San Francisco Bay Area

Sonoma CountySonoma

Napa CountyNapa

Santa Clara CountySan Jose

Arrive by plane and San Jose’s unmistakable techy-ness starts right off the bat.

Santa Cruz CountySanta Cruz

The ultra-mellow beach town of Santa Cruz along Highway One has a decided split personality, and both sides are cool. First, there’s family fun at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, a yesteryear-style esplanade lined with arcade games, corn dogs, a wooden roller coaster, and a historic carousel. Then there’s downtown Santa Cruz, where college students browse for vintage and boho chic, and down-to-earth restaurants focus on healthful meals made of organic, local ingredients. If you love nature, Santa Cruz makes an excellent launching pad. Board a boat tour from the wharf for whale-watching—grays, blues, or humpbacks, depending on the time of year—or take a winding drive in the Santa Cruz Mountains to see the ancient trees at Big Basin Redwoods State Park. And there’s another nature-inspired gem tucked in these hills: a generous selection of wineries, most specializing in Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Cabernet Sauvignon. But at its heart, Santa Cruz is a surf town, dating back to 1885 when three visiting Hawaiian princes rode the local waves on redwood planks, and where today’s top surfers seek out quintessential California breaks at Steamer Lane and Pleasure Point. Need more proof? The late legendary surfer Jack O’Neill, wetsuit pioneer and elder statesman of everything surf-related, made Santa Cruz his home. The O’Neill Coldwater Classic and other international surfing contests take place here every year. The century-old Santa Cruz Wharf is the longest wooden structure of its kind on the West Coast—a staggering 2,701 feet/823 meters long. Walk to the end to get a bird’s-eye view of Steamer Lane surfers to the north, or come at dusk to watch the lights glow on the colorfully lit Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Along the waterfront, you can rent kayaks, standup paddleboards, or motorboats. Stroll past the fresh fish restaurants and souvenir shops and strike up a conversation with fishermen angling for perch, rockfish, and lingcod. Better yet, join ’em. You don’t need a license to fish from the pier, and local tackle shops can get you outfitted.

Sonoma CountySebastopol

Sonoma CountyBodega Bay

Napa CountySt. Helena

Sonoma CountyGuerneville

Santa Clara CountySilicon Valley

Welcome to California’s tech-centric brain pool. Stretching roughly from the city of Belmont down to San Jose around the south end of San Francisco Bay, Silicon Valley is home to some of the largest technology corporations in the world. The area is marked by sprawling campuses, including that of Stanford University and Fortune 500 companies like Google, Apple, and Facebook. Hike or bike a trail and overhear the next big idea. Visit a museum that blinks and buzzes with what-if innovations. And enjoy the riches of a booming economy, with performance spaces, high-end shopping, and multi-starred restaurants. See where the magic happens by exploring Silicon Valley’s tech hubs. At the Googleplex in Mountain View, you can witness “Googlers” talking, texting, and riding the signature yellow bikes. Only an official badge can get you into the gourmet-food-for-free cafeterias—but anyone can visit the Android sculpture garden with pieces commemorating the release of different operating systems. Just south in Cupertino, pick up logo t-shirts, caps, and mugs at the Apple Park Visitor Center. North in Menlo Park, you’ll find the Facebook campus’s iconic “like” sign in baby blue—a popular selfie backdrop. Don’t miss the modest building in Palo Alto where it all began: the garage at 367 Addison Avenue where, in 1939, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard forged a partnership that would become HP.

Napa CountyYountville

The upscale burg of Yountville shimmers with an impressive number of Michelin-noted restaurants, thanks to perennial three-star The French Laundry, the one-star Bouchonbistro, and the Bib Gourmand–rated Redd Wood. While celebrity chef Thomas Keller put the town on the culinary map when he took over The French Laundry in 1994, it has since developed into a world-class destination of dining, shopping, lodging, spas, and wine tasting—sometimes all rolled into one. Consider the ultra-swanky, LEED Platinum–certified Bardessono resort, with its high-end farm-to-table Lucy Restaurant & Bar, a spa, and a lounge showcasing food and cocktails fed by on-site gardens. The resort is also walking distance to notable tasting rooms like Ma(i)sonry Napa Valley, housed in a historic stone building and featuring an art gallery where you can sample wines from more than 20 vintner partners. Indeed, the whole community of Yountville is walkable, with easy access to such covetable items as high-end chapeaux at Montecristi Panama Hats, wine bottles recycled into chic jewelry at Yount Street Glass, and home and culinary niceties from the Domain Home & Garden shop, across from chef Michael Chiarello’s award-winning Bottegarestaurant. For a sign of how this tiny enclave of less than 3,000 souls has evolved into a true lifestyle destination, just look at luxury Silver Trident Winery. The Tuscan-style stone building sits in the heart of downtown and features an elegantly appointed living room, dining room, and library with decor (all for sale) from Ralph Lauren Home. Then, there’s the glittery JCB Tasting Salon from global vintner Jean-Charles Boisset, resplendent with jewels and Baccarat crystal as well as wine. Insider tip: Those on a tighter budget can experience Keller’s culinary genius by making a reservation at Ad Hoc, his more casual restaurant on Washington Street, or by ordering a boxed lunch from his to-go service Addendum, at the same address.

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