JADSJBD

Hi,
I will be staying at a VRBO in Menlo Park for two weeks in April. For the first part of the trip it will only be my adult daughter and I (her Mom). We will have a rental car. I have been to San Fran with my husband, and when there we took a bus tour to Muir Woods with a ferry ride back from Sausalito. Are there safe places to park if we do the bus tour, or should I Uber from Menlo Park? What other things or places to visit do you suggest for two females? Our free days will be on Saturday and Sunday, if that makes any difference. We also know nothing about Menlo Park, so anyone has any must see, or do suggestions for there, we would love the guidance! Thank you in advance!!

janisj

From Menlo Park I would not even consider Muir woods. Go to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park in the Santa Cruz Mountains instead. It is a bigger, better park, you don't need reservations and it is only 45 miles from Menlo Park (very slightly nearer than is Muir Woods but a much easier drive)

Big Basin is even closer to Menlo Park but the drive to Henry Cowel is easier.

JADSJBD

Thank you for the reply. My daughter also wants to see the Golden Gate Bridge, San Fran, etc, so that is why we want to visit Muir Woods.

janisj

I still personally would not do Muir Woods. There is soooooooo much to do in San Francisco while seeing the GG bridge etc. Muir Woods is only a good idea if one has no other options. It get quite crowded and faffing about with reservations, parking issues etc. You can do SF (including the Bridge one day and Henry Cowell on a different day.

macdogmom

We live part time in Menlo Park and lived full time for many years there and Portola Valley, which is right next door. There’s lots of nice places to walk-Stanford Dish is a popular hiking area off of Alpine Road and Windy Hill is out in Portola Valley and has great hiking to the top of the hills where you can gaze down on the Pacific Ocean. Stanford campus is lovely to walk around and has a really nice art museum. Menlo Park downtown is compact and you can stroll up and down Santa Cruz Ave, the main downtown street and find lots of restaurants and bakeries. University Ave in Palo Alto is bigger and also very nice. If you want specific restaurant recommendations I’m happy to pass some along. You can also park your car at cal trains station in MP and take the train up to SF. Muir Woods is a haul and probably a 90 minute drive or longer depending on traffic.

StuDudley

I live about half-way between Menlo Park and San Francisco. Ditto evertyone's rec to not visit Muir Woods. Many reasons.

Here is something I posted more than a decade ago. Due to technology changes, many of the replies are missing sections of text. But you can get some info here:

San Francisco - Stu Dudley's Recommendations

Stu Dudley

TheModoc

I would stick with the area between San Jose & SF. Tons to do: Filoli Historic House & Gardens, Cantor Art Ctr & Gardens, Japanese Tea/SF Botanical Garden, several nice parks and beaches, terrific restaurants, etc.

JADSJBD

Thank you for the information on Stanford. Though none of us are into hiking, we will be spending a lot of time at Stanford, as that is the reason for our visit. My daughter will be having surgery there, and we are staying in a Menlo Park apartment, because we wanted to be close to the hospital, and also have something larger than a hotel room/suite. She will be having testing for three of the five days we are there before her surgery, so we will only have Saturday and Sunday for her to see some of the things she is interested in. After her surgery and stay in the hospital, we have to remain for a week, but have been told she will need a good bit of care, so we ( my husband, and her husband, and I) will be caring for her. I would love some recommendations for restaurants! Thank you!

JADSJBD

Hi Stu,
I remember reading this when I was researching my first trip to SF. Great list and info! My husband and I visited Muir Woods maybe 6-7 years ago, and though it was crowded, and I found the lack of respect for the beauty to be irritating, we still loved it. Never having been around such large and beautiful trees, we were in love! I compare it to people who have lived inland all their lives, and finally see an ocean. Pictures don’t do it justice. We are beach bums from the East Coast, and I have to remind myself not to be irritated with the screamers we deal with all Summer long. I have to tell myself, “they’ve never seen this before, they’re overwhelmed!”. So if staying away from Muir Woods is just because it’s crowded, I understand. We still got a lot out of the bus tour because we were told about historic parts, shown the GG bridge, etc. Because we have very little time, this makes the most sense to me. However you said, “for many reasons”. If the area have become unsafe for two females to be there, please let me know, and any other reasons you have that are concerning. I wanted her to see Fisherman’s Wharf, the sea lions, have some great seafood there, take a cab around the city to the spots we’ve seen in film, the beauty that I remember SF being. For the weekend, it will just be my daughter and I, so her safety is my main concern, as well as getting her mind off the upcoming surgery.

