Bay Area And Wine Country Weekend Itinerary

This Bay Area Weekend Itinerary was kind of our excuse to have some parent’s time away from our daughter for a weekend. The focus for this trip primarily targeted the Bay Area (particularly Sonoma) while also visiting family in Burlingame and chasing short-season waterfalls pretty much down the California Coast.

While the focus of this trip wasn’t really for the waterfalls (Julie really wanted to experience the spas and the wine tasting tours), we did manage to fit in some waterfalling, especially on the long drive home.

While we’ve done Bay Area trips that involved the wine country in the past, this one was different in that we actually had to postpone our trip multiple times when the state had a parade of atmospheric river storms throughout the month of February going into early March.

Even this trip had the threat of rain on Saturday, which conspired to make us change plans yet again, but it turned out to not be much of an issue (basically a minor nuissance) once we got up there.

So we’ll detail in this itinerary write-up what we managed to accomplish on this go around…

Trip Map

Trip Highlights

Montara Mountain Loop Trail – This was the hike in Pacifica that we managed to fit in before catching up with my cousin in Burlingame, and then eventually making it up to Sonoma for the rest of the weekend. The main reason why we wanted to do this hike was to visit Brooks Falls in good weather this time, which also motivated us to do the entire loop trail taking in views of the Pacific Ocean as well as Pacifica.

Viansa Winery – This was one of two wine tasting “tours” that we did in Sonoma though this place was really more of a dining-type experience with views of wetlands at an outflow of Sonoma Creek. In fact, it was the views that attracted Julie to this place, but the flight of whites and reds that we tasted with the Pork Riclette was also pretty nice.

Gundlach Bundschu Winery – This was the second of the two wine tasting tours that we did in Sonoma. Unlike the first one we did, this was an actual tour in that we got many different wine tastings all while getting a history and background of the family business here as well as a walking tour encompassing the wine “cave” as well as views over a pond and the vineyards out back. This is said to be the oldest family-run winery left in Sonoma (Buena Vista was sold so it’s no longer considered “family-run” even though it’s the oldest winery in Sonoma).

Ken Harth Waterfall and Buck Gulch Falls – These were two of the “neighborhood waterfalls” in Novato, which we visited during our long drive home from Sonoma while waterfalling along the way. We seized the moment on this trip because we knew February and early March had seen a parade of atmospheric river rains after the Winter got a late start (as December and January were both dry). Thus, we had vastly improved experiences with these waterfalls over the first time I was here two years prior. And in a way, it set the tone for how the rest of the day was going to go waterfalling-wise.

Garland Ranch Regional Park – The main reason for our visit to this park in Carmel Valley was to finally try to see the Garland Ranch Falls flowing. We managed to accomplish that (barely) so we managed to finally get to experience this waterfall the way it should be experience. However, we were also pleasantly surprised by the fine weather, the nice greenery around us, and a surprise bloom of California Poppies (the state’s natural flower) although it seemed like there’d be no superbloom this year.

Nojoqui Falls – This was another waterfall that we visited a long time ago (before our daughter was born), but we thought perhaps we could see if the experience would be different this time around given the atmospheric river storms that hit us the previous month. Well, we weren’t disappointed with the booming flow of the falls though technically the trail had been storm damaged and closed for years though most people went beyond the barricades and warning signs at risk. Nevertheless, as you can see above, the falls did indeed perform well, and it was a nice way to end off the waterfalling bonanza on our long drive home; certainly worth getting home late to detour and do this hike before resuming our drive home in the dark.

Trip Advice

During our 3 days in Sonoma, we learned that quite a few things have changed over the years since we first visited the Sonoma Wine Country as well as the long drives involved to get up here from Los Angeles. Here’s some of the takeaways we got from this trip…

Wine Tastings: Given the shrinkflation phenomenon that has taken hold, there’s no such thing as free wine tastings anymore. Now, you have to book your wine tastings or at least pay to be a member at the wineries here to earn “free” tastings. So as long as you’re cognizant of that fact, then you can still enjoy tastings, but perhaps you can get a bit of a history lesson as well as some principles behind wine producing, and you might even get a nice walking tour to boot! To me, it’s not unlike how accommodations charge “resort fees”, which now pretty much come with the territory, and paying for wine tastings are no different in that regard.

Long Driving Distances: It took us roughly a little over 6 hours to drive from Los Angeles to Pacifica going directly via the I-5, Hwy 152, and the US101. It then took another 90 minutes to continue driving north to Sonoma. However, when we came back home, we took the long way along the US101 while making 4 waterfalling stops along the way as well as a stop in Berkeley for some mochi donuts. The end result was that we had a day that involved about 14 hours on the road (including the hiking stops along the way), which gives you an idea of how long the driving distances were. That’s something to keep in mind about how much longer it takes to go along the US101 versus the I-5.

Weather: Normally, California doesn’t see that much rain even in the Winter months, but we are prone to having “wet” years, and 2024 was no different even if Winter got off to a late start as the atmospheric river parade didn’t start until February. But once the storm door opened, the rains kept coming and coming, and we even postponed our trip 3 times before finally getting to do this almost mid-March. It was a good thing we postponed the trip when we did because Northern California was dealing with flooding and even a tornado or two. With Global Warming giving us extreme weather (both extreme drought as well as extreme precipitation in such a short period of time), this is definitely something to watch out for as our climate continues to de-stabilize.

Overpriced Spas: Julie actually wanted us to do one of the mineral spas and baths in Sonoma, and we wound up doing it at the Fairmont Sonoma. However, that place was a bit of a rip off (we paid over $700 for mandatory spa treatment just so we could use their heated mineral pools). And having had done the spas in Tuscany, Italy as well as the onsens throughout a lot of Japan, the Sonoma experience had nothing on what you could get internationally. So I’m pretty sure we’re not going to do another one of these (hopefully ever) domestically.

Travel Itinerary

Day 1: Drive from Los Angeles to Sonoma

Overnight: Best Western Sonoma Valley Inn & Krug Event Center (Sonoma, California)

We got an early start to our trip by trying to beat the infamous Los Angeles Rush Hour (we didn’t quite beat it, but at least we weren’t delayed by more than an hour). Along the way, we got some BBQ brisket sandwich at Harris Ranch near Coalinga, did a hike in Pacifica involving Brooks Falls along with some coastal views, and we spent quality time with my cousin’s family in downtown Burlingame.

Day 2: Sonoma

Overnight: Best Western Sonoma Valley Inn & Krug Event Center (Sonoma, California)

On this day, we pretty much spent it all in Sonoma, where we did a pair of wine tours, a spa and mineral bath, and a splurge dinner at Girl and the Fig. The weather held up enough for us to enjoy the day despite the forecast calling for rain.

Day 3: Driving Home

Overnight: Home (Los Angeles, California, USA)

On this day, we took a more scenic route along the US101 instead of direct along the featureless I-5. Along the way, we targeted multiple waterfalls, including Ken Harth Waterfall, Buck Gulch Falls, Garland Ranch Falls, and Nojoqui Falls. Sure, it was a very long day that started at 7:30am in the morning and ended after 9:30pm with some additional time for much-needed dinner (so the day didn’t end until after 10:30pm). But aside from lack of sleep before the next workday, I’d say the overall experience was worth it!