industrialtorture

Yeah! I have never been to California but need to go so bad. I'll fly into Oakland about 1:30p on a Saturday. I'm young, fit, and don't mind camping a lot to cut down on expenses. I just need to know the best places to see and sleep in Yosemite and wine country. Best sights and campgrounds in Yosemite, best vineyards and cheapest accomodations in Napa and Sonoma, and anything worth doing in San Fran and Oakland. Can I avoid renting a car for this little circuit? I'm thinking two nights of "luxury" in hotels (but lets keep the rates "budget") out of seven would be about right. Where's the can't-miss food at here, too?

renosleeper

You will ahve to rent a car for the Napa, and Yosemite is a good 100 miles out... so I'd recommend a car if you can afford it. Go to Hertz in SF (and try not to get run over by the car attendants as they zip the cars down the circular ramps), then try Hotels.com for the St. Francis or even priceline for the Hyatt Embarcadero or Hyatt Union Square.Yosemite: Toulamne is the best, and yes... the car issue is mandatory. The food?Uh... everywhere?Oakland... depends on what you want. Go to the anarchist club over near MLK or go for dinner at the Gourmet Ghetto. Maybe hit some eats on San Pablo. Just ask around, people will help... don't be scared and DO NOT sleep on the beaches in Marin unless you have an armed body guard.:-)Enjoy it!!!

chefgrille

I don't think there's tent campgrounds in Napa, just RV camping. However, I think I might know the cheapest hotel in town, I'll ask my husband later since I forgot the name. It's about $70 a night. You do pretty much need a car to see Napa Valley. There are about 17 tasting rooms downtown though in Napa. And a wine tasting card for $20 gets you into many of them. The wine tasting rooms serve a variety of wineries' wines. They say that with the card that one taste is ten cents, but it's usually waived. The Town Center (downtown) has shopping, restaurants (Tres Hermanos is a great hole-in-the-wall Mexican place and cheap but the portions are huge and authentic). From there you can hop on the trolley (which used to be free but it might be fifty cents or a dollar now), see the downtown and it runs up to the outlet mall. With a car though you have to see Mumms winery which has a beautiful Ansel Adams gallery, and Oakville Grocery. Gourmet everything, charcuterie, cheeses, wines, and the best sandwiches. The further upvalley you go, the more expensive everything gets, which is why I recommend making Napa your home base for the trip to NV. Check out www.napavalleyregister.com for events you might want to see. The nightlife does suck here, the only thing is pretty much Downtown Joe's which is a brewpub/restaurant but has DJs and dancing after 10 or so.Um, there's a lot more to do here. Email me if you have any questions I can answer.

KyrstinR

Try to book a camping site in most places, except San Fran.Try 941 Fort Barry, Sausalito, CA hostel. It will be $20 a night and you can just drive over the golden gate bridge or go to Napa. It is a nice hostel. I stayed there for five days. You get to meet tons of new people and there are hikes that you can take right there. I recommend getting up at 6:00 am and hiking to black sands beach. When you get there early in the morning you can see the tide pools which will have starfish, enenimies, and crabs in the rocks. Wear hikers, the sand is not pleasant.