San Francisco and Yosemite input needed
 

Hello, we're planning at trip to San Francisco for the 4th of July and the following week. We're planning on spending the majority of time in San Francisco. We have reservations at the Fitzgerald Hotel. Anyone ever stayed there? Any opinions on it? We've found a better rate at the Cathedral Hill Hotel. It's about $11 cheaper. Anyone ever stayed there? Personal input is always nice!

We're planning on leaving San Francisco and heading to Yosemite towards the end of the vacation. My understanding is that it's about 3.5 hours away. Along the way (well, not a direct route) we're going to go to either Sonoma or Napa Valley. We're interested in seeing the Niebaum Coppola Winery and possibly Beringer. Anyone ever been to either of those?

Once at Yosemite, we can't find ANYTHING right there, so we're staying in Oakhurst. My understanding is that it's not too far.

Anyone else ever made all of this in one trip? Do you think we're trying to do too much in too little time?

Sorry this is so longt, but thanks for any input!

I am not clear - do you mean a trip from SF north to the wine country on the SAME day you want to go to Yosemite (w/o staying overnight in Napa/Sonoma)?

This is simply not a reasonable itinerary.

You will be driving hundreds of miles out of your way and not have any time to see anything in Napa/Sonoma.

San Francisco to Oakhusrt whichis at the south entrance is 4 hours. Napa to Oakhurst is 4.5 hours because Napa is further north than SF.

Though it is hard to follow what your plan is I assume you'll be in SF and then take a day or two in N/S and then go on to Yosemite. I can't believe it would be your plan to try and do a trip from SF to N/S and then on to Yosemite in one day.

If you're staying outside Yosemite you may want to try for a place at the west entrance like El Portal or Mariposa. Both are closer to Yosemite Valley than Oakhurst at the south entrance. Though both of my recent visits have been from our location in Fish Camp, which is a little closer to the park than Oakhurst, most people don't like the drive into Yosemite Valley on the curvy road.

Can you tell us how much time you plan to stay in SF, Napa & Yosemite? It's doable in one week if you don't stay in any spot too long. If you are looking to get a quick look at these great spots you can do it.

Afer reading this I'm thinking that we better re-think it. What has been planned was to do one or two wineries in one day before going to Yosemite. The N/S Valley was not really part of our trip itinerary until at the last minute it was thrown in there as an option.

As it stands right now, we'll be in San Francisco from 7/3 through 7/8 and then on 7/9 visit a winery and 7/10 Yosemite. She was thinking that we'd just "swing by" the wineries. Is it NOT do-able at all, even if we start out early on the 9th?

Are the wineries really worth seeing anyway? This is one problem that we're encountering when trying to make travel plans around 3 different people's interests, etc.!

Thanks for any insight!

Yes, do take some time out to see the Wine Country, it is worth it. Instead of staying 6 days in SF, I would advise 2 days in SF, 2 days in Wine Country, and 3 days in Yosemite. 1 day in both Wine Country and Yosemite will not be enough.

jenalr,

The quickest route from SF to Yosemite is I-580, 205 & 120. On I-580 you pass right by Livermore and there are some really nice wineries there. This way you aren't going out of your way and you could hit a couple of the wineries and make it you Oakhurst by nightfall.

http://www.livermorewine.com/wineries.html

Utahtea

You don't have to go to Napa and Sonoma to taste wine.

With your schedule, I would recommend that you go wine tasting in Gold Country. It will make a longer drive out, but you could certainly to the Fair Play area.

While you won't be visiting famous names, you'll get to taste up and coming wineries, and probably get to visit with the people who actually make the wine.

Here's a link to the FairPlay viticultural area: http://www.fairplaywine.com/gen/index.htm

I'll dig around and see if I can come up with something else as well.

Jenalr
Wine country (Sonoma) is just an hour from SF. We made a day trip out of it and loved every minute of it. Had lunch at a beautiful winery amoung the vineyards and took a tram tour at another and was back in SF for dinner.

Thank you for all the replies. They're all so VERY helpful

Thanks!

I agree with CD. Take a daytrip to Napa halfway through your stay in SF. You will probably enjoy a respite from the fog! Go on a weekday and you won't have much traffic. Have a lovely lunch at Tre Vigne and hit two or three vineyards (you can't do more than that and drive anyway) then come back into the city for dinner (or after for that matter). Another fun fog-avoidance trip (you can tell I used to live in SF) is to take the ferry across to Tiburon for lunch at Sam's (right on the water-burgers, salads etc) or go for breakfast if you can get going that early). The views from the water are fabulous and it's a completely different climate over there. I'll hope the fireworks don't get "fogged out" for you-they are spectacular over the water. Enjoy Yosemite, it's one of my favorite places in the world. Call the park daily as they sometimes have last-minute cancelations but have back up reservations in Mariposa (cuter that Oakhurst) Have fun.

My family and I did San Francisco, Napa, and Yosemite during 4th of July in 2001 so I say definitely go for it.

Definitely plan to be in SF during the 4th and enjoy the fireworks over the bay. Plan to spend an entire day in Napa and Sonoma. We only visited one winery - The Mondavi Winery. We took the tour and wine tasting and then we just enjoyed the scenery of the area before heading back to SF. Then two days later we headed for Yosemite. The drive is about a 3 hour drive through the mountains on winding roads, so it's a tiring drive. We actually drove in and out on the same day which was very exhausting. (I definitely wouldn't advise doing that)

I've never stayed at the Fitzgerald Hotel. I've stayed at both the Downtown Marriott and the Renaissance Stanford Court and the Renaissance parc 55 wich are all nice hotels.

With the amount of time you have, you should divide your days between SF, Wine region (either Napa/Sonoma or Santa Cruz Mountains) and Yosemite. I think that two days in SF, one day in either Napa/Sonoma or Santa Cruz Mountains, and 4 days in Yosemite. Anything less than 3 or 4 days in Yosemite would not be worth the drive. Yosemite is such an amazing place, so it is definitely a must see.

As far as fireworks are concerned, most likely they will be obscured by the fog in SF. San Jose actually has one of the largest fireworks displays in Northern California, and fog there is never a problem. You could actually conveniently combine a daytrip to the wineries in the Santa Cruz Mountains with the fireworks show in San Jose in the evening. Most of the Santa Cruz Mountain wineries are fairly close to San Jose (about 15 miles).

http://www.americafestival.com/

Hi Jenair!

On the Yosemite planning, I would suggest that as you get closer to your travel date, you periodically recheck the Yosemite reservations website. During the last week before you visit, there are always cancellations. For example, the busiest weekend of the year there is Memorial Day weekend. We had NOTHING for two of those nights. 1 week before, a variety of options opened up, from the Ahwahnee to Yosemite Lodge, to the cabins and tent cabins at Curry Village, and we were able to cover both the first and the last night of our stay (we had reservations for the middle).

I would keep the Oakhurst reservation, but would do a periodic check on the website for Valley accommodations. I'm sure you will get lucky for the time you plan to visit!

Could someone please provide the website for the Yosemite reservations.

Cheers
Mac

Mac,

Check out this site.

http://yosemitepark.com/