San Francisco, Yosemite and Monterery in November
 

So, the in-laws just offered my husband and I the chance to skip outta town for a week while they stay home and watch our daughter - weeee!! Since it will be our first long-ish trip sans baby, we're looking to have a laid-back vacation with great food, beautiful scenery and zero responsibility for keeping a toddler happy/breathing. My husband has never been to California, so we're thinking of flying in and out of San Francisco November 11 - 17, with the hope of spending 2-3 days in the city and visiting Yosemite and perhaps Monterey or somewhere on the coast. We're super not into crowds and aren't fans of group tours, so I'm hoping November will allow us to see lots of the beautiful sights in the area without so much competition.

Do you all think Monterey is do-able? If not, is there somewhere else on the coast that may be better? A smaller town with good food and pretty sights is more our speed, honestly.

Also, any tips for visiting Yosemite in November. My little bit of research so far says that parks of the park will likely be closed and that you need to carry chains with you - so maybe a group tour for Yosemite in particular would be worth it rather than the hassle of doing it on our own? Any one else visit in November? Is it still worth it?

I'd think this little loop tour of the area would be pretty popular, but I'm having a hard time finding suggestions for how best to do it. I'd love any thoughts from others on some not-to-be-missed things or ideas for alternate locations.

>>Do you all think Monterey is do-able? If not, is there somewhere else on the coast that may be better? <<

Totally doable -- but Id stay in Carmel or Pacific Grove instead.

>>Also, any tips for visiting Yosemite in November.<<

yes -- Book NOW!. The back country/Tioga Pass/Glacier Point will probably be closed. But the Valley will be totally open.

If you can't get a room in Yosemite Valley Lodge in the valley, book at Yosemite View Lodge in El Portal. It is the closest by far property to the entrance to Yosemite Valley. Then you can keep trying for a cancellation in the park.

Yes -- you will have to carry chains but more than likely won't need to use them (especially if you enter the park via hwy 140 which is the low altitude route). So just rent chains at a roadside garage and have them to show at the entrance gate if asked. But the need to put them on will be fairly low (rental agencies don't allow use of chains) Early Nov chains are seldom necessary on the Valley floor so even if there is snow it will likely clear before very long. Plus there are shuttle buses that will take you all over the Valley so you don't need to move the car once you are there.

One week is not very long for YNP/Monterey/SF but it is doable. I'd fly into SFO and immediately drive down to Carmel and stay 2 nights. Then cross the State to Yosemite via Merced/hwy 140, and stay 2 or 3 nights. Finally drive back to SFO, drop the car and take BART or a taxi into the city for the last night or two.

My family of 5 is doing this exact same trip starting this Saturday! We are flying into SF (from KY!), renting a car and driving down to Pacific Grove staying at Andril Fireplace Cottages for 3 nights. From the airport we'll stop for a meal at Half Moon Bay, take Hwy 1 stopping at Ano Nuevo State Park then over to Henry Cowell then to Pacific Grove. We'll explore Monterey, Point Lobos, do a whale trip, Elkhorn Slough, etc.

From there we are driving to Yosemite and staying in their lodge for 2 nights (keep trying if you can't get reservations..they'll likely become available if you're persistent).

After Yosemite we're driving back to SF and staying at HI Express near Fisherman's Wharf for 2 nights and taking a 9 hour Dylan's tour including Alcatraz during our one full day. Let me know if you have any questions about our plans. We will have 3 kids ages 11-15 though so different experience from yours :)

PS Lots of great deals in SF on Priceline for 2 people!!

Monterey is a great place to visit for a couple days. As mentioned, Carmel and Pacific Grove are also right there, which may fit your needs also. Monterey is the biggest town in that area with about 30k people, so not huge or anything - it has a wide variety of restaurants and lodging from budget motels to full-service hotels, plus some smaller inns and B&Bs. Pacific Grove is smaller - very quiet, mostly residential with a compact downtown area - mostly small inns and B&Bs for lodging - beautiful coastline. Carmel is quaint and romantic - upscale with boutiques, wine tasting, etc - lots of romantic inns, very walkable and near a beautiful beach. All of these towns are close together so you can easily visit the others no matter which town you stay in.

For Yosemite, there is a chance for snow that time of year, but you are likely to be just visiting Yosemite Valley anyway, which is only at about 4000 ft elevation, so chances are low that you'd have any significant snow there. The challenge would be getting lodging reservations.

You can also take the year round YARTS bus route along Hwy 140 if you don't want to drive http://yarts.com/routes-and-schedules/merced-hwy-140/ Once in Yosemite Valley, you can get around using the valley shuttles. However you may want a car to access parts of the park outside of the valley (some areas may be closed) and you'll likely be OK in mid-November. Hwy 140 never gets above the elevation of the valley. Half Dome Village also has motel rooms and hard sided cabins with bath in addition to the tent cabins if you can't find rooms at Yosemite Valley Lodge.

>>However you may want a car to access parts of the park outside of the valley<<

Up country probably won't be open. And Mariposa Grove -- who knows? The website says 'Nov.' but its re-opening has been delayed over and over.

If there is heavy snow one can still almost always get as far as El Portal since the hwy hugs the Merced River and is low elevation. There are five YARTS stops in El Portal so one can park there and take the Yarts bus into the Valley if absolutely needed. One winter when I was going to the Bracebridge and was worried about driving the roadster in I contacted Yosemite View and they said I could park there and catch YARTS from there if needed. But that was a few years ago -- I'd definitely contact them 'just in case'.

Here are my 2 trip reports on these areas. The first is from the couples trip I did with DH and then we took the kids back this spring. The couples trip report has the info on good eats. The tween trip report has the info on the great lodging we had in Pacific Grove and the good hotel in San Fran, plus info on what we did in San Fran. The activities are much the same--we are outdoorsy on one hand and museum goers on the other. I totally get wanting to avoid crowds and thus going to Yosemite but the weather adds a lot of uncertainty and you would have to pack extra clothes etc. I would just stay on the coast.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...t-170636-2.cfm

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...ith-tweens.cfm

>> . . . and you would have to pack extra clothes etc. I would just stay on the coast. <<

Not really. One would need warm jackets on the Coast in Nov. In Yosemite you'd just need maybe a cashmere/wool sweater to layer under it plus gloves and warmer socks. A wool neck scarf would be useful in Yosemite OR walking on the beach.