I have been monitoring the postings and I think this group will be able to offer some sound advice. My husband and I are travelling to the Central Coast in October. We'll be arriving on Friday(VERY LATE) at the SF airport, staying the night nearby and leaving for Reno the next day. We hope to spend the night there then leave for Napa and the coast the next morning, working our way down to Monterey(along Hwy1), then spending a couple of days there and working our way towards San Jose(Winchester House) then to San Francisco(by Wednesday late). We'll drop the car off and then stay near Lombard and Van Ness for the duration of our stay. I know it's a lot to cover in 10 days but we've done this southward from LA to San Diego to Vegas to Phoenix 10 years ago and had a blast. Question, eating ideas, budget accomodations along the way, and unusual sites and sounds. We don't expect this to be the perfect trip, those are boring. We enjoy a good challenge(Hwy 1) and we look forward to meeting new people. Although time is a factor, if we need to pass on seeing something to make a deadline, it just gives us a reason to come back. Any help you can give us would be appreciated. We're more interested in ideas for the first 5 days as opposed to our stay in SF. Thanks

Wow, driving from SF to Reno on Saturday for 1 night and then back down to Napa. You must really like Reno. I'd skip Reno and stay in Napa the extra day to give yourself a chance to see lots of Napa and Sonoma and Bodega Bay. The drive from SF to Reno is over 4 hours. The drive from Reno to Napa will be 4 hours. The rest of your vacation sounds great except for the stop in San Jose for the Mystery House but it is there for the tourists.

Sounds like a great itinerary. On a Saturday morning the drive up to Reno should not be too bad. Where in Reno will you be staying? I usually stay at the Harrahs in Downtown. It is walking distance to the major casinos, the rooms and food are great. I would suggest that on your way back from Reno to Napa that you take a drive over to Lake Tahoe. From Downtown Reno take South Virginia St. to the 431 toward Mount Rose and then go down the east side of Lake Tahoe. The scenary is great. Once you get to South Shore Lake Tahoe you can either take Highway 50 to 80 west, or if time permits, continue up the west side of the Lake on Highway 89 and then to 80 West.

In the Monterey area www.monterey.com don't miss the Monterey Bay Aquarium, 17 Mile Drive, and Fisherman's Wharf. Nearby Carmel www.carmelbythesea.com is a very quaint town. On the way from Monterey to San Jose, if you take the Highway 17 route from 1 North, I would look into a stop at Big Basin Redwoods State Park www.bigbasin.org In the nearby town of Felton the Roaring Camp Railroad www.roaringcamp.com offers steam train tours through the redwood forests.

In the San Jose area www.sanjose.org the Winchester Mystery House www.winchestermysteryhouse.com is quite an interesting Victorian Mansion. If you happen to be there aroung halloween, you can take a nightime flashlight tour of the mansion. Some other places to consider checking out in San Jose include the Tech Museum of Innovation www.thetech.org the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum www.rosicrucian.org as well as the Japanese Gardens and the History Museum of San Jose www.historysanjose.org which are both in Kelley Park. There are plenty of great restaurants in the Downtown area. San Pedro Square www.sanpedrosquare.com has some of the city's best.

From San Jose to San Francisco, the Filoli Estate in the town of Woodside, off of the scenic 280 freeway is also a nice place to visit. They have daily tours of the Georgian Mansion as well as the gardens. Reservations are recommended.

I agree with the above posters. That's a lot of driving, but it's doable.

Definitely take the route around Lake Tahoe if you have the time.

In Monterey, if you have time to go down to Big Sur, I would definitely recommend it. If you don't have time to make the drive, at least go to Point Lobos St Park, which is only a few miles south of Carmel. It's absolutely beautiful. I am not all that fond on 17-Mile drive, and if I had to skip something in the interest of time, that's what I would skip.

In San Jose, the Winchester Mystery house is fun. I live in SJ and people always want to go there when they visit. As a result, I have been there quite a few times. It's a touristy place, but there are a lot of interesting history and legends associated with it. I went on the flashlight tour once and it was ok, but not at all scary. It's a popular tour so they pack as many groups in as possible and everyone has a flashlight. As a result, it's too bright to be scary, but not bright enough to appreciate the architecture and furnishings. I prefer the daytime tour.

Kelly Park in SJ is also really nice.

Thanks alot for the advice. I wouldn't be going to Reno, except for my husband. We trade off on those things we each want to do and since I want Muir Woods and He wants Reno, we do both. Napa isn't really our cup of tea, we're just going to drive thru to say that we've done it. The info for San Jose is great. And we are definitly going to try to get to Big Sur. Again thanks for the help.

Too bad you don't have the time to continue down highway 1 from Monterey to San Luis Obispo....it one of the top 10 scenic drives in America according to National Geographic Travel. I live in San Luis Obispo area and to get a true taste of highway 1 its a must. To be honest, highway 1 from Monterey to Santa Cruz isn't all that great. But, I know what you mean about pushing it, we do it all the time. We like to get a taste of an area and then go back to the part we liked the best. My suggestion if you can't fit the drive to San Luis Obispo(the true Central coast-200 miles to LA, 200 miles to SF)at least go south of Carmel on highway 1 thru the forest until you get to the rugged coast line...it is awesome!