San Francisco - Muir Woods/Armstrong redwoods
 

Hi there! We are traveling to San Francisco for a week and thinking of driving from there to the Muir Woods or Armstrong Redwoods. What's a better choice? (first time for my 10 year old!).
Can you recommend places to stay around there? We're also thinking of popping into Sonoma, but Im afraid it would be too much for a 1 week vacation to see everything. Probably 2 days in San Fran, than renting a car and driving up to see redwoods and stoping either in Guerneville or Healdsburg.
What would be better and more interesting traveling with a child?
Any other recommendations would be so appreciated!
Thanks everyone.

Muir woods for sure!! So much great hiking. You see banana slugs everywhere. The trail goes all the way to the ocean. Sonomas is great too and the downtown has a Catholic mission and great restaurants around it. Guernsville is great for the Russian river. Go to Johnson beach to rent inner tubes and float down the river.

My kids when they were around 10 absolutely loved Muir Woods. In fact my now 36 year old just went with her partner. We did it as a day trip from San Francisco stopping in Sausalito and the Golden Gate Bridge look-out spot.

Thanks so much! So you guys suggest Muir Woods instead of Armstrong Redwoods?

I'm going to suggest something different, especially with a ten year old. Go see Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park and Santa Cruz. You can ride the Roaring Camp railroad and maybe go whale watching. Then down to the Monterey area to see Big Sur.

I replied yesterday but it doesn’t display. Unless maybe you posted on another forum.??. Muir Woods is not the lovely easy visit it used to be. One must pre book parking and it gets very busy. Armstrong would be better IMO. Better still IMO would be Henry Cowell redwoods state park between San Jose and Santa Cruz combined with visits to Santa Cruz, capitola and Monterey Carmel

Ah - now I see. . . You posted the same question on Travel Tips. - that’s where my original post is.

Hi, sorry I posted there accidentally. I think we'll head for Armstrong since we've decided to drive north and head to Healdsburg after. Henry Cowell redwoods sounds amazing, I've never even heard of it! Also, by any chance, are there any trails or parks where we can pick wild berries or stone fruit around Sonoma?

Thanks for all the help planning!

We took our kids to Muir Woods and they loved it. Super easy to get to from SF and not too overwhelming for a day trip. Armstrong is gorgeous too, but more of a drive. If it’s your first time and you’ve only got a week, I’d stick to Muir and enjoy more time exploring SF. Guerneville’s cute though if you decide to head that way!

Here is the Sonoma County tourism office's link for self-pick fruit

https://www.sonomacounty.com/article...e-local-farms/