Please eval my NorCal Trip *by ChatGPT*

[tigertides]

Hello all,

Yes.. another NorCal thread.

Planning for Summer 2025
Wife + 2 teenagers
My kids/wife's 1st trip to SF Bay Area. I have been before multiple times to SanFran.
We love the Outdoors, but don't love hiking/camping outside of main points in NPS. Just like seeing the highlights. Well paved trails.


Must do's:

• Alcatraz
• Yosemite
• One winery (Coppola or The Castle seems to be winner with Disneyfied experience for kids, but longer drive from Sonoma Square)
• Muir Woods or Mariposa Grove (Big Trees!)
• Monterey Aquarium (would be unique for me) + Whale Watching... Could skip if too much driving
• Direct Flight Home (via SFO, maybe SJO or SAC)

Not Mandatory:
Cable Car
Ghiradelli
Stanford/Apple/Google
Sequoia/Kings Canyon
Getting car broken into

Can someone please critique ChatGPT summary (which looks pretty darn good except for more time in SF than I would like)


DAY 1: Fly from East Coast to SFO
**Check into Hotel** - Stay in a centrally located hotel in San Francisco, such as near Union Square or Fisherman's Wharf. - **Evening: Explore San Francisco** - Walk around Union Square. - Have dinner at a local restaurant. ###

Day 2 - San Francisco -
**Morning: Alcatraz Island** - Take an early ferry to Alcatraz Island for a tour. Book tickets in advance. - **Afternoon: Golden Gate Bridge & John Muir Woods** - Visit the Golden Gate Bridge. Consider a walk or bike ride across the bridge. - Drive to Muir Woods National Monument (about a 30-minute drive from San Francisco) and enjoy the redwood trees. - **Evening: Dinner and Leisure** - Return to San Francisco and enjoy dinner at Fisherman's Wharf or North Beach (Little Italy).

Day 3: Napa Valley
**Morning: Drive to Napa Valley** - Depart early and drive to Napa Valley (about 1.5 hours). - **Afternoon: Robert Mondavi Winery** - Visit Robert Mondavi Winery for a tour and wine tasting. Explore other nearby wineries if time permits. - **Evening: Stay in Napa Valley** - Stay overnight in a hotel or bed and breakfast in Napa Valley.

Day 4: Drive to Yosemite National Park
- **Morning: Drive to Yosemite** - Depart early for Yosemite National Park (about a 4-hour drive). - **Afternoon: Arrive in Yosemite** - Check into your accommodation in Yosemite Valley or nearby. - Spend the rest of the day exploring Yosemite Valley, visiting spots like Yosemite Falls and El Capitan. - **Evening: Relax and Enjoy Nature** - Have dinner at the lodge or a nearby restaurant and enjoy the evening in the park.

Day 5: Yosemite National Park - **Full Day in Yosemite**
- Spend the day hiking and exploring. Recommended hikes: Mist Trail to Vernal and Nevada Falls, Glacier Point, or Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. - **Evening: Stargazing** - After dinner, enjoy stargazing. Yosemite is known for its clear night skies.

Day 6: Return to San Francisco via Monterey
- **Morning: Depart Yosemite** - Leave Yosemite early and drive to Monterey (about a 4.5-hour drive). - **Afternoon: Monterey Bay Aquarium** - Visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium. - **Evening: Explore Monterey** - Walk around Cannery Row and have dinner at a seafood restaurant. - Stay overnight in Monterey or drive to SFO (about an 1.5 hours) to be closer to the airport for your departure.

Day 7: Departure
**Morning: Drive to SFO ** **Flight back home

 

[Dakota731]

Good luck on the car not getting broken into! Seems like it’s pretty common in SF according to people just back from the area!!

 

[sndral]

Hello all,

Yes.. another NorCal thread.

Planning for Summer 2025
Wife + 2 teenagers
My kids/wife's 1st trip to SF Bay Area. I have been before multiple times to SanFran.
We love the Outdoors, but don't love hiking/camping outside of main points in NPS. Just like seeing the highlights. Well paved trails.


Must do's:

• Alcatraz
• Yosemite
• One winery (Coppola or The Castle seems to be winner with Disneyfied experience for kids, but longer drive from Sonoma Square)
• Muir Woods or Mariposa Grove (Big Trees!)
• Monterey Aquarium (would be unique for me) + Whale Watching... Could skip if too much driving
• Direct Flight Home (via SFO, maybe SJO or SAC)

DAY 1: Fly from East Coast to SFO
**Check into Hotel** - Stay in a centrally located hotel in San Francisco, such as near Union Square or Fisherman's Wharf. - **Evening: Explore San Francisco** - Walk around Union Square. - Have dinner at a local restaurant. ###

Day 2 - San Francisco -
**Morning: Alcatraz Island** - Take an early ferry to Alcatraz Island for a tour. Book tickets in advance. - **Afternoon: Golden Gate Bridge & John Muir Woods** - Visit the Golden Gate Bridge. Consider a walk or bike ride across the bridge. - Drive to …

