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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
What town to stay in- Marin County?
I am deciding between Mill Valley, Sausalito, Tiburon, or Stinson Beach. We have 2 extra nights. Can anyone offer insight to any of these areas. Just looking for a nice town, pretty views, shopping, relaxing. I know they are all relatively close to each other and we can drive places too. Just not sure where to stay.
Re: What town to stay in- Marin County?
Can you give a little more context? Are you on vacation or visiting family? Where else are you going to be - SF, Napa, Mendocino?
Sausalito is definitely more of a touristy town, and closer to SF than the others, so I imagine it will be more expensive to stay in. Tiburon and Mill Valley are farther north and more residential. There are great views everywhere, just depends on where your hotel is located. Your best bets for shopping are in Corte Madera (which is between Tiburon and Mill Valley) and in a somewhat smaller shopping center in Tiburon. I don't know much about shopping in Mill Valley.
Hopefully nestie Roni.Cedra will chime in. She lives in that area and knows it well.
Thanks! We are doing SF city 2 days, Napa 3 days, and then have 2 extra nights and heard Marin County is gorgeous so we were just looking for a cute town to stay in. I was thinking Stinson would be nice since it is on the beach, but it will be late Oct so it might be really cold. Does anyone know if there are things to do in Stinson Beach? Also, I thought it would be cool to do some hiking- the Dipsea Trail- is that easily accessible from most towns in Marin County. Also, has anyone taken the ferry from Sausalito to SF? Is that a fun thing to do?
Stinson is a quiet little beach town, there's not much to do in the evenings. You can visit the beach during the day, grab some lunch, and walk around the little town, but overall, there's not much to do. I would think it would be a better day trip over the mountain from Mill Valley. And yes, the beach won't be warm, so bring layers!
The Dipsea stairs start near the downtown square in Mill Valley too, so that would be an option for hiking over to Stinson. You could do the double Dipsea if you're up for a challenge and hike over and back, or catch the shuttle bus back over the mountain on the weekends and then take a cab to wherever you parked your car (the stairs aren't where the shuttle bus stops).
Corte Madera is just north of Mill Valley, and would likely be the best bet for shopping. There's two malls on either side of the freeway. The ferry to SF is a nice ride. If you're in Marin on a Saturday, you can take the ferry over to SF and visit the farmer's market at the ferry building without having to deal with parking in SF. It's fun!
Yes, Sausalito is definitely more touristy, and Mill Valley is more residential. (I live in MV.) But MV has a cute downtown area and shops and restaurants, so it could be a nice place to stay. There is a little boutique hotel just steps from the downtown square.
Anyway, page me if you have more specific questions. Hope you have a good trip!
If you want to hike, I would suggest this hike. IMO, it's the prettiest hike in the bay area.
http://www.bahiker.com/northbayhikes/stinson.html
You can either start at the Pantoll Ranger station and head to Stinson Beach (first part of hike is downhill so it's uphill on the way back), or start in Stinson Beach and head up to the Pantoll Ranger station (it's opposite obviously, so uphill on the first part, downhill on the second.)
Stinson beach is very small, right on the water, and very isolated. DH's family has a beach house there and while we love it, it can be a bit boring for others. It is a true beach town as it is on a 2 lane highway, and the stuff can be expensive.
I love going to Stinson beach because I love the isolation and quiet that is there. I don't have any experience with the other places you mentioned.
Totally agree with this. I would stay in San Rafael actually at this DARLING hotel called Hotel Panama--plus they have AMAZING food. It is a quick trip over to MV to do hiking etc, Stinson, or Corte Madera to do shopping. I would do more shopping in Larkspur and MV though as CM is mostly chain stores these days.