Looking at a long weekend trip to the area. I am from NC Thought about staying downtown Sacramento on the river. How is the downtown area. Room is free.

1. A day trip to Napa for a few wine tours and driving around just to look at the country side.
2. A day trip to Yosemite. More to see the area no hiking.
3. A day trip to see the Golden Gate Bridge.

Yes that is a lot if driving and not a lot of time to look around. Driving is not an issue and it does not take a lot to entertain me. I just like to see the sites and be on my way.

Any thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

You could probably combine the wine country and Golden Gate Bridge in one day trip, depending on how much time you spend dallying in the wineries and when you get started, etc.  Keep an eye on the weather, the fog can come and go or sock in heavy, just something to be aware of.  It might not be worth the extra time past Napa, etc., to get to the bridge if you aren't going to see much.  On a good day, as you approach the bridge from the north, keep an eye out for the Marin Headlands exits for some good views (or not) of the bridge.

Yosemite is a day trip but weekends can be busy and the driving, especially in the valley, rather congested.  There is a lot to see.

Sacramento is full of criminals.  Not all of them are politicians.  It's been years since we've visited.  We stayed at one of the more budget aimed locations on Jibboom (sp?) and it was OK, the neighborhood wasn't great.  Checking the map, seems like more options and bigger names than times past.  OTOH, if down in the Old Town area south of the railroad museum it's not as sketchy.

Thanks for the reply. We are looking near old Sacramento area on the river.

If you're a microbrew fan you'll enjoy Sacramento. Tons of local breweries in the area.

I love old town Sacramento, it's still a little bad at night, but much better then it was. My parents enjoying staying on the Delta King or at the Embassy Suites when they go.

If you want to do Napa, be aware that a lot of wineries require a reservation for a tasting/tour. I enjoy Frank Family wines and they require a reservation. Other big names like Silver Oak do not.

Yosemite requires you to carry chains depending on when you come, they don't care if you have 4wd or not, at certain times of the year chains are simply required. If I were doing a day trip I would leave early and have lunch at the Majestic then just tour the main areas. Driving in is one of the best parts, the hiking is amazing dont get me wrong, but driving in is worth it if that's all you have time for.

Sacramento traffic is tough, but Old Sacramento has cool things to do, and they have a pretty good rail road museum if you're into that sort of thing. If you had one thing to do in Sacramento, I would definitely go to the "Old Town" on a nice day.

As far as Napa goes, there are many places to go, but people really like the Coppola ( yes, the director) wineries https://www.francisfordcoppolawinery.com/ you won't be disappointed. I liked the Mario Andretti winery http://andrettiwinery.com/. I guess the old boy drove faster after he had a few glasses. It's not as big as Coppola, but cool, nevertheless.

San Francisco is worth a day if you have it. Everyone likes the Golden Gate Park, for sure.  You could spend half a day in the Mission District, then take the trolley over to the pier 39 area and have lunch or dinner.

Thanks everyone for the replies. Headed out the first week of June. Hopefully the weather at Yosemite will not require any chains.

We are staying downtown on the River at the Embassy.

We had some friends do the Napa tours. We are getting some info from them on their choice.

Again thanks for the info.

We were up in Sonoma County and a bit farther north to the Healdsburg area (compared to Napa) during the "crush" and and visited a couple of wineries.  Many don't require reservations for visits/tastings but do for tours.  A little research on an area will help, there are a lot of wonderful scenic wineries and tasting rooms throughout the area.  It did seem like many spots are focused on the weekends for special dining experiences, etc., so Fri - Sunday may be better visit days and may have some added congestion.  A reserved tour may not be a bad idea.

Yosemite may be an interesting experience during that time frame.  There has been a lot of snow this year and it may not be done snowing yet.  The peak flow of water - snow melt - in the rivers, streams and falls is typically about the Memorial Day time frame so visiting is very popular and the weekends especially are crowded.  Here's the deal.  Deals.  Sometimes the flow is so intense that there is serious flooding and road closures and the valley can be extremely hard hit.  Watch road conditions and reports, follow the NPS website info.  The other deal is that the high country roads, the Tioga Road, Highway 120 which crosses the Sierra to Lee Vining gets over 9000 feet at Tioga Pass.  The Glacier Point Road which reaches out to Glacier Point from the Wawona Road, is also fairly high altitude.  These roads can't be opened until avalanche danger is past, and the plowing can take place safely, dealing with downed trees, rock slides, boulders in the roads, etc.  Some high snow years, they may not open until after Memorial Day, although it's typically sooner as opposed to later.  This year?  Might be very late.  If those roads aren't open, then all of the visitation is concentrated in and near the valley.  So, it may well be very crowded or maybe even subject to closures.  FWIW, by then, it's unlikely you will need chains even on the high country roads.  But the travel info and weather sites will certainly have warnings and closure info as you get close to trip time.

RR Museum is pretty awesome.

Crocker Art Museum is good too.

Folsom Powerhouse.

Folsom Prison. 

I live nearby.  If you want to do some fishing, hit me up.

Thanks.

Hey you guys have been really informative and passed along a lot of great info.

RR Museum is awesome! So is the Folsom Powerhouse. If you are into mountain biking they have a race on the Folsom Prison grounds once a year and I think that's the only time you can enter the grounds as a civilian, just don't leave the trail