unsy34

We are in the beginning stages of planning a mid-August trip- flying into Vegas (we're from the Boston area), then off to Yosemite, San Fran, and wine country. We are planning on 12ish nights. We know we'll be spending a decent amount of money, but hope to spend $200 or less nightly on accomodations. We are both 30 and are looking for a mix of site-seeing and relaxation. Any advice/tips are appreciated!

sludick

What kinds of wine do you enjoy? I grew up close to the wine country before moving to Florida. It used to be different from what it is now. Personally, I would arrange my itinerary to visit some of the wineries in the Amador-Placerville area. How set are you on San Francisco? There is so much to see in Yosemite, and if you follow my winery suggestions, you might want to check out Lake Tahoe instead.

don512

Do you have an itinerary set up, in as far as how many days that you intend to spend at each place? I would say that you time in Yosemite might depend on what kind of activities you like. Are you going there to see the park, or does a lot of physical activites appeal to you? And by wine country do you necessarily mean Napa/Sonoma?

unsy34

We're flexible, but thinking 3 nights in vegas, 2 yosemite, 3 san fran, 2 wine country (we were leaning towards sonoma valley). If we made some changes and did lake tahoe, which area would you recommend? As for yosemite, we're going more to see the park; husband is a photographer, but also likes to stay active.

don512

The reason that I was asking about wine region you are interested in was because, I figured if you were open that I would suggest the Santa Cruz/Monterey region. Although I have never actually visited the wine region there, I have heard that it is a very good area to visit. Not to mention, that the Carmel/Monterey/Big Sur area is the most beautiful area of coastline on the west coast. I did a simular trip a few years back making a circle from San Francisco to Lake Tahoe to Yosemite to Big Sur and back to SF. I thought that both Tahoe and Yosemite were beautiful but then after going to Big Sur I thought that there was nothing better (I really love the coast, having traveled almost all of the coast in Washington, Oregon and California). As far as going to Lake Tahoe, I personally like your other choices in California better. Especially for a photographer.