The first time that we visited Point Reyes National Seashore with a group of girlfriends, we truly felt like we had been transported to the cliffs of Ireland with the dramatic drop-offs, lush greenery and grazing cows. Not only is Point Reyes profoundly beautiful, but it is also home to Alamere falls, a rare "tidefall", the 1870 Point Reyes Lighthouse, some of the state's best whale watching and the Cypress Tree Tunnel (about 10 miles away). It beholds some of the most heart-stopping nature that the Earth has ever crafted. The only "disadvantage" of a visit here is that it's truly a trip in and of itself and hard (though not impossible) to combine with an itinerary elsewhere - you'll pass through this general area if you take a roundabout way of getting to Sonoma + Napa Valley, or possibly a trip to Bodega Bay, but it's still a good 65+ miles from San Francisco. The good news of course is that you can easily spend the whole day or weekend here exploring + hiking the sensational sights.