Destination Wedding Perks:
Things to Do
We know most of our guests are coming from outside the area. If you're looking for something to do before or after the wedding, there’s plenty nearby! The weather should be beautiful in August, but when the fog rolls in from the Pacific in the evenings, it gets windy and chilly, so bring a jacket! These are some of our favorite local attractions.
Short and sweet things near the venue
Hiking in the Santa Cruz Mountains
The venue is in the heart of redwood forests. Henry Cowell, Big Basin, and Castle Rock State Parks are all within 30 minutes, and there are hiking trails throughout the entire area.
Santa Cruz
Relax on the beach, explore the boardwalk, and enjoy the picturesque sights of Capitola.
You can see sea lions, seals, sea otters, and occasionally whales from the shore!
You can also visit UC Santa Cruz, which has an arboretum and botanic garden.
Roaring Camp steam train
Learn some local history while you ride a train from the 1880s through the redwoods to the top of Bear Mountain. There is also a train to the Santa Cruz boardwalk from here that is supposed to reopen in spring 2025.
Longer excursions within an hour of the venue
Monterey and Carmel-by-the-Sea
These are both picturesque beach towns, home to Monterey Bay Aquarium, Pebble Beach Golf Links, and scenic drives. You can see sea lions, seals, sea otters, and occasionally whales from the shore.
Scuba dive! The water may be cold, but the experience is worth it.
Hike
Our favorite local parks are Portola Valley and Sanborn County Park. Both feature redwoods, rivers, and waterfalls. You can do short or long hikes in either park. Heads up - there is no phone signal in Portola. One of the best parts of the Bay Area is that you’re never far from a great hike.
Silicon Valley
Visit Stanford University, where Morgan works. The campus is a great place to go for a walk, with beautiful stone buildings with red clay tile roofs.
There are also a number of Silicon Valley and computer history things to do in the area! The Intel Museum, the Computer History Museum, NASA Ames (note - the visitor's center is in Oakland, not at the Mountain View location), Apple Park Visitor's Center, and many others are in the area.
The Stanford Dish Loop is a popular (and very sunny) hike around a satellite dish built in 1961 and still in use today. If you're interested in space history, the dish was used to contact both Voyager 1 and Voyager 2!
Drive through the Santa Cruz Mountains
on Skyline Boulevard, or on Highway 1.
swim, surf, or kayak
in the Pacific or in the Bay.
Day Trips
Muir Woods
Probably the best known redwoods park, Muir Woods is a forest of old growth redwoods, located north of the Golden Gate Bridge. There is a relatively short boardwalk through a grove of old growth redwoods along a stream, along with a number of longer and harder hikes. Parking reservations required to park in the main lots.
San Francisco
Have a burrito in the Mission, ice cream at Swenson's (try banana!), climb some of SF's streets that are so steep they require steps, drive the curviest road in America.
Golden Gate Bridge - drive or walk across the iconic bridge.
Golden Gate Park - San Francisco's best known city park, followed by Mission Dolores Park. Larger than Central Park, it stretches to the Pacific Ocean on the west end and contains an art museum, several gardens and conservatories, and a natural history museum+aquarium
Sutro Baths and Land's End hike - Sutro Baths was a turn of the century health spa consisting of ocean water baths, destroyed in the massive 1906 earthquake. You can see the ruins and take a hike along the coast with breathtaking views of the Pacific and the Golden Gate Bridge.
Alcatraz - take a ferry to visit the notorious prison on an island in the San Francisco Bay.
Miscellaneous other SF tourist activities, clustered by location:
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Fisherman's wharf, Musée Mécanique antique arcade, USS Pampanito Museum and Memorial submarine tour
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Exploratorium (a hands on science museum), the Ferry Building (one of the few buildings that survived the 1906 earthquake. Try an empanada at El Porteño! Note: the ferry for Alcatraz doesn't leave from here - walk a few blocks west near the Exploratorium.), Oracle Park (home of the Giants)
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Painted Ladies, Haight-Ashbury, Lombard Street, the Full House house, the Palace of Fine Arts, home to our favorite escape rooms!
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Grace Cathedral, Coit Tower
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the Mission and Mission Dolores Park
Drive down Highway 1 along the coast
You can go north or south from near the venue. North eventually crosses the Golden Gate Bridge and goes into Marin toward Point Reyes, eventually into Northern California and up to Oregon. South goes through Big Sur and eventually down to Los Angeles. It's gorgeous no matter which direction you go!
Mount Tam
a challenging hike up the tallest peak in Marin (or a nice drive and a very short hike)
Berkeley+Oakland
Visit UC Berkeley, eat in the Gourmet Ghetto, see the botanical gardens and Berkeley rose garden, shop on Telegraph Ave, visit Jack London Square. If you're a literary fan, Moe's Books in Berkeley is worth a visit, and there are a number of Jack London related things in the area!