Seattle - San Francisco

Hi,

We are looking at arranging our holiday for next year, this year we did the SF-LA-Vegas-Death Valley-Yosemite-Napa loop and want to return to SF to explore a little more.

We are in the very early stages of planning, we have the following.

Arrive Seattle – Spend 2 nights

Portland – 2 nights

San Francisco – 2/3 nights

Fly home.

We will have in total 17 nights, so we are looking at things to do for the other 10.

Driving is not a problem, apart from one thing which is the one way rental, I am being quoted USD300, so not sure if we have the time to do a loop starting and finishing in San Francisco.

Almost forgot, we like coastal scenery, cities, historical sites, wildlife and we would like to see some large redwoods in Northern California. Don’t mind chain hotels or b%26amp;b’s, initially looking at places to visit though, can sort places to stay later on.

We are looking through the forums also, have found some places we we want to see, but wondering what are the must see%26#39;s.

I will post this on California, Oregon and Washington pages, all help very much appreciated.

Mick

Seattle - San Francisco

Good morning Mick

Sounds like a great trip and a nice lenght of time too. Since you like the coast and are traveling form Seattle to SF, take the coastal route. You will perhaps want to add some time in that part of the trip to account for the long driving days...

Once you get to SF you will have spent a week along the coast, I would recommend some inland visits, Lake Tahoe, and then south along highway 49 which is full of historic stops honoring the gold rush era and then into Yosemite National Park for a few days. www.TCVB.com can offer oodles of informatin on the Gold County and the sierra foothills wineries are fun too. (Napa without Prada)

Have a great holiday, where ever you end up going!

Seattle - San Francisco

Arrive Seattle – Spend 2 nights

Portland – 2 nights

San Francisco – 2/3 nights

Fly home.

SF-LA-Vegas-Death Valley-Yosemite-Napa loop and want to return to SF to explore a little more.

In Seattle I recommend getting the City Pass - its a good deal and you will get to see the main highlights there. You can do almost all within the 2 days you plan for.

http://www.citypass.com/city/seattle.html

From Seattle, drive South. You might want to stop by Tacoma and see the Glass Museum. This is an amazing place.

http://www.museumofglass.org/

Not sure when you are traveling - if in the summer, stop at Mt. St. Helens on your way to Portland (if the winter, its closed.)

http://www.fs.fed.us/gpnf/mshnvm/

From Portland, plan on doing the Columbia River Gorge

http://www.crgva.org/

This is well worth seeing and possibly devoting 2 days to.

I%26#39;d suggest staying one night at Timberline Lodge.

http://www.timberlinelodge.com/

(This is a good stop for lunch or dinner if you decide not to go.)

If time is an issue - I%26#39;d split 1 night Portland and 1 night Timberline Cover.

From Oregon, then head towards the coast....Florence to Crescent City California is a good ocean route.

http://www.florenceoregon.net/

I%26#39;d recommend when you get to the Rogue River take the Rogue River jet boat trip.

http://www.roguejets.com/

Then continue to Crescent City. We stayed a few days end August at Ship A Shore (and I would recommend it if you get one of their newer rooms with a view).

http://www.ship-ashore.com/

This puts you in redwood country. The things to see here are

Trees of Mystery

http://www.treesofmystery.net/

Jedidiah Smith State Park

www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=413

Klamath Jet Boats

(especially if you did not do the Rogue River - if not you can decide not to go as similar)

http://www.jetboattours.com/

If you want to know more about this area check the Del Norte County Visitor Guide

http://www.northerncalifornia.net/

I%26#39;d plan about 2 days in this area.

The entire stretch from Crescent City through Avenue of the Giants

http://www.avenueofthegiants.net/

is one of the best areas to see the redwoods. Amazing area to visit!

I%26#39;d suggest staying at the Best Western in Garberville. Its right by the redwoods - makes a good stop. and their nightly wine and cheese receptions and their morning breakfasts makes this a great place to stay for one night on your trip towards San Francisco.

…bestwestern.com/bestwestern/productInfo.do…

Then head down the coast to Mendocino and perhaps stay at Little River Inn. Its right by Van Damme State Park Beach and pretty area to visit. Its a quiet area so 1 day is fine in this area.

http://www.mendocino.com/

You can decide to either rejoin HIghway 101 or continue down Highway 1. If continue down Highway 1 you might want to consider spending one night in Bodega Bay. I like Inn at the Tides - but there are other nice places to stay here. This will allow you to see the Sonoma coast.

http://www.innatthetides.com/

If you drive HIghway 1 you might also like to stop off and see Ft. Ross.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=449

From here drive in-land to Healdsburg allowing you to visit some of the wineries in this area on your drive to San Francisco

russianrivertravel.com/wineries/westsideroad…

Then arrive San Francisco.

