California - Recommendations for San Francisco and Napa Valley?

Hi and greetings from Norway

My wife and I have started planning of the summer vacation and we are thinking about the US west coast. I would love to visit San Francisco and check out the city for a few days. I also notice that it is pretty close to the Napa Valley area and it would be great to also check out the wine districts there. At the moment we are looking at a two week trip and we will rent a car to get around. So what could we cover in such a time period? SF, Napa Valley and maybe the coastal road to LA? Any recommendations or advice is appreciated :-)

The Flyertalk California Forum is a great resource for information about San Francisco and the Napa Valley.
Therefore, I am moving your thread to the California Forum.
Best wishes...
Obscure2k
TravelBuzz Moderator

It's definitely worth spending a few days in San Francisco city. Search in the San Francisco sub-forum for plenty of suggestions of what to visit in the city.

Wine Country is worth probably 1-2 days, if you enjoy drinking wine or learning about how it's made (or, better yet, both). Again, plenty of suggestions to be found with search, so I won't try to repeat them here.

The Pacific Coast Highway from San Francisco to San Luis Obispo (a few hours north of Los Angeles) is an epic drive that is frequently discussed here. At the moment there's a closure due to rockslide, but the state highway authority expects to have it fixed by summer.

Another classic "side trip" from San Francisco is Yosemite National Park. It's 4-4.5 hours from SF. There's also Sequoia-Kings Canyon, Lake Tahoe, Lake Isabella, etc. If you like mountain landscapes you really can't go wrong anywhere in the Sierra Nevada range in the summer.

2 vineyards that I really enjoyed were Pope Valley and Cleavage Creek, they are only minutes apart but off the beaten path. They are well worth the visit. Cleavage Creek also makes a 10% donation to breast cancer research/awareness for every bottle that you buy. The owner lost his wife to breast cancer and is dedicated to finding a cure for this cancer.

One of my favorite places in Napa is the bar bistro at Auberge du Soleil. It has good food and the same spectacular views as the fancy restaurant, but at a fraction of the price. Highly recommended.

http://www.aubergedusoleil.com/napa-dining/dining-overview

My favorite wineries are:

1. S. Anderson-Seeing the wines in the caves is an experience.
2. Sterling-Only place I know of that requires a gondola ride to the top of a mountain to visit. Breath taking views.
3. Grgich Hills-It will give you a chance to taste the best chardonnay and cabarnet in the region.
4. Hess Collection-Amazing artwork and a fine winery.

Mustards has always been a favorite place to eat. It's been a few years. I wonder if they still have the pounded chicken...yum.