<p>Just got the word I’m being sent to Silicon Valley for a period in May. Any suggestions on where to stay, dine and visit?</p>
<p>What’s the best way to get around in the SF area?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>wow, where to dine I’d need a whole page to list. Answers to your questions somewhat demand other questions: Are you staying in the South Bay, the mid-Peninsula, or SF (mainly)? How long is your stay? When you say “get around” SF, a similar question: will you be there for just one day, & trying to catch as many interesting neighborhoods, attractions as possible? Or can you come back & forth between SF and the lower peninsula often?</p>
<p>If you want to visit the heart of SF and places like Chinatown, cable cars & streetcars would be the best, supplemented by cabs if you can afford it. Parking’s super-expensive now in the city (lots or street), and there’s very little street parking of any length in the downtown area. You could BART from the Airport area, to any SF BART Station, then hop on the aforementioned transport.</p>
<p>But if you’re the exploratory type, & have a limited time frame, you would get more covered in a car – such as visting landmarks not in the high-traffic areas, and that would be especially true if you also like exploring neighborhoods (the Sunset, the Richmond, Pacific Heights, SeaCliff, the Mission) & want to see Golden Gate Park.</p>
<p>If you’re going only for the main attractions (the Wharf, the Embarcadero, Chinatown, downtown such as the new Bloomies, etc.), it would be far better if you did not have to worry about cars, navigating one-way streets, & finding any kind of parking at any price. </p>
<p>PM me if you want more specifics.</p>
<p>If you are going to be in SV, which is closer to San Jose, and not in SF, which is 25 miles north, let me know, and I can give you some local pointers. You will definitely need a car for seeing anything in the Bay Area.</p>
<p>I’ll be working around Cupertino and will stay about 7 days. Not sure where we’ll be staying yet. I’ll try and extend the visit a couple of days and have Mrs P2N fly in for some sightseeing towards the weekend.</p>
<p>Since this is our first visit, probably focus on what can be done in 2-3 days… :)</p>
<p>p2n, I live on the border of Cupertino – PM me and I’ll show you around personally! :D</p>
<p>(I’ve got the restaurant question covered, just tell me what kind of food you’re interested in and price range, and I can give you at least a couple suggestions in that category.)</p>
<p>You are close to the Ridge winery, maker of some of California’s best zinfandels and one of the world’s great cabernets; be sure to visit</p>
<p>Does anyone know if the Apple company…hands out samples? :rolleyes: They’re in Cupertino. :)</p>
<p>Thank you all for the suggestions! Keep 'em coming… 
</p>
<p>(Especially the (hic) winesh visitshs…Islaw the movieshes Sidewaysis) :D</p>
<p>What restaurant does Virginia Madsen work in up in the wine country? Got to visit that one!</p>
<p>LOL if you’re going to Silicon Valley, expect to spend $$. Free stuff? Good one.</p>
<p>P2N, I’m afraid you’ll have to go south to visit the locale for Sideways. It was set in the vineyards of Central Coastal California.</p>
<p>Cupertino huh? </p>
<p>Mootmom will know a lot. Also do visit <a href=“http://www.chowhound.com%5B/url%5D”>www.chowhound.com</a>. The San Francisco Bay Area board is full of really dedicated chowhounds who can give you all kinds of info on where to eat, which famous restaurants are great, which overrated, where to go for Peruvian food in SF (my personal favorite…), where to get the best Vietnamese in San Jose (is it Vung Tao? Inquiring minds want to know…), and whether the Asian mall with Ranch 99 in Cupertino currently has good Northern Chinese, good Cantonese, good dim sum, good handpulled noodles, good Korean barbecue…</p>
<p>Oh yeah, and what taqueria in the Mission has the best burritos. And just exactly WHICH Cal-Ital place is hot now and whether Chez Panisse still has it (hint: yes)</p>
<p>I wouldn’t know where to stay in Cupertino but in SF there are great places. Let us know budget, style (i.e. large, small, funky, classic).</p>
<p>This is one of the greatest places in the world to eat and vacation so enjoy yourself. BTW, weather should be fabulous then, although not quite so glorious as July inland but perfect on the coast. Don’t forget Half Moon Bay, pretty undiscovered except by locals and some nice small B&Bs. Also a Ritz Carlton with doormen in knickers, but never mind that:).</p>
<p>You’ll be far enough away from San Francisco (about an hour by car door to door, with moderate traffic, which it seldom is) that you won’t want to stay there while you’re working, but don’t miss the chance to spend some time there on the weekend with your wife. Also, if you can take a few days off before or after consider spending them in the Napa Valley, north of San Francisco, and driving up the Marin County coast (also north).</p>
<p>The area around Cupertino itself, and all of Silicon Valley, is a great place to live and to work but not necessarily the place you would choose to visit. There are lots of wonderful restaurants, cheap and fancy, and the coast is beautiful, but generally it’s one gigantic suburb with great weather and nice hills in the distance.</p>
