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This garden island, attached by a causeway to Tiburon, is one of the most exclusive residential areas in the Bay. It’s worth a visit to take in the palatial homes and their sumptuous settings.

The most picturesque way to make the approach to the tiny community of La Honda and the Skyline Boulevard (seeLa Honda & Old La Honda Roads) is Old La Honda Road.

These outpost towns still retain some frontier atmosphere, although they are now communities for the movers and shakers of Silicon Valley.

This wild and windswept peninsula is a huge haven for wildlife, including a herd of tule elk, birds, and wildflowers. The area is also home to cattle and dairy ranches. You can watch migrating whales offshore from December to mid-March.

San Gregorio, protected by cliffs, is the Bay Area’s oldest nudist beach. Pescadero, in addition to having a state beach with wonderful tidepools, is also a lovely town that looks like something out of the Old West, complete with a whitewashed wooden church. The thriving farming community produces asparagus and pumpkins.

This sprawling town is an integral part of Silicon Valley enterprises and has popular attractions.

Located in the heart of Marin County, this town has a charming historic center loaded with good restaurants and shops. When the street market takes over the main drag every Thursday evening, it’s transformed into an impromptu pleasure fair.

This area offers some of the Bay’s best swimming. Santa Cruz also features the famous Boardwalk, a vintage amusement park.

The eccentric 19th-century home of the rifle heiress, Sarah Winchester, took 38 years to build and includes stairways leading to nowhere and windows set into floors.

This bucolic residential area is home to many of the Bay Area’s first families, who built fabulous mansions here in the late 19th century.