Planning a trip for 3 to CA. Never been so thinking of starting in San Francisco, renting a car and exploring. Probably 6 days.....2 adults and 20 year old.

Questions:

1. May, June or July?
2. Hotel suggestions
3. Must sees and suggestions for route

What are your interests? Outdoor activities? Museums?

By "exploring," do you mean around or in San Francisco?

Stu Dudley is the San Francisco Itinerary Guru. With more specific ideas on what you and your travelling companions like, he can come up with a lot of options.

Does it have to be May, June or July? My choice would be September after Labor Day or October.

Ditto tenthumbs questions. IN San Francisco, or the area around it? What interests you? What's your hotel budget, and would you get a triple room or double + single?

How far away from SF do you want to get?
Consider flying to Sacramento Oakland or San Jose.
Coastal, mountains, Napa Valley or Yosemite Valley?
My favorite HI hostel is the one in Sacramento. There are 3 HI hostels in SF and 1 across the bridge in Marin Headlands. They are much cheaper than the hotels if you can stand having the bathroom down the hall. Car rentals are cheaper in downtown SF than at SFO. If you use SFO to fly in, take BART to get downtown.

We like museums, outdoors a bit...

2 nights in San Fran and then explore around.

Hotel budget $150 - 200. One room with 2 beds should work.

It needs to be in summer since daughter is in college. Starts back in August.

Fall is much better?

Our best weather is in September-October, but if you can only come in summer, so be it!

Do you want a downtown hotel, or a motel on motel row (but near nice neighborhoods with good shopping and dining options) (some of which have free parking)?

My vote would be the end of May or begining of June(but avoid Memorial Day weekend). 3 days in San Fran and 3 days in Yosemite for a first visit.

My vote would be the end of May or begining of June(but avoid Memorial Day weekend). 3 days in San Fran and 3 days in Yosemite for a first visit.

As sf said our best weather in the City is in September/October. June and July are not great in the CIty because of the marine layer i.e. fog, although there can be lovely weather outside of the City in Napa and Sonoma or anywhere away from the coast. End of May would be the best out of the 3 months.

what is it with these double and triple posts? I've seen a lot of them lately.....

I have stayed in the hostel in the Marin Headlands. It's a former Army hospital. I've also stayed at Fort Mason. They're both nice. There are some great hiking trails around the one in the Headlands.

How far out of the City to you want to explore? Yosemite is lovely and is about 150 miles from SF. Santa Cruz is about 50 miles south of SF, and Monterey about 80 miles south of SF.

As mentioned above October is the best time to go to most parts of California. In SF specifically (and much of the rest of the coast) you may get lots of fog in June and July. But, for me, the bigger detractor from those months, is that if you venture inland very far, like to Napa, June and (especially) July could be brutally hot, ie over 100.

June, July in Southern California are our cold, gray, overcast months. It used to be just June (June Gloom) but over the last few years it is creeping into July as well.

August, Sept, October are are Santa Ana weather conditions. That's when the desert winds reverse directions and blow west to the ocean. The heat is unbearable - plus the hot, dry weather is perfect for fires which often rip thru the southland. Our worst fires in San Diego happened several years at the end of October where one year, about 500 homes were completely destroyed and thousands of people were displaced from their homes.

My favorite weather in San Diego is Jan/Feb. The weather is cool (maybe in the low 70's) but generally the sky is blue and the air clean and fresh.

Well, school starts here in August gets out the end of May.

It is so hot here it might be nice to be cold.

I like the 3 days SF might do first 2 night and last. Last night hotel close to airport. First two, not sure we would like either. How is downtown? I like the city but free parking and good dining appealing.


We would enjoy Yosemite. Lodging?

I have noticed a lot of double and triple post. It has happened to several of my posts the past few weeks. When it does happen I get a white page with nothing on it.

hi spirobulldog,
it is happening a lot lately.
it's not just you either!