JADSJBD

Thank you! We will check that area out!

JADSJBD

[QUOTE=macdogmom; You can also park your car at cal trains station in MP and take the train up to SF. Muir Woods is a haul and probably a 90 minute drive or longer depending on traffic.[/QUOTE]

I wondered about taking the train. Thank you for the suggestion. I was thinking about taking an Uber into SF, simply, because I really want to look at everything, not having to drive and find a place to park.

macdogmom

Good luck with surgery and I highly recommend the doctors and entire staff at Stanford. My husband had heart surgery there, I had my second son there and I spent some time in their emergency room with various kids and husband (2 appendix out in one year!). Staying in MP is a really good idea and means you don’t have to battle traffic to get back and forth. Sandhill road does get crowded at rush hour morning and evening commute times but most of the day is easy to navigate.

Next to the hospital is Stanford shopping center which has every store imaginable and a nice place to walk around especially if you need something to get your mind off of medical stuff. On campus the Memorial church is stunning and again has a big quad to walk around and see other parts of the campus. Cantor art museum on campus is also a nice spot to wander around and I think they have a great cafe.

On Santa Cruz Ave the Left Bank and Bistro Vida are both longtime French (but casual) restaurants and off of Santa Cruz on Crane is Carpaccio also a MP institution. There’s a new residential and retail complex called Springline and has a good Spanish tapas place called Canteen, burmese place called Burma Love and Italian spot Che Fico. We get coffee at Coffeebar most mornings we are in MP. For funky and iconic the Dutch Goose is on Alameda de las Pulgas and down the street from them is Lulu’s, a very casual Mexican place.

Good luck with everything! Caltrains is great but you do have to then get around the city. It lets you off down by the ballpark south of market.

JADSJBD

Thank you for all the great recommendations as well as the reassurance that we are in good hands! We researched her surgery, and the Dr. Is highly recommended as well as the staff, but it is nice to hear from others that she made the right decision! She will have to return for several more checkups over the next few years, so will have more opportunities to see all the other things with her husband when she is hopefully in a better place medically to be more physically active. I’m looking forward to walking around MP, and trying out some of the restaurants!

J62

Taking CalTrain into the city will spare you the pain of sitting in traffic (and there is always traffic), parking, etc. Uber/Lift/Waymo are plentiful and fast to arrive all over SF. From the CalTrain station there is also frequent easy tram/streetcar service that runs along the Embarcadero to the Ferry Building/Market, and connections further to Fishermans Wharf if that's on your to-do list. When I"m by myself I'll ride public transportation, but with a group a ride share is easier.

JADSJBD

Thank you! Yes, Fisherman’s Wharf is on the list😀.

StuDudley

The Wharf is really tacky. Great for kids - but unless you are looking for t-shirts or kitchy souvenirs - there are better things to do in The City. Try a SF City Guides Tour (spin-off from the SF Public Library).
https://sfcityguides.org/

My wife is one of the volunteer guides, and is conducting the Victorian San Francisco tour on April 6.

Stu Dudley

macdogmom

Echoing the opinion about Fiaherman’s wharf and I personally think the ferry bldg is a lot more interesting and fun. It’s filled with stores and restaurants and great scenery of the bay and the bridges. You can also take a ferry ride for fun and enjoy the scenery from out in the water and take a quick trip to Sausalito.

StuDudley

"Echoing the opinion about Fiaherman’s wharf"

Who's opinion? J62's "maybe" endorsement, or mine??

Stu Dudley

janisj

I saw no 'maybe' endorsement from J62 -- only how to get there IF it is on their list.

StuDudley

I saw it as a maybe!!!

Stu Dudley