780>80>37>29 is shorter.

It sounds like you will be arriving late afternoon(?) at SFO?

If so, then you can keep the car until at least late afternoon and Michelle's idea of driving around SF is very good.

How much driving you can do in SF depends on when you have to return the car and when you plan to leave Calistoga for SF; IOW, how much time do you really have with the car while in SF?

If you could let us know then we could plot out a "drive-around SF" route for you before you have to return your car.

Sorry for all the typos.

Spotz could get off the GG Bridge and visit Fort Point then head along the bluffs over to Cliff House etc.

Good idea about the driving tour of western SF. Off the top of my head, I'd probably see Fort Point, wander around the Presidio, go through Seacliff to the Cliff House area, then down Ocean Blvd, go east through GG Park, up through Cole Valley or the Haight and around to Twin Peaks, and then go downtown via Market St. Depends on how much time you have and how much daylight is left.

I think dropping the car downtown and taking BART out is fine. Although BART to the airport is slooooww.

<<<Although BART to the airport is slooooww.>>>

Meaning 35 minutes. Still shorter than driving to SFO, filling up the car, returning the car to car rental, and taking the airtrain to the terminal.

Also, I would be very hesitant to drive downtown ON Market Street -- it's a mess of people, cars, bicyclists and trolleys.

Hi, we are scheduled to drop off our rental at 2:00 at the Dollar location at 364 O'Farrell Street. We can adjust the time if need be.

>> Meaning 35 minutes. Still shorter than driving to SFO, filling up the car, returning the car to car rental, and taking the airtrain to the terminal.

Maybe, but if you drop in the city you've still got to spend the time to fill up the car and return it. Just on a different day. In any case, dropping at O'Farrell on Wednesday will be fine. You probably will want to fill up somewhere before you get downtown (unless you do the fuel option), as gas stations downtown are scarce and expensive.

Driving on Market St is fine, although not very quick once you get down to about 6th St or so. The real problem is that you can't turn left anywhere after Van Ness. Your best options are probably to either turn right on 5th, right on Mission, right on 6th, cross Market, and go right on O'Farrell, or turn left onto Franklin and then right on O'Farrell. The latter option would completely miss the area of Market that sf7307 is concerned about. In fact the other option mostly would too, as Market doesn't really get too many pedestrians and bicyclists until about 4th St.

Anyway, let us know how much time you think you'll have for a driving tour of SF, and we'll suggest ideas.

Although I agree with kbob that Market (heading downtown) doesn't get bad for drivers until about 6th St., given the choice, I'd go the other way - i.e. Franklin to O'Farrell to Dollar Rent-a-Car.

Yeah, it's not like there's anything scenic on Market from Franklin to 6th, unless seeing homeless people pee on the sidewalk is your idea of scenery. And Franklin actually is halfway scenic as you go up the hill towards O'Farrell. At least the passenger can get a decent view if they turn around :-)

If you leave the Napa Valley early enough, you'll have time to do the "Scenic 49 Mile Trail" which will take you to most of the important points of SF that you can do by car.

http://www.sftravel.com/scenic-49-mi...FSSCQgodsxMABg

http://www.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF...2f4faa640a37f8

I would suggest that, in the interests of saving time, that you

a) after the Cliff House, do not drive all the way along the ocean (you're not going to see much of the ocean anyway, because of the sand dunes), but cut across into Golden Gate Park. There's a windmill, so just get the road to the windmill and you'll be in GG Park. Just follow John F Kennedy Drive and you'll reconnect with the original route.

b) cut out the second huge loop in the Mission District. so when you get on Dolores Street, make a left turn onto 16th and go all the way almost to the Bay, turn left on 3rd Street, then right on King and you will have reconnected with your route.

c)At the end, when you have seen Crissy Field, get on Highway 1 and go straight south. When you get to Geary, turn left. Go all the way down Geary, which becomes O'Farrell. At some point, stay in the middle lane. Particularly when you see a modern white church on the right, the Cathedral of St Mary of the Assumption. Geary is a major east-west road and will take you to your destination.

Hope this helps a bit. Download the map and see if this itinerary works for you or not.

Thanks everyone, this is food for thought. I am doing some major last-minute planning this weekend so I will look over this.