Our travel adviser tackles your destination dilemmas, exploring California and health issues CALIFORNIA CRUISINGI am going to San Francisco for work but would like to spend a few extra days exploring. My problem is that I have been there before and so I have seen all the "bucket list" places in the area. I have done the main sites in SF and gone down the coast a bit to Monterey, San Simeon and Hearst Castle. I also did a wine-tasting tour of Napa Valley. So, I am looking for some other ground to cover. Is it worth going a bit up the north coast? What are other attractions in the area and what would you recommend? - Magdalene Rollins"Exploring" implies that you would do it yourself, so your best bet would be to hire a car and drive north, where there is much to see. You could just do a day trip but that would not get you far, three or four days would be ideal, with plenty of B&B options for overnighting.It would take about 90 minutes to get to the Point Reyes National Seashore, which has interesting wildlife, forests, cliffs and beaches.story_article_left1The picturesque village of Mendocino is just over three hours from SF, and nearby Fort Bragg offers a wonderful trip through coastal redwood forests on the historic steam Skunk Train, an 1885 railroad originally used to carry redwood logs from inland to the coast. It now takes tourists to the "cowboy town" of Willits, passing through redwood forests and along the Noyo River, through a tunnel and over trestle bridges.Perhaps the very best place to see redwoods is on a drive through the Avenue of Giants, another two hours from Fort Bragg.This is a narrow road (a portion of the old Highway 101, S 101) through tall redwoods almost on the road, and in the Humboldt Redwoods State Park. The office in Weott will advise you on walks through the park if you have time, and a 12km loop would take you to the Rockefeller Forest, home to the world's 2nd, 4th, 6th and 8th tallest trees.If you have time, carry on north for 35 minutes on the US 101, then on State Route 211 to Ferndale, a beautiful village of Victorian homes, many of which are now B&Bs.Just 25 minutes north of that you get to the historic logging city of Eureka, the largest coastal city between San Francisco and Portland, Oregon, which has more Victorian houses, many on a larger scale, and a very real fishing harbour.For even more redwoods, the best in California are in the Redwood National & State Parks, one hour and 40 minutes away. It has nearly half of the tallest trees on Earth, many of them over 100m high.GATE TO THE BLUE GROTTOMy parents and I are travelling to Rome on August 7 for three days. What is the best way to visit Capri so we can explore the Blue Grotto sea cave? - Shameema HarnekarYou could easily fill three days in Rome without leaving the city, so try to extend your trip a little to include Capri if possible.You can do day trips from Rome or overnight stay-over trips to the island of Capri, which is in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the coast of Naples. These generally include coach transport from a meeting point in Rome, usually the Termini Station, to Naples, which takes about three hours, a trip of 45 minutes to the island, lunch and free time, during which you can take a boat trip on a hydrofoil catamaran to the Blue Grotto. That would cost extra. The entry fee to the grotto is à28.mini_story_image_vright1The day trip can make for a very long day but is worth it. You do run a risk with the weather, however. In stormy weather, you can't get to Capri and would have to explore Naples and Pompeii instead.Search on viator.com for day trips to Capri from Rome. I found a 13-hour trip from about $154. It includes a bus trip to Anacapri, which has hilltop views of the Bay of Naples, with free time for lunch at a local trattoria.KENYA, IT'S COMPLICATED• I have seen a couple of queries from readers re health precautions when travelling to Kenya. As someone who lived there for over 30 years , let me add a point or two : yellow-fever inoculations are apparently no longer required but few officers in Kenya will be aware of that. They will still ask for it . It is easy to get and relatively inexpensive so it is better to err on the side of caution. South African immigration officers also ask for it when you enter ORT.Both Mombasa and the Masai Mara are malaria-infected areas so travellers should get some medicine/protection sorted out before they go. We only took Paludrine (very old-fashioned apparently) when we were going to those areas and luckily none of us caught malaria.SAA also flies to Nairobi at least once every day. - John Milne• Do you have a query for our travel expert? Send your question to travelmag@sundaytimes.co.za..