A California road trip | Part one: San Francisco and Muir Woods

From San Francisco to Muir Woods

Hi there!

We finished the first blog post about our trip to California! A couple of years ago we drove the Highway 1 from Los Angeles to San Francisco, and because we have fond memories of that road trip we wanted to go back, but then drive it the other way around. People always say that's the best way to do it, because there's nothing else between you and the ocean than coastline, rocks and vegetation. And now and then some sea lions! 

We flew from Amsterdam to San Francisco, where we picked up our car and drove to Oakland, the location of our first accommodation. Oakland is a nice alternative for San Francisco, because it can be tricky to find a nice and affordable place to stay in the city that became one of the most expensive in the US over the last years. From Oakland you can easily take the BART (metro) to San Francisco, which is just a 20 minute ride to downtown. 

We stayed in the Bay Area for three full days, and this is our top 10 of favourites:

  1. Muir Woods (and Equator coffee at Proof Lab in Mill Valley on the way)
  2. The Mill, close to Alamo Square. The toast with almond butter and honey is a must try! Check out #hipstertoast on Instagram.
  3. Wise and sons in The Mission. Challah French Toast, yes!
  4. General Store in Outer Sunset. Think Bohemian treasures, natural beauty products, and the greenhouse in the garden is fabulous!
  5. The Scarlet Sage Herb Co. in The Mission. A Wonderful store with herbs, mineral stones, Tarot decks, books and more.
  6. Little Paper Planes. Beautiful curated collections from upcoming artists and designers. Mission is a fantastic area for more original shops, bars and restaurants.
  7. Blue Bottle & Heath Ceramics in The Mission for the perfect coffee and some shopping. 
  8. Four Barrel Coffee. The slow brew bar in their Valencia Street store is great! 
  9. Sightglass Coffee in SoMA; check out the amazing interior! 
  10. Outer Sunset. Lovely quiet 'hood, close to the beach. Don't forget 3 Fish Studios for nice affordable art, and Hollow Coffee. 

As you can imagine; three days is waaay to short for this amazing city. In our next post about California we'll continue our trip along the stunning Pacific coast, so stay tuned! 

Andres & Joyce