San Francisco Travel Forum

We have just booked to go to SF in a couple of months, and have been perusing Muir Wood and Sausalito one day trips, and Yosemite one day/two day/three day trips. There are TONS to choose from. My head is spinning! We have about 6/7 days in SF so it's a decent period to get loads done in the city and surrounds, prior to flying further south to see a friend :)

Are there any personal recommendations from anyone who has actually done one of the above-mentioned trips and loved who they used?

Thanks.

Hey

I went to SF a coupla years ago and made the trip to Sausalito. We didnt use a guide, Sausalito is just the other side of the bay and the Blue and Gold Fleet boats go pretty often, at least once an hour. Its a really pretty place and great to see San Francisco from, i'd really recommend you going over!

bookmark (for our visit)

We aren't really tour-guidey people ourselves, but with no car while in SF we are looking into them for this trip. We are keen to do Muir woods and Sausalito, will see what we can do sans a bus tour persay.

Dying to go to Yosemite especially - childhood dream :)

We did do this trip in 2006, very doable! We stayed in Mill Valley for 2 nights so that we could split out time between Muir Woods, Earthquake Trail, and
San Francisco. Had a lovely room at the Holiday Inn Express/Mill Valley.
We then drove down Hwy 1 past Big Sur - WOW! From here we did a U turn and headed
north to Fresno and the South Entrance of Yosemite. ( west Entrance was closed, rock slide) We stayed 3 nights at Yosemite Lodge and 1 night at the Awahnee.
If you are hikers, be sure to do the Panorama Trail. 10 miles downhill, you have to catch a bus up to Glacier Pt, really great trail. 3 or 4 waterfalls along the way. Finish up with the J. Muir Trail, not the Mist Trail ~ 2 miles of down stairs.

Best wishes.

Muir Woods and Sausalito should be done together in one day, since they are both on the northern end of the Golden Gate Bridge. Yosemite is at least a 4-hour drive from San Francisco, so doing it in a single day trip is a bad idea. You want to spend at least one night there, if not two. It is one of the most beautiful places in the United States. While in Yosemite National Park, you should visit Yosemite Valley, Glacier Point, and Mariposa Gorve, at a minimum. Feel free to visit our Yosemite page here on VT for info.

If you are wine drinkers, a day trip to Napa Valley would also be fun.

Aslo, if you are going to LA to meet csomeone, why not rent a car and drive down the coast. It is a nice drive, with beautiful scenery in the section between Monterrey and San Luis Obispo.

Thanks everyone! We have pretty much decided on a minimum of 1 night at Yosemite due to time... plus we'd like to stay there overnight. Wine is definately calling!!! We do loads of wine tasting in SA mmm.

Getting rather excited about this trip!!! SF is such a lovely city... except for the hills *groan* I am not a hill person! We do like to walk cities though. Ah well.

Good idea to spend a night in Yosemite. Make your reservation immediately. It may be already too late to stay in the valley part of the park. There's a hotel, I think it's called the Evergreen Lodge, right near the entrance, but it also books up early.

For Sausalito, let me suggest you rent a bicycle at Fisherman's Wharf, ride to Sausalito across the Golden Gate Bridge, and come back on the ferry.

To go to Muir Woods, check out this link for the shuttle - http://goldengate.org/news/transit/muirwoods.php - if you try to go on a weekend, the parking lot may be full.

As outdoor people, your walks would be best mostly along the waterfronts: The Embarcadero, Fisherman's Wharf, Aquatic Park, Marina Park, Crissy Field, Fort Point, Baker Beach (northern part is the nude section), China Beach, Lincoln Park, ruins of the Sutro Bath, Ocean Beach, Golden Gate Park, the Japanese Tea Garden, & Buena Vista Park.

I've been to SF 2x and the last trip, I stayed for 6D/5N with my parents. I think a day in Sausalito enough, not sure if Muir Woods is that big to merit 2 days of exploration. Yosemite is more expansive as I have read in travel brochures.

For more pictures about Sausalito and how I did it in a day, didn't stay overnight there, please see my link http://www.ehow.com/how_5066581_use-san-franciscos-alcatraz-sausalito.html

For Museums, try the Legion of Honor, it has great views of the Golden Gate bridge, not to mention, great fountain and parks.

I just got back from my trip to California last night. We started off in San Francisco, and had only one day there as well. We rented a bike for the day from Bike And Roll (http://www.bikeandroll.com/sanfrancisco/). We were very happy with their service, their bikes were in excellent condition too. We biked over the GG to Sausalito, it's a really nice ride, and we really enjoyed Sausalito.

We also went to Yosemite for 3 days. We stayed in El Portal, near the West entrance of the park. The hotel was called Cedar Lodge. I had read some mixed reviews about this hotel prior to booking, but it was much better than everybody said! The hotel is close to the entrance of the park, has nice rooms, and a really good breakfast ie lots of fresh fruit (not included in the price).
One day we took the bus up to Glacier Point and hiked back down. At Vernal Falls, you have the choice to go down via the John Muir trail or take another trail (can't remember the name right now). The John Muir trail would be the best option, we took the other trail and had to almust literally climb down the rocks along the falls. My travel partner has bad knees, so she really suffered the last part of the hike. All in all it took us 8 hours to do 9 or so miles... It was worth it though :)

Thanks for all your helpful replies!!! Transport and accomm is booked and paid for as of this weekend (woohoo!) - 7 nights in SF, 2 days in Yosemite, 3 days Hollywood Beach.

A couple of other recommendations for your trip to SF. Check out the Buena Vista Cafe at the edge of Fisherman's Wharf at one of the cable car turnaronds. They have a great Irish Coffee (great for those cool SF nights) and if you are a breakfast person they also have very good breakfasts.

Take the cable cars in SF, they are a lot of fun especially when you go over one of the hills and the bay comes right out at you. I think that cable car line (there are 3 cable car lines) is the Hyde-Powell Line.

For a unique restaurant try the Stinking Rose which features dishes heavy with garlic. Even the garlic bread is something you make yourself with fresh garlic cloves.

I think someone mentioned taking the ferry from SF over to Sausalito. That is very worthwhile as you get to see the city from the bay and take a ride past Alcatraz.

Sorry, I don't have any pictures to share with you here on VT, as my last visit was over 10 years ago (but I spent probably 2 months there at various times in the 1980's and 1990's on business trips).

Also, if you are an ice cream person and chocolate person make sure you have some Ghiradelli's which is located right off Fisherman's Wharf.

Thanks for your recommendations! :)

We are staying on the Hyde-Powell Line, so getting around will be good.