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San Francisco Area Trip Review
Posted on 7/5/25 at 7:50 am
Posted on 7/5/25 at 7:50 am
Had a really nice long weekend out in the San Fran area last weekend for a wedding. Flew out early for the wedding to go explore the city area quickly, then head for a hike at Muir Woods, a wine tasting in Sonoma, and wedding activities near Walnut Creek.
Day 1
To fly out to SFO, I woke up at 3am thanks to loud thunderstorms and boy am I glad I did because I saw my flight was delayed an hour and a half on delta. Would have missed the connection in ATL so managed to get on a flight an hour earlier to still make the flight to SFO. Upon arrival in SFO, you need to take an Airtrain similar to at JFK over to the rental car center. It took ~10-15 minutes so just account for this in your time to return to the airport. Picked up the car mid afternoon and decided to drive into the city of San Fran to go past Lombard Street and see the bridge. Ended up driving down Lombard St which was cool, then found a close parking spot and took some pictures.
From there, went over to the golden gate bridge state park on the city side of the bridge. Parked and got a few pictures on my walk to the bridge. Ended up walking maybe 1/4 of the bridge but it was 62*F with a 20mph breeze so it was chilly for late June
From there, I drove across to the other side of the bridge and found some decent viewpoints there.
Ended up driving about 20 minutes north to Mill Valley and staying at the Holiday Inn there. Super easy and convenient hotel to get to Muir Woods the next morning with a free breakfast.
Day 1
To fly out to SFO, I woke up at 3am thanks to loud thunderstorms and boy am I glad I did because I saw my flight was delayed an hour and a half on delta. Would have missed the connection in ATL so managed to get on a flight an hour earlier to still make the flight to SFO. Upon arrival in SFO, you need to take an Airtrain similar to at JFK over to the rental car center. It took ~10-15 minutes so just account for this in your time to return to the airport. Picked up the car mid afternoon and decided to drive into the city of San Fran to go past Lombard Street and see the bridge. Ended up driving down Lombard St which was cool, then found a close parking spot and took some pictures.
From there, went over to the golden gate bridge state park on the city side of the bridge. Parked and got a few pictures on my walk to the bridge. Ended up walking maybe 1/4 of the bridge but it was 62*F with a 20mph breeze so it was chilly for late June
From there, I drove across to the other side of the bridge and found some decent viewpoints there.
Ended up driving about 20 minutes north to Mill Valley and staying at the Holiday Inn there. Super easy and convenient hotel to get to Muir Woods the next morning with a free breakfast.
1
Posted on 7/5/25 at 7:50 am to CuseTiger
Days 2 and 3
Woke up at the hotel to an e-receipt from Avis Rental car charging me $900 for my rental car reservation. Called Avis and they said, Huh that's weird, we'll get back to you in a week. They had closed out my rental car agreement, overcharged me by $750, and said I already turned in the car at 9am to Fayetteville, NC. Needless to say I still had the car in Cali and tried to convince Avis that it is physically impossible to drive from San Francisco to Fayetteville NC in 15.5 hours.
After realizing the rental car situation was a lost cause until I got home, I focused on my plan for the day. I got an early reservation at Muir Woods park to go see the redwoods and do some hiking. I booked 8-830am since I was on east coast time and when I arrived, there was no one there.
I ended up hiking about 6 miles from the main parking lot along the Main Trail, Bootjack Trail, up to the Pantoll Campground. Roughly 3 miles with 1,500' elevation gain on the way up, nearly killed me
. Realized how out of shape for hiking I am currently.
Route up
Pretty redwood pics and the trail
Route down
This route was pretty steep off the Stapleveldt trail on the way down. I didn't run into a single person on my hike until about mile 4-4.5, was a really great peaceful morning all to myself
Eventually I ended up making my way up a series of switchbacks to the Dipsea trail. This trail was more out in the open with some decent views of the ocean.
Made my way back to the parking lot, had a PB&J, then made my way down to Muir Beach. By the time I got back to my car, the parking lots were crazy. They had people parking off the side of the road way down the road. Just be warned, would highly recommend booking the 8-830am timeslot.
The beach itself provided some decent views
After this quick stop, decided to make my way up to Sonoma. I figured when in wine country, might as well do a quick tasting. Ended up at Three Fat Guys, very chill/laid back environment.
I really enjoyed the Sauvignon Blanc and the Rose surprisingly, the other three were just okay. I should've prefaced this by saying I am not a big wine guy.
