San Francisco Bay Area - Day Trips

Not sure how to kill a day or a weekend? No clue where to take your visitors? Check out this list.

Day Trips

Bike the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito

• rent the bike and gears from Sports Basement(610 Mason St, San Francisco, CA 94129. near Presidio
• bike across the bridge
• bike down to Sausalito
• have lunch, and maybe ice cream
• take the ferry back to S.F.
• bike along the water front, return the bike to Sports Basement

San Francisco: Downtown

• Market street. north: financial district; south(SoMa) tech giants
• Ferry building
• Embacadero
• Pier 39
• historical street car and cable car
• China town, Japan town

San Francisco: Golden Gate Park + Lands End

• Lands end
• Lands end Labryinth
• Sutro Baths
• USS SF Memorial
• Ocean Beach
• Golden Gate park

Stanford/Berkeley

• campus tour

Muir Woods

• a great hike in the woods
• get their early, parking is extremely hard

Point Reyes

Napa and Sonoma County

• early morning hot air balloon
• wine train for lunch
• a tour in a winery

Santa Cruz

• the pier is free in the morning
• sea lions can be seen at the end of the pier

Monterry + 17 miles

• drive down to Monterry, eat at Old Fisherman's Wharf
• drive the 17 miles(extra cost): 17-Mile Drive, Pebble Beach, through the Del Monte Forest and along the Pacific Coast
• Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary: "Preserve with pine, cypress & eucalyptus trees sheltering thousands of monarch butterflies Oct–Mar.". Best time to visit is Nov to Feb.
• Monterey Bay Aquarium
• Eolian Dunes Preserve
• Lover's Point Beach: kayak rental, public restrooms

California State Route 1

Drive alone State Route 1:

• Carmen by the sea
• Big Sur
• Pfeiffer Beach
• McWay Cove

Pinnacle National Park

• the youngest national park in California(promoted from National Monument)

White Water Rafting in American River

• launch near Sacramento

Pick Cherries in Brentwood

• usually in May

Theme Parks

• either Six Flags or Great America

Alcatraz

Angle Island

Golden Gate Bridge + Presidio

Multi-day Trips

Lake Tahoe

• 4 hrs drive from Bay Area
• 1 hr flight to Reno

Yosemite national Park

• 4 hrs drive from Bay Area

Sequoia National Park + Kings Canyon National Park

• 4 hrs drive from Bay Area

Death Valley

• 8 hrs drive from Bay Area

Herst Castle

• 3-4 hrs drive from Bay Area

Mendocino

• Bowling Ball Beach
• Glass Beach

Chanel Island National Park

• 5 hrs drive to Ventura, then take boat