San Francisco

[oldtrig]

My son will be taking a trip to San Francisco in late March. They live in the southeast US and never been to the west coast. His wife give him three tickets for his 40th birthday last year for him, his 17 year old son and of course his wife.

They will be flying to the airport in San Francisco and staying a week.

Any suggestions on hotels and places to visit ? how to get around and any other thing they need to know. They are new to this so any help appreciated including costs per day to take such a trip. I know many factors would play a part in the cost like hotels and food but maybe a rough idea on what they need to expect ? . Thanks

 

[DrRoy]

Coit Tower has a nice view. Go over the Golden Gate bridge and visit Muir Woods.

 

[Meadbh]

Alcatraz.

 

[FIRE'd@51]

I'd definitely suggest a trip to Sausalito. If you don't have a rental car, you can get there by ferry, which is a scenic ride. Depending upon where you stay, you can get around SF via cable car and the BART. If you want to splurge on a hotel, I'd suggest Knob Hill (we used to stay at the Stanford Court). You also want to be sure to see Lombard Street.

 

[Nemo2]

Winchester House

https://www.google.ca/maps/uv?hl=en...d=0ahUKEwjI94Gugf7RAhUi34MKHfysBjwQoioIgwEwEA

 

[Car-Guy]

Alcatraz.

Get your Alcatraz tickets well in advance of your tour date.

Take a walk on the Golden Gate Bridge, ride the Cable Cars for quick and cheap tour, visit Union Square, Fisherman's wharf, etc, and watch out for the scammers that prey on tourist.

 

[Souschef]

I'd definitely suggest a trip to Sausalito. If you don't have a rental car, you can get there by ferry, which is a scenic ride. Depending upon where you stay, you can get around SF via cable car and the BART. If you want to splurge on a hotel, I'd suggest Knob Hill (we used to stay at the Stanford Court). You also want to be sure to see Lombard Street.

The Spinnaker Restaurant by the ferry terminal. The bar has a set of mirrors where you can see the bay. Also the bar has a nice menu, if you do not want the dining room.
Pier 39 at Fisherman's wharf is also a must. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl is a treat

 

[euro]

Get your tickets well in advance of your tour date.

+1 for Alcatraz - definitely a memorable experience, especially for a 17yo. That's the one thing my kids still talk about (plus Chinatown as well)

 

[LOL!]

I always rent a bike and ride from bike place (there are many near all hotels) through Golden Gate Park, over the Golden Gate Bridge and back.
You can get a CityPass with a number sites to see. See tripadvisor.com about some tricks.

 

[marko]

Not sure if it's still a hoppin' place but Irish Coffees at the Buena Vista Cafe is (was?) quite the scene. On a busy night there might be 400 people cheek to jowl standing there drinking IC's and spilling out into the street; great way to meet fellow tourists and locals alike. One of the best parties going!

Driving over the GG after dark there's a turnoff and you can look back on the city lights. As noted, Muir Woods is a good take as well.

 

[FIREd]

For more affordable hotel options, I would suggest getting a hotel room near Fisherman's Wharf. I would also highly recommend not renting a car. Parking is expensive and most attractions in SF are easily accessible from Fisherman's Wharf, on foot or via public transportation (streetcar, cable car, or Ferry). Bring good walking shoes.

Things to do:
Ride the cable cars , cable car museum
Visit farmers market at the Ferry Building (Saturday mornings) - use the F streetcar from Fisherman's Wharf
Coit Tower
Walk or ride a bike across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito (bike rentals available near Fisherman's Wharf). Come back on the Ferry.
Alcatraz - ferry departure near Fisherman's Wharf
Chinatown
Get a burger at In-N-Out and a sundae at Ghirardelli a Square - near Fisherman's Wharf
Visit Boudin's sourdough factory - near Fisherman's Wharf
Pier 39 (restaurants, shops, sea lion colony, Aquarium of the Bay) - near Fisherman's Wharf
Take a whale watching boat tour - departure near Fisherman's Wharf
Golden Gate Park (botanical garden, Japanese tea garden, De Young fine art museum, or the California Academy of Sciences)
San Francisco Zoo (pretty far from Fisherman's Wharf but easily accessible via public transportation).

 

[Lagniappe]

Grey Line and other tours give half day and full day tours that cover most of the highlights, and you can go back to what your want to see more of. They also pick up at all the hotels.

My favorites:

Japanese Garden at Golden Gate Park
Sutro Baths
Run or walk in the Marina/ Presidio - great views across the bay
Dim Sum in Chinatown
Conservatory of Flowers/ Butterfly Garden at GG Park



If you can't find enough to do in the city, Sausalito is great. Or go to Sonoma or Napa for the day.

