There are 6 adults in our family planning our first trip to San Francisco in the fall. We are looking at two vacation rental homes, one near Montara, close to the beach, and one in south SF, near the airport. We can't decide which location, if either would be best for us. We will probably spend 3 days in SF and the rest of the week at Yosemite, Napa Valley, Muir Woods, etc. Any help in the decision making process would be greatly appreciated. Both homes are almost the same amount and have the same number of bedrooms. Or, if anyone has a different neighborhood that they would suggest...please do. Thanks.

I'm confused. You're looking to rent a house near SanFrancisco Airport or near the beach near Montara for 3 days? Why would you do that? I can't imagine going to SF for 3 days and not staying right in the city.
Or are you looking to rent a place for a week, and those other places are day trips? (Please tell me you're not planning Yosemite as a day trip from SF!)

Patrick Yes, we want to rent a house for a week in or near SF. We would also like to take some sidetrips, and yes, I thought that we could go to Yosemite in a day. We don't want to try that, huh? I just found a vacation rental on Laidley Street that looks good...nice area?

Yosemite as a day trip is an awfully long day with a lot of time in the car. You wont have much time in Yosemite either. I would spend my time doing something else. There is so much to see close to SF that it would seem like a waste to spend 8+ hours in the car just to have a few hours in Yosemite.

The Monterey/Carmel area is only a couple hours south of SF. You could do this as a day trip instead. The San Mateo coast is really nice, and if you don't choose to stay there, it would make a nice day trip, maybe combine that with Santa Cruz.

If you stay outside SF, you will need transportation into SF everyday that you are there - which means either renting a car (and then paying to park it) or using public transportation. If you are near the airport, then public transportation may work. I don't think you will have much luck from Montara though. So take those costs into consideration.

I would probably stay in SF itself and then only rent a car for those days I wanted to leave the city.

I don't know what the neighborhood is like around Laidley St, but you might want to check out the SF public transportation web site to see what transportation options are availible in the areas you are considering. Here is the link to the web site:

www.sfmuni.com

I don't think that you want to stay out at the airport...that would be a lot of commuting back and forth. I also think the Laidley property is too far out, public transporation around the city can take much longer than you might think (go to 511.org for estimated times using the trip planner). If you are thinking 3 days in the city, why not a hotel for 3 nights? You could try priceline if you are concerned about costs.

After 3 days, you could rent a car and see some other areas (2 if you have a week, IMO). You may consider concentrating on either going north or south of the city.

I would plan a minimum of 2 nights for Yosemite. It's a long drive and there is so much ground to cover in the park.