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Best one-day trips outside San Francisco?


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Looking for travel ideas within driving distance of San Francisco... Thanks! :-)

Travel Tips
Napa - wineries along Silverado Trail and along route 29.
Sonoma - Healdsburg - wineries along River Road and surrounding the town.
Mendocino - cute town and hikes.
Pt. Reyes - great hiking and walk out to lighthouse at tip of land jutting out into the Pacific.
Marin Headlands - redwood trees, hiking, beaches, german beer garden with boardgames you have to hike to (in Tennesee Valley area).
Carmel by the Sea and Monterey - 17 mile drive to see coast and wildlife; you will also see world renouned Pebble Beach and Spyglass Golf courses; shopping, hikes, beach (but often cold). 90-105 minutes each way.
Big Sur - camping, hiking, beach, California coastline cliffs. 2 hours each way.
Boat out to Farrallon Islands - wildlife; protected land.
Fishing Trip - often rough seas but you will catch a big fish.
Tahoe - skiing, hiking, boating, wildlife, beautiful! 2.5 hours each way.
Yosemite - massive cliffs, hiking, waterfalls, picnics. 3 hours each way.

Others
Your best bet is North!

Marin Headlands, if you want to hike. Nice up there. Sausalito is nice but a little pricey. Same for Napa and Sonoma, but if you like wine, that's where you'll want to be. The winery tours are often free and include tastings. Petaluma is a nice older 'small' town- American Graffiti was filmed there.

Go to Hopland (breweries-- only a couple hours north) or Pt. Reyes Station (small town with a cool old bar and nice restaurants) which is even closer than that!

If you like driving, you can make it up to Ft. Bragg but that's a good four hours. If you go there, you have to go to Smoky's BBQ and check out some of the antique stores!

If you want to head in the other direction (North is my favorite though!) down South is Santa Cruz, a college town with rolling hills and a bit of a hippie vibe- downtown SC is pretty hip. Nice used clothing stores, sushi places, etc.

Of course there's always Monterey, a bit farther South than Santa Cruz... the Monterey Bay Aquarium is like nothing you've ever seen before. It's really awesome there, too. The weather is nice and you're right on the water.
I grew up in San Francisco!
Boy, you have a lot of possibiliies there. Within one day? Start with the Napa/Sonoma County wine country; Muir Woods, Sacramento and the Delta; all the way up to Lake Tahoe and the ski resorts, Yosemite Valley, down to Carmel/Pebble Beach/Monterey , Santa Cruz, San Jose and the Silicon Valley; San Luis Obispo and Hearst Castle. All these are within a day's travel, almost down to Santa Barbara.
Half Moon Bay via Great Hwy, Skyline and the Hwy 1 which takes you through Devil's slide just for the drive and to stroll Main St. in Half Moon Bay & drop in at coffee houses or drive off to oceanside restaurants in Princeton.
There are too many one day trips to limit to just one. The Marin Headlands across the Golden Gate Bridge with shopping in Sausalito, The Napa Valley and its wineries, Sonoma and its wineries, Then there's Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco itself. I have a residence in the Bay Area and there is always something to do and someplace to go and never be bored.
People have given you some great suggestions. It really depends on what you want to do and your interests.

If you are into wine tasting, you can travel north (Napa, Sonoma), south (Santa Cruz, Monterey), or east (Livermore, Lodi, Sierra Foothills) and enjoy a day of wine tasting.
See http://www.cheers2wine.com

My favorite place would be Yosemite National Park but it is approximate 4 hours to get to from San Francisco....so you'd need 2 days for that outing.

Pt. Reyes National Seashore north of San Francisco is wonderful if you enjoy hiking and the outdoors.
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