Day Trips from Sausalito?

My husband and I will be staying in Sausalito for about six days in April, and we%26#39;re looking for day-trip suggestions. Will have a car for traveling, and will also be near the Sausalito ferry to SF. Ideas welcome, as are restaurants, vineyards, parks and sights. Thanks

Day Trips from Sausalito?

While you%26#39;re in Sausalito you should really check out the rest of what Marin county has to offer. Head out to West Marin, in particular. Besides the famous Muir Woods (go early to beat the crowds), there are spectacular beaches in the Point Reyes National Seashore. Drive up the coast and visit the little coastal towns of Olema, Marshall, Stinson Beach, etc. If in Marshall, be sure to stop at the general store for fresh oysters.

Other ideas: head up the coast to visit the redwoods, take the boat to Angel island, and make the most of your time just across the bay from the greatest city in the world.

Day Trips from Sausalito?

Here are a couple of ideas for day trips:

1) Drive from Sausalito to Sonoma. Its less than an hour. Tour Benzinger Vineywards:

http://www.benziger.com/

Imagery (sister winery of Benzinger)

http://www.imagerywinery.com/

and BR Cohn Winery

http://www.brcohn.com/

(Note there are others if you have ones you want to visit.)

Walk around Sonoma town square, being sure to stop at the Sonoma Cheese Factory for cheese tsating.

http://www.sonoma.com/

Have dinner at The Girl and the Fig

thegirlandthefig.com/html-sonoma/index.html

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2) Another idea is to go to Muir Woods in the morning - take a walk and see the Redwoods.

http://www.nps.gov/muwo/

Afterwards go to Point Reyes National Sea Shore

www.nps.gov/pore/planyourvisit/directions.htm

Also stop at Pt. Reyes and go to Cowgirl Creamery:

http://www.cowgirlcreamery.com/

For dinner, book reservations at Olema Inn.

http://www.theolemainn.com/chron3.html

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3) Day in Napa

Go to Napa and visit wineries there.

Have a picnic lunch at V. Sattui Winery

In the evening enjoy a nice dinner out before returning to Sausalito. there are so many good ones...a few to choose from are;

Ad Hoc

http://www.adhocrestaurant.com/

Bistro Jeanty

http://www.bistrojeanty.com/

Ubuntu Napa

http://www.ubuntunapa.com/

(Just ate there the other night - very good.)

and many more

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Drive up to Healdsburg....visit Healdsburg

http://www.healdsburg.org/

Drive out Westside Road and visit the wineries there

russianrivertravel.com/wineries/westsideroad…

Continue and go to Armstrong Redwoods State Park

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=450

Head over to Sonoma Coast

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=450

and then down to Bodega Bay

http://www.bodegabay.com/

Have dinner at Tides Wharf for a good view of Bodega Bay and also most likely sea lions swimming in the bay

http://www.innatthetides.com/tideswharf.html

or for a more elegant meal

The Duck Club

www.bodegabaylodge.com/hotel-dining.html

Return to Sausalito

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Another:

Drive to Budweiser Brewery and do a brewery tour

http://www.budweisertours.com/toursFAIR.htm

Then visit a Jelly Bean Factory Tour

jellybelly.com/visit_jelly_belly/california_…

Go shopping at Vacaville Premium Outlets

www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp…

Drive back to Napa and have dinner at Celadon

http://www.celadonnapa.com/

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Another:

Go to Discovery Kingdom in Vallejohttp://www.sixflags.com/discoveryKingdom/index.aspx

Or go to Safari West

http://www.safariwest.com/

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Of course spend part of the vacation also visiting San Francisco....

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Drive from Sausalito to Santa Cruz on Highway 1. Cross the Golden Gate; go to Half Moon Bay

http://www.halfmoonbaychamber.org/

Also go to Mavericks and watch the surfers

http://www.mavsurfer.com/main_page/

See Pigeon Point Light House

virtualcities.com/ons/ca/h/as/cah79a24.htm

Walk out and see the elephant seals at

Ano Nuevo

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=523

Stop by Bonny Doon Winery

https://www.bonnydoonvineyard.com/

Continue down to Santa Cruz; see Santa Cruz Boardwalk

http://www.beachboardwalk.com/

Have dinner at Shadowbrook

http://www.shadowbrook-capitola.com/

Return to Sausalito

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One afternoon drive to Berkeley; see the campus; have dinner at:

Chez Panisse

http://www.chezpanisse.com/

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There are lots and lots of other trips you can take....but above are just an example. If you have more questions, please do ask. Enjoy planning your trip.

