Tell me about Berkeley CA. Is it worth spending a week there on vacation?

[maveric]

I love that radical 60's scene and have always wanted to go there. is it really a "cool" town? Are there things to do there?

[gardenista]

1. Three days is enough. Try to stay in SF for the rest of the time. nt

[maveric]

3. Someone else told me that too.

I'll do Beserkleley, Santa Cruz, SF and Marin, in the Bay area. Then check out some of the more "natural" towns like Point Reyes, Redwood country....

[gardenista]

6. You might get more of that feel you're looking for in Bolinas, Pt. Reyes

Station, and maybe Humboldt, if you want to go that far north, but that innocent age is gone, if it was ever really there in the first place.

You can camp in Pt. Reyes National Park, as well, but it can be pretty misterble when the big storms come it. There is a nice hostel in Pt. Reyes, another in Golden Gate National Park, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge, right near one of the sweetest little beaches near SF.

Not many people know about it, but it's wonderful. There is camping there, as well, but unless you like to be awakened by a fog horn every couple of minutes, it's not the best camping right by the bridge. Further north, closer to Tamalpiais Valley, there are more hike-in sites.

I second the idea of going to Yosemite, even if it's snowing. It's really wonderful.

[XemaSab]

2. The Bay Area for a week yes.

Berkeley for a week, not unless you REALLY like shopping.

Bay Area= Marin, East Bay (Berkeley+Oakland), and San Francisco.

BTW, you can camp on the beach in Bolinas. Otherwise, camping can be hard to come by in Marin.

[Book Lover]

5. Bay Area also = Peninsula

to the OP: Make sure you visit Pacifica, drive down Devil's Slide, and hang out on the beaches by Montara/Moss Beach/Half Moon Bay.

[radwriter0555]

4. You need about an afternoon for Berkeley. It isn't what it was 40 years

ago... at all.

San Francisco is lovely, and has become an epicurean mecca of sorts; Monterey Bay ROCKS. Sauselito has nice shopping, Half Moon Bay is really charming. The wine country is just what it's called.... the wine country.

It all depends on what sort of experiences you're looking for. The 60's scene is long dead and buried. Even the Haight is upscale and pricey now... Flower Power is a thing of the past. I think the closet you'll come to it now anywhere is in Austin, TX.

[XemaSab]

7. Bolinas

and Arcata, CA (up in Humboldt) are about the hippiest towns in the state.

[radwriter0555]

8. Old hippies or new hippies?

I love how the old ones got all artsey and cool creative capitalists... the glass blowers, leather workers, pottery, etc. I hope it doesn't all die off now that they're getting on in age... and I'm right behind em!

[XemaSab]

12. Both--

But there are a lot of younger hippies with an artistic bent too!

[Shine]

9. Dude, if you like the 60's radical scene, you gotta check out Santa Cruz

There's always stuff going on....It's a great place to visit.

:thumbsup:

[hippywife]

11. And don't forget to tell him to

tune in the pig!! When driving in the Bay Area, tune your radio to
97.5 FM or 15.10 AM for the best radio station ever!

www.kpig.com

[Beaverhausen]

10. The Amoeba store takes many hours...if you like music

That store is fab! Tons of fun stuff there.

I looked for a website but couldn't find one.

I found this:

http://sanfrancisco.citysearch.com/profile/903978?cslink=search_best_rating_noncust&ulink=search_539_searchrating9_1__0_profile_245-539_1

[Mz Pip]

13. A week in Berkeley is too long

unless you use it as a jumping off point to visit other parts of the Bay Area. The Cal campus is beautiful but you can tour it in a couple of hours. It used to be that you could catch a good noon time rally in Sproul Plaza but not so much anymore. Telegraph Avenue has lots of street vendors. You can do that in an hour. There are clubs that have live music, Blakes, Ashkenaz come to mind.

Tilden Park has several hiking trails, but no camping that I know of.

North of San Francisco there is the wine country, St. Helena area is worth the drive.

Marin County has terific beaches, Stinson, Muir. Point Reyes is terrific place to visit. It's a beautiful artist's community with lots of shops. The nearby beaches are spectacular.

South of San Francisco is Monterey and Santa Cruz. Both worth seeing.

All of the places I mentioned are within 2 hours of Berkeley.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[musiclawyer]

14. Pretty much in agreement

Unless you are doing heavy duty research in connection with a job or schooling there, a day will allow you to see the campus and stroll Telegraph Ave or Shattuck downtown An evening and maybe the next morning is all you need to see College Avenue to the Oakland Rockridge BART station. It's not a good venue for launching day trips to the rest of the Bay Area. For that stay in the burbs--Walnut Creek or down the Peninsula. It's cheaper than the inner bay and you can still walk places to eat etc and catch BART or the Train to SF and other destinations.

[BlueIris]

15. I was there in May and I was shocked.

Three days before I saw a same sex couple being demonstrative on the street. Three days before I saw a single gay pride symbol on any car. Three days before I saw a Kerry/Edwards sticker--or any political sticker of any variety--ANYWHERE. And in the end, I only saw ONE sticker. They hated me (I had my Kerry button on). And it was like that for me EVERYWHERE. Not what I expected. Not what I remembered of the Bay Area (hadn't been since '96). Weird.

[NV Whino]

16. Only if you want to try every ethnic food known to man

There are some museums and art galleries, but I think you would want to branch out--see the Oakland museum, go San Francisco, Alcatraz, Sausalito. Maybe visit the wine country, Napa Valley or Sonoma Valley. Then there's Muir Woods with the redwoods, the coast between Marin and Jenner.