SF0 to San Francisco 4 day drive:- Stop over tips needed!

Hi Forum

I have four days of car hire planned starting at 3pm on Thurs 18th of Sept 2008 - car pick up in SFO after arriving from 4 nights in Las Vegas.

As I am travelling from Northern Ireland I want to get a flavour of California - beaches, rolling countryside and anything else in between.

I am considering Night 1 has to be north of SFO - somewhere near Nappa Valley/Russian River - Is there any town/hotel I need to check out?

Day 2 - Drive to South Lake Tahoe via Nappa valley/gold trail. Stay in Paradice Motel.

Day 3 long drive to the coast - Is there an interesting route to drive between South Lake Tahoe and say Monterey? Also, any good places to stay near/in Monterey?

Day 4 drive north towards San Francisco and stay somewhere enroute - any suggestions?

All suggestions gratefully received!

This is my bare bones plan

SF0 to San Francisco 4 day drive:- Stop over tips needed!

Day 3 - see Go List or post in the Monterey Forum tripadvisor.com/GoListDetail-i1562-Memorable…

Napa/Russian River - tripadvisor.com/GoListDetail-i17266-Wine_Tou…

see #11-31 on this Go List tripadvisor.com/GoListDetail-i1897-Breathtak…

SF0 to San Francisco 4 day drive:- Stop over tips needed!

Day 3 - From S. Tahoe to Monterey, you could drive through some of gold country in the Sierra Nevada Mtn foothills. Check a map,take Hi 89 south out of the Tahoe basin, to 88 west into the town of Jackson, then hi 49 south. 49 is the main gold country route (hence 49 for the year 1849 when gold was discovered). Continue south to hi 140, then head west towards the coast. 140 to 5, to 152, etc.

You might want to spend the night in Sonora or Jamestown. There are some caverns in the area you may want to check out, search for Moaning caves or mercer caverns.

There is no need to spend a night on day 4 between Monterey and SF it%26#39;s only a 2.5 hr drive.

As far as places to stay check the town of Pacific Grove, there are some great B%26amp;B%26#39;s there.