San Francisco + someplace else

northern California destinations (c) 2017 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

So you're headed to San Francisco. You're planning to spend several days in San Francisco, deservedly one of the top travel destinations in the United States. You'll want to explore the city, maybe visit SFMOMA and take the tour to Alcatraz. Foodies will want to dine at some of the best gourmet restaurants in the world. Sports fans can watch the Giants play baseball at AT&T Park (walking distance from downtown). Summer is an especially good time to visit the Bay Area as you'll escape the summer heat and humidity that oppress most places ... but plan to wear long sleeves, dress in layers, and have at least a sweatshirt. I speak as a local! Mark Twain was only slightly exaggerating when he remarked that the coldest winter he'd ever experienced was summer in San Francisco.

But then where? All of Northern California beckons. San Francisco is wonderful, but there's so much else to see and do. The billboards in the picture above (photographed from a window at SFMOMA) offer three great ideas.

Muir Woods National Monument is a scenic old growth redwood forest just 17 miles north of the city. Though much smaller than Redwood National Park (310 miles to the north), you'll have the awe-inspiring experience of walking beneath the canopy of these majestic redwood trees, the tallest being 258 feet in height. The average of the park's redwoods is between 600 to 800 years with the oldest tree in the park being at least 1200 years old, alive during the rein of Charlemagne! (Because parking is limited, so to use the Muir Woods shuttle, or stay at historic Cavallo Point which can make your logistics simpler).

The Napa Valley Wine Country draws so many visitors that my advice is to visit during the spring or fall. You'll pass through the town of Napa, just 47 miles north of the city, en route to the wineries and quaint towns of Yountville, St. Helena, and Calistoga. The French Laundry, owned by chef Thomas Keller, has the distinction of three Michelin stars, and there are so many other fabulous restaurants to explore. Prefer to escape the summer crowds? I'd suggest the neighboring (but less well known) Sonoma County wine country, the town of Healdsburg, and the Michelin-starred Farmhouse Inn (a delightful Virtuoso hotel).

overlooking a beach cove (c) 2017 by David Ourisman, all rights reserved

Big Sur is a truly dramatic spot on the Northern California coast, 143 miles south of the city. Unfortunately, the Big Sur bridge has a broken link, caused by landslides from this winter's record-setting rainfall, and is expected to re-open on September 30th. When visiting Big Sur, my favorite place to stay is Post Ranch Inn, another Virtuoso resort.

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and have first hand experience with these destinations, where to stay, and what to do. Feel free to drop my team a line to explore the possibilities of what to see and where to stay.

copyright (c) 2017 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.

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.

visit the Sonoma Valley | stay at The Farmhouse

directions to Russian River Valley vineyards, Sonoma Valley, CA

Want to visit California wine country? While everyone has heard of the Napa Valley, the neighboring Sonoma Valley (just over the mountains and to the west) has a lot to recommend it. Sonoma has slightly cooler weather in the summer months, as it's closer to the Pacific Ocean with its natural air conditioning effect. So while the "hot" Napa Valley is perfect for growing Cabernet grapes, Sonoma Valley is perfect for grapes that prefer cooler conditions.

The road less travelled (literally), driving in Sonoma County will be less of an ordeal than Napa on busy summer weekends... with plenty of good food and wine to taste. Healdsburg has great shopping and restaurants, and we loved Hotel les Mars during our site inspection last week. A boutique hotel with just sixteen rooms each individually decorated in a classic French style, it's located one block north of the Square. If you want to stay in Healdsburg, this is the clear luxury choice.

But our real "find" was The Farmhouse, a boutique, family-owned resort with its own one-star Michelin restaurant. We stayed in a gorgeous 700 square foot suite — light and bright with a two-sided gas fireplace facing inside towards the bed and outside to your private deck. The Farmhouse provides friendly and attentive service. Its large swimming pool is perfect for guests to cool off on hot summer afternoons. Two poolside fire pits are lit at night with complimentary ingredients provided to make your own Valhrona chocolate S'Mores. And try Lost & Found Pinot Noir, a wine crafted from grapes grown in the owners' Russian River Valley vineyard.

Our complimentary gourmet breakfast was great, and while The Farmhouse was closed for dinner the evening we were there, we enjoyed a truly superb dinner at Canneti Italian Roadhouse, about five minutes away in nearby Forestville. If wild boar is on the menu, it's highly recommended.

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.

visiting the California Wine Country

Next week will take me to Napa County and Solano County, just north of San Francisco, for a site inspection trip to nine upscale inns and resorts in Wine Country.

This was supposed to have been a trip to Dubai, taking advantage of an incredible Ethiad Airways fare for travel consultants ... but, alas, it had to be ticked through Ethiad's New York ticket office and they would neither answer their phone (before it switched back over to the international agents) or answer their email. So instead of traveling 16 hours, I'll be going 45 minutes away from home in Berkeley.

A popular weekend and summer destination for oenophiles and gourmands, we will be staying at three different properties and visiting six others over our five days in Wine Country. We will be visiting three different Virtuoso member properties — Calistoga Ranch, Meadowood, and Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn (a fourth, Carneros Inn, won't have any rooms to show because of being fully booked).

I'll also be doing inspections of six luxury resorts that are not Virtuoso — Hotel les Mars, Hotel Healdsburg, The Farmhouse, Kenwood Inn, Auberge de Soleil, and Bardessono. Hopefully most or all of these will make it onto my google map of Ourisman Travel's Preferred Hotels in Wine Country!

Be watching this space for my impressions of our trip to Napa and Sonoma next week.

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.