 

[oldtrig]

THANKS, this is great info that I can pass to him. Tom

 

[Van-Guard23]

In addition to what everyone has already posted, how about a drive up to Napa Valley. Even if they're not big wine drinkers a drive up to see Helena, Yountville, Napa and Sonoma are worth the drive (and traffic). If they're up for some more driving, Lake Tahoe is beautiful.

 

[rodi]

+100 on book in advance for Alcatraz. We're going to be up there early this summer and will pre-book. I've been to SF at least a dozen times, but never had my stuff together enough to pre-book... and hence have never done the tour.

I like going to ghiradelli square (yum, chocolate) and fisherman's wharf. I love the gardens outside the Palace of Arts. Coit Tower has a great view, as mentioned above. If you have a car - Muir Woods is a MUST! Make sure to go to Chinatown and pick a restaurant at random on one of the side streets... We're still trying to re-discover a place that had the most amazing orange walnut chicken... Found some similar restaurants/dishes... but we wish we'd written down the name of that restaurant with the amazing dish.

 

[YVRRocketSurgery]

While I love the flexibility that a rental car gives, parking in San Fran is a pain in the rear. Consider Uber or HoHo's unless they're going to tack on a longer drive like out to Napa. Our friends did a HoHo day pass when they went down for a cruise recently and they said it worked well for them. Hit key spots they were interested in and had a night tour that was quite enjoyable.

 

[l8_apex]

SFGate is the city's newspaper online. Their top 100 restaurant article: Top 100 Bay Area Restaurants 2016 - San Francisco Chronicle If they've never had chinese dim sum, the best place is Yank Sing, which is as good as any place pretty much anywhere on the planet.

Only rent a car if you choose a hotel that has parking, and make sure you know the pricing of said parking.

If you do rent a car, then either take a trip to Napa, or take highway 1 south along the coast to Half Moon Bay. Pick any hiking trail along the way and it'll be great. If you make it to HMB, eat at Sam's Chowder House and ask for the Oyster Stew.

Hiking in the redwoods: The Bay Area’s Best Redwood Hikes - 7x7 Bay Area. I'd strongly suggest a hike in a redwood forest, that would actually be in the top 1, 2, or 3 things to do in my opinion.

 

[Teacher Terry]

We live driving distance to SF but never use the car when there. We just leave it a the hotel because it is way too hard to find a space to park and lots of public transportation plus we walk a lot. Also now that Alcatraz has been open for a number of years it is much easier to get a ticket then in the past. But is probably also depends if it is tourist season. So much to see and do and the weather is great.

 

[tmm99]

For more affordable hotel options, I would suggest getting a hotel room near Fisherman's Wharf. I would also highly recommend not renting a car. Parking is expensive and most attractions in SF are easily accessible from Fisherman's Wharf, on foot or via public transportation (streetcar, cable car, or Ferry). Bring good walking shoes.

Things to do:
Ride the cable cars , cable car museum
Visit farmers market at the Ferry Building (Saturday mornings) - use the F streetcar from Fisherman's Wharf
Coit Tower
Walk or ride a bike across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito (bike rentals available near Fisherman's Wharf). Come back on the Ferry.
Alcatraz - ferry departure near Fisherman's Wharf
Chinatown
Get a burger at In-N-Out and a sundae at Ghirardelli a Square - near Fisherman's Wharf
Visit Boudin's sourdough factory - near Fisherman's Wharf
Pier 39 (restaurants, shops, sea lion colony, Aquarium of the Bay) - near Fisherman's Wharf
Take a whale watching boat tour - departure near Fisherman's Wharf
Golden Gate Park (botanical garden, Japanese tea garden, De Young fine art museum, or the California Academy of Sciences)
San Francisco Zoo (pretty far from Fisherman's Wharf but easily accessible via public transportation).

This just about covers them all from what I can see.

I used to take everyone who came to visit me to SF (from the south bay) and get them on a cable car, stop by China Town, go to the Warf, have lunch there (a crab sandwich or seafood mix fries) and get on a ferry under the Golden Gate Bridge (everyone just loved this one) or/and take another ferry to Sausalito if they are staying longer and enjoy artsy stuff (You can visit Muir Woods National Monument from there - very close)), and once back, walk from the Warf to Pier 39 (a tourist trap) and all the way down to the Ferry building and eat/drink something there or pick up some gourmet take-outs and then walk all the way to the Giants ballpark (It's a long walk, but I have done it many times with guests.) Food wise, I used to take people to Stinking Rose (North Beach) and order their Bagna Cauda (The amount of garlic cloves in it is insane). If you are close to Union Square, I recommend Max's Opera Cafe (if you like HUGE sandwiches- the waiters sing) or Matterhorn Swiss Restaurant (if you like good fondue). For cheap eats, you can go to Westfield San Francisco Centre - lower levels have tons of eateries, or eat street vendor hot dogs.

