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I’ve got 5 days in San Francisco towards end of Feb. I don’t think there is enough to sustain me in the city for 5 days.
I was thinking of spending 2 days in San Francisco and then moving on to somewhere else close by for rest of trip. Just looking for some suggestions
I’m open to hiring a car but not would be nervous having only ever driven in Ireland and Uk
Flying in and out of SFO
I’d agree that SF downtown is not what it was and 2 days is plenty to tick off the obvious attractions at the north end. Don’t miss Golden Gate park though; similar to Central Park in some ways with its shape, urban location and smattering of good museums, but bigger, more interesting and less crowded (and virtually homeless-free) and even has the beach across the road. You can easily spend an entire day there- it’s wonderful.
Driving in the US outside of busy city centres (which you’d have no need to do) is very easy indeed. Roads are wide and straight. Pretty much all hire cars are automatic.
You could head off to the Santa Cruz/Monterey Peninsula/Big Sur area south.
You could head across the Golden Gate northwards to Napa (food/wine!) and Sacramento (history!)
Both are great choices and have lots to offer.
Check out this thread and particularly Will in SJC’s excellent contributions.
https://www.headforpoints.com/forums/topic/california-road-trip/
Sausalito’s a nice trip, either by bike or ferry or car. Go north to Sonoma and Napa (I prefer Sonoma) which will give you a nice wine hit and south to Monterey and Carmel for the sea life and dramatic coast. All are within easy reach.
Second vote for Sausalito and I’d recommend something like Dylan’s tours which if you’re a confident cyclist allow you to bike from the east side of SF, all the way across the bridge, then they’ll pick you up in Sausalito, take you to Muir Woods for an hour or so and then drop you back in the centre of SF.
1st time I ever drove on the other side of the road was out of SFO, into the city with my college friends back in the early 1990s. Was a terrifying experience and they other two guys bottled it so I did 90% of the driving from there to LA. Past few years I’ve done 90% of my miles on the wrong side and almost nothing in the UK any more…it’s scarier on the roads here now.
If you don’t fancy the driving, there’s plenty of day trips out of SF, you could do Napa, Carmel/Monterey, Yosemite/Sequoia (weather dependant in Feb) on an organised tour. Check out viator etc and read the tour reviews.
If you like wine and cycling, you could do a bicycle tour of the wineries https://napavalleybiketours.com/self-guided-bike-tour/
Go back to airport, pick up a car (prebooked of course) drive south down highway 1 to Carmel Easy driving on big wide open roads using phone satnav Return back up 101
Like everyone else I know you’ll come back saying why was I worried about driving !
I agree that Napa/Sonoma is nice to visit for a day and see the vineyards. Driving highway 101 and 17 mile drive through Carmel and Pebble Beach is also beautiful. One place a bit further afield but is well worth a visit is Lake Tahoe with loads of things to do there around the lake. Roads towards there are very empty as well which might be good for you.
Thanks for all replies. I really appreciate it. I’ll be applying for my international drivers license 🙂
Can definitely recommend Monterey for a couple of nights, particularly if you enjoy wildlife. The aquarium there is world-class, and there’s also lots of wildlife (birds, seals, sea lions, sea otters etc) that you can see from all along the waterfront. Several places to hire bicycles from too, and really easy cycling around 17-mile drive with some fantastic views.
If you end up deciding against driving I used the Monterey Airbus Shuttle to get back to SFO from Monterey – despite some mixed reviews it was a spot on service so you could easily use it both ways.
I found the Big Bus Tour (HOHO) in San Francisco a great introduction to the city and an easy way to get around some prominent sights, but public transport is very good (the Muni app for this was good), and again hiring a bike to cycle out to (and across if brave) the Golden Gate Bridge is recommended (nice cafe/shop/visitor centre on the south side of it). Several of the bike hire places do combined hire and ferry tickets so you can ride to Sausalito and then get the ferry back but leave the bike behind or combinations thereof.
Thanks for all replies. I really appreciate it. I’ll be applying for my international drivers license 🙂
Don’t waste your time and money. You don’t need one and the state of California does not even recognise them as a valid document. You just need your valid UK driving licence (assuming it’s a photo one).
Well, most people suggested outdoorsy activities, but if you are like me and can’t be bothered, I’d suggest Bay Area and Silicon Valley. I used to enjoy breathing in the ambition and the wildness of Silicon Valley by taking a drive/stroll in Palo Alto area. Oakland may deserve a day, the Valley down to San Jose can also be interesting.
