On February 22nd around 6pm I arrive in SFO (total trip 7 days)... since we'd already be at the airport we figured we'd rent a car and drive out to Sonoma/Napa right off the bat (during the week, instead of busy weekends) and stay in wine country for 2 nights before heading back to SFO to drop off the car and enjoy the remainder of our trip.

A few questions:

1) Since we are getting into SFO pretty late, should we stay in an airport-area hotel for the night and leave for Sonoma/napa in the AM (scenery, pit stops, etc.?) or is there nothing to see, and we should just head over immediately to start sightseeing in wine country immediately?

2) If we leave for Sonoma/napa early in the AM 2/23, does anyone suggest a good route? I would love to see the Redwoods and I heard there's a tree you can drive through? But I don't know if that's completely off track. Any suggestions in this area would be helpful.

3) Any specific wine tours/wineries that you recommend? Or any other MUST SEES during the drive to wine country or in either of those areas. We are unsure where we are going to stay, but probably Sonoma. Any reasonable hotel accomodations would be appreciated also.

Thanks for your help!!!

It will take 1-1/2 to 2 hours from SFO to either Napa or Sonoma - how long depends on your actual destination - eg, in Sonoma, Healdsburg is farther than the town of Sonoma, and in Napa, Calistoga is farther than Yountville. I'd probably go on arrival, though because it would be nice to be there in the morning.

I live by the airport, and would recommend you leave that area and head to the wine country right away. There's really nothing touristy near SFO unless you're a weird tourist. Expect to spend less than two hours getting to the wine country, depending on your destination.
There are redwoods near Guerneville in the Russian River area. If you like Pinot Noir and Zinfandel, there are several excellent wineries in that area. We just stayed and the West Sonoma Inn in Guerneville and would recommend it.

For the first night, maybe head out and stay in Sausalito or Marin county. Then in the morning, you could head to the Muir Woods or Armstrong Redwoods near Guerneville. You could then base yourself in Healdsburg for a few days for winetasting and fine dining.

Wellvis, we made it home from Yountville last weekend in 1 hr. 10 minutes!!

The truly "big" trees are much further north than the wine country. There are redwoods in the state park near Guerneville. Also, along the Navarro River if you get as far north as the Anderson Valley.
In Sonoma one of our favorite destinations is Ferrari Carano Vineyards and Winery in the Dry Creek Valley north of Healdsburg. Not only are the wines great, the gardens are beautiful. En route is Ridge Lyton Springs if you like Zins and other reds.
J Winery just south of Healdsburg is in a nice setting and they do a little food pairing with the wines.
Also, Iron Horse near Forestville has a very interesting vineyard tour, reservations needed, and nice sparkling wine.
We have stayed at the Best Western Dry Creek Inn, Healdsburg and would recommend it.

Try to cross the Golden Gate once in the daylight. Nice views and a singular experience, imo.

I am also planning a trip to the SF area (in March) - I have a separate thread going but also have questions similar to this one.

How long should I allow to get to SFO from Sonoma or Napa (the towns, not the region) on a Wednesday if I want to get to the airport around 6pm? And what route would you suggest?

Separate question - a few days earlier I will be crossing the Golden Gate Bridge (going north). I am trying to decide on doing it around 4-5 on Sunday or late morning on Monday. Which would be preferable if I can arrange things to make it work out time wise?

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Preferable for what - avoiding traffic? Taking pictures?

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Assuming you have to stop for gas and return the car, which will add an extra half-hour, I'd leave either Napa or Sonoma by 3:00 at the latest.

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Depends whether you're coming from Napa or Sonoma.

A lot depends on how late is "pretty late".

If it's 10 or 11pm, then by all means stay near SF Airport.

Any specific wineries? Again, depends. There are hundreds of wineries.

do you want to try specific wines like Zinfandels? Or do you want to try a diversity of wines? Do you want to visit the more famous wineries or are the smaller wineries more to your taste?

The more specific information you can give us the better we can help you.

