Sonoma area vs. Monterey Area
 

My wife and I are from the east coast and will be spending four days in San Francisco, two days at Yosemite and one or two days in the Lake Tahoe area. That will leave us with two to three days with a 10pm flight on the final day.

Our vacation starts this coming Thursday and we are trying to decide where to spend the last days. We have been to the Napa Valley area and have been to the Monterey area. We have not been to the Sonoma area or the coast north of San Francisco but we have seen plenty of vineyards and wineries so IF that is the main attraction, we would probably prefer going back to Monterey and Big Sur.

Any suggestions or recommendations would be appreciated.

The coast north of SF is pretty fantastic, IMHO. The drive up Hwy 1 past Stinson & Muir beaches and on into Pt. Reyes
is just the beginning. Pt.Reyes is one of my favorite places on the planet, and only 30 mins from my front door.
(Yes, I am very biased !)Past Pt. Reyes, through Bodega Bay to Jenner continues to be scenic. The real fun begins at Jenner and continues up to Gualala, or the Sea Ranch, Pt. Arena, Elk,and up to Mendocino. If you don't want to see a vineyard, you won't along this route. Sonoma County has quite a different feel than Napa. Just really depends on your interests.

Is your plan to first visit SF, then Yosemite, then Tahoe ? If so it make make sense for you to leave the Tahoe area on Hwy 88 or 4 down to Hwy 49 and prowl around parts the Gold Country rather than all the driving it would take for you to reach either the Sonoma Coast or the Monterey area.

R5

What R5 said.

I read yesterday that Coastal Living Magazine named the 96 miles from Jenner north as the best coastal drive in the USA.

Monterey and environs are very nice, but if you've been there before, head for Highway 1 north of San Franciso, from Pt.Reyes to Mendocino or Fort Bragg. Stop at Fort Ross to see the southernmost Russian fort built in Calfornia. You can also swing back to Highway 101 north of Fort Bragg for the giant redwood groves.
But, razzledazzle makes a good point about the Gold Country (Sonora, Angels Camp, Jackson, Placerville) very different from the coast, but a lot less driving and some great small towns to explore.

Thanks for the great ideas! We have never been to Lake Tahoe but we are now wondering if we should skip the lake and do the drive through the Gold Country. We could then head over to the coast and drive north on route 1. We plan on leaving Yosemite via Tioga Pass. It looks like we could do that and then cut across on route 108 to Sonora. Does that make sense?
We live near lakes and the White Mountains so Lake Tahoe might not be that much different.

Lake Tahoe is spectacular, personally, I wouldn't skip it in favor of the gold country (which is interesting, too).

Hmmm...
It's about 3 hrs. of driving from Lee Vining to Sonora-
though quite scenic. That doesn't include driving in the park
to Lee Vining. What's your driving plan after Sonora ?

R5

If are flexible in the order of your visits, you could leave San Francisco and go to Lake Tahoe on I-80 by way of Donner Pass and Truckee, taking Highway 89 around the late to South Lake Tahoe. Leaving you could take 50 or 88 down to Placerville or Jackson and do the Gold Country en route to Yosemite, entering on 108.
OR, leave Tahoe and take the steep,scenic Kingsbury Grade down to Minden/Gardnerville or take the easy US 50 into Carson City (nice railroad museum there) and the south on 395 to 120, over Tioga Pass into Yosemite. so many choices, so little time~

Don't skip Tioga Pass or Lake Tahoe. The drive is spectacular and very different from anything on the east coast. Lake Tahoe is at an elevation of over 6,000 feet. This time of year is lovely.

MY

We are not flexible in the order of visits. We have a reservation at the Yosemite Lodge for the first night after San Francisco. Based on the replies, we will go to Lake Tahoe as originally planned.

After Tahoe, I guess we could take I-80 to Auburn and then get on 49 and do the Gold Country to Sonora. The route 1 drive north of San Francisco sounds great but might involve too much time driving to get there.