California is not entirely walkable, but you can take CalTrain and combine it with Uber/Lyft with the same cost to enjoy it care-free.Plus there must be a Redwood state park near SanFran somewhere. And Napa sounds like a good day trip option, too — if you are into overrated vineries..
California is not entirely walkable, but you can take CalTrain and combine it with Uber/Lyft with the same cost to enjoy it care-free.
San Francisco is incredibly hilly in certain areas, even the strongest legged people will notice it times, especially if you’ve been on your feet all day
Well, most people suggested outdoorsy activities, but if you are like me and can’t be bothered, I’d suggest Bay Area and Silicon Valley. I used to enjoy breathing in the ambition and the wildness of Silicon Valley by taking a drive/stroll in Palo Alto area. Oakland may deserve a day, the Valley down to San Jose can also be interesting.
California is not entirely walkable, but you can take CalTrain and combine it with Uber/Lyft with the same cost to enjoy it care-free.Plus there must be a Redwood state park near SanFran somewhere. And Napa sounds like a good day trip option, too — if you are into overrated vineries..
For indoor, Computer History Museum near Palo Alto is worth a couple of hours but it’s a long way out of the city so good if you’re heading out to Monterey
Muir Woods for the redwoods but you don’t want to drive there, parking needs to be reserved in advance so take one of the bike and woods shuttle or just a tour to the woods. Redwoods NP and SP is much further north on the Oregon border.
California is not entirely walkable, but you can take CalTrain and combine it with Uber/Lyft with the same cost to enjoy it care-free.
San Francisco is incredibly hilly in certain areas, even the strongest legged people will notice it times, especially if you’ve been on your feet all day
This is why tourists ride the trolleys 🙂
California is not entirely walkable, but you can take CalTrain and combine it with Uber/Lyft with the same cost to enjoy it care-free.
San Francisco is incredibly hilly in certain areas, even the strongest legged people will notice it times, especially if you’ve been on your feet all day
Yeah that’s why I said it is *not* entirely walkable.
Some people may prefer public transport + Uber to car hire + gas + parking + stress, especially in Carland CaliforniaThanks for all replies. I really appreciate it. I’ll be applying for my international drivers license 🙂
Don’t waste your time and money. You don’t need one and the state of California does not even recognise them as a valid document. You just need your valid UK driving licence (assuming it’s a photo one).
Thank you. My license was issued in Ireland. I’d have to submit a postal application to the AA in Ireland to obtain an Intl license.
California is not entirely walkable, but you can take CalTrain and combine it with Uber/Lyft with the same cost to enjoy it care-free.
San Francisco is incredibly hilly in certain areas, even the strongest legged people will notice it times, especially if you’ve been on your feet all day
Yeah that’s why I said it is *not* entirely walkable.
Some people may prefer public transport + Uber to car hire + gas + parking + stress, especially in Carland CaliforniaI can easily chalk up 40k daily steps exploring a city
If I see a hill I have to conquer it especially if I’m on a bike so definitely think part of my trip will involve bike hire for a day
Look up “The Love Bus” tour in SFO. It’s a 3 hour tour in a hippy camper van really good fun. Can only endorse the hire a car and drive down the 101. Driving is pretty easy with google maps so treat yourself to a mustang convertible and head down the coast. If you are in Carmel seek out Sade’s Cocktail bar. It’s far from a fancy cocktail bar and the owner “Parker” is a character to say the least
If you’re happy to drive a bit further then you could consider going north, past Napa and Sonoma to Mendocino County. There is an excellent national forest, great beaches, and the town of Mendocino itself is really interesting. It has been used in dozens of films (apparently it looks like New England) and also doubled as Cabot Cove in Murder, She Wrote.
Well I’ve returned from my trip so thought I’d post a brief summary.
So 1 day was spent in San Fran before returning to SFO to collect car rental and heading south on 101. I based myself in Salinas as I thought it would be a good base to explore the area (it was but its a bit of a ghost town with not lot going on except steinbeck angle). I spent a couple of days driving along big sur pulling in at countless places along the way and a visiting some of the state parks. Also went inland driving along what’s called the river road. It was a thoroughly enjoyable trip. The weather was ideal, low 20’s.
As for the first time driving on the other side of the road it was surprisingly easy. I got honked at a few time for taking my time turning right on a red light but other. I covered almost 800km
Completely sold on automatic cars after those few days on big sur.
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