 

[tmm99]

Oh, I wouldn't rent a car either. We sometimes drove (instead of taking the train) from the south bay to SF but even when we drove, we parked our car in a cheap public parking, and when we didn't want to walk, we used to just get a cab (an Uber if it were now). Too much trouble trying to find parking.

 

[ocean view]

We rented a flat in the Russian Hill neighborhood from VRBO and took public transportation or walked during a week in SF. Russian Hill is centrally located for all of the bay side tourist spots, as well as Chinatown, Little Italy & Lombard Street.

As others have said, parking is expensive & scarce, especially at the tourist spots. If you do get a car, leave nothing in sight inside the car and stow items in the trunk before you park at your destination. Thieves hang out in the parking garages (especially in the tourist spots) watching you stow items in the trunk. You walk away and then they strike. I don't mean to scare you, just want to make sure you are aware.

You can easily get around like a local on public transport using Google maps to figure out which BART/bus/cable car/light rail/ferry to pick up. Get a "Clipper Card" for each person. It is a refillable transit card that works on all transit systems. You can get them at BART stations and retails stores like Walgreens & CVS. And of course Uber & Lyft are everywhere.

If you want to take a cable car, most tourists wait at the terminus in line for 1-2 hours. What they don't know is that the cable cars make regular stops just like buses. You can walk up the line one or two stops and hop on without having to wait in the queue.

As for things to see not previously mentioned - the Exploratorium on Pier 15, the Calif. Academy of Sciences and the De Young Musuem. All wonderful. They also have Segue tours and walking tours of SF that looked fun.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is like no other (IMO) if you want to go south to Monterey (2.5 hours).

I agree that Muir Woods is fabulous, however, you want to check the website when you get close to your trip for road conditions. I believe one of the roads into the park is closed or restricted due to a slide from last week's rain (yay!). The slide took one lane of the road along with it. Last night on the news, they said it may be months before it is repaired.

 

[grasshopper]

There is/was a member on bogleheads.org that gave behind the scene tours of Alcatraz.
This is a post from another BH member.


I would like to thank long time member of the Bogleheads forum, "Raybo", for the awesome private behind the scenes tour of Alcatraz Prison in San Francisco. I stumbled upon one of his posts where he offered members the chance to see the prison lead by a longtime docent on Alcatraz Island, and we made arrangements to meet while my family and I were there on vacation recently. We were overwhelmed with his knowledge and enthusiasm about Alcatraz! He met us on the island as soon as we got off the ferry, and talked about everything Alcatraz and showed us things regular tour goers do not see. His personal tour also saved us $10 each, as we did not need to use the audio tour.

 

[Chuckanut]

Just don't drink the water in SF. It comes from a reservoir inside Yosemite National Park.

Free the Hetch Hetchy!

 

[Huston55]

This info is what I usually send to out of town friends who're visiting. Hope it's helpful. Also, pls ignore any invitations to visit or meet us (in case I left some in )

San Francisco Recommendations:

Where to Stay:
- We love La Boheme in North Beach; great location in the heart of everything, historic & funky, clean rooms, nice staff, inexpensive (<$200/nt).
- You could also try AirBnB; stay in North Beach, Telegraph Hill or Russian Hill. My quick check showed places available for $170-$350/nt.

