Never been to California. Would like to see Yosemite, wine country, maybe San Francisco. Would like to drive up the northern coast of California and possibly the coast of Oregon. I am up for any suggestions on an itinerary .

Rose G

Hi, vardon!

Where are you flying into and out of?

My suggestion would be to drive straight up I-5 to wherever you want to be in Oregon and then cut over to the coast (two days). Then head down the Oregon coast and the California northern coast.

Then cut inland to Sonoma County for wine country.

End up San Francisco.

You could do this trip in reverse, however, the coastal drive is far nicer going North to South since you will be on the ocean side and will have unobstructed views.

I'm certain others will provide you with whatever detailed information you may wish - such as hotels, restaurants, sights, parks, etc.

Have a great trip!

what airport would I fly into and could I still do yosemite?

If you have two weeks, you can definitely get to Yosemite. But make reservations ASAP for the Yosemite Lodge, because it books up months in advance. The least expensive flights are those that fly into San Francisco or Oakland airports. Especially if you can fly Southwest Airlines.

Sorry, forgot about Yosemite.

Most of what you want to do is north, Yosemite is east.

You could do Yosemite at the beginning of your trip as a separate trip going east from either SF or Oakland airport. On return, head back westwards towards SF, but catch I-5 in Sacramento and then head north.

We did this trip in May 2006! We flew into San Francisco, spent 2 nights in Monterey (with a day trip down Big Sur), then drove over to Yosemite and spent 6 nights in the city of Angel's Camp (stayed a week only because we had resort lodging for a week. a week is too long there).

Then we drove north on I-5 (I think) and cut over to Bandon, Oregon on the coast (about 10 hour drive, practically no stops). Then we made our way down the coast with nights in Bandon, Brookings, Trinidad, Mendicino, and back in San Francisco.

It worked out really well. Our kids were 12 and 8 at the time.

You can read through the help Fodorites gave me: http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-in-5-days.cfm

thanks for the info. Any guide books you would recommend for Oregon and California?

Rose G

4sharie's trip is exactly how I would do it.

Not me. I dislike I-5 so much that I would go to Yosemite first, (then return via Hwy 120 to Hwy 49 (there are some little historic gold mining towns along 49, (if you're interested) then head toward Sacramento) Then go to Napa Valley. Drive Napa Valley via Hwy 29 but then head to Geyserville! (or go to Healdsburg area for a couple days). Then I would go up 101 to the Avenue of the Giants and at that point, decide if I felt like heading further north into Oregon on the coast.
Return via 101, but take one of the highway turn-offs that takes you over to Hwy 1 (arriving somewhere north of Mendocino). Head South on Highway 1 until you've had enough, then take one of the highways back over to 101, south into San Francisco.
There are so many places to stop and enjoy --- it depends what you like to do.
Please take a good look at a California map so you can see these areas I'm talking about. Avenue of the Giants is wonderful, as is Redwood Nat'l Park, the little town of Ferndale, Mendocino and the area north of it.
Which state are you from?

vardon - when are you doing this trip? And, would you want to do a one way car rental (say SF to Portland) or do you want to fly in and out of the same airport? If flying on Southwest or American, we like to use the Sacramento airport. It's close to Yosemite and the Wine Country.

You can see a lot in two weeks. For guide books, if you are a AAA member, you can get good maps and tour books that can help you plan your trip. The best thing is to start off and determine where you want to go. AAA has some great sectional maps for Yosemite, the Bay Area, Monterey, Mendocino Coast, and Northern California.