Northern California Honeymoon Ideas

That sounds like a wonderful honeymoon, but before visiting wine country you might want to check if the wineries you might want to visit will be up and running since the fires they had.

Sounds like an awesome honeymoon!

-There’s plenty to do in SF and lots of food to try. Don’t miss the fisherman’s wharf. Lombard Street is fun. I also love the Walt Disney Family Museum if you’re into Disney.

-Muir Woods will give you your redwoods fix.

-Monterey Bay is great, go to the aquarium.

-Can’t go wrong with wine country. Maybe look into spending a night or two in Healdsburg. It’s a cute little town and several wineries have tasting rooms there.

-Paso Robles is a pretty far drive (more central CA). If you’re already doing the wine thing in Sonoma/Napa, you may want to spend your time elsewhere.

I live 45 mins from San Francisco and it's beautiful up here. We did just have huge fires very recently we are still recovering from, you will definitely want to check to see what wineries are still open and running before making plans probably. Muir Woods, Mt Tam, or Armstrong Woods (more up north by Guernville) are all awesome hiking places. You should try Sol Food in San Rafael, they have delicious Puerto Rican food!

I live in Paso Robles and my FH works at a winery here. It's really gorgeous. Lots of fantastic restaurants and wine! I would suggest researching what wineries you'd want to go!

YOSEMITE!!!! It is breathtakingly beautiful. FH and I went a couple years ago and spent a few days. We made plans to go back because there was so much we still wanted to see. Make sure you get up to glacier point, the view will blow your mind. Don't bother with looking at pictures of it, it doesn't even begin to show how amazing it is! El Capitan, Half Dome, Tenaya Lake... just beautiful! Okay, done raving...

Wishing you a wonderful honeymoon wherever you go!

Ooh, and if you go south a little Big Sur, (McWay falls, its a waterfall on the beach...yes you read that right), and little known Pfeiffer beach (so neat). I would just rent a car and go everywhere you can.

I could do this all day though, I am from CA, so maybe I can't help my self

ETA: pic of FH and I ad McWay Falls

Thanks everyone for your input, we are super excited! I want to get my ideas locked down soon so we can start our honey moon registry so this really helps!

@Sasha you make me so excited!! LOL It seems like an amazing place! How far is Yosemite from the other places I mentioned? Is there a lot of accommodation around there? I am not a camper!!

@Myra I have heard great things about Paso Robles. From what I understand it has a more "locals" feel than the Napa area. Did they do okay in the fires?

If you guys like the ocean, again it varies depending on the month but you have to drive to gray whale cove state beach. It's down highway one about 30 min south of SF. Also big sur is about 2-3 hours away

I live in Northern California, getting married in Sonoma. You will definitely need a rental car. I recommend getting a map and focusing your trip because you could easily spend several days in just S.F. alone. Keep in mind that lodging in the areas you mentioned (S.F., Napa/Sonoma, Carmel/Monterey) are on the higher side of approx. $300+/night. Also, Paso Robles is more in the middle between L.A. and S.F. so not close at all (approx. 6+ hour drive). Yosemite is about 4+ hour drive from S.F. but in April the roads might still be very icy/snowy. Those roads are always difficult to navigate because they are very windy and very steep. So I would not recommend going to Yosemite in April. But if you spend your time going to S.F., Napa/Sonoma, Carmel/Monterey you will have plenty to see and do in each location for your 10-14 day trip and they are all in the same area so easy to get to within a few hours of each other.

@ Ruby, Yosemite is about 200 miles east of San Francisco, probably about a 5-6 hour drive because mountains. They do have accommodations (nice too), you have to get reservations early though, they fill up fast. Big Sur is about 150 miles/3-4 hours south of San Francisco, I don't know much about the accommodations there because we were road tripping up the coast to Santa Cruz and didn't stop there.

