I'm looking for a good three day weekend beach getaway from our home in the S.F. Bay Area and I've never been to Bolinas. Seems like a funky, eccentric, little beach town. There are some rentals that look interesting too.
What's it like?
Restaurants?
Looking for some good beachcombing possibilities.
It's not to far from Point Reyes either which is a positive.
Is is a madhouse on the weekends?
Many thanks!

Hi iamq, I haven't been to Bolinas in ages. It is sort of a hippy place. I think Bolinas was the town that the SF Chron recently had an article about regarding that they will be without water this summer. Bolinas was always very laid back and I am sure it still is.

Never spent a night in Bolinas, although have gone there on a number of ocasions. Funky and eccentric are definitely the right adjectives to describe Bolinas; I don't recall it being a madhouse in terms of visitors, since the residents actively discourage them. You know about how the residents took down the road signs for Bolinas so frequently, that CalTrans ceased to put them up. Not many eating establishments that I recall, I think we eat at Coast Cafe--OK food, very Bolinas.

TTT for Pammer and some other Bolinas-Marin area peeps.

Thanks for you replies so far. I think I am moving on from Bolinas. I am also beginning to consider staying somewhere in Inverness, Olema or Pt. Reyes Station. There are many rentals up in the Marshall area. Not sure I want be that far up. Thanks for any other ideas or thoughts about the area. We usually just drive up as a long day trip and have never stayed over night.

We used to have to go to Inverness every other month on business and we always stayed at the Inverness Valley Inn. Very nice rooms with a small kitchenette.

http://www.invernessvalleyinn.com/index.html

The Olema Inn was always great for a good meal. We never stayed there though.

http://www.theolemainn.com/index.html

The Olema Farm House was another good place to eat, slightly less expensive than the Olema Inn.

http://www.olemafarmhouse.com/menu.html

Is Bolinas the town where the locals take down the signs on the main road so you can't find it?

Ack, see post above by SAB. Short answer - yes.

Hi Bill,

Haven't stayed there yet, but I've been strongly tempted by this place, which was highly recommended in Sunset last August:

http://www.nickscove.com/

Hi enzian, Yes, Nicks is a landmark on Tomales Bay. We've stopped there for lunch before on our way north and south. Wow, they've really done amazing things with the cottages! Wow for $$$ thy're sharging too. In fact, the whole place looks much more spruced up than I remember it being more than a few years ago. Thanks for the link.

Aren't you doing a hiking tour in the area soon?

Yes---we'll be down in April, but we're not hiking north up as far as Olema or Pt. Reyes; we cut one day off the hike to save $$$. (Sign of the times.) So it's 3 days---GG Bridge to Muir Beach to Stinson Beach and up over Mt. Tam to Mill Valley to catch a bus back to SF.

We won't have time for Nick's this trip, but maybe next time. I see some of the cottages are down to $230 with AAA.