San Fran questions

[jjiillee]

considering San Fransico for a four night trip in July. We plan on renting car and heading to Santa Cruz and checking our Muir Woods and possibly Monteray. Haven't been there in over 15 years. We are a family of 5 don't really want to get two rooms because the kids will want to sleep by us anyway. Would you stay in San Fran or near airport and just drive into the city for touring? What do you recommend? We would prb fly into Oakland because the flights are cheaper and better times.

 

[StageTek]

Parking in SF is crazy difficult. And expensive. If you can find a hotel that
offers parking that's what I recommend. So check out the hotel rates and
compare to the parking rates.

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

The Holiday Inn on Van Ness is pretty decent. I also liked that it was right by the 101 (where the 101 winds through San Francisco), and at the end of one of the cable car runs, so we used the cable car to go to Fisherman's Wharf, Union Square, etc.

http://www.ihg.com/holidayinn/hotels/us/en/san-francisco/sfogg/hoteldetail/directions
http://www.ihg.com/holidayinn/hotels/us/en/san-francisco/sfogg/hoteldetail

 

[bcla]

Well - just don't say "San Fran" to a local. They'll look at you funny if you do.

If you're already heading down to Santa Cruz, I'd recommend seeing redwoods there instead of Muir Woods. I say that as a former Muir Woods annual pass holder. It's rather convenient for the average tourist already visiting San Francisco, but there are . If you insist on visiting Muir Woods, get the annual pass. Strike that - they bumped up the prices and I'm not sure if it makes sense any more. Muir Woods is nice, but it's overcrowded, parking is harder and harder to find, and the trees are actually smaller than other areas like Santa Cruz and especially the North Coast. I asked why once, and was told it could be local genetics as well as the growing conditions that aren't as good.

Around Santa Cruz there's Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, or Big Basin Redwoods State Park.

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=546
http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=540

 

[Cindy fan]

We are flying out of Oakland at the end of our trip. We are staying in the holiday inn express fishermans wharf which was not too bad a price and dropping off our car before we do that. We were told we can take an extra large uber to the airport after our trip. We will use public transportation to get around SF.

On the subject of the trees, we were wondering is Henry Cowell or big basin better?

 

[bcla]

We are flying out of Oakland at the end of our trip. We are staying in the holiday inn express fishermans wharf which was not too bad a price and dropping off our car before we do that. We were told we can take an extra large uber to the airport after our trip. We will use public transportation to get around SF.

On the subject of the trees, we were wondering is Henry Cowell or big basin better?

Either or. None are particularly huge trees. The tallest trees are up the North Coast, but that's a long way in the middle of nowhere.

I briefly went to Henry Cowell once. It was when we were already going to Roaring Camp and Big Trees Railroad. It's a narrow gauge excursion railroad, and a Henry Cowell parking lot connects to the Roaring Camp property. Roaring Camp itself has lots of old growth redwood, and the train ride goes by those trees.

http://www.roaringcamp.com

 

[jjiillee]

Thanks for the tips. I think we have decided to visit San Diego this time instead.