Family trip to Bay Area question

[Chava61]

I would add to the San Francisco attractions, the Cable Car Museum (San Francisco Cable Car Museum), Coit Tower for a great view of the area (California Travel - Article (http://gocalifornia.about.com/od/casfmenu/a/coittower.htm)and - broken link) the Japanese Tea Garden located in Golden Gate Park (The Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, California presented by Holy Mountain).

[Frank99]

Monterey Bay Aquarium -Must See without question. I would spend a day at the aquarium and Cannery Row. You can also drive around the point to the beach. Also, you may want to drive down to Carmel (very quaint area w/many shops/restaurants). If your sons are baseball fans then you can see a game at AT&T park and they won't be disappointed (take Ferry across bay from Alameda for a very cool experience). Of course, a trip out to Alcatraz and cable car ride are probably something you should do...

[tanglenet]

Here's my rec:

Fly into San Jose, drive 20 minutes over the hill to Santa Cruz. Hit the Pacific Garden Mall (actually a street) the beach and SC Boardwalk. Spend the night in Santa Cruz. Drive down to Monterey and stay there for 1-2 days. Visit the Aquarium, have dinner in Carmel (or better yet Passionfish in Pacific Grove) and spend a couple of hours at Point Lobos beach (about 20 minutes away; go early morning before the crowds). If you go to Cannery Row, you've also experienced Pier 39 in SF as it is t-shirt shops, tacky nick knacks and cheap memorabilia.

Drive up Highway 1 to SF, which is a beautiful drive along the coast. You can also drop by Pescadero and hike in Butano State Park. You could cut over to Hillsborough to visit your friends. I would stay in SF around Union Square and get rid of the car. You will pay between $20-35 a day for parking plus the daily car rental of the pleasure of not using it. Have your other friends visit you in the City for lunch or dinner. Lots of things to do for the family in SF including museums, ball park, Exploratorium, etc with the kids.

And remember when you dress for a SF summer, dress for winter / fall as it can be cool and / or cold which means long sleeve shirts, long pants and coats and sweaters.

Fly out of SFO. Take the BART from downtown to the airport.