BTW, there are no redwood trees that you can drive through in the Bay Area. There are three drive-through trees and they are all located far north of the Bay Area.

http://redwoods.info/showrecord.asp?id=2464

http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/sequoia/recr...rough_tree.pdf

isabel - going north across GG Bridge at 4-5 on Sunday would give you better light for viewing back across to SF. Late morning would not have as good light. Traffic wise, probably a toss up.

Leave Napa or Sonoma no later than 3 p.m.

My question pertaining to better time to cross the Golden Gate Bridge - actually both traffic and light. I do plan to also see the bridge on foot when I'm in SF later in the week.

Re the route from Napa/Sonoma to SFO. Since I haven't finalized my itinerary yet I guess I'm open to either one. Google sends you over the Golden Gate from Sonoma and over the Oakland Bridge if coming from Napa. Seems to me that route would be preferable as you wouldn't have to cross downtown SF, but as I'm not from there I don't know the intricacies of SF's traffic patterns.

One more question - I reserved the car with a return to SFO but I guess I could see if I could return it to OAK if it meant a much easier drive. After I return the car I'll be taking BART (and I understand that is easier done from SFO).

Isabel: not having to drive through DT San Francisco may seem like a better route, but it isn't. Interstate 80 (part of the route from Napa to SFO) will be CLOGGED.

Also 3pm is much too late on a Wednesday.

I'd suggest 2pm or earlier - because you still have to return the car.

The best way to get to SFO from Sonoma is to "go along the coast". Once you have negotiated the heavy traffic north of the Golden Gate Bridge (the earlier you start, the better because the less of a traffic jam on the north side of the bridge), then take the first exit on the right onto 19th Avenue (aka "Highway 1"). Follow 19th Avenue on the surface streets. It looks bad, but it isn't. It shouldn't take you more than 20 minutes to traverse all of 19th Avenue. Follow the signs for Interstate 280. Once on Interstate 280, it's not too far to the junction with Interstate 380. Take I-380 and then the signs for SFO.

You'll need about 1/2 hour to return the car and get to the departure terminal - depends on how often the rental car agency buses run.

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Not sure I understand this part - you're driving back from Napa or Sonoma to be at SFO at 6 p.m. But then you say you'll be taking BART after dropping off the car. So what is the significance of 6 p.m.? If you're dropping off the car and taking BART into the city, yes, Oakland is closer to Napa.

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There are no buses - its an airtrain and it runs frequently.

If you ARE going into San Francisco, and not actually flying out that night, why not just drop off the car in San Francisco?

I guess I needed to explain better - I was trying not to complicate things. I am returning the car Wednesday and then meeting my son who lives in the area (Lafayette) and going to his house with him. The six o'clock is therefore flexible - that's about when he gets out of work. I was hoping to meet him at a BART station and then continue on to Lafayette with him. I picked the airport as a return because I figured it would be easier than driving in SF, and negotiating public transportation in a city I don't know, etc. It looked relatively simple to me to drop the car at an airport and then just get on BART.

Google says it's 60 miles and will take 1 hr 13 min to go from Napa to SFO. I realize that the time of day I am talking about is 'rush hour' and traffic will make it longer. But it seems like you are suggesting it will take 3 - 4 hours. Is that right?

Dollar rent a car says the only locations I can return to are OAK or SFO since I am picking up at OAK.

Well if the only locations that you can return the car are SFO and Oakland, I would return it to Oakland since it is in the East Bay and you are going to Lafayette in the East Bay. Have your son meet you at the Oakland Coliseum BART station or the airport Airtrain. This would rule out coming across the GGBridge as it would make no sense.

One more question - about what time is 'rush hour' in that area? I would think about 4-7. Would I save significant time if I didn't leave Napa till between 5 and 6 (so aim to get to SFO after 7)?

isabel: Guess we don't understand why you want to return the car to SFO when you renting out of Oakland.

I don't understand why you'd even consider returning the car to SFO, when Oakland Airport is not only much closer to Napa, it's also much closer to Lafayette.