California Honeymoon Ideas?

[SammyKid11]

I also posted this in OOT, as I'm a fairly regular poster there. Hadn't been here yet (or noticed it until after I'd posted in OOT), but seems there's some real expertise.

Fiancee and I are honeymooning up the California coast after getting married in LaJolla. We'll have four nights to spend, and we're probably going to avoid LA altogether (we've both been there, like it okay, but really want more relaxing, picturesque places). We'd like two of those nights to end up in San Francisco.

I've heard Santa Barbara is nice, and thinking of spending one night there. We also have interest in the wine country.

ANY suggestions of cities to go or stay, hotels that are great, ESPECIALLY restaurants and bars that are cool (we like almost all kinds of food and typically with bars want laid-back places where we can talk)...any information at all is welcome and appreciated!

[Humble Pie]

Make sure to check out the Museum of Tolerance. [img]/images/graemlins/ooo.gif[/img]

For better or WORSE......

[jjp]

Consider spending a day in the Santa Ynez valley - wine country made famous in "Sideways". Los Olivos is the place to stay, I'm not a huge fan of Solvang, seems too disneylandish to me.

For something really out there, stay at the Madonna Inn in San Luis Obispo. web site www.madonnainn.com

[jcx]

My wife and I took a nice trip up the CA coast a few years back. Carmel is great, lots of great restaurants and shops. Monterrey we found to be overcommercialized. Stayed here:

http://www.ticklepinkinn.com/

A great little inn, with fantastic views. Hearst Castle in San Simeon is worth stopping at during your drive up. Enjoy the scenery along PCH, it's beautiful.

[cbloom]

Lots of nice places on the Big Sur - Central Coast. I like this place -

http://www.ventanainn.com/

The best place in the Santa Ynez area IMHO is the Ballard Inn. Even better wine area IMHO is the west-Paso Robles area around the 46 and Vineyard Drive.

Santa Barbara has lots of great restaurants. There's one street - Victoria St. - that has a few in a row - Epiphany & Buchon - which is nice cuz it's right off State so you can get a bike cab there and you can check their menus and see what you like.

I've actually never found a decent hotel in SB that's not a bajillion dollars.

[cbloom]

If you want to go a little rougher in Big Sur, the "Lucia Lodge" is really rustic, but is right on the cliffs and the views are amazing and it was in some old movie or other which excites some people. Anyway it's pretty cool despite definitely being divey. Make sure you eat at Nepenthe.

[andyfox]

Getting married in La Jolla: nice! I assume you're not driving up the coast, it'll take too much of your time to get to the San Francisco Bay Area. Fly and rent a car.

Ask or PM El Diablo for cool places to eat in San Francisco. Fanciest restaurant in town is probably Gary Danko's, but he's a better source for that kind of thing.

If you spend two nights in San Francisco, then by all means go to Napa wine country. Mustards Grill http://www.mustardsgrill.com/ is a great place for lunch. We've stayed at Meadowood http://www.meadowood.com/, it's wonderful. Just bring your banker. Tra Vigne http://www.travignerestaurant.com/tv.htm was fun for lunch.

The two vineyards that are the most fun to visit are Sterling (dreadful wine, but a nice place to relax) and Coppola's place, the Disneyland of wineries. A more relaxing one is Chateau Montelena in Calistoga. http://www.napavalley.com/wineries/alphalistings.html

Muir Woods http://www.nps.gov/muwo/ is a beautiful walk, just go early before the crowds arrive.

[andyfox]

BTW, fly into Oakland, if you can, rather than San Francisco. Easier airport with fewer flight delays, well worth the 10 or 15 extra minutes it takes to drive into the city.

[cbloom]

BTW people are right if you're marrying in La Jolla and planning 2 nights in SF that's not really a fun drive. Take some more time off, or just stay around San Diego, there's plenty of beautiful places and fun there.