7 Days in Northern California with Tweens

[Anonymous]

We will be in Northern CA for 7 days in June (not counting the days flying in/out). Flying into Oakland. What should we do while there? We are not interested in wineries, and also want to keep the amount of driving reasonable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We will be in Northern CA for 7 days in June (not counting the days flying in/out). Flying into Oakland. What should we do while there? We are not interested in wineries, and also want to keep the amount of driving reasonable.

First get out of Oakland as fast as you can... do not stop for snacks at the 7/11 or anything in your rental car. Do not leave any belongings in your rental car anywhere. Take bags straight into hotel.

My kids (they were 16, 13 and 10) really liked Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park; Food Tour of China Town; Disney Family Museum; riding the cable cars; sundaes at Ghirardelli Square; (https://www.ghirardelli.com/storelocations-sanfranciscosquare); Alcatraz; seeing the Redwoods...

[Anonymous]

Leave Oakland asap. Go to Tahoe.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the recommendations so far. We are just flying into Oakland, we are not planning to stay there.

Would you recommend Tahoe over going to Monterey?

[Anonymous]

Careful of Oakland rental cars.
We were charged for a cracked windshield (that was already cracked!) take tons of pics on the day you get your rental!

Rent bikes from fishermen’s wharf and bike to Sausalito, take the ferry back, fortune cookie factory in China town, Alcatraz is a must (Buy tickets way in advance), coit tower, little Italy, Muir Woods, baker beach! Have a blast!

[Anonymous]

How do you book flights with nothing planned? I don’t understand this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Careful of Oakland rental cars.
We were charged for a cracked windshield (that was already cracked!) take tons of pics on the day you get your rental!

Rent bikes from fishermen’s wharf and bike to Sausalito, take the ferry back, fortune cookie factory in China town, Alcatraz is a must (Buy tickets way in advance), coit tower, little Italy, Muir Woods, baker beach! Have a blast!

That's pretty common for rental car companies, has nothing to do with Oakland. I had minor damage on a car in France, if I didn't have pictures I took at the time of pickup (they checked the date on my phone camera!), they would have charged me. Same thing happened on a local DC rental once also- but I had the form where I noted the damage, sent that back, no issue.

Also love the comments like "don't stop even at 7/11 in Oakland". Certainly there are some rough parts of Oakland, but there are also some really nice parts as well. Doesn't mean you have to see/do anything there, but the idea that you have to run from Oakland as fast as possible is funny. We have had really nice trips to the Bay Area where we stayed in Oakland- Rockridge and Diamond. As you go up the hills there are beautiful parks and hikes and views. And Lake Merritt is great in the summer, with an amazing Saturday farmers market right next to it at Grand Lake. And Bakesale Betty in Temescal is a must.

[Anonymous]

I live in SF and have many friends who live in Oakland. It's fine. Their zoo is better than ours, and Oakland has a ton of museums, plus Lake Merritt, and their farmer's markets are great. Stop at Bakesale Betty. Go a smidge more west and explore Berkeley. Both Sausalito and Tiberon are half day excursions - you can walk around all of Sausalito in about an hour, and then eat lunch and get back on the ferry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks for the recommendations so far. We are just flying into Oakland, we are not planning to stay there.

Would you recommend Tahoe over going to Monterey?

I’d recommend Monterey. Tahoe is wonderful, but if you’re coming all the way to CA, you’ll probably want to see the beautiful coast. I’d go to SF/Tiburon drive to Santa Cruz, cutting through Big Basin State Park en route. STUNNING.

Then stay in Carmel. It’s beautiful!!

[Anonymous]

What exact days in June?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What exact days in June?

Why do you ask, Martha Scott?

[Anonymous]

What do you and your kids like? I live in the Bay Area (my older child is 11) and she’s all about nature. Other children might prefer cities / shopping etc.

Monterey is beautiful. The other direction I like Sausalito and Point Reyes. Muir Woods or various hikes are great too. The museum in the city my kids love (though it’s pricey without a membership) is The Exploratorium.

[Anonymous]

Santa Cruz! Boardwalk, beach, tide pools. Henry Cowell park up the road has nice redwoods or go to Mt Hermon and do the ropes course in the redwoods, Mystery Spot was always a hit with my kids. You can stay in Santa Cruz, Capitola or Aptos.

You can drive down to Monterey, aquarium is great. You can kayak in the marshlands around Elkhourn.

If the road is open drive south to Big Sur.

[Anonymous]

History / museums - Bay Area

Angel Island -Tiburon
Alcatraz
DeYoung and California Academy of Sciences - San Francisco west side.
Tech Museum - San Jose

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you book flights with nothing planned? I don’t understand this.

Because I was going to a conference and my family was going to join for a long weekend. Then my funding for the conference got canceled but we still had the plane tickets, so we decided to extend the trip and make it a vacation.