Can you suggest where to go when I go to California in September?
Tuen Mun I am flying into San Francisco on a Friday and flying out the following Saturday. I would like to see some of San Fran and some of the Redwoods and also Napa Valley. I don’t know where to start. Which particular places should I visit and how much time should I allow? Thanks so much!
Technorati Tags: napa valley, redwoods, san fran, san francisco
2 Responses
ADB
30 Apr 2010
desertmoonwoman
30 Apr 2010
I would allow myself two full days in the city. There is so much to see. The Museum of Modern Art, then you have the De Young Museum, Golden Gate Park etc… You will probably have to go online to a visitors bureau site and get a general idea of your interests to narrow down what you want to see. You would have time to do the Napa Valley, then head up 101 to see the redwoods. Redwood National Forest would be a few hours north if you want to see the ones seen on postcards. You could go to the coast and see Mendocino, Gualala, Sea Ranch then cut over to Healdsburg area. The stretches of highway one are very rugged coastline.
Hope this helps,
Enjoy!
September is the best time of year to visit the bay area,
St Helena and Calistoga and generally tripping around the Napa valley makes for a nice getaway, but you won’t get to see much in one day. It’s about an hour and a half from SF to Napa (depending on traffic and time of day) and another 1/2 hour or so to Calistoga. In Calistoga some of the places have the hot mineral spring water plumbed so you can fill your in room spa/tub and enjoy it in total privacy.
If you want to enjoy the scenic route and less traffic take the Silverado Trail up the east side of the valley once you get to the city of Napa.
You will bypass the small towns and all the roadside touristy stops but there are roads to cut across the valley at every town if you want to do so. Vintage 1870 in Yountville (about 15 minutes north of Napa) is a fun place to trip around for shops and eats, if you go there cross the street on the north end of the 1870 strip to Beard Plaza, enjoy the amazing and inspiring work of some exceptional local artists. There is also the Wine train, running out of Napa, you are taken on a dinner/sightseeing ride up the valley.
There is a lot of fine dining in Napa but a lot of it is high dollar stuff a nice place to grab a bit to eat is Downtown Joes, right in the middle of downtown as the name implies. Good food, good people, decent prices and a variety of live music 5 nights a week.
As far as San Francisco goes, there is SO much to see and do, one week will blow by in no time at all… Having grown up and lived there 26 years, here here’s a list of stuff I enjoy doing in SF.
catch a rock concert at the Fillmore or Warfield theatre.
(check out ticketmaster for scheduled shows)
go salmon fishing out of fishermans wharf (September is when the BIG ones gather outside the Golden Gate in preparation for the spawning run.)
wander around the Steinhart aquarium in golden gate park
skate or ride a bike (can be rented) in the park on sundays when it’s closed to traffic or along ocean beach.
go to a Giants game
Pirro’s pizza 2244 Taraval (my favorite of all pizza joints)
Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory (Fishermans Wharf)
free music/shows at Pier 39 (Fishermans Wharf)
Chic’s at Pier 39 for a bite to eat.
Sabella & LaTorre (best seafood place at fishermans wharf)
Dinner at Cafe’ Riggio. 4112 Geary Blvd (Italian)
watch the sun set over drinks at the Cliff house or the bar next door (Geary west to the ocean pricey but what a view)
collect sand dollars on the beach
enjoy the view from Mt Sutro
In SF there is a scenic route called the 49 mile drive you may want to explore that too, it will take you virtually anywhere and everywhere worth seeing in SF
And of course, how could I not suggest the scenic view from the Sky Bar/ Top of the Mark restaurant high atop the Mark Hopkins hotel?