When are you coming? Right now we’re all hunkered down in rainstorm mode – so your plans for outdoor activities seem unrealistic. Even when the rain stops, I’d expect to see some roads and/or hiking trails inaccessible for awhile, because this storm is leaving damage behind, and I think we are in for more storms this season. If I had visitors coming this month, I’d be planning indoor activities, such as museums or winery visits. Your OP indicates mid-January, so I wouldn’t be at all optimistic about Pt. Reyes.
Also accessible by bus; or you might BART from SFO to downtown SF and then get an Uber or Lyft to Sausalito.
I think without a car, you can reasonably plan on a restaurant meal in Sausalito but it may be optimistic to expect for daylight activities if your plane is arriving at 1pm. Even with a car, with all of the other stuff (airport delays, baggage claim, traffic, etc.), it might be 4pm or later before you would get to Sausalito. Traffic through and out of the city bogs down from 3-6 (commute hours) – so you could find yourself sitting in traffic for a while.
If you don’t want to rent a car, I’d seriously consider an Uber or Lyft for the whole trip from airport to Sausalito. I’m not a resident of SFO – only a very frequent visitor-- and when you have to rely on multiple modes of transport – BART, Muni, Ferry – things get really inefficient really quickly. An Uber may run you $60 or so but you are splitting it do it is nothing compared to the hassle and inconvenience of public transport with luggage. Besides, public transportation in SF gets very, disgustingly, uncomfortably crowded during the late afternoon hours. Don’t do it if you don’t absolutely have to!
teri, the Airporter stop is at Alexander Avenue & 101. You will need to be picked up there, as it is not really walkable to Sausalito from the stop. The Airporter is the bus with the rainbow on the front and picks up at green & white curbs on the luggage level, roughly every 1/2 hour. If you are in Terminal 1, you will make two more stops in the airport before you leave the property. The Sausalito stop is the first one after the GG Bridge. FYI…Airporter is cash only.
Again, for the $44 and tip, I think an Uber or Lyft will be about the same price…and you’ll get there faster!
My S has taken the Marin Airporter several times. It is easy to use and it saved my sister having to go to SFO to pick him up. If you don’t need the 2nd car I wouldn’t hesitate taking the airport shuttle. You might need to take an Uber to get from the shuttle stop to downtown Sausalito. If I remember correctly the shuttle stops are just off the freeway.Downtown Mill Valley is another cute town in Marin to spend a few hours walking around.
You might get lucky if we manage to get a dry spell after the current storm blows over… but this page has some photos that show what things are looking like right now:
The problem is simply that when it rains in California, we tend to have back-to-back storms in winter months. So it is quite likely that there is a lot more wet weather to come in January.
The weather is variable, but today was really pretty nice-- not very cold (55 when I got up at 6!) and only a little rain. Sunday was horrible and kind of scary, but that was just one day. It’s hard to say. Bring layers, smartwool, fleece. rain jacket, hiking boots…and it should be fine. I think, with a flight getting into SFO at one, and spouses working in Sonoma, I would go straight to Sausalito as others have suggested, without a rental car–whether by shuttle or Uber or public transportation with ferry or whatever. You should be able to get there with some daylight left and even on a rainy day, it is pretty scenic. Have a walk, have dinner, go to your hotel. I would not try for anything more ambitious for the Thursday–there is just not enough time! If you just go straight there, you will have some daylight. The only place I would stop, if I did have a car, would be at the scenic overlook for the Golden Gate Bridge. I don’t think you can ever go wrong stopping to look there or walk on the bridge. Even in crappy weather, it’s great for a short period.
I don’t think you have time for a Thursday outing unless you meet the guys in Sausalito or thereabouts.
Well, I got vetoed on the arrival plans. Evidently we are renting a car and driving up to Napa to meet the spouses, will eat dinner there, then drive over to Petaluma. When they arrive on Tuesday, they will drop their rental car off in Napa since they won’t need it Wednesday or Thursday. So that’s how we will end up with only one car. Even H admitted tonight that perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to plan travel with another couple that we’ve not spent a lot of time with socially. If I hadn’t booked my flight with United, I’d try to bail on this trip. They want to do Alcatraz Sunday morning - it’ll be my third time. I really don’t want to go again, although I might have if we’d done a night trip. But no one else traveling listened to me when I said those tickets sell out fast, so there were none left for Saturday night. I may need a trip to Ghiradelli after all!
This post might belong on the “Say It Here Cause You Can’t Say It Directly” thread.
I’ve been reading all the news about the storms rolling through, and yes, they could abate in the next two weeks, but part of me wants CA to keep getting rain as I want D2’s wedding venue to be green in March! I have a few FB friends in the northern CA area who have posted pictures of fallen trees, etc.
All this being said, while this isn’t really considered the Pacific Northwest, the four times I’ve been there (2 Oregon coast, 1 Seattle, 1 British Columbia), I came as prepared for rain as anyone could, and every time we had nothing by gorgeous sunshine, so maybe I’ll bring my weather magic to the Bay Area later this month.
Today was not an easy day where I live. A local road that is a main artery closed for hours due to a mudslide, plus complications from other accidents. People complaining that it took 2-3 hours with traffic to drive a distance that usually takes 10 minutes or less. Rain and wind are lighter, but there’s reportedly another heavy storm coming in.
Hey, we don’t want weather magic of sunshine! We’ve had too much of that in the winter the last few years. Keep your sunshine somewhere else! We need this rain.
Sadly, I heard that the huge tree in California that has an opening that cars drive through (which we have driven through) finally fell due to weather (and probably age & other factors). I’m pretty sure it’s a sequoia and was a huge gorgeous tree that would likely be still standing if a hole hadn’t but cut through the middle of it to allow cars to pass.
May I suggest that you KEEP the second rental car. It may cost a bit more, but it will keep your options open and it will improve your trip, dramatically.
And oh yeah, I’d like to re-suggest the Buckeye Roadhouse, especially on cooler rainy days with their lodge setting and big roaring fireplace. Its right on 101 on your way back to San Fran. Well worth the stop.
By the time we get back to SF on Saturday, I will be doing the women’s march, so no need to have a second car then. It will only be on Sunday morning, and if I decide to do something else, I can Uber or Lyft it. We can play it by ear on Tuesday, once we see what the weather is going to be like for Thursday-Saturday. They can decide then if they want to return theirs or keep it.
Yes, I think that’s the hope and plan, @nottelling. It’s also why she is eschewing a florist - the venue is outside. How could you compete with that? So I’m OK with some rain now - just have it stop by mid-March!
@teriwtt I trust you are packing your rain gear, as we are getting it now. FYI, today, Muir Woods is closed due to
expected rain and winds-- fear is falling trees…
