A Weekend away in Bodega Bay
A quick hour and a half drive north of San Francisco over the gorgeous Golden Gate Bridge. The perfect quick weekend girls trip or just a romantic get away. You could even just go for the day but it’s easier to make the most of the weekend if you spend the night and enjoy all the places to eat and see.
I went on a fun weekend getaway glamping with two of my closest friends. We were ready to enjoy a relaxing weekend sitting by the fire, drinking wine and enjoy the fresh air under the starry skies. The lack of reception was also such a nice change getting to unwind and really check out. I know glamping isn’t everyones thing so don’t worry I’ll give you other suggestions other than glamping. The weekend we went was very cold (first weekend of March), so if you do decide to glamp make sure you have the right fire starting equipment & lots of layers or just perhaps pick a warmer month to go haha.
For those that don’t know much about Bodega Bay it is a super quaint town known for being a picturesque fishing village on the Sonoma Coast overlooking the ocean. From hiking the surrounding hills to whale watching to relaxing on the beach or to eating your heart out at all different seafood restaurants. Also one thing that most people know it for is the Alfred Hitchcock movie “The Birds”.
ITINERARY:
Saturday
Depart San Francisco around 8/8:15 am grab yourself a quick coffee or tea to hold you over till you get to brunch. The restaurant we went to on our way up was a super cute & delicious restaurant located in Santa Rosa. I stumbled upon it a few years ago and any chance i get to go and eat there I do. The restaurant is called, The Naked Pig, serving only farm to table food items ranging from Brunch to Lunch. The choices are endless. However highly recommend the bacon wafflette (smaller version than the waffle). Be warned there is always a wait unless you get there right when it opens you’ll probably have a 20-30 minute wait since the space is super small.
Drive across Sonoma through the gorgeous country side filled with cows, vineyards and beautiful mustard seed fields (if you go in March) till you get back to the coast.
After driving around the coast admiring the rocky ocean cliffs we headed to our Airbnb (glamping tent) located inside Chanslor Ranch. We didn’t grab lunch because we weren’t hungry but check out the list of restaurants for good lunch options.
Our tent was located on top of a hill overlooking more beautiful green hills. We unpacked and headed up a behind our tent to walk around the property. There is a path that you can walk that takes you around the valley and up to the top of a mountain/hill overlooking the entire Bodega Bay taking about 45 mins to an hour. Along our walk we came close to some alpaca’s and cows. The Alpacas were super friendly and honestly i was so scared i didn’t really know what they would do!! They walked straight at us and would watch us as we walked passed. I may have used my friend as a shield, by accident of course. But the hike was well worth it for that gorgeous view of the bay.
Don’t forget to head behind the tent to the rocky area and view the sky at sunset before heading out for dinner.
We went to Terrapin Creek, a casual neighborhood restaurant serving local & international cuisine. They do take walk-ins but not too many so ideally if you want to go here you’d be better off making a reservation. Overall the food was absolutely amazing. We shared 3 starters & got our own mains that were so amazing. I’d come back and basically try everything on the menu if I could.
After having full tummies we went back to our tent and lit a fire while playing some card games and enjoying the sounds of nature under the gorgeous clear sky.
Sunday
We wanted to light our fire and have some coffee/tea that was included in the tent but we struggled a lot trying to get it started. So we chose to get moving and headed out to find a coffee/brunch spot. Saying goodbye to our home for the weekend and on to Tides Wharf Restaurant located on the water where we were able to see sea lions while enjoying our morning breakfast. The food was good and I would highly recommend the Huevos Rancheros!
After indulging on all this food we drove to the far edge of Bodega Bay cliff and hiked Bodega Head Trail where we admired the views of the ocean. One tip is that there are so many great hikes around Bodega Bay and the best source to search for them is either Google or this app called AllTrails.
This hike is a relatively easy and fast hike around so we weren’t quiet ready to head back to the city. We went to this little wine bar, Gourmet au Bay, serving wine tasting & lots of delicious sea food and snacks. We got the baked cheese which was absolutely amazing, perfect afternoon/after hiking snack haha.
On our way back we drove the 1 highway. Incase you all haven’t done that be prepared because it’s GORGEOUS but the road is super windy which means it’ll take a bit longer to get back to the city. But you get to drive through Marshall & Tomales bay which that in its self is also a must visit spot! Especially if you like oysters. Depending how much time you’d like to spend you could even stop here on your way down.
Happy Glamping in Bodega Bay!! :D
Restaurants:
