San Francisco with Kids
 

We are planning a trip early June with our pre-teen kids. They will be 11 and 13.

We want to start the trip spending 4 to 5 days in San Francisco. The plan is to explore the city, Alcatraz, Napa and Sonoma Valley.

My husband says the whole concept will probably bore them and they will ruin the magic of the area.

They are great kids but they are kids....

Any experience out there?

Alba

albaelena, I just posted some thoughts I had on your other thread. Take care.

I think your family could have a great time in San Francisco but then I don't know your kids. I think it is always good to involve them in the planning process and have them choose among some of the sites to visit -- that way they'll be "invested" in the trip.

I think in SF they would like walking across the Golden Gate Bridge, Chinatown, Alcatraz, cable cars, Fort Point, Golden Gate Park, the Exploratorium, museums (?), etc. You might consider a drive to Marin to visit Muir Woods as well.

I do tend to think they might not enjoy Napa and Sonoma as much as they will the city as they won't be able to wine taste. Napa and Sonoma are beautiful but are more for folks who enjoy wine, good food, scenery and boutique shopping. If you do go, I would limit my time there.

Have you considered visiting SF and the Monterey area? The aquarium there is amazing and there are other things to see in the area.

Hope this helps.

Just thought of something else if you do go with the Napa/Sonoma idea. Safari West in Santa Rosa is a fun place -- you ride on jeeps just as you would on a safari and see an amazing selection of wild animals. They do have overnight accomodations (pricey but they look fun) there as well.

We spent 4 days in San Francisco when our kids were about 12 and 16. We all had a great time - but I agree with previous poster that says to skip Napa and Sonoma - scenery and wineries are not a big draw at that age.

I am curious about the rest of your trip - you said you want to start your trip with this. Is there more to the trip? When we did the trip, we started in Seattle and ended up in San Francisco (driving). Long drive, but enough to see along the way.

We took our two boys to SF when they were 12 & 14 for our annual summer vaction. We stayed in the city for 7 nights and took one day trip to Point Reyes. It remains one their favorite vacations ever.

We had discussed w/ them about also touring wineries and wine country and they said they couldn't think of anything they would rather do LESS. I'm glad we passed at that time. DW and I plan to tour Napa and Sonoma on our own some time in the near future.

SF was one of my favorite places as a kid - the cable cars, Lombard St, the GG Bridge, GG Park, boat trips on the bay, Angel Island, the Exploratorium, Victorian houses painted a bzillion different colors, steep streets, Coit Tower, fish sold on the street at Fisherman's Wharf.