weekend trips in the Bay Area

view from One Bush Plaza, San Francisco

Looking for something to do over a weekend? Here are some thoughts if you live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Weekend in the City. Spend a couple of nights in the city. My favorite SF hotel is the Four Seasons San Francisco. I like its location right on Market Street. If you take BART into the City, you can get off at the Powell Street station and walk into the hotel without ever crossing the street. It's an easy walk from the Four Seasons to Union Square, Chinatown, and AT&T Park where you can see the world champion San Francisco Giants baseball team.

Wine Country — Napa County. Napa County, one of the best wine growing regions in the world,  has some fabulous resorts. Auberge du Soleil, Meadowood, Bardessono, and Calistoga Ranch are all wonderful, but each is so different. Give me a call to find the right resort for you.

Wine Country — Sonoma County. Less famous and less crowded, Sonoma County attracts Bay Area residents who want to avoid the Napa County crowds. The Farmhouse Inn is something quite special with a Michelin-starred restaurant,  and you can make complimentary S'Mores at night with gourmet Valrona chocolate. Prefer to stay in the town of Healdsburg? We were very impressed by Hotel Les Mars just a block off the square.

A room with a view of the Golden Gate. We're spending a couple of nights at Cavallo Point at the end of May. Located in Marin County, you'll enjoy views of San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge from this renovated historical resort.

A room with a view of the Pacific Ocean. So many great options for Bay Area residents. Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay has a great golf course, and Post Ranch Inn is a dream destination in Big Sur for a romantic weekend getaway.

Lake Tahoe. Just a three hour drive to the mountains for skiing (in the winter, if it bothers to snow) and mountain biking and outdoor adventure in the summer months. Ritz-Carlton Lake Tahoe is our favorite resort here, located mid-mountain at Northstar.

Email me for added-value amenities at each hotel or resort I've mentioned that you can't get when you book online.

copyright (c) 2015 by David Ourisman LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell Travel. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.