California road trip - comments and ideas please!

[East Coaster]

Thanks buryboy the trolley tour looks great. Will definitely look into that

[East Coaster]

Originally Posted by Frankie & gang

We did the Dylan’s famous tour last Aug - it’s brilliant. To give us extra time in Sausalito the tour guide stopped at a deli before we got there. We then had time to sit & eat our picnic, have a wander, little shop & buy an ice cream.
Have a great time, your trip sounds great.
We also stayed at The Venetian, amazing hotel, we loved it.

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Thanks Laura -it'll be great if we can have a little while in Sausalito, it looks a lovely little place. I can't wait for the Venetian- I think it's the hotel I'm most looking forward to!

[400ixl]

If you want a choice in car and avoid the lottery of what you get and how long you wait I would stick with SFO. Its not difficult to get to, just Uber / Lyft directly there.

This site is full of stories of people having to wait for 1 hour plus and being given no choice in car when getting it from in the city. Others have had a good experience, so you take your chances.

Also usually find it is quite cheaper to get one from the airport.

You have a lot of time in San Fran without much planned. There are things like the Walt Disney museum, Golden Gate bridge etc.

Have you thought about maybe picking up the car earlier and heading down to Monterrey where the hotels will be cheaper and you could do things like a Whale watching boat trip, or visit the aquarium. Then head to Yosemite from there?

When going through Death Valley, have a look at Darwin. Its an old mining town with has gone from around 300 residents to about 20. If you are into photography at all its a great place for abandoned buildings, vehicles etc. Its a few miles off the main road and many people miss it. Bit of a ghost town really.

[East Coaster]

Originally Posted by 400ixl

If you want a choice in car and avoid the lottery of what you get and how long you wait I would stick with SFO. Its not difficult to get to, just Uber / Lyft directly there.

This site is full of stories of people having to wait for 1 hour plus and being given no choice in car when getting it from in the city. Others have had a good experience, so you take your chances.

Also usually find it is quite cheaper to get one from the airport.

You have a lot of time in San Fran without much planned. There are things like the Walt Disney museum, Golden Gate bridge etc.

Have you thought about maybe picking up the car earlier and heading down to Monterrey where the hotels will be cheaper and you could do things like a Whale watching boat trip, or visit the aquarium. Then head to Yosemite from there?

When going through Death Valley, have a look at Darwin. Its an old mining town with has gone from around 300 residents to about 20. If you are into photography at all its a great place for abandoned buildings, vehicles etc. Its a few miles off the main road and many people miss it. Bit of a ghost town really.

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Thanks! We're still looking at things to do in SF. We did consider the WD museum but not sure it'd be for us. Thinking of a walk along the embarcadero, maybe some shopping - I'm sure we'll find plenty to do! Will definitely try and see Darwin - sounds really interesting!

[cornishfrogboy]

Originally Posted by East Coaster

Thanks! We're still looking at things to do in SF. We did consider the WD museum but not sure it'd be for us. Thinking of a walk along the embarcadero, maybe some shopping - I'm sure we'll find plenty to do! Will definitely try and see Darwin - sounds really interesting!

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The walk along the embarcadero is pleasant. We walked down from 4th and joined it close to the Bay Bridge before walking first to the Alcatraz Ferry and later, to Fishermens wharf. Not a great deal to see, but pleasantly quiet when compared with the more obvious areas.