it was in the 70s. I left two days later and it was snowing.

The timing of our trip has been changed to late May now. We will be going to San Francisco for 3 days and Yosemite for 3-4 days. We would like to try and go to Napa and/or Sonoma for a guided tour on 1 of the SF days with pick up in SF. If anyone has any recommendations for a tour company or who to avoid, with wine fees inc for around $100 pp. There will be 4 of us going.

San Francisco, Wine country, and Yosemite in 6-7 days will have you on the road for a good portion of your visit here. That's a lot of travel time and not much time "being there" - especially for someone arriving from "abroad".

Stu Dudley

Joto, I think your plan now sounds great. That is about the amount of time we spent at both places and it was enough. You could add a couple of days, but don't make it any less than what you already have. We were in Yosemite at the end of May this past year and it was great. I would avoid the Memorial Day Weekend. That is a major holiday and things can get crowded. I would do Yosemite during the week, if possible. Make your lodging reservations ASAP at Yosemite. They fill up very early.

Unless you have visited San Francisco many times in the past - I think 2 days there is a little "light".

Stu Dudley

Thanks for all the info. We can't avoid the Memorial Day weekend I'm afraid. Our family are coming from the UK and will be arriving in SF about 2 days before we get there. We have already booked accomodation near Yosemite. The reasonably priced accomodation in the park was already booked up. We have most activities planned, but this 1 day in or around Napa to sort out.

Are you wine lovers for whom a trip to Napa/Sonoma is absolutely necessary or do you feel you must go because people talk about it and you want to be able to say you went? If the former a 1 day tour will not be adequate, if the latter it will serve its purpose. Spending $400 for a quick jaunt around Napa or Sonoma over Memorial Day weekend would be my idea of hell, but each to their own.