Advice on vacation for N California/wine ctry and north

[jameshoward]

I'm hoping to take my family to CA this year in order to tie in with a bit of work I'll be there to do. Unfortunately, we know v little about what to do and where.

Here's what we do know: there's 3 of us, with the third being 13 months old as I write. He's pretty robust and likes to be outside, especially with animals. We will probably land in San Francisco and head North. We like wine so would like to do a bit of the wine country thing. We would like to stay in small, pleasant and elegant family friendly guest houses/small hotels (in Europe they call these 'boutique hotels' in order to justify the absurd price). We would like to spend about 2 weeks in the US, heading North all the time; happy to go into Canada if worth it, but we don't want to do a driving holiday. (That comes in September, of course! And my son isn't great in cars for long periods).

We would like to spend a week by the coast somewhere and relax where there's things to see and good food to be eaten, but we're absolutely not into big beach resorts, huge hotels, organised fun, and all of that other mass market nonsense. We'd be happy to rent a house in a nice area, but I don't want to spend 2 weeks cooking for my team, so we'd like to stay in a hotel for part of the journey. I realise we'll have to hire a car, of course. We will also spend perhaps a day or so in SF, as my wife has never seen it.

So, my question if you're still reading, is...any advice, views, opinions on what to do/see/avoid and where to stay and not stay would be most welcome! Also, anyone who's done the wine country and stayed somewhere nice, please let me know also.

Many thanks,

James  

[Jonny B]

You might want to consider going a bit south of San Francisco. There is the Monterey area (Pebble Beach, etc.) and a little further south, to San Simeon (the Hearst castle). Really anywhere along the Ca coast is just wonderful. For wine, there is also the Paso Robles area, with quite a number of small wineries. Just an alternative to think about.

[Jordan]

James,

My wife and I visited that area 2 years ago and I can make some suggestions that you can check out on line.  We flew into Sacramento (for a conference) rather than San Fran, although we made our way there at the end of our trip.

We drove up into Napa and Sonoma, which shouldn't be too bad in September, they will have started the harvest by then.  The crowds will be lighter as well so accommodations should be easier to find.  Napa and Sonoma really only have one major road that runs up the centre of each valley.  St Helena was a nice place to stay.  You could spend days there easily visiting wineries because there are more than you can count on all your families fingers and toes.  I would recommend Sterling if for no other reason than the gondola ride to the winery.  Nice view.  The wine was also excellent.  The other winery I would recommend is Ehlers.  Not a household name but absolutely fantastic reds.

From Napa and Sonomma we made our way north through the Anderson Valley and into Mendicino.  Mendocino is a beautiful littel village with great views of the ocean.   If you are an Angela Lansbury fan or "Murder She Wrote", the Inn where that was filmed is in Mendocino.  The Inn is open to the public and is quite nice and large.  Has views of the ocean, own restaurant etc.  We spent a few days there just walking and exploring.  Very mild as well as it is on the coast.

Can't help you further north since we headed south after that for San Fran along Hwy 1.  I would recommend taking Hwy 1 for part of your trip because it is gorgeous if not somewhat hair raising.  Make sure you keep your eyes on the road.  We saw cattle graizing on a 45 dgree slope below the highway.  Have no idea how they got there.

Canada is a bit of a drive north.  If you do make it I would suggest a few days in Vancouver if you can.  You still have lots of time to research.  I'm sure those in the Bay area can help you out more as well as those members in Oregon and Washington.
Marcus

[66andBlue]

Hi James,
you did not tell us during what time of the year you are planning to come.  Believe me, it makes a big difference.
If you plan on coming in May or June you can almost forget exploring the coast. There is a reason why coastal Californians call this time  "May gray and June gloom".  More in my PM.

[wd]

Again a little south but check out the Montery Bay Aquarium on the net.  

[Kayvan]

Do it the week before Pebble Beach Car Show...then catch the car show weekend.

It can be done on budget from Camping near Laguna Seca Raceway campgrounds to Four Seasons on Beach.

I have done the Best Western on Beach and its equivalent to Hyatt/Marriott anywhere else; sand is 25 feet from rooms.

Carmel is nearby, and tons of wineries, etc.

If you are a car guy this is Everest...and will never be forgtten...along with Monaco GP, Le Mans, and Indy...once in a lifetime.