kalamokid

My family of four are flying into the San Fran area end of July for 7 nights( after spending a week in Las Vegas for a basketball tournament). We have 2 boys ( 21 and 16). I would love a suggested itinerary for the areas. Typically, my family enjoys lazing around at the beach for our vacations. I have warned all of them that is will be a different type of vacation. None of us are big city people, although we enjoy the city for a day or two. Everyone wants to do different things while in California. Both my husband and I have been to San Fran and Yosemite...years back. I want to spend a day in the wine country (Sonoma or napa), and do one family friendly wine tour. Our oldest son wants to see the large redwoods/sequoias. Our youngest son wants to spend the day at a beach...hoping to people watch and see all the beautiful California girls ( I,m sure my oldest son and husband will enjoy that too). And my husband wants to watch a baseball game at candlestick park...which we already have scheduled for the day we fly in. We fly in on a Tuesday, and fly out the following Tuesday. Currently, my plan is to spend the day in the city after we fly in on Wednesday. I would only like to stay one day in the city. And if we have time at the end of our trip, we could do one more day. I would really appreciate any detailed information/itinerary you could provide.

I.ve been doing a ton of reading on things to see in the city. This is what I came up with. Please advise if this is a good day to get a taste of San Fran,
Wake up early and hit fishermans wharf
Walk to coit tower and then walk down telegraph hill
Take trolly to Castro street/haight ash bury
Stroll golden gate park.

I was also suggested to take the on and off tour bus.
One more idea...wanted to plan a white water rafting trip, but heard that California is in drought. Any suggestions for adding this into the itinerary.

kalamokid

Places to eat and stay would also be appreciated. I.m a teacher in Michigan, so.....nothing too elaborate.

tomfuller

Allegiant Airline flies from Las Vegas to Oakland and also to Medford Oregon. If you went to Medford you could get onto a whitewater trip on the Rogue River.
The place for people watching on the California beaches is from Monterey on south to Santa Barbara IMO.
You can see some great Coast Redwoods not far over the Golden Gate bridge in Muir Woods.
Allegiant will be cheaper for a flight out of Las Vegas than any other airline with the possible exception of Southwest.

november_moon

For the post-SF portion of your trip, I would definitely include some time in Santa Cruz. This will fulfill the desire for beach time and redwoods. Santa Cruz has many beaches - wide, sandy, plenty of sunbathers and boogie boarders, sometimes beach volleyball, strong surf culture - pretty much your quintessential CA beach experience.

Both Henry Cowell and Big Basin State Parks are close to Santa Cruz and have old growth coastal redwood groves. Henry Cowell is closer, but Big Basin has better hiking (IMHO), so which is a better choice for you depends on what you want to do.

If you want to see Giant Sequoias, you'll have to go up into the Sierras - either Yosemite or Kings Canyon/Sequoia National Parks. These places are about 4 hours inland from the coast, so you'd really need to spend at least 1 night in or near one of the parks - otherwise it would make for a very (very) long day trip. I don't think you have time for SF, Napa, the coast, AND the Sierras in 1 week - I'd pick 3 of the 4.

Monterey is about 45 minutes from Santa Cruz and is also very much worth a visit - I know you mentioned white water rafting, which could be difficult this time of year, but would sea kayaking work as an alternative? There is lots of good sea kayaking in the Monterey area.

kalamokid

I would love to sea kayak. This is extremely helpful. Thanks. Keep it coming",

kalamokid

Which beach in Santa Cruz would you recommend. We will only have time for one beach day..and I might try for a 1/2 day kayak trip too.

kalamokid

I hate to say this...especially since I am the only one who wants to do the wine country......but Sonoma/napa might be a return trip with my girl friends, rather than dragging my family of boys! Ugh!! Will have more time to do things south of the city.

november_moon

In Santa Cruz, you have the Boardwalk, which is a seaside amusement park with rides, games, waffle cones, etc. The beach in front of the Boardwalk is pretty busy with a lot going on - they even have a bandstand and concerts in the evenings in the summer.

Seabright Beach at Twin Lakes are also nice beaches, reasonably central and fairly busy but not as busy as the beach at the Boardwalk.

For what your kids are looking for, these would be my choices.

As far as wine country goes, we do have wine regions all over the state, so you can visit wineries pretty much anywhere you go. We have wineries in the Santa Cruz mountains and in the Carmel Valley (near Monterey). If you just want to taste local wines, there are also tasting rooms you can visit without going to the wineries themselves.