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Although just seeing all there is to see in the city could fill most visits to San Francisco, there is much more to see nearby - in the Bay Area, and further afield. Closest of all is just over either one of the bridges:
To the North over the Golden Gate Bridge and you very quickly arrive at the sleepy towns of Sausalito and Tiburon. Both can be reached by Ferry from Fishermans Wharf and will provide a peaceful few hours away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Cross over the other bridge - the Oakland Bay Bridge and you arrive in Oakland, and Berkeley - both of which are worthy of a visit. In particular Berkeley is worth a look as home to the University of California at Berkeley (strangely enough!) which gives it a completely fresh feel. And in Oakland the Jack London Square area is a re-generated area of the waterfront, complete with restaurants, shops and the famous 'First and Last Chance Saloon' (above) which is worthy of a visit firstly because of it's crazy sloping floor (a left-over from subsidence caused by the 1906 Earthquake) but also because of the wide selection of beers available! You can also get to this side of the Bay by ferry from Fisherman's Wharf - see our How to get around San Francisco page for details.
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Further afield, a couple of hours to the North of San Francisco is the main wine-growing area of California - the Napa Valley. Napa itself is a quaint town that really acts as the gateway to the whole valley - and in particular provides the starting point for the fantastic Napa Wine Train. Not surprisingly you can spend as much time as you like drinking as much wine as you want without paying for any of it - although obviously the wine growers would prefer that you actually purchase a few bottles on your way out!!!
Further afield again (about 200 miles in fact!) is the truly majestic Yosemite National Park. I'm not even going to try and do this place justice in only 2 lines, so just go there, as soon as you can - and when you do take a drive to Glacier Point to really get a feel for the scale and majesty of the park! On the way to Yosemite, and a perfect 'stopping-off' point on the journey, is California's Gold Country - the area that caused San Francisco to be the city that it is now. Stretching north-to-south along the foothills of the Sierra Nevada's, Gold County provides a fascinating insight into the history of California of 150 years ago.
And that's just a sample! I haven't even covered the beautiful scenery of historic Route 1 which runs South from the Bay Area to Los Angeles, or the easily reachable redwoods at Muir Woods just to the North of the city, or the delightful coastline just to the West of the bay area.
For more info pick up one of the many guidebooks available - a small selection of our recommendations can be found on the store page!
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Other Images of Also in the vicinity of....
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