Hello - What an absolute information abundance. I picked up the Fodors guide to NorCal and ended up here...glad I did.

In a feeble attempt to plan honeymoon activities in the San Fran and Wine Country area, I have come full circle that everything I had in my head is now met with very large dollar signs.
I mean, I knew I was gooing to drop come coin out west, but in my search for lodging alone it is going to be
rather pricey to meet my expectations.

So anyways, planning on a 5 day 5 night excursion (mon-fri) to the coast. With all the numerous threads I have read
I was hoping to get a little personal critique of my own....

Flying into san jose from Chicago with a late monday morning arrival... Flying out san jose Saturday morning. Renting a 2005
Mustang Convertible which should be great for our cruising around the coast....!



Monday afternoon -
*Drive into San Fran from the san jose airport

*Trying to find a nice hotel to stay at... around the $130 - 160 a night range (Honeymoon worthy without being $250+ a night)
any suggestions? Hopefully dump stuff and head out for the afternoon...

*Walk or bus/cable car up around the marina area, Ghirardelli square, maybe over to the wharf just to say we were there
*somewhere around there for dinner TBD


Tuesday -

*Up early for latte's and baked goods somewhere
*Maybe over to MOMA for a couple hours early
*Chinatown for lunch and the early afternoon
*Ferry Building possibly?
*Nob Hill area for dinner? Or maybe maki in Japantown....

Want to make sure we have enough potentials lined up incase we don't feel like doing one thing or the other...

Wednesday -

*Check out and head up north
*Drive up early weds morning, stop by Muir Woods
*Continue up Highway 1 to Bodega Bay area, walk on the beach etc
*Continue up through Jenner
*End up in Healdsburg - need to find reasonably priced lodging there and I know dinner will be no issues there.

Thursday -

*Check out and cruise over to Calistoga
*Continue on around the Sonoma Valley visiting some recommended wineries from the forums here
*Not sure where to end up this night....

Friday -

*Depending where we ended up on Thursday night, continue back south
*Maybe a winery or two in Napa or around there
*A stop maybe in Saulsalito before heading back to stay somewhere around the San Jose area as we have 8:30 am
flight on Saturday morning...



Any comments are greatly appreciated, I need to continue to read up more on the various threads abound here;
thanks for all the great info already... My biggest issues right now is the lodging search. In my head I want the
best right, but the best cost upwards of $200-300 a night and we can't afford that. I want her to look back and think about the wonderful nights we had - not the Best Western we stayed at...lol

Have you considered trying Priceline? I have had good luck in SF with Priceline.

Did I miss it ? What month ?- that will help with advice.
R5

Oh, did I leave that minor detail out ? =)

We'll be arriving Mon Sept 26th, departing Sat morning Oct 1st...


I've used Priceline many times in the past... The only problem with Priceline I've had in the past is that yeah, you get the rooms for a bit better rate, but then they stick you on the bottom floor with the view out the back into the loading dock...lol It's our honeymoon, and even though I can't spend 250 a night, I still don't want to take chances if you know what I mean....

Check out the Geyserville Inn. It's in your price range, comfortable and with a pool (which you might welcome at that time of year). You will be in walking distance to Santi which is a great place to eat. You will have to drive to downtown Healdsburg although it's not far and along the way you have all sorts of great wineries to sample from. HURRY and make your reservations. We are having a big family gathering in Napa that same weekend and there is nothing available for folks to stay.

We're looking at San Francisco hotels for our 25th anniversary in 2007. Keep in mind that I haven't stayed at any of these places, but they may be helpful and they're pretty much within your price range:

Petite Auberge - www.jdvhospitality.com
Nob Hill Hotel - www.nobhillhotel.com
Golden Gate Hotel - www.goldengatehotel.com

Parking is extra at all these hotels.

I've also looked at a couple of hotels in the Marina/Cow Hollow area that have free parking, but I don't know if you'd find them to be honeymoon-worthy:

Cow Hollow Motor Inn www.cowhollowmotorinn.com
Hotel del Sol www.jdvhospitality.com

Hope that helps!

Lee Ann