Monterey Travel Forum

Looking to see if I should drive back to San fran and go east to Lake Tahoe...or is there a better/quicker/more scenic route

Or even stop somewhaere scenic/quaint halfway???

Any suggestions??

My only suggestion is that unless you've not been to SF yet, I'd avoid driving up the Peninsula. The bridges can be problematic, especially if they're working on the retrofit of the Bay Bridge, or you're driving through at rush hour. I'd either go up through Oakland and Berkeley and over on the 80, or cut across earlier at the 580 and up the 5 and avoid Oakland entirely. I don't know if there is a way to avoid San Jose entirely. My message is mostly to avoid as much of the Bay Area traffic as possible. Personally, I'd rather stay on the Monterey Bay or make it over to Lake Tahoe than to try and find something pretty in between.

I'm a little confused by your question. If you planning a quick/scenic SF-Tahoe-Monterey route there isn't really one for the reasons given in the previous post. But, if you are interested in seeing something between SF and Tahoe, then obviously the Napa Valley Wine Country would be the place to go. There is some diversion in this though. From SF to Napa, the fastest way is by I-80, which takes you across the Bay Bridge (the one undergoing retrofit) and past Oakland/Berkeley (places which are also worth a stop). I-80 to Vallejo, and then take the Marine World/Napa exit to the west, and then north on hwy 29. To return toward Tahoe, you'll want to backtrack to Hwy 12 East toward Fairfield, and then take I-80 East again all the way to Tahoe. Ofcourse which side the lake you want to visit first is some consideration, as both I-80 and Hwy 50 from Sacramento go to Lake Tahoe. Hwy 50 is the more scenic route, I suppose, although both ways take you up into the great Sierra Nevada Mountains. Reply to me with exactly your timeframe and wish list of things to see, and I can help you more.