My wife and I will have time on our hands from noon on a Sunday until we have to be at SFO at 5pm on Monday. We have a car and are starting from downtown in San Francisco. Is it practical to try and see Monterey during this time? How about the other direction to see the Wine Country? Are these distances and driving conditions too ambitious?

From SF to Monterey is only 120 miles (one way) along the coast. This is a beautiful drive. I would spend the night at either Monterey or Santa Cruz. Make sure you head back early in the day on Monday. Commute traffic in the bay area will be murder.

Napa is only about 50 miles (one way). The hills have turned brown and to me it's not as pretty as when the hills are green. If you want to just go taste testing then you should beable to make a day of it. Again make sure you get back to the airport early on Monday.

If it were me, I would do the coast trip.

Utahtea

Will,

You should have sufficient time to see the Monterey Bay Area. Heading to Monterey on Sunday should not be too much of a problem traffic wise. The most scenic route from San Francisco would be 280 south to 17 south, and 1 south into Monterey. Would it be possible to fly out of San Jose International Airport instead of San Francisco Airport? It will save you at least 1 hour of driving. When returning from Monterey toward the San Jose area, I would recommend leaving around 9:30 or 10:00 AM, so that you will miss the traffic heading into the city on highway 17. Some highlights in the Monterey Bay Area would be the Monterey Bay Aquarium, 17 Mile Drive, and the quaint town of Carmel by the Sea.

Have the hills really already turned brown? We just had rain and the heat is only starting. Hard to believe that it's already brown.

Should be a breeze to drive to Sonoma area for a Sunday afternoon.

I live in the Bay Area. We just had one day to get away over the 3 day Memorial weekend. This was a most enjoyable 24 hours in Sonoma County:
Drive over the GG bridge and take Hwy 101 North. Take the cutoff to Sebastopol (this is the Gravenstein Hwy), then proceed west of town on the Bodega Hwy. Go north on the Bohemian Hwy
into the town of Occidental. Hang out for awhile and eat if necessary. Proceed on the Bohemian Hwy to Monte Rio. Cross over the bridge on the Russian River and head for Guerneville. You will end up on beautiful River Road. Take the Healdsburg cutoff and get a room. This is a great place for shopping and a good dinner. Stay near the center of town. All along this route there are many places to stop, for river access or winery visits. Healsdburg is back on Hwy 101 about a half hour north of Santa Rosa. From Healdsburg back to SFO, you should allow 2.5 hours minimum. If you leave

To x

I live in the east Bay Area and our hills have all turned BROWN!

Utahtea

Hills still relatively green here on the Peninsula, but we can see your brown hills from across the bay. It's so pretty when everything is green, but the tourists aren't here then. Oh well.....