It sounds like you want something more exotic than most U.S. destinations and somewhere warm. However, if you are limited to a 4-day weekend, I think you'd be insane to even consider Buenos Aires or Spain. You'd be spending over 25% of your entire weekend on the flight to either destination.

Sadly, the same is true for St. John. You'd have to fly overnight to Miami or San Juan and then take another flight to St. Thomas, and then a short ferry. This trip would take a minimum of 15 hours. Not so bad going since you'd make the longest flight overnight, but that's not an option returning. You'd spend your entire last day of vacation on a plane.

Key West might be just as difficult and it's not really lacking in crowds.

Here's what I'd suggest. Of the places you've mentioned, Costa Rica and Austin might be the two best choices. You'll still likely have to do a connecting flight to either one.

If I were making the recommendation, I'd say start by considering Kauai. It's a shorter hop from SFO and warm. Mexico is another natural destination for you, and the weather in Puerto Vallarta or Cabo San Lucas would be fairly moderate; plus, there are several smaller towns to which you can escape in the immediate area.

There must be other attractive places you can fly nonstop from SFO, and those are the ones you should look at first. Just not to Europe. There are great destinations in South America that are much closer than Buenos Aires ... Cartagena in Colombia or Lima might be possibilities, though I'm not sure about connections to South America from SFO.

I also would consider driving. There are some great places that are within 250 miles of San Francisco. Even if you just escaped to Big Sur, you might find the isolation you are looking for.

It's not as exotic as your other suggestions, but what about Vancouver - just a few hours north of San Francisco? It won't be warm, but you'll probably see some stunning scenery, have a chance to ski, kayak, eat great food, go to a New Year's Eve party without huge crowds, take a float plane to Victoria or somewhere remote on Vancouver Island, etc.

Hi, thanks for the replies...

I really like the Vancouver idea, frogoutofwater. I've never been there & we've wanted to go sometime. Cold for sure, but gorgeous.

Doug, you're right that some of my choices would be appallingly long flights in relation to how much time we have. We've been fortunate enough to go to Hawaii a lot & so don't want to go there, & Mexico is more my bf's kind of 40th. We've been wanting to go to Big Sur, but in fall.

I'll ck out the direct flights from SF.

Thanks again for your suggestions! -V

valerie05 - It will be winter in Vancouver, but it won't necessrily be "cold for sure". I grew up in the region and go home for Christmas every other year. Having lived in colder parts of Canada, Vancouver feels balmy. That said, the weather can be unpredictable. It could be as warm as the high 40s, but might drop to a few degrees below 0. Note that one adventure you could add to your trip (not cheap) is to take take a small plane to somewhere interesting in Vancouver Island (e.g. Tofino). You don't really have the time to drive there, so flying up would be your best option. If you don't like crowds, maybe the best place to spend your birthday and watch the New Year arrive is in a cabin overlooking the wild Pacific.

How about San Miguel de Allende? Never been, but it's on the list!

Happy planning!

DD