California Road Trip Along The Coast, Part 4 – From Monterey To San Francisco, Via Healdsburg in Sonoma

Rather than head straight to San Francisco from Monterey Bay on our California road trip, we decided to take a detour via the vineyards of Sonoma for some wine tasting. This detour required a night in one of the towns in the Sonoma region and so we chose Healdsburg as our base. This offered another dimension to our California road trip itinerary, and it was great to spend some time in the vineyards. Here’s why…

Kayak on Elkhorn Slough Estuary to spot sea otters

Our plan for the next section of our California road trip, was to leave Monterey after breakfast and drive north on the Pacific Coast Highway 1 to Moss Landing (20 minutes’ drive), where we would take a kayak trip to see sea otters on the Elkhorn Slough Estuary with Monterey Bay Kayaks. This is a unique, protected wetland with seals, birds, and the opportunity to see sea otters up close on the water.

Unfortunately for us, our kayak trip to see sea otters on Elkhorn Slough Estuary was cancelled due to high winds causing waves on the estuary, which in turn affects the visibility of the sea otters, so we were refunded. Whilst this was disappointing, we took heart from the fact that we had seen the sea otters in Morro Bay. Also, kayaking in the wind is not much fun!

As we had gained time, we decided to stay in Monterey for a couple of hours to visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium which we wouldn’t have done otherwise on our California road trip.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is a large building in a prime position overlooking Monterey Bay. It is a modern structure with large windows and outdoor viewing platforms, so you feel very connected with the water as you are going around the aquarium.

Highlights of the Monterey Bay Aquarium for us were:

• The Kelp forest – a 28 feet tall tank featuring an underwater Kelp Forest allowing you to see below the water what you only usually see from water level.
• Giant Pacific Bay Octopus who was moving around and sticking tentacles to the glass.
• Incredible jelly fish – from tiny and unusual shaped jellyfish to enormous brightly coloured ones.
• Sea Otters – playing and frolicking in their areas. 

Whilst zoos and aquariums are not really my thing, this aquarium was clean and well maintained, and was definitely worth visiting.

Look for The Lost Boys on Santa Cruz Boardwalk

From Monterey, it’s a 45 minute drive north to Santa Cruz. Unfortunately it had started raining as we were driving there, the only rain of our holiday. After parking opposite the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, we took a walk along the boardwalk, through the amusements and concession stands under the grey skies. Unfortunately, the famous Santa Cruz Boardwalk looked rather sad in the drizzle.

Just to try and feel the vibe, we tried a corn dog, because “it’s a classic piece of Americana” said one of the family, but I doubt I will have another one! Despite the rain and the corn dog, I enjoyed the fact that The Lost Boys was filmed on Santa Cruz Boardwalk, a film I loved in my teenage years.

To be honest, I think we must have missed the best bits of this ‘laid back surf town’ and I’m sure that the rain didn’t help.

Choose your route to the Sonoma Wine Region

From Santa Cruz, we left the coast behind and drove inland for 2.5 hours (144 miles), initially on very hilly roads with bends, and then on the busy interstate roads around San Francisco, which was the quickest route, but quite a tough drive.

However, if you have more time, you can take the slightly longer route (3 hours) and continue up coastal Highway 1 to San Francisco, before continuing north to Sonoma. This would have allowed us to view Half Moon Bay and Pigeon Point which are notable stops on this section of the road.

However, the bonus of our inland route was that we found a Whole Foods shop off the InterState so we picked up lunch and Cherry Chocolate Trail Mix (which you can’t get in the UK) – tick! After swapping drivers, the roads eased, and the vineyards of the Sonoma wine region started to appear.

Visit the Charles Schultz Museum, Santa Rosa

If you have time, schedule a visit to the Charles Schultz Museum (the creator of Charlie Brown and Snoopy) in Santa Rosa. We had wanted to do this, but unfortunately ran out of time. Maybe we should have traded Santa Cruz Boardwalk in the rain for a stop in Santa Rosa?

