San Francisco vs Seattle and Portland

San Francisco packs world-famous sights into a compact, hilly peninsula wrapped in fog and bay views. Ride a clanging cable car up Nob Hill, then drop toward the water for sourdough bread bowls of clam chowder at Fisherman's Wharf. Book Alcatraz well ahead, because the ferry to the former prison island and its gripping audio tour sell out weeks in advance. Walk or bike across the Golden Gate Bridge, coast downhill into Sausalito for seafood by the bay and ride the ferry home past the skyline. Give a full day to wine country, sipping Cabernet in Napa Valley or Pinot Noir in laid-back Sonoma, and save a morning for the towering coast redwoods of Muir Woods, where parking or shuttle reservations are required, or swap in the cliffs and beaches of Half Moon Bay. The city itself rewards slow wandering: dim sum in Chinatown, espresso in North Beach, murals in the Mission and sunset at Ocean Beach. Pack layers whatever the month, since summer fog can drop temperatures into the 50s while the sun shines a few miles inland, and wear comfortable shoes for the steep hills. September and October usually bring the warmest, clearest days of the year.

Two of the Pacific Northwest's most likable cities sit just three hours apart, framed by volcanoes, evergreen forests and waterfalls, which makes Seattle and Portland a natural pairing. Start in Seattle at Pike Place Market, where fishmongers toss salmon, flower stalls spill onto the cobblestones and the waterfront opens onto Elliott Bay. Ride the 1962 monorail to the Space Needle for views of Puget Sound and, on clear days, the snowy cone of Mount Rainier. Then go see that mountain up close on a day trip to Paradise, where summer wildflower meadows and glaciers line the trails. Board the Amtrak Cascades train or drive about three hours down I-5 to Portland, a city of bridges, bikes and coffee. Lose an hour or three in Powell's City of Books, hike the ferny Wildwood Trail in Forest Park and graze your way through the city's famous food cart pods. Finish in the Columbia River Gorge at Multnomah Falls, which needs a timed permit in summer. Longer trips can add Portland's gardens, the Oregon Coast, Mount Hood and Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. Come July to September for the driest weather, and pack a rain jacket the rest of the year.