Time of year to visit California
 

Is it better to go to San Francisco area and Napa Valley area etc. in the spring, May or June or in the fall September? What are the "must sees" in this area?

September and January are two of
my favorite months. Our company Serendipity Traveler offers trips for women travelers during those months and the weather is pristine.
No fog or rain, clear and less busy.
Must sees depend on your interests.
San Fran has a great walking guide
program where locals will share their expertise and neighborhoods with you depending on your preferences.Great program!!
Check the SF library for info.
The Napa Wine Train is fun.

September-October.

no rain in January? hmmm.

Any of those months would be fine. September & October usually have pleasant weather in both locales and also include Harvest Time in the Napa Valley - making it a very popular time to visit. For Napa Valley, you should make reservations in advance, particularly on a weekend. Weekdays would be best .

No rain in January? Less busy in September? Wine train is fun? Is this all made up?

September is a great time to visit but it is super busy that time of year. Make accomodation arrangements early for best selection. It's still sunny and very warm.

I don't understand either Suzie..and do not agree either. January normally has the rain. September is busy but for a reason.
The wine train is not my and most people that I know idea of a good value or that interesting.

RuthAnn, if you can't make it in September I would opt for June and then May.

You will get lots of good help here from various Fodorite's that are quite familiar with the Napa Valley and the Sonoma Valley.

Oct-Nov...but make sure California is open first.
Budget cut backs and all there is talk of us closing and turning back tourists at the borders....:O)

Jan can be quite wet especially if the storm door opens and the Pineapple Express roars thru No Cal.

Typical to have big storms in January and February - at least we HOPE for lots of rain this year!

Just checked lupinelady's business website. Based in MA.

Truly the biggest California storms I have ever witnessed were in January!
RuthAnn, pick whichever month works best for you - it'll be a great trip!

Guess I picked a good time to be back in CA, Kal! I'll be back this weekend :-) Not close enough to see you guys, alas!

And how exactly do you plan a trip to San Francisco when the advice is to go to the SF library for information. How bad is that advice?

Here's some great advice for San Francisco. Look at Stu Dudley's list:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35129049

It appears that my comment about
rain in January has created a
thunderstorm!! For the last several
decades i have spent January in
Carmel and have found it to be
absolutely delightful. Perhaps coming from the Northeast, a few showers wouldn't bother me...The AT& T annual golf classic formerly the Crosby is always held in February at Pebble Beach. Whenever one travels weather can be an issue, however we don't recommend the Caribbean during hurricane season and i still recommend September and January for
Northern California. Laura Bly in
USA today recently favored September as one of the most idyllic
months to visit.....
Hope this clarifies my original posting.

My comments regarding the SF library
were about the excellent local guides
available in SF and the program info
is available for booking through
the SF library.

Yes, Mrs Stu Dudley is involved as a guide through the SF Library. She is quite a lovely and interesting lady. And as I have told StuDudley, I always think of him as "Mr. San Francisco"..at least our Fodor's "Mr. San Francisco". Stu Dudley has posted so many threads with absolute fabulous information regarding San Francisco and the surrounding areas RuthAnn. He is a wealth of detailed information. Best regards.

I've been to San Francisco a few times in the fall (October) and the weather has been beautiful. Other times I have been there, the weather is kind of variable.

somehow lupinelady always manages to slip in a plug for her company - w/ some "unusual" statements.

Like: No rain or fog in wine country in January (couldn't be more wrong - but then I guess lupinelady doesn't know anyone flooded out by the Napa or Russian rivers).

But not just about N. Calif - about London and other places she apparently take folks . . . . .

(just another reason most of us think independent travel is better than coach tours ;))

September/Oct are absolutely wonderful of course - but also one of the busiest times of year because of the harvest/crush/wine festivals etc. So while it is lovely - it is also crowded/booked up/expensive.

And apparently lupinelady hasn't noticed some of the horrendous weather that accompanies the Pebble Beach tournament.

Of course there is always a chance for drought.

It does seem that the Rose Bowl is always played in near-perfect weather, but then that is Southern California in January isn't it?

Yeah - I was going to mention the Clambake being drenched every few years. But lupine has been there "for decades" so she must know :) . . .

In 2006 there was even a real deluge on the Rose Parade - the first time in about 50 years. But then Pasadena is a loooooong way from Napa.

California is a huge diverse state with many micro climates. Carmel is 150 miles south of Napa so does not always get the same winter weather.

Average rainfall for Carmel is about 19.5 inches per year while Napa is around 24 inches of rain.

Napa is also alot warmer than Carmel which gets the cooler coastal weather during the summer and fall. It's hard to visit one part of CA and apply that weather to another part of CA.


The new information about the valuable guides through the SF library is a good addition to the original info that was provided. Perhaps together with a link to the info it would be even more helpful. There is plenty of space provided in the reply box to be thorough.

I looked at the SF library website and the link to the guides is not easily found. Anyone?