Expert: Ernest Tufft - 3/25/2009

Question
Hi, my friends and I are planning on leaving LA 3.27 by 10am and we want to arrive home 3.29 by dinnertime. We wanted to visit Monterey, San Francisco, and Napa Valley including the Avenue of the Giants and the Redwood Forest. We were thinking of Napa on the last day and maybe Yosemite. Is there enough time to do all of this? Where should we stay and what should we cut out?

Answer
Hi Angelina

Yes, I think you and your friends are being too ambitious.  California simply can't be seen in two and half days.  I can see what activities you would like though and recommend these adjustments:

First, eliminate Ave of the Giants and Yosemite.  These are great places, but you should plan to spend, even in a rush visit, only 50% of the time driving.  These places are several hours away from the coast, between SF and LA.  Drive from LA north to Monterey, taking the Hwy 1 route, stopping to view the coast frequently along this twisty road.  Check out Carmel, Monterey, and Santa Cruz, then proceed through the Santa Cruz Mtns along Hwy 9 which is studded with second growth coast redwoods.  Go to Big Basin, California's oldest state park that has an excellent grove of old growth coastal redwoods.  This park is really outstanding, and less visited and touristy than Big Sur or Muir Woods, which also have protected groves of coastal redwoods.  You can stay overnight in the cabins at Big Sur if you like, or just consider the day trails.  I have many images and detailed tips for restaurants, etc. on the drive from Paso Robles and Morro Bay in the south through to Monterey, Santa Cruz, and even onto Saratoga at Virtualtourist.com under the membername of atufft.

Continue along Hwy 9 through to Saratoga and the Silicon Valley, then drive north to SF.  In SF, try to ditch the car as much as possible and plan to take the many types of public transportation.  SF is world famous not only for the cable cars, but for its antique trolley line system, and it has an excellent underground metro system.  Driving in the city is frustrating and confusing for the driver and a parking nightmare.

Drive across the Golden Gate Bridge and go north on Hwy 101 into Sonoma County's "Valley of the Moon".  There's good wine tasting in the area, and if you go through Kenwood, you can drive about 30 minutes over the Mayacamas Mtns, the range of mountains between Sonoma and Napa, which is also full of redwoods, mazanita, and wonderful views of both valleys.  Check mapquest for specific routing details between Kenwood and Oakville.  At the crossroads of Oakville Grade and Hwy 29, turn left and continue to St. Helena for a walk and window shop of an upscale and quaint town in the center of the Napa Valley Wine Country.  Then, to return to the Bay Area, drive east across the valley and take the Silverado Trail south, effectively making a loop of your visit in the Napa Valley.  Again, for San Francisco, Napa, Saint Helena, Oakville, Calistoga, and other places in Napa Valley, I have many winery recommendations and images at Virtualtourist.com under my membername of atufft.

On the drive back through the Bay Area along I-80, if you have time, it may be convenient to stop in Berkeley, and walk along Telegraph Ave, made famous for student protest and hippy lifestyle.  If you are running short of time and need to rush back to LA, take I-5 route south as instructed by Mapquest.  Otherwise, continue south on I-80 to US-101 South, and drive more directly south than Hwy 1, but still see lovely inland coastal valleys where the padres founded their missions--the first buildings in California history--some of them still standing in bucolic country settings as they did centuries ago.  At Paso Robles, you can stop in at some wineries, all of this is described in my Virtualtourist.com pages for California.

Good luck...