What to Do/See:
- Alcatraz tour: Always worth the trip; lots of history and tremendous views of SF, GGB, etc. on the ferry trip to/from.
- GG Bridge: drive, bike or walk; all 3 have pros/cons but, if you do bike, be aware there are some steep hills on the Sausalito side, navigable but, need to take it slow & walk your bike on the sidewalk in a couple places.
- Sausalito: A beautiful village set in hills just past the north end of the GGB; lots of restaurants & shops along the water, great views back @ SF and across the bay. If you walk or bike here, you can take a ferry back to The City; best way to return in my opinion.
- Chinatown: An absolute must see; walk along Grant Street & poke your head into every place that looks interesting; for more adventure, walk along some of the alleys (perfectly safe) to see little hideaways, and also walk along Stockton Street (near Pacific St) to see where the locals shop and congregate.
- North Beach: Our favorite part of The City (where we lived 20 yrs ago); the old Italian section of town; Columbus Ave is the heart of N Beach; walk up/down it, stop @ a cafe for coffee & pastry or, at one of the local watering holes.
- Cable Car: I like the Hyde Street cable car, which takes you from Russian Hill down near Ghirardelli but, they're all great.
- Cable Car Museum: Unique place where you can see how the system works.
- Anchor Brewery: Where Anchor Steam beer (a SF tradition & very good brew if you're a beer drinker) is brewed.
- Fisherman's Wharf/Pier 39/Ghirardelli: All very touristy but, fun to spend a couple hours walking around. You'll also catch the boat to Alcatraz from here so, you could see it then.
- Ferry Building: This is the main terminus for ferries throughout the Bay Area, and is a nice stop for lunch, coffee or a drink. If you visit Sausalito on foot or bike, you can take the ferry from Sausalito back to the Ferry Building.
- F-Line Street Car: The renovated trolleys run along The Embarcadero (waterfront street in downtown SF, and are a fun way to go from the Ferry Building to Fisherman's Wharf.
- Lombard Street: Worth a visit and 30 mins of your time.
- Coit Tower: At the top of Telegraph Hill and walking distance from La Boheme if you stay in N. Beach. Definitely worth a visit for the views, the WPA art inside Coit Tower & scenery along the walk (you can also take the #39 bus to the top if walking up Telegraph Hill is too much.)
- Cliff House: A very nice restaurant on the ocean side of SF overlooking the Pacific. Another fun (more casual & more crowded) place on the beach is the Beach Chalet; best for drinks & the view. The vibe on/near the beach is different than the rest of The City, and worth some of your time if you like beaches and sunsets. (Note: if both of these are too crowded & you want a meal/drinks & a great view of the Pacific, Louis' Restaurant is right by The Cliff house; it's less expensive, has good food, and the same awesome view.)
- Golden Gate Park: Lots to do here (it's bigger than Central Park in NY); museums, Japanese Tea Garden, Stow Lake, walking paths, arboretum, etc. You could easily spend an entire day here. Personally, with 3 days to see SF, I might skip GGP so I could see other things that are more uniquely San Francisco.
- Shopping: You didn't say anything about this but, I'd recommend Westfield San Francisco Centre (SFC) which is near (and better than) Union Square. Both SFC & Union Square are where many tourists catch the Powell Street cable car (you can transfer from the Powell street car to the Hyde street car).

Where to Eat:
- The House (N Beach): Asian fusion; one of my absolute favorites; make a reso early.
- Sotto Mare (N Beach): fantastic sea food in N. Beach
- Yank Sing (Financial District): Dim Sum Sunday brunch in Rincon Center, Financial District (only if you like Dim Sum). Must make resos early though.
- Tomasso's (N Beach): Classic old SF Italian in N. Beach; doesn't take resos but, worth the 20-30 min wait.
- Mario's Bohemian Cigar Store (N Beach): A N Beach institution & a must do place for lunch; have the sausage focaccia sandwich & a beer.
- Buena Vista Cafe: Another SF institution located @ the end of the Hyde Street cable car; known for their Irish Coffee which, I can personally attest, is excellent; also a good place for breakfast. Can be crowded but, don't let that put you off.

How to Get Around:
- Option 1: Rent a car, which will give you a bit more flexibility but, you'll have to park it which will be expensive (and often time consuming) and driving in SF is not for the faint of heart (lots of one-way streets, dead ends, construction & HILLS).
- Option 2: Walk and public transit (buses, trolley cars, subway, cable cars). This will get you everywhere in The City & the "CityPASS" is a great deal (one option even includes a day trip to Alcatraz). You will be in a small enough region of The City that this will work well. If you go out to the beach (Cliff House, Beach Chalet) and Golden Gate Park, it's just a bit of a trek out there but, that's true even in a car. For this option, you need to be comfortable with public transit, especially the buses as they can be crowded & sometimes intimidating if you aren't comfortable around strangers and the occasional homeless person.
- Option 3: Walk and public transit + an occasional Uber; same as #2 but, more flexibility & a bit more expense, and it'll get you to the beach and GG Park.

If you choose Option 2 or 3, you can take the subway (BART) directly from the airport into The City (Powell Street station is probably best), then an Uber or taxi (or walk if it's close) to your hotel from there; same in reverse when you return home. If you're not comfortable on BART, and want to do Option 2 or 3, you can take a taxi from the airport to your hotel.

Enjoy!!!

 

[explanade]

Have lived in the Bay Area most of my life and have never gone out to Alcatraz.

Or have done most of the things people have listed, like riding a cable car.

Depends on the visitor's interests but definitely the main attractions in San Francisco are outside -- though there are some overpriced museums.

In late March, Giants may be playing. Even if you're not a baseball fan, it's a great atmosphere our there and great views of the Bay Bridge from the right field stands.

Of course the Golden Gate Bridge is the real iconic sight. Great views from several vantage points, including the Presidio, Lands End, Sausalito, Marine Headlands.