Vacation Help
 

My husband & I are taking a precious four day vac. away from the kids and jobs the first week in April. We are staying in San Jose. We want to see wine country and Muir Woods. From San Jose, can (or should)both be done in a day? We will have a rental car, but worry about wine tasting & driving. Should we hire a tour? We are on a modest to medium budget. Any help would be greatly appreciated! We don't get a chance to get away much!

If you want to visit the wine country and Muir Woods, I wouldn't stay in San Jose but would instead stay in the wine country area. San Jose is quite a distance away and you would be spending much of your precious time driving and dealing with the traffic. By staying in the wine country, you could easily do a few tastings each day which should alleviate your concerns about tasting and driving.

Hi reneejean, I think most of us can relate to being on a budget!

Is there some reason you are staying in San Jose. Maybe with family or friends? If not I agree with Kathryn, San Jose is much to far away. And our Bay Area traffic can be terrible.

I truly do not see how you could do or at least enjoy trying to do Muir Woods and the wine country in one day.

And I understand your concern about wine tasting and driving.

Is there anyway you could spend one night overnight in the wine country. Maybe somewhere modestly priced. I was thinking if you cannot fine somewhere within your budget perhaps a compromise would be staying somewhere like Benicia for an overnight. They have a BestWestern Inn which is reasonably priced. I would not suggest for several nights but for one night would be fine and would sure get you closer to the wine country.

For example drive from San Jose to Benicia. Check in and if the room is not ready leave your overnight luggage with them. Go to the wine country and of course come back to Benicia for your overnight. The next day you could go over 37 and visit Muir Woods and perhaps other places that interest you and then return to San Jose.

Just a thought.

Hi,
I live in San Jose. It's about an hour to SF, depending on traffic. Through SF and on to Muir Woods would be about another 30 minutes, depending on traffic. I personally would not do Muir Woods and wine country in the same day. I agree with the previous posters, that if you can stay somewhere outside SF you would have less driving and more time to have fun. The wine country has so much to see and do. If you both want to wine taste I would definitely look into a tour. Good luck and I hope you have a great time. PS..bring rain gear. It does rain in April and we've had a wet winter.

Thanks for all the help. Just two days ago we booked a 'last minute' escape package through Travelocity to San Jose in honor of my 40th birthday. (yikes!) hotel reservations can't be changed. Wine country and Muir woods are both places we would love to see, but we are greedy and want to see it all! We are from Iowa so don't get a chance to see much more than corn fields. Can we take the subway from San Jose to SF then take a tour bus? We are there from 4/1 - 4/5, so want to see as much as possible. We love to hike and run too, any suggestions on the best places? Thanks, everyone!

Since you will be here on a weekend, then I think it is doable if you get an early start on Sat or Sunday for a 1 day trip. Head into SF via the 280 freeway - it is actually quite scenic (much more so than 101). Find a post I did earlier this year about "north of San Francisco, into the wine country". Click on my name to find it. I also posted it last week, but don't remember the thread name I responded to. Make sure you visit the lookout in the GGNRA area past the Golden Gate Bridge that I described in the post - it's unbelievable.

Traffic should be light on a Sat or Sunday. There is no way you should attempt to do this on a work day - the traffic between SF & San Jose is horrible - both coming & going. It is not too great through Santa Rosa either, if you should decide to go that way.

I would like to suggest that you visit the Somona wineries instead of the more famous Napa Wineries for 2 reasons.

1. I think that the Sonoma wineries are more "quaint" and friendly, and more laid back. However, the gift shops in the Napa wineries are better.

2. I don't know the Easter holiday schedules, but if that is Easter week for some schools, then Napa Valley might be very crowded.

Read my posting on the wineries and concentrate on the ones around Healdsburg. Also spend some time in Healdsburg - it's one of our favorites.

Stu Dudley

OK - do you want to see the Napa/Sonoma wine region -- OR do you just want to see some good california wineries?

If the latter - and since you are set w/ San Jose as a base - there are some terrific wineries very near San Jose, and the Big Basin redwood state park is also near there. Big basin is bigger, has larger trees, and is just a better park all the way around than Muir Woods.

Now Napa/Sonoma is a lovely area -- but there are some really, really good wines produced in Los Gatos/Saratoga/Santa Cruz mtns area. These are minutes from San Jose instead of hours like to Napa. And the nearby the Mateo Coast county coast is gorgeous.

it won't be the "famous" Napa wineries, but the experience is basically the same.

I personally would NEVER use SJ as a base for Muir Woods/Napa.

That should read "San Mateo county coast . . . ."

Thanks for the new information. That's the first I've heard about wineries outside Napa/Sonoma. It's definately worth thinking about. I guess we weren't thinking of traffic problems when we booked a package to San Jose. Most everything we would like to see is in the San Francisco area. I'm still interested in learning if we can take the subway to San Francisco from San Jose. That would probably take less time on a weekday, wouldn't it?

No, there is no subway from San Jose to SF - it it is more than 50 miles to the city.

But wait! You can take the CalTrain from SJ to SF! It runs from SJ's train station directly into the city, it's easy to do. Check out their website, http://www.caltrain.com/.

love
roxy

Thank you, Roxy I will definately check that out. If we do decide to drive in to SF, what's the scoop on the parking? From what I'm reading, it's scarce, but is it impossible? Are there pay lots we would probably be able to get into?

Parking is expensive but there's lots of pay lots that are more than willing to take your money. Let us know what area you'll be in and someone can tell you a good garage.

love
roxy

I'm not sure what area we should try to park in. We would like to see all the typical touristy things. Neither of us has ever been to SF before. Does anyone have any recommendations where we could park for the day then, walk and take the cable car to different sights? Also, do you have a ballpark cost of parking by the day? Thanks!! This time seven days from now we will be there! I'm so excited!

I think Janis has a great idea to visit Big Basin redwood state park, the wineries in Los Gatos/Saratoga/Santa Cruz mtns area, and the San Mateo coast. You have just four days, and all that driving will eat up so much time. Do one day-trip to S.F. and you'll probably not want to return that direction two more days for Muir and then Napa. You'd be driving up and down every day, spending more on gas than a good dinner in the city, at today's prices! You'll be pleasantly surprised how beautiful Santa Cruz is, too. So much to see in California, don't think you'll be shortchanging yourself if you change plans and save Muir Woods and Napa for your next visit.

Thank you everyone. I think we will take your advice and see SF one day, and the rest of the trip we will focus on the areas outlined by Janis and Maureen. It's so nice of all of you to spend your precious free time helping others the way you do. I'm a novice traveler and didn't even know this website existed. I think you all are awesome! 'See you' in three days!
Renee