Spend a night in Healdsburg, Sonoma

We booked into the Trio Hotel in Healdsburg in the Sonoma wine region and enjoyed pre-dinner drinks at the hotel which helped us decompress after the long drive (wine and beer only in the hotel, no spirits). After freshening up, we took the hotel shuttlebus to the centre of Healdsburg, Sonoma, which was the comfiest minibus ever with plush leather seats and holders for your wine glasses –these minibuses are used to tour the vineyards of the Sonoma wine region.

We had dinner at the SpoonBar restaurant at the H2H hotel, a modern building – all concrete, wood and lots of plants. When we got back to the Trio Hotel, we were joined in the lift by a robot delivering drinks to hotel rooms. The robot asked to go to Floor 3 – obviously it couldn’t push the buttons so needed to wait for humans to operate the lift. You could be waiting a long time for your drinks!

Visit the Francis Ford Coppola Winery

When you visit the Sonoma wine region, then it’s likely that you will want to visit a winery to do some wine tasting. As we had our teenagers with us then we researched which wineries were family friendly, and in the end chose the Francis Ford Coppola Winery as it has a lot of film memorabilia which we thought they would be interested in.

Once parked up outside, we were met by the Easter Bunny giving out eggs (it was Easter Weekend) before entering the main building which was filled with glass cabinets showcasing Coppola’s Oscars, Golden Globes, and other awards. There were also specific displays for Coppola’s films, such as, The Godfather, Apocalypse Now and Trucker.

You can have lunch on the terrace of the Francis Ford Coppola Winery, overlooking rows of vines which is lovely, with stone baked pizzas for the kids. Then follow lunch with a wine tasting upstairs in the main building. The only problem you’ll have is deciding who is the nominated driver!

Take a walk in Muir Woods National Park, Mill Valley

After lunch start the final part of your California road trip towards San Francisco but make sure to stop at Muir Woods National Park on the way to stroll the beautiful redwoods (1 hour 10 minutes’ drive from the Francis Ford Coppola Winery). Just getting to Muir Woods is enjoyable as, once off the motorway, you drive up a series of hills on an amazingly bendy road surrounded by yet more amazing houses with incredible views and trees.

Muir Woods is named after the Scottish environmentalist, John Muir, and is home to majestic coastal redwoods which grow up to 260 ft tall, and some very tall Douglas Fir trees. The average age of the trees is 600-800 years old, with some individuals even reaching 1,200 years old (see featured photo).

The car park at Muir Woods was busy as this is a very popular spot, but you can reserve a time-slot for the car park before visiting, through their website. Remember to print off your parking voucher before arrival as the wifi is not so good in the Muir Woods area.

Once you’ve paid your entrance to Muir Woods on arrival, then you can follow the boardwalks through the beautiful woods, marvelling at the majestic trees. It was so tranquil and serene, with just the noise of the occasional woodpecker breaking the silence.

Drop your hire car back to San Francisco International Airport (SFO)

We had decided to return our rental car to the AVIS depot at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), because we didn’t need it for our remaining time in the city of San Francisco. So, we drove from Muir Woods directly to the airport which took about 45 minutes (30 miles).

The nice thing about this route from Muir Woods was that it passed over the Golden Gate Bridge, so the first time we saw this iconic bridge was driving across it.

Once our hire car was returned to AVIS, we caught a taxi into San Francisco and checked into our hotel on Fisherman’s Wharf, the Kimpton Alton Hotel. The Kimpton Alton Hotel is a busy boutique hotel with record players in the rooms and vinyl to borrow. We had a slight view of Alcatraz from our bedroom window, which was nice, although the kids room looked over the car park so it’s pot luck!

Enjoy the sunset from Pier 36, San Francisco

If you decide to stay in the Fisherman’s Wharf area then take a stroll to Pier 36 to meet the sea lions who choose to hang out there. Marine biologists believe that the sea lions have chosen K Dock on Pier 39 because there’s plenty of food nearby but without threat from their natural predators (white sharks and orcas) in the bay.

We stopped to watch the sea lions jumping on and off the dock, sleeping, fighting, and generally having a nice time, whilst the sun set over the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. A lovely introduction to our time in San Francisco. Tomorrow we would be biking across the bridge!

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