A visit to San Francisco’s Bay Area is a must for every traveler. From wine and food to soaring redwoods and outdoor adventures, all the best is accessible from Novato, California, a small city in Marin County just north of SF.
People often think of wine when it comes to visiting Marin, Sonoma and Napa across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. Travel Tip: Think a little broader. Discover activities you need to test out during your trip to Novato.
Both Sonoma and Marin counties have many of the original, craft cheese-making businesses in California. In fact, thanks to the California Cheese Trail organization, you can plot your way from cheese to cheese. I took a cheese-tasting tour at Cowgirl Creamery in quaint Point Reyes Station in Marin County, where you learn about cheese types, watch cheesemaking and get to taste. Sign up early for Friday-only tasting and tours, as they sell out quickly.
Hungry? Get gourmet take-out from Tomales Bay Foods, located next to Cowgirl Creamery, or head to the casual Side Street Kitchen for organic, farm-to-table fare.
It’s not difficult to find wineries and distilleries along the traditional wine trails in Sonoma and Napa counties, so we stayed put in Novato to see what Marin had to offer.
Mantra Wines opened its tasting room in small old town Novato in 2017, according to owner and winemaker Mike Kuimelis. Take our word for it, the website does not do justice to the experience at the Mantra Wines tasting room. It is a tasting room, crossed with a lounge, sort of a bar, a bit like a living room, with a dash of music club – and a lengthy list of fine wines.
Deciding to veer from the wine trail for something different, I wandered next into Heidrun Meadery in Point Reyes Station. This stop specializes in mead, an alcoholic beverage fermented from honey and water. According to founder and mead maker Gordon Hull, it is the only meadery in the United States that relies exclusively on the champagne technique. The result is a beverage that fills your nose with the smells of its honey’s source, but goes down fresh, light and bubbly.
Hungry? Step into Wildfox Restaurant and Bar, conveniently next door to the Best Western Plus Novato Oaks – an American eatery with a great happy hour and large terraces.
Take in the historic Sonoma Plaza (the largest of its kind in California) shaded by graceful oak trees. While you’re there, be sure to visit Sonoma State Historic Park and find out more about the northernmost mission in California.
Put Petaluma on your list too. The Petaluma Visitors Bureau offers historic walking tours of downtown every Saturday morning from May through October with docents in costumes.
Hungry? In the Great Petaluma Mill Center, the Wild Goat Bistro offers a cozy, casual setting with farm-to-table cuisine and lots of gluten-free options. (The Four Cheese Fig & Pig Pizza is to die for.)
You just can’t drive by the Marin Civic Center without admiring the Frank Lloyd Wright architecture. Take a docent tour, download a self-guided tour brochure for your own walkabout or try the interactive app for a virtual tour.
Snoopy is beloved by all generations, so do not miss the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa — the home of all things Peanuts and Snoopy. Read classic cartoons or watch films to your heart’s content.
Hungry? A visit to the Charles M. Schulz Museum is not complete without a stop at the Warm Puppy Café, located inside the Redwood Empire Ice Arena next door. Charles Schulz’s regular table by the window is still reserved for him, 20 years after his passing.
Perhaps surprisingly, the Walt Disney Family Museum, opened by Walt Disney’s daughter is at the former Presidio Army Base in San Francisco. Afterward, be sure to discover the parklands, trails, outdoor art and great Bay views from the Presidio, which is a national park.
Also in San Francisco is the Exploratorium Museum of Science, Art and Human Perception. The Exploratorium in San Francisco delights kids of all ages with its hands-on exhibits.
With thousands of acres of state and national parks, preserves, seashores, trails, woods and wetlands, Northern California offers something for everyone. The best part? Most aren’t more than 30-40 minutes from Novato. Here is a sampling of a few places in Marin County:
If you stay at the recently remodeled Best Western Plus Novato Oaks Inn, as I did, you will find it is well-positioned to head in any direction, especially since it is right off Highway 101, which connects you to every community you will want to visit. You can also head down into San Francisco from there on the Larkspur Ferry, arriving in San Francisco worry-free sans automobile. With Novato as your home base, you’ll save money, have no parking hassles, and be centrally located too. Book your next stay in Northern California at Today’s Best Western.
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