After this, made my way to Walnut Creek to check into the hotel and have a nice dinner with family pre-wedding.
Day 3
Family member's wedding was in Tilden Park in Berkeley which was very nice. Nice views, wedding was really nice, and it was great catching up with family
On the way back to the hotel from the wedding, caught a really cool picture of the city covered by the fog.
Overall, this time of year was a great visit to the San Fran area with the cool weather (65*F, low of 52*F) and sunlight. I didn't really need to do anything in the city itself so most of my activities were outside of the city. Cali traffic sucks.
Woke up at the hotel to an e-receipt from Avis Rental car charging me $900 for my rental car reservation. Called Avis and they said, Huh that's weird, we'll get back to you in a week. They had closed out my rental car agreement, overcharged me by $750, and said I already turned in the car at 9am to Fayetteville, NC. Needless to say I still had the car in Cali and tried to convince Avis that it is physically impossible to drive from San Francisco to Fayetteville NC in 15.5 hours.
After realizing the rental car situation was a lost cause until I got home, I focused on my plan for the day. I got an early reservation at Muir Woods park to go see the redwoods and do some hiking. I booked 8-830am since I was on east coast time and when I arrived, there was no one there.
I ended up hiking about 6 miles from the main parking lot along the Main Trail, Bootjack Trail, up to the Pantoll Campground. Roughly 3 miles with 1,500' elevation gain on the way up, nearly killed me
. Realized how out of shape for hiking I am currently. Route up
Pretty redwood pics and the trail
Route down
This route was pretty steep off the Stapleveldt trail on the way down. I didn't run into a single person on my hike until about mile 4-4.5, was a really great peaceful morning all to myself
Eventually I ended up making my way up a series of switchbacks to the Dipsea trail. This trail was more out in the open with some decent views of the ocean.
Made my way back to the parking lot, had a PB&J, then made my way down to Muir Beach. By the time I got back to my car, the parking lots were crazy. They had people parking off the side of the road way down the road. Just be warned, would highly recommend booking the 8-830am timeslot.
The beach itself provided some decent views
After this quick stop, decided to make my way up to Sonoma. I figured when in wine country, might as well do a quick tasting. Ended up at Three Fat Guys, very chill/laid back environment.
I really enjoyed the Sauvignon Blanc and the Rose surprisingly, the other three were just okay. I should've prefaced this by saying I am not a big wine guy.
After this, made my way to Walnut Creek to check into the hotel and have a nice dinner with family pre-wedding.
Day 3
Family member's wedding was in Tilden Park in Berkeley which was very nice. Nice views, wedding was really nice, and it was great catching up with family
On the way back to the hotel from the wedding, caught a really cool picture of the city covered by the fog.
Overall, this time of year was a great visit to the San Fran area with the cool weather (65*F, low of 52*F) and sunlight. I didn't really need to do anything in the city itself so most of my activities were outside of the city. Cali traffic sucks.
This post was edited on 7/5/25 at 8:16 am
Posted on 7/5/25 at 8:51 am to CuseTiger
You packed a lot into just a couple days. I travel to SF on average about once per month. Love visiting that entire area, particularly north of SF/Oak.
Next time make sure to stop and visit Salsalito, and then make your way up to Bodega Bay.
Beautiful part of the country. I love packing jackets coming from Houston to SF in July
ETA: appreciate the pics!
Next time make sure to stop and visit Salsalito, and then make your way up to Bodega Bay.
Beautiful part of the country. I love packing jackets coming from Houston to SF in July
ETA: appreciate the pics!
This post was edited on 7/5/25 at 8:53 am
Posted on 7/5/25 at 9:39 am to skewbs
quote:
You packed a lot into just a couple days
That's what everyone out there kept saying. I just know it's likely a long time before I get back out there again (had been over 20 years)
quote:
Next time make sure to stop and visit Salsalito, and then make your way up to Bodega Bay
I should have done this on the first night especially being in Mill Valley, but was so exhausted from flying out from the East Coast that day. Will make it a stop on the next trip
quote:
I love packing jackets coming from Houston to SF in July
I was actually cold the first day, immediately had to unpack the sweatshirt upon landing at SFO. Felt great though compared to the hot and humid summer I'm experiencing
Posted on 7/5/25 at 7:59 pm to skewbs
Years ago went out to see astros-giants at candlestick. Glad I took winter coat. Night games at candlestick in August got really cold.
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