If you did not visit Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur area you might want to consider spending 2 nights in that area also for this trip.

In regards to the drop off charges - think of it this way - given our prices of gasoline, it is cheaper to pay the drop off fee than to spend 2 days of your vacation and gas cost to return to Seattle.

Other place in Oregon you might want to consider seeing also is Crater Lake (recommend at most 1 day as its a good lake to drive around...but I personally get a tad boring with this one after 1 day.)

http://www.nps.gov/crla/

So with 17 nights, one possibility might be:

1) 2 nights Seattle

2) 1 night Portland

3) 1 night Timberline Lodge - Mt. Ranier (Columbia River Gorge)

4) 1 night Crater Lake (Crater Lake Lodge)

http://www.craterlakelodges.com/

4) 1 night Florence, Oregon (Sand Dunes - coast line)

5) 1 night Rogue River (if do the Rogue River jet boats - if not you might want to drive on through to Crescent City, Ca.)

6) 1 night Crescent City (or 2): Trees of Mystery, Jedidiah State Park, Klamath River, Klamath River Jet Boats

7) 1 night Garberville _Redwoods, Avenue of the Giants

8) 1 night Mendocino - California Coas

9) 1 night Bodega Bay (Ft. Ross, Healdsburg-Russian River - WIneries)

10) 1 night San Francisco

11) 2 nights Monterey/Carmel/Big Sur

12) 2 nights San Francisco

Drop off car and depart.

This gives you still one more night...

For the one night #10 in San Francisco you might consider staying north of San Francisco and see both Muir Woods and Pt. Reyes if you did not do this on your last trip. Old Olema Inn might be a nice place to go...or at least have dinner at.

http://theolemainn.com/chron2.html

Some other areas you may want to consider are

Mt.Lassen

http://www.nps.gov/lavo/

Lake Tahoe

http://www.visitinglaketahoe.com/

Bodie

http://www.bodie.com/

Highway 49

http://www.historichwy49.com/

Burney State Park

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=455

Hat Creek Area and Subway Caves

www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.asp…

Mt. Shasta Dinner Train - McCloud, California

http://www.shastasunset.com/accomodations.php

Sorry for not coming back sooner to say thank you for the replies.

Thank you hotelcharlotte, will keep in mind the Gold Country.

Mini, thanks is not enough, we will use this as a base for our trip, the only thing we won%26#39;t do is Big Sur etc, we did that earlier this year. We may spend an extra night in the Avenue of the Giants. But again thank you for all of the information.

We had planned to book flights today for 1st 2 weeks in May, but BA have put the price up by ￡200 each, so will leave it a while, but will be coming over May or June.

Mick

Hi again, Mick ~ Not to be picking at the former posting, since mini spends *many, many* hours helping visitors, but I%26#39;d like to offer a few adjustments to your Oregon segment. Please forgive the CA forum placement :-)

On the listing of nights, #3 .... Mt Rainier is actually in Washington state. You will be able to see it from many parts of Washington, but with your time available, it is not worth an extra stop.

Unless you have a longing to stay in the mountains, I would skip Timberline Lodge. In May or June, there probably will still be some snow, so it will be quite cold.

The Columbia River Gorge *is* worth a visit, but the prettiest parts are easily accessible from Portland. Multnomah Falls will be at its%26#39; fullest then and will be spectacular; also take the Historic Highway road and visit Crown Point lookout.

Crater Lake: This is a problem! Yes it is gorgeous, but in May the visitors center will not yet be open. There will be MUCH SNOW on the ground through the end of June. The north entrance will be closed. The Lodge does not open until June 15th, and will still have snow everywhere. The rim drives may be closed due to snow until late June. Also, it is a full days%26#39; drive to and from Crater Lake.

Florence is not on the ocean, it is tucked behind the sand dunes. If you want to see the dunes, Winchester Bay is a better option. The Rogue River jet and mail boats leave from Gold Beach, OR. There is a lovely paved road that goes all the way up the Rogue river canyon that you can drive instead of taking the boats, it just depends on what you like to do!

Crescent City is fine, but you may want to stay a night in Eureka, too. There are many Victorian homes there. The drive between C.City and Eureka is wonderful, along the scenic parkway.

I%26#39;m fine with half-brits%26#39;s suggestions and alternative suggestions. All are good depending on what yo want to do.

(halfbrit - I was in Eureka again in end August - and this time was far less excited about seeing Eureka than I had been in the past and would take it off of a highlight trip. Is there something I%26#39;m missing (could be - but confused on that one only.)

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