Yosemite
 

I just booked the Lodge in Yosemite for 3 nights in early May.

I will be flying to California from Tampa/Orlando, and would like to add a couple of days onto the trip to see another area of California.

Besides San Francisco, are there any other areas you would recommend that would only add 2-3 days to my trip?

Also is San Francisco the best/easiest airport to fly into for Yosemite?

I am very early in my planning. Just decided this weekend that I wanted to go to Yosemite. Have never even considered it before.

Thanks for any info

Yosemite lodge in the valley or Yosemite view lodge in El Portal?

Oakland airport may be even better than SFO.

You could visit

- Monterey/Carmel
- Lake Tahoe
- Napa/Sonoma

<Is San Francisco the best/easiest airport to fly into for Yosemite?>

Other airports to consider are Sacramento, Oakland or San Jose. The best airport probably depends on your final itinerary and cost. If SFO is significantly cheaper then the added hassle may be worth it.

If you are going to Yosemite and Monterey then SJO may be the best.

If you go to Yosemite and Napa or Tahoe then SAC might be better.

Sorry. I am booked at Yosemite Lodge in the valley May 1st-May 4th.

The drive on Highway 1 from San Francisco to Malibu is one of the most scenic in the world. May favorite highlights along the way include Big Sur, the Hearst Castle, Cambria, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and the various missions (e.g. Carmel). But this only scratches the surface.

Thanks for the ideas so quickly.

How long of a drive is it from Monterey/Carmel to Yosemite?

How about from San Francisco down the coast to Big Sur?

Perhaps I could fly into one airport and out of another.

Time is a consideration - I will still be teaching at that time. Money is also an issue for the same reason... I am a teacher!

Keep in mind the highway (SR-120) across the top thru Tuolumne Meadown, Tioga Pass and on to Lee Vining will not be opened yet.

you need to keep in mind the traffic in calif can be a killer. I just went to yosemite-flew into oakland at about 1 on Fri aft adn the traffic east from oakland was pretty bad for 60 miles or so--even then. wehever possibel I try to drive into and out of cal. cities either at mid-day or on the weekend.

If you have never seen the pacific coast near Big sur, I would vote for that. I spnet about 3 weeks in Pacific Grove this spring, adn I could never get enough of the drive south to big sur.

If you are going to the MOnterey/carmel area from Yosemite -this shoud take you 4-5 hours. It is pretty easy to get to SAn Jose Airport from MOnterey. 90-120 minutes if no rush hour.

so you might fly into Oakland for yosemite adn return from san jose. dont know if sacramento is better than oakland for yomemite. fresno certainly is, but is expensive to fly there.

Rough driving times (no traffic)...

Yosemite to Monterey ~ 4.5 - 5 hours (depending on where you actually start from)

SF to Monterey ~ 2.5 hours (Big Sur is another 40 miles south of Monterey)

You could fly into SF/OAK/SJ and go to Yosemite then drive to Monterey and down the coast and fly out of LA.

3 days (after Yosemite)might be too short of time for that amount of driving but plenty of folks do it.

Rental car fees (different drop off location) may be high though.

We flew into San Jose because it was cheapest at the time. Closest to Yosemite, I think, is Fresno.

We took a day trip to Monterey/Pebble Beach before flying home. It was about an hour and a half from San Jose and absolutely beautiful. You have to pay to do the 17-mile drive,

If Sarengetty wants to minimize driving time and expense, what about Highway 49 Gold Rush country? It should be lovely in May. I don't know much about it other than some amazing caves near Arnold/Angels Camp, but I know Sunset recently had an article about the small towns along the Gold Rush trail. This would be close to both Yosemite and Sacramento. The Monterey/Carmel area is nice too, but very pricey, and a half-day's drive from Yosemite.

Oops - premature post...

Less than $10 if I remember, but the views are worth millions. We saw more otters there than at the aquarium (and the aquarium admission cost like $25 !)
http://www.pebblebeach.com/page.asp?id=1373

Its not a bad drive from Sacramento and the Sacramento airport is SO easy

Yosemite is breathtaking. Have a great time. On one trip (our honeymoon!!), we did Yosemite, Wine Country (stayed in Sonoma Co), and Sequoia Nat'l Park, flying in and out of Oakland.

Fresno is the closest -- in fact it was called the Fresno-Yosemite airport when we went a couple of years ago. It is also a smaller airport and easier to get in and out of. It is still about an hour and a half drive to Yosemite Valley from there. It was also more expensive, but worth it to us because of the driving time to the coast. (decided to save that area for another trip) Ideally you could fly into there and out of one of the San Francisco area airports, but it may cost more (and rental car dropoff fees also).

A problem w/ Fresno is there are no direct flights into there. So evenbeing the closest - it would involve hours more in transit.

This may not be what you want to do - but your very easiest tour would be in/out of SMF (Sacramento), and visit Yosemite and the Gold Rush towns and Amador County wineries along hwy 49.

If you wanted the coast instead - then flying in/out of San Jose and Yosemite plus a few days on the Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur stretch.

Either of these would be wonderful itineraries.

I would definitely go to Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Park. Beautiful with lots of hiking opportunities!

Be sure and go to Napa Valley too. My husband and I were at Yosemite two years ago and we drove over to Napa for two nights. The drive in and out of the park is winding and will take some time. You'll be tired so don't plan too much the first day. We flew into Fresno and out of San Francisco. A beautiful fun trip I'd like to do again.

Yosemite is wonderful! It is about 4 hours from San Francisco with mostly uneventful roads to travel. However, if you wanted to go to Lake Tahoe from Yosemite, it would be roughly another 4.5 hours, and it is beautiful scenery to another great location. A great place to stay is in Truckee, CA at the Cedar House Sport Hotel where they provide one stop shopping for any activity you would like to do, plus they provide a great place to stay. Check them out at www.CedarHouseSportHotel.com. They are wonderful! You can't go wrong with staying in a beautiful new hotel that is a gateway to playing in the Lake Tahoe area. Also, from Truckee you will have about a 3.5 hour trip back to San Francisco, or you could fly out of Sacramento after a 1.5 hour trip. Have a great time!

Sarengetty - we chose to fly in and out of the Oakland airport, because flights were a bit less expensive than SF International and the Oakland airport is a bit closer on the drive back from Yosemite. Whichever is cheaper should be fine.