<p>You may, however, want to visit those perennial CC faves, “S” and Santa Clara University, both of which are very much in the neighborhood. If your state-university-loving-self can stomach it, of course. (Insert smiley.)</p>
<p>I was hoping to visit “S” and “B” (a public, at least ;)) and SCU. </p>
<p>As D1 may wind up anywhere, this would a fine time to look them over.</p>
<p>Too bad about missing Virginia Madsen. :(</p>
<p>In addition to Ridge, there is a host of small wineries between Palo Alto and Santa Cruz, about 30 or so miles southwest, plus neat small towns in the mountains such as Boulder Creek. Visit the wineries website at <a href=“http://www.scmwa.com/[/url]”>www.scmwa.com/</a> for more information. you may not meet Virginia Madsen; on the other hand, who knows where she will be at any given time?</p>
<p>For the weekend, I would stay in SF. We used to stay in the B&B on the northwest corner of Washington Square. From there, you can walk lots of places (including the whole North Beach and Chinatown areas) and taxi everywhere else. The top-of-line hotels are great too, on Nob Hill, etc. If B&B’s interest you, let me know and I’ll look up the name of the one on the Square.</p>
<p>Were it me, I would skip the “usual haunts” such as Fisherman’s Wharf and Ghirardelli Square in favor of the places you’ll hear of here on cc. </p>
<p>I agree Chez Panisse definitely still has it and go to the cafe (upstairs) every time I am in the Bay Area. Call ahead ! Since you’re going to visit “B”, you’ll be right there. Downstairs is great too, but very different. Prix fixe, no choices (unless it’s changed) and you may have to reserve prior to knowing what’s on the menu.</p>
<p>My personal taqueria choice is Taqueria San Jose 2830 Mission St. The guys speak a smidge of English. You will be mingling in line with 3-pc suits, locals from the Mission District, plumbers, artistes… And the only “tourists” will be those equally-in-the-know as yourself ;).</p>
<p>imho, if you’re only having one weekend for the fun portion of your program, you need to choose EITHER SF/Berkeley OR the wine country. YMMV.</p>
<p>Car needed while in Silicon Valley and for wine country if you go. Ditch the car if you spend the weekend in SF. Way more trouble than it’s worth. The city is glorious and there is no other city like it: the hills, the vistas, the neighborhoods, the food, the shopping. And if you’ve never been, I’d choose it over the wine country for this first visit. Then, find reasons why your co. needs to send you out there 3-4x/yr. </p>
<p>Like dadofsam says, you will be near the “lesser” wine country while in SV, so if you’re not working 24/7, you could do some of that stuff down there.</p>
<p>If you do not live in an area with great, REAL Chinese food then this is a must. The current Bay Area locals can steer you to specifics. The SV places will be just as good as ones you can find in SF imo. Other great ethnic places down there as well: Thai, etc. Learn to use chopsticks if you don’t already. Forks are only provided at Bay Area Chinese places on request :p. Then you will forever be cool when you go out for Chinese elsewhere. (apologies if you already are proficient)</p>
<p>For your weekend, ask mrs p2noles if she would rather have a city vacation with food and people and some culture (new Asian museum etc in SF), a hedonistic sun-filled spa experience with wine and food (Napa/Sonoma), or a wind-tossed time in a land time forgot where you can even stay in a luxury tent or a place called Manka’s (Half Moon Bay and the rest of the San Mateo coast OR up to Marin County, and the Marin County coast…).</p>
<p>If she can’t decide then spend the nights in SF and take the ferry over to Sausalito or something…</p>
<p>And also let us know your food prefs, spicy - not spicy, adventurous - not adventurous.</p>
<p>We feel about weekends and food the way the Inuit supposedly feel about snow. There are many, many, many kinds and never enough time.</p>
<p>Oh, Alu. You are a superior travel consultant - you actually ask the client what <em>s/he</em> wants. I just want them to do what <em>I</em> want. :p.</p>
<p>I think your services are probably more valuable.</p>
<p>Gosh no. I am just terrified of being called bossy:).</p>
<p>Trauma from being the oldest of 4 children perhaps?</p>
<p>Thanks, AM!</p>
<p>We’re native Floridians so seeing yet more sun only means our dermatologist will continue to have a new BMW every year. Food, however, is always important. We dislike the chains and always seek out the finest local fare we can find. We are adventurous and like to explore (goes for food, too)…but really touristy stuff turns us off, unless it a historic landmark. I’m seeing there’s much to do and limited time…maybe the famous SF-area attractions first, and I’ll ask where she (who must be obeyed) wants to go. ;)</p>
<p>Since you have limited time, I’ll stick my neck out and state that I think Sausalito is over-rated. Except maybe to have a drink at the Alta Mira while drinking in the view. Ditto Fisherman’s Wharf as I’ve already stated, although there’s no “except” to that one.</p>
<p><em>dons flame retardant suit</em></p>
<p>If you visit Stanford, the Stanford Art Museum is really nice and there is an excellent cafe in the museum that was favorably reviewed by the New York Times.</p>