San Francisco/Chicago 7 Nights - Best Split?

gaillimh

Hi.

Myself and my oh will most likely be in the US for 13 nights (25th May to 7th June).
The last 7 nights we will split between Chicago and San Francisco (flying home from SF on 7th June).
Neither of us have been to either city.
I realise this is probably very much down to personal taste but if you had 7 nights to split between the two how many days would you spend in each?
I'm slightly leaning towards 4 nights in SF & 3 in Chicago.
We don't currently have any plans to hire a car so will probably stick to the city and its environs via public transport.
I would be open possibly to hiring a car for 1 day in SF to travel either to Napa Valley or else down towards Monterey,Carmel,Big Sur area but that's not set in stone at all.

I would just be interested to hear opinions from people who have been to both from a visitors perspective.

I may be totally wrong here but am getting the sense that there may be slightly more to do in SF than Chicago to justify the extra day?
On the other side Chicago is maybe more likely to have warmer weather then SF in the first week of June if we wanted to chill in the sun for a day?

I guess the things we like to do on holiday are a mixture of relaxation/sunshine, shopping, nice food and wine, some sightseeing without going too overboard, wandering the streets looking around etc. Not overly into museums or bars/nightclubs really.

Anyway I'd be grateful for any opinions that ye may have.
Thanks a mill

InTheTrees

Vastly different cities. Chicago is a huge metropolis like New York and when you visit you'd spend your whole time in the city.

San Fransisco is tiny, but geographically its stunning so while the city has less to occupy you than Chicago, the side trips are amazing. Napa, Tahoe, Marin, Monterey. So a car is important for at least a day.

For sunshine, The western parts of SF are liable to Fog. Less so in the east, its extremely localized. But it can be random. Best bet for actual reliable sun would be the desert. Vegas?

gaillimh

Thanks for your reply. Appreciate it.
As regards San Francisco - do you think 2 full days in the city itself would be enough? The 3rd day then we would probably hire a car and visit Sausalito & Napa Valley.

I think the other side trips (Tahoe etc) may possibly be a bit too long of a round trip for a day trip?

iusedtoknow

It really depends what you are into when it comes to trips

San Francisco has

1. Alcatraz (try and do the night tour, it's creepy as anything, not as packed, and only 3 hours)
2. cable cars
3. the mission district (boutique stores and amazing mexican food)
4. cycle the bridge
5. interesting museums (science museum, exporitorium, de young)

Personally, I would spend 3 days in the city, including biking over the bridge to Sausilito and taking the ferry back to the city.

If you did want to see Napa in an interesting way, there are day trips from the city that bring you by bus to Napa town, then on a steam train through the vineyards. It's kinda pricey, but you see a lot and get beautiful food/drinks.

would also suggest drive down route 1 to Monterey, it's a nice relaxed seaside town. Good food, nice old/new town and will show you a different part of California.

InTheTrees

iusedtoknow wrote: »

would also suggest drive down route 1 to Monterey, it's a nice relaxed seaside town. Good food, nice old/new town and will show you a different part of California.

I agree. If you ony have a car for a day, I'd pick going south on Highway one down to Monterey over going north to Napa Valley.

Its a shame to miss Napa though, its pretty unique.

But driving down Highway One along the Pacific is hard to beat and the section between SF and Monterey Bay/Santa Cruz is spectacular. Maybe not as much as the Big SUr section but still really beautiful.

One thing to be aware of is The Fog. WHich unfortunately does hug the coast. It usually burns off by midday though and it can be very localized so dont be put off if its grey and cloudy in the mornings.

There's even a wiki on it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_fog

rossie1977

san francisco is a much nicer city and more worthy of the extra day. while small most of the main sites are spread out making the likes of alcatraz and walking the golden gate tough to do in one day.