I love Monterey! Lived there with my FH for a year and we would go to Lovers point all the time and the aquarium! Also, go to Big Sur. Unfortunately there was a huge fire but Pfeiffer beach is beautiful and it has this really cool purple sand

Sonoma and Napa did have wildfires, so I echo checking the websites to make sure they're open, but for how many wineries we have, it's actually a very small percentage that burned.

Sonoma County is less expensive than Napa, but they're both beautiful.

I don't go to SF much anymore except to visit friends or for shows, but some of my favorite spots are Giants games, of course. The ball park looks out over the Bay. Stunning. We love Leo's Oyster Bar. They have great lobster rolls and their cocktails are incredible. Their decor is also amazing. Think classy 1950s tropical tiki. I haven't gone yet, but we are doing my Bachelorette Party at Speakeasy, which is an immersion experience into 1923 prohibition. There's a casino, bar and show. Sounds amazing and has great reviews.

Marin is the first county north of SF. You can't go wrong with stopping in Sausalito for shopping and killer sea food. I agree that you should get a rental car, but you can also catch a ferry in SF to Sausalito or Larkspur (another sweet Marin town a little bit more north).

I recommend hiking at Mount Tamalpias in Marin County. Is an amazing mountain, around 2000 ft high. It's nicknamed "The Sleeping Lady" because from certain angles, it looks like a woman sleeping on her side. There are small lakes on it, tons of trails from easy to extremely difficult. You can also drive up the mountain if you just want some scenic views. I can't tell you how stunning it is to look out over the entire Bay Area from the top of Mount Tamalpias.

Sol Food (San Rafael) is pretty good but their lines are always out the door all. the. time. I live down the street from them and I have never set foot in there for that reason. They do have a take out window next door and they deliver. A great brunch spot is Miracle Mile Cafe in San Anselmo. It. Is. The. Best. The owner is Peruvian so she has some Peruvian dishes, as well as typical American dishes. They use all natural ingredients and they make their own ketsup. Seriously. You'll never buy Heinz again. They close at 2:30 PM. San Anselmo is also great for antique shopping. It's also where George Lucas lives. You probably won't spot him around but there are two statues in the square (Yoda and Indiana Jones) in his honor. If you're into the Grateful Dead, a few of the members live there. In fact, the dead moved from Height/Ashbury (another SF thing you must go to!) in 1967 or 1968 to San Rafael right down the street from my grandparents house (it's an attorney's now- ironic). I ran into the bassist of the Dead at Marin Coffee Roaster (San Anselmo- most Marin towns are small and are very close to each other), and I almost fainted. He opened the door for me and smiled as I walked in. I freaked out as he closed the door and explained who he was to my fiance. He goes, "oh... him? He's here all the time!".

You also can't go wrong with going up to Sonoma County. Traffic during nice weather going through the "Novato Narrows" can be pretty bad though. Make sure you account for that. Santa Rosa (the largest of Sonoma County towns) is about 45 minutes away from Marin, without traffic. Once you get up into Sonoma County you can go wine tasting, you can head to the beach (Bodega Bay, Jenner) You can stay in Santa Rosa and go to the Charles Schultz museum and ice rink if you're a Peanuts fan. There's just so much to do. Sam's For Play is a great brunch spot in Santa Rosa. If you do like Puerto Rican food, I prefer El Coqui in Santa Rosa over Sol Food, personally. Downtown Santa Rosa is pretty sweet, with a lot of local shops. I HIGHLY recommend going to Safari West. You will need a reservation and it is pricey but, not only is it an incredible experience, but the owner is a hero. During the fires, his house burned down and instead of fleeing, he stayed and herded his thousands of animals around the property to avoid the fires raging around him. He did this all night long until the fire passed. Not one of his animals died. He's 70, by the way. The petrified forest is also a really cool place to check out and I'm pretty sure it was not damaged in the fires.

These are only some of the places I can think of off the top of my head. I have lived in Sonoma and Marin Counties my entire life and I haven't even experienced everything they have to offer. Hope this helps!!