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My husband and I are hoping to spend ten days or so in September traveling between LA and the northern California wine country. We'll fly into either San Francisco or LA and rent a gas-miser for the driving.

My question is: Are we going to be better off starting in LA and ending in San Francisco, or vice versa? That is, are there more opportunities for coasting going in one direction or the other?

Thanks,
AnnA

I don't recall any clear advantage between those directions, in terms of coasting opportunities. :confused: However, as a major wine lover, I would recommend starting in LA and working your way up to SF, because I would save the best for last: Napa Valley. :) Sure, there are plenty of wineries towards LA made popular by Sideways, but the best stuff is Napa Valley, especially towards Calistoga, where you will find my favorite places ;) for Cabernet Savignon: Silver Oak, Groth (by appt only), Sequoia Grove, and Sterling (great gondola ride to winery). Just my two bits, but any way you go, it will have a great time. :D

While it probably doesn't really make much a difference which city you start in I would advise a more coastal route than the central valley route. That would be 101 vs. I-5. 101 is much more scenic. There are wineries from Santa Barbara to the Bay area. I-5 has the Tejon pass which takes a real bite out of mileage to get up and over. Once in the central valley things are pretty flat. 101 might have more ups and downs over the whole trip. 101 and the famous Highway 1 right on the coast share the early ride out of or into LA. But then 1 basically hugs the shoreline all the way to SF. It is (was? recent fires?) ridiculously beautiful very twisty and slow but it is worth the time and money to me. (From Cambria to Carmel) The Ride from Santa Cruz to the City (SF) on Highway 1 is less twisty and slow but is a very bucolic.

I grew up in the North Bay, St Helena High '69. You'll really enjoy the place. But don't forget that Sonoma County is very beautiful too. Very good wineries, great food, my favorite breweries and places like Healdsburg, Tamales, The Russian River, Petaluma and Sonoma. Being an Angeleno now I'd say just spend the entire couple of weeks in the bay, but maybe that's because I get homesick and am close to taking a week "back home".

Hope this helps. Bon appetit!

Either way is about the same. Back in August I did Oakland - Fresno on I-5 over to CA-99, Next Day Fresno to San Luis Obispo (Napa Valley/Paso Robles/Pismo Beach Area) on CA-99 then US-45 to US-101. Coming out of SLO, I took Route 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) to the Carmel traffic jam, hopped halfway to I-5, got stuck in accident traffic and took 101 back to Oakland.

I would NOT use I-5 (hot, dry, and nothing to see). I would take the PCH if you have the time. I would also Highly recommend a B&B called the Garden Street Inn in San Luis Obispo if you stay in Napa Valley. A little pricey, but very friendly, good service, Excellent & interesting themed rooms, and afternoon wine tastings.

I would start in LA just because it is much easier to leave out of SF if you have time Livermore has many vineyards worth visting.PCH a definet. vineyards have strange hours like 11:00 am to 4:00 pm so plan accordingly. My favorite vineyard Silverado not far from Mario Andretti's Vinard. Have a great time .

Thanks, to all of you for your local's knowledge! This will be my husband's and my first trip to California since the summer we first met 30 years ago, so we're really flying blind and greatly appreciate any and all advice.

@Edwin - I normally like to save the best for last, but it's hard to determine what's going to be "best" about this trip....doing the wine country tour for the first time, or visiting our son in LA for the first time since he moved there. I'm really torn about this for lots of silly reasons.

@guz - Wow, you should be a travel agent (or a poet). My son shares your feeling vis a vis Los Angeles and San Francisco. He went to SF for a weekend a few months back and fell in love with it. Oh, and I definitely want to stick to the PCH as much as possible, mpg be damned! (Oh, dear... did I just invite a hex from the hm gods? Eeek.)

@warthog - How pricey is "a little pricey?" (Though the afternoon wine tastings might make that a moot point ;)

@ cam - Thanks for the heads-up on the odd hours. Luckily, I like to sleep late so 11 am openings sound perfect.

Thanks again, so much all of you!

AnnA

AnnArtisan-

You can check their Website (http://gardenstreetinn.com/index.html).I paid $151 as a Walk-In last August when my $80/night budget would only get me a dive motel. Unfortunately, SLO is very beautiful and has great wineries but everything is $$$.

For "Night of" Lodging, A dive motel will be ~$80, a Holiday Inn level will be ~$125, and a good B&B probably $150-250.

AnnArtisan, I'm glad you got plenty of good feedback, and you really have a lot of great options. Another suggestion: if you have time, don't miss the little town of Calistoga on the north end of Napa Valley. A lot of fun little shops and relaxed atmosphere. http://gocalifornia.about.com/cs/napasonoma/a/calistoga.htm
And near there in St Helena, is my favorite restraunt, Greystone, at the Culinary Institute of America. It's not cheap, :eek: but it's worth it, especially since the kitchen is open, so you can step over and see them prepare your meal.
http://www.ciachef.edu/restaurants/wsgr/
Now the only downside is that the Napa roadways and tasting rooms get rather crowded on the weekend, so try to time it away from Saturday. And lately, the better wineries charge $10 for wine tasting, so you might want to be selective on which ones you visit. Anyhow, I am very happy for you. I need to plan my next Napa trip, which is only a 2 hour drive for me. :D Cheers!