Dear tunkiemo -

Sounds like you have gotten many good suggestions. Perhaps to consolidate them you could do:

one day - Marin county sights including Sausalito, Mill Valley, Tiburon, Muir Woods, Marin headlands

one day - Napa Valley

one day - Healdsburg or Sonoma

one day - West Marin (Stinson Beach, Bolinas, Point Reyes, Bodega Bay, etc.)

a couple of days - San Francisco

At night when you are back from your travels, there are lots of good local restaurants in Marin County. I live in the next town up the highway, Mill Valley, so I will list a handful of local favorite restaurants for you:

Sushi Ran in Sausalito for Japanese food, Harmony Restaurant for dim sum in Mill Valley, lots of Italian Restaurants including Poggio in Sausalito, La Ginestra and Vasco%26#39;s in Mill Valley,

American restaurants including Buckeye Roadhouse, Bungalow 44 in Mill Valley, Picco and Lark Creek Inn in Larkspur. Tiburon has Sam%26#39;s Cafe for burgers on the water, Scoma%26#39;s and Spinnaker both have beautiful water views for seafood in Sausalito. Favorite daytime sandwiches at Emporio Rulli%26#39;s in Larkspur and Rooney%26#39;s cafe in Tiburon. There is a new restaurant near the base of the Golden Gate Bridge called Murray%26#39;s at Cavallo Point. There are plenty more restaurants, but these are a few to start with. You can make reservations easily on Open Table for most of these places.

Have fun and welcome to the neighborhood.

Hi, Tunkiemo --

First of all, I think you have gotten really good input thus far. If I%26#39;m reading screen names correctly, AnnMV is the editor of one of the top regional food blogs (';Anna%26#39;s Cool Finds';, easy to find if you Google it), and she has a far-reaching knowledge of the area.

I wanted to ask you some questions to help us zero in on the best answers for you.

Which of the following activities are your top priorities on this trip, and which elicit a yawn? (You can highlight this part of my post, right click it and select ';copy';. then paste it in to a reply. Then you can erase the boring things and keep the good ones and save some typing.)

Eating at Michelin-starred restaurants

Eating at consumer-site high-scoring restaurants

Eating at places the locals typically eat

Eating at places with great views

Eating at a certain kind of ethnic restauarnat (Italian, Chinese, etc.)

Wine tasting

Champagne tasting

Touring a winery

Cheese tasting at the source

Modern art museum

Classical art museum

Asian art museum

African and Polynesian art museum

Aquarium

Planetarium

Arboretum with exotic plants and flowers

Flower gardens with lots of varieties

Attend a symphony

Attend a play

Attend a Major League Baseball game

Hiking for a full day

Hiking for an hour or two

Seeing big gorgeorus redwood groves

Renting bikes and riding around

Throw frisbess on a gigantic lawn

Walking across the Golden Gate Bridge

Walking along a popular beach

Walking along an isolated, almost empty beach

A long drive along a twisty coastal road with great views of the ocean, cliffs, rocks and islands

Shopping in unique little shops

Discount shopping for quality items

Designer label shopping

Attending farmers markets

Walking through the booths of street vendors

Seeing places that are part of California history

Seeing street performers

My specialty is very much Sausalito, since that%26#39;s the area our ComeToSausalito.com website covers, but I%26#39;m a native of the area and am happy to share ideas.

We look forward to having you visit Sausalito!

girl and the fig is a nice suggestion for Sonoma, if you do go to Healdsburg Cyrus is an amazing place to dine there. Happy New Year! :)

Dear CometoSausalito -

I appreciate the great compliment that I might be a Regional Food Editor- but I am just a Sausalito neighbor that eats out a little too much!

AnnMV

Sorry about that, Ann! In any event, I think your suggestions are excellent.

Great selections to choose from. I went through the list myself, then with my husband, then kept those entries for which there was some agreement. (For example, my husband said he%26#39;s more interested in eating someplace where he can get great cioppino than eating in a five-star restaurant ... I agree.) Any suggestions are wonderfully welcome.

Eating at places the locals typically eat

Eating at places with great views

Wine tasting

Touring a winery

Modern art museum

Classical art museum

Aquarium

Planetarium

Attend a play

Walking along an isolated, almost empty beach

A long drive along a twisty coastal road with great views of the ocean, cliffs, rocks and islands

Shopping in unique little shops

We happened to dine at Poggio, in Sausalito, a couple weeks ago when up in the area visiting family for the holidays. We enjoyed our meal very much, and would return.

Hi, Tunkiemo --

I%26#39;m going to pull together some recommendations for these categories -- some are places that I or some of my fellow editors have been going to since we were kids.

We%26#39;re doing our monthly update of the Sausalito restaurant and hotel rankings at ComeToSausalito.com this weekend and have to wrap that up first, so I wanted you to know ';Holmes is on the case'; even if you did not see an immediate reply.

We%26#39;re looking forward to having you visit this place we love so much!

E.D.

pets