I wouldn’t drive back to SF, I’d just continue N. for Napa/Sonoma (you drive over the Golden Gate Bridge to get there) & spend the night there instead.
This cuts your time in SF really short, but…you can do Ghirardelli Sq. & catch a cable car on your arrival day/evening & do a morning Alcatraz tour + stroll Pier 39 before heading out over the Golden Gate Bridge to Napa/Sonoma. You’ll still be on east coast time, so everything will likely ‘feel’ 3 hours later.
The coastal redwoods & the Sierra redwoods are different species & both worth seeing IMO, but w/ your tight schedule you might skip John Muir in order to arrive in Napa before the winery tastings close & do your wine tasting the evening of day 2.
The following days would look like this w/ my changes in bold

Day 3: Napa Valley
**Morning: Napa Valley** …

Drive to Yosemite National Park
…Drive to Yosemite** - Check into your accommodation in Yosemite Valley or nearby - nearby is far away, stay in the valley & make your reservations ASAP. - …**Evening: Relax and Enjoy Nature** - Have dinner at the lodge or a nearby restaurant and enjoy the evening in the park.

Day 4 Yosemite National Park - **Full Day in Yosemite**
- Spend the day hiking and exploring. Recommended hikes: Mist Trail to Vernal and Nevada Falls, Glacier Point, or Mariposa Grove of Giant Sequoias. - **Evening: Stargazing** - After dinner, enjoy stargazing. Yosemite is known for its clear night skies.

Day 5 Depart Yosemite** - Leave Yosemite early, and drive to Monterey, stop at Mariposa grove on drive out for redwoods ...once you arrive in Monterey - Walk around Carmel or Pacific Grove or drive through Pebble Beach stopping to watch the Bag Piper at Sunset at Spanish Bay have dinner at a seafood restaurant. - Stay overnight in Monterey

Bag Piper @ sunset, Spanish Bay in Pebble Beach along 17 mile drive.
Day 6 - Morning Monterey Bay Aquarium, stroll cannery row, the rec trail along the ocean, etc. maybe catch a whale watching boat from Fisherman’s wharf in Monterey in the afternoon. During the summer you’re most likely to see Humpback whales https://gowhales.com/slstcurr.htm but you’ll also see otters, harbor seals, & sea lions (which you’ll see in SF as well.)
Whether I spent the night in Monterey or drove over to spend the night in an airport hotel near SFO would depend on how early my flight home was.
Day 7 - leave for flight from SFO, SJC is closer to Monterey & there’s less traffic to deal w/, but has fewer non stop flights to the east coast than SFO.
I’ll admit, I’m totally biased, I live in the Monterey area & have re engineered your schedule to give you more time here .

 

[bcla]

Good luck on the car not getting broken into! Seems like it’s pretty common in SF according to people just back from the area!!

I've never had my car broken into in San Francisco, and I'm sure I've parked there more than the vast majority of tourists. I've seen it happen once though.

 

[bcla]

I'll comment on Muir Woods since I visited there for the first time in years. My parents just wanted to go, even though they already went to Redwood National and State Parks last year. What we saw there just blew away Muir Woods in terms of experience. There were fewer people (of course dispersed across lots of different areas), the trees were taller, and the areas felt more "natural" compared to Muir Woods with its boardwalk and development. That being said, with parking and bus reservations there were a lot fewer visitors. Parking isn't allowed on the side of the road for maybe a mile. The parking will pretty much dictate the crowds, which are very manageable now.

I went to the Coppola Winery, and it was OK. Francis Ford Coppola doesn't own it any more, as he sold it and reportedly used to proceeds to finance a movie. I don't know what the arrangements are, but the main building still has Coppola's Oscars and several props from his movies.

Monterey Bay Aquarium is a great experience, but it's kind of a long way to get there. It might be worth it if you want to visit Cannery Row and Pebble Beach/17 Mile Drive. However, the Steinhart Aquarium at the California Academy of Science is really good now after they rebuilt it. I used to have a family membership there, and we'd go there often. Another place in San Francisco that's cool is the Exploratorium. That was the model for all hand-on science museums that followed it.

Also - Oakland might have a bad reputation, but the airport is fine. Just drive straight to the airport and you'll be OK. At this point I wouldn't recommend stopping for gas at any of the gas stations nearby, but there are some options nearby in San Leandro.

 

[TeamRiley]

I would spend as little time in SF as possible. Do Alcatraz and the Golden Gate, but then head out. Fisherman's wharf has become a total tourist trap, and the city in general is a complete sewer.
Stay at the Yosemite Valley Lodge inside the Park. Everything else is way too far away. You could go upscale if you want, but stay inside the park to cut down on driving (and get a free parking spot). Ride the busses or rent bikes to get around inside the park.