wwinfl91 Posted August 28, 2013 #1 Share Posted August 28, 2013 HI, This post consists of several questions. The rental car questions deal with us having one from 9/25 until 9/28 2013. One deals with dropping off a rental car downtown, National car rental evidently has a place near Union Square, when you have picked it up at the airport. Has anyone done this and how did it go? Another one is how much traffic and about how long would it take to go from SF International airport area to the Napa Valley in the late afternoon, after 4:30 PM? My wife wants to drive right back into SF and cross the Oakland bridge and head up that way. I think the traffic would be less heading south from the airport and then crossing San Madeo bridge and then head north from there and probably stopping at a motel somewhere short of the Napa Valley area. Then proceeding in the morning to the Napa and Sonoma Valley for a two day visit. The plan is to drop the rental car off downtown and go to the Omni hotel for 3 nights before boarding the Zuiderdam for a Panama Canal cruise leaving Oct 1. Any advice on the subject is welcome. I have had luck before getting answers from both locals and tourists. Have a great next cruise or trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted August 28, 2013 #2 Share Posted August 28, 2013 Traffic will be horrible at all times during that timeframe. The best route would probably be going thru Marin (across the Golden Gate), taking 101 to 380 to 280 back to 101 at the Golden Gate. Then up 101 to Hwy 37, then to Hwy 121. I would allow 90 minutes, minimum. Could easily be 2 hours. The big plus is you will have access to car pool lanes just about everywhere they exist, and this will help a lot. Backtracking to cross the San Mateo will expose you to some of the heaviest traffic in the Bay Area, around Hwy 80/880 maze. Going across the NEW (!!!!- opening Sept 2) Bay Bridge will be shorter than the San Mateo Bridge option. However, you will still be exposed to the heavy 80/880 traffic going this way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwinfl91 Posted August 29, 2013 Author #3 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Thanks for the reply. I guess my wife was right. I am assuming I would leave the airport and get to 280 and head towards the Golden Gate Bridge. From the map I have it looks like I will take 19th street to get to bridge. Does that seem to make sense? Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted August 29, 2013 #4 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Thanks for the reply. I guess my wife was right. I am assuming I would leave the airport and get to 280 and head towards the Golden Gate Bridge. From the map I have it looks like I will take 19th street to get to bridge. Does that seem to make sense? Thanks again. That is correct. We drive that route very frequently. The area around Napa is very popular, particularly in that time frame, as the crush will be in full swing. So, if staying in Napa is important, I would be getting a reservation. It will be more expensive, but pretty and, IMHO, worth it. If staying in Napa isn't important, you can probably just stroll up to places in Vallejo, but some research to find some safe places in safe locations might be a good idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruise_More_Often Posted August 30, 2013 #5 Share Posted August 30, 2013 . . . Then proceeding in the morning to the Napa and Sonoma Valley for a two day visit.Please don't forget the "Sonoma" part of your Wine Country tour. We like to think of our area as authentic and unpretentious. :D Sunset Magazine did a comparison of the two areas last year (http://www.sunset.com/m/travel/wine-country/napa-and-sonoma-face-off-00418000078101/), looking at such things as the wine (of course), food, places to stay, accessibility, things to do, and the winner was -- Sonoma! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimHam4 Posted August 30, 2013 #6 Share Posted August 30, 2013 A few years ago my wife and I did something similar but went in and out of Oakland. Arriving early afternoon picked up rental at airport for pretty easy drive to Sonoma. We prefer Sonoma over Napa for its laid back attitude. After our weekend drove to our hotel near Union Square to drop or luggage, then headed to another nearby hotel to drop the car. Easy to do and was just a short walk back to the hotel. Took the BART to the airport after our hotel stay. Only warning I would have is that the drop off was on the very edge of the Tenderloin and could have been sketchy if it had been later in the evening. Sent from my HTC One X using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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