I'm going to San Francisco at the end of July for a conference (wife is coming along). We fly in Sunday morning and my conference is Monday (maybe spilling into Tuesday). We fly out Friday afternoon (so have most of the day Sunday and Tues - midday Friday as a tourists). Neither of us has ever really been to SF (other than driving through one evening when I flew into Oakland and had some meetings the next morning north of SF) or the area. If it was you, would you spend your free time in San Francisco, drive over to Yosemite, or try to do both? What is can't miss? Any suggestions would be welcome.
Tourist junk first: 1) Fishermans Wharf - Pier 39, Ghiardelli Square, The Cannery 2) Chinatown - mostly junk shops but worth a 2-4 hour tour 3) Union Square and particularly the Nordstroms over on Market with the curved escalators 4) Twin Peaks on a clear day - best view of SFO and Bay. 5) Drive from Geary back to Presidio through Lincoln Park. 6) Golden Gate Park, Haight Ashbury, SF Beach, & Cliff House (combine with #5) 7) Saulsalito - wife will love it and arrange for dinner at Scoma's at dusk 8) Sonoma & Napa - treat your wife to a picnic behind the Sonoma County Courthouse with food and drink puchased at Sonoma Cheese Factory (deli on the courthouse square). If you have time, a drive down the Russian River Road to PCH back through Bodega Bay and Bodega (where Hitchcock filmed "The Birds" 9) A must do is Golden Gate Recreational Park to take pictures 10) PCH down toward Santa Cruz & Monterrey, by Mavericks & through Half Moon Bay Those are a few ideas for your planning and consderation. Restaurants: 1) Scoma's in Saulsalito at dusk - Make sure you make reservations with a window table in the outer room & ask for Prawns Dore' if you like shrimp 2) Allegro - just off Nob Hill 3) John's off Union Square for lunch or dinner. Home of Dashiell Hammet and where he wrote "The Maltese Falcon". Restaurant is featured in both book and movie. 4) Izzy's for best steak in bay area If you go to the wine country, try to hit the following: 1) Jordan in Sonoma - best tour of all wineries, but you need a reservation. 2) Chateau Sovereign in Sonoma - wine sucks but beautiful building and decent restaurant. 3) Silver Oak - Napa tour is better than Alexander Valley 4) Mondavi in Napa - has really good tour 5) Copolla Winery in Napa - first winery in California. Wine sucks but the second floor has a museum featuring items from Copolla's movies, not the least of which are Brando's desk from "The Godfather" and Duval's surfboard from "Apocolypse Now". 6) Cakebread in Napa - just because Jack Cakebread does such a phenominal job with wine. 7) Peju in Napa - just ot make them sing "the song" 8) Sebastiani in Sonoma - they had an old man who hand carved their oak casks for 60 years. To view his craftsmanship makes the stop worthwhile There are hundreds more to choose from. Enjoy the beauty of God's creation and some of the best food anywhere.
Napa Valley -- yes. Another good vineyard, mailnly for the amazing views, is Sterling. ALso, eat at Mustard's Grill in Yountville One thing you really should do that the previous poster didn't mention -- after you hit the Golden Gate, drive a little further and walk through Muir Woods National Park.. The giant redwoods are amazing.
