One day...
5 days ago
but this needs to go on the back burner for now, because it’s not going to be financially realistic for quite a while.
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How to visit San Francisco
It made me
very happy
 "There's more than just touristy things!"
How I did it: My grandmother lives in the city, so that's where I stayed. I used public transit to get around the city. I visited historic buildings, local restaurants, and the touristy places. I also explored the city randomly via different buses and did lots of walking. Since my grandma lives in the city, I spent summers with her as a kid, so I generally knew where I was going and how to get there. However, anyone can find the locations I knew about by doing a good bit of research. My "visit" is actually a combination of several trips which add up to about a month (or more). This post deals exclusively with visiting the city itself, with a bit of information on things to do outside SF. So let's look at some specifics for this trip: Hotel/Housing As I said above, I stay with my grandma when I travel to the Bay Area. I recommend someone who wants to get a lot done and is staying for the first time find a hotel in the city. Expect to pay a good bit though - cheap hotels in San Francisco can be in the less-desirable areas. If you're good with public transportation and don't mind the daily commute you can try to find a hotel along the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) rail line that is cheaper than city hotels. BART generally serves the East Bay cities, San Francisco, and the two biggest airports. There are other commuter trains that run along the San Mateo County peninsula down to San Jose. Keep in mind that staying outside the city means it will take you 30 minutes to 2 hours to get downtown. There are a few hostels in San Francisco for those who feel comfortable using them. Getting There You can drive in via I-80 and I-5 (I-80 travels into the city via the Bay Bridge and I-5 bypasses the city to the East, but a network of freeways and highways can bring you into the city). Arriving via Amtrack train can be a bit tricky - you will most likely enter via Oakland and take an Amtrack bus or other public transit to get into the city. Most people will fly in. There are three major airports - San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose. Oakland and San Jose can be cheaper to fly into but the San Francisco airport is only about 10-15 minutes south of the city and is the most popular. From SFO, BART will take you into the city and around most of the bay area. There are also many shuttle providers that for a decent fee will take you to your hotel. Some hotels provide airport shuttles. If you fly into Oakland, expect to take the BART shuttle bus and then BART into downtown. Again, there are shuttles. I've never used the San Jose airport. Getting to the city requires a bit more work and cost - there are three transfers involved to get to BART. Oakland is about a 30 minute drive from downtown SF; San Jose is about an hour drive (without traffic). Getting Around If you're going to stay in the city, avoid rental cars. Parking is very difficult and costly downtown and traffic can be a pain. Use MUNI to get around inside the city - San Francisco's light rail and bus system that goes everywhere in the city. Dozens of routes serve this small area, so if it's in the city limits you're within much less than a 1/2 mile walk. The most popular destinations are served by light rail and streetcars, and the cable cars are a tourist destination on their own. If you're staying for about a month - a calendar month - pick up a monthly pass ($45) for rides on all MUNI vehicles and BART within city limits. If you're going to stay for a few days, the MUNI's tourist passport for 1 ($11), 3 ($18) or 7 ($24) days allows you to ride everything MUNI including the cable cars. Neither pass lets you ride the new CultureBus 74X - there is a $3 upcharge to use that for the day with one of these passes. Things To Do There are way too many things to do to list here, and your list depends on your interests. Here are some highlights:
It will take about 1 week to visit the historic places on the national register. These places are generally privately owned homes and businesses, so disturbing the residents/owners is out of the question. Some places on the register are now museums or tourist locations. If you plan on visiting Alcatraz, allow half a day (or take the night tour!). Add in a full day for Angel Island (even if it only takes you half a day - it's 8 miles to walk around the island), and a few hours to walk around Treasure Island. It can take a full day to experience the Pier 39/Fisherman's Wharf/Aquatic Park area. A trip to the Zoo and Ocean Beach can take a full day (stop at the Beach Chalet).Walking through Chinatown and North Beach is a full-day activity. Visit all the museums SF has to offer, and you've used up another week. Several days can be spent exploring the neighborhoods. The rest of Northern California can be explored over the course of two weeks if you're somewhat selective in your itinerary. If you have kids, you'll want to visit the theme parks in the area (Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo and Great America in Santa Clara). Most people will be able to visit the city and see everything they could possibly want to see for a first trip in a week including a day trip to the Wine Country.
Lessons & tips: Make a list of everything you want to do, the times and days they're open, the cost, and how long it will take you to visit (be honest with yourself - are you going to spend two hours walking back and forth across the Golden Gate Bridge or are you going to stop at the overlook for 20 minutes? Are you going to walk quickly through an art museum and come out in an hour or do you take your time and look at each piece of art, increasing your stay to four hours?). Determine how to get there via public transit (make a list of all the lines that serve each location). Group locations together by similar transit lines and area to minimize transit time. Double the time it's supposed to take to get from one place to the other so transportation delays don't eat up your time. Put things that can be done in the evenings or at night during those times to leave more time during the day for exploring outdoor and daytime-only locations. When I return later this month, I'm visiting all the attractions on a single bus line on the same day (Route 18 - it serves the coast along the Pacific Ocean including Baker Beach, the Zoo, the Cliff House and Lands End, and the Legion of Honor). Whenever I travel, I have a very detailed plan for each day that tells me where I'm going, how much it costs, how long I plan on spending there, and exactly how to get there (with maps as needed). By doing this I know what time I need to leave each morning to complete my list. However, I know that plans change - I spend longer than planned at a location, buses run slow, I forget to budget time for lunch, etc - and I make changes to my plan as needed. I also know that since I generally travel alone, I can change my plans and not mess anyone else's plans up. Budget extra time and allowances for traveling to the city with kids, because public transportation may be new to them (part of the fun of traveling to San Francisco as a kid was the train ride there and riding the streetcar system). Ride the cable cars as soon as they open in the morning or near closing time at night. Lines will be much shorter. I was able to ride two lines on an early morning trip back and forth on each trip by planning properly (ride a Powell Street line early and the California line second - the California line is less touristy because it doesn't go to tourist locations and doesn't have as good of views as the Powell lines). Safety-wise, always be aware of your surroundings. Homeless people will approach you at least once asking for money or will want to give you a flier or newsletter and then request a donation. Riding the F-line and cable car is about the safest public transportation out there, but the streetcars and buses immerse you in the everyday culture. like New York City, everybody rides the buses and streetcars in San Francisco. Expect to see businessmen during rush hour and everybody else at all times of day (kids, parents, drug addicts, you name it). There are some weird people who ride public transit but if you act normal but are aware of what's going on you'll be fine. Be careful about the neighborhoods you're walking in. The area known as the Tenderloin has the largest risk to it, but even areas of Market Street between (not at) Castro Street and the Civic Center can be dicey. If you're not used to city life, avoid non-touristy areas after dark.
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Entries
I forgot I had this on the tossed-list
4 weeks ago
For a while I’d had an idea for a mildly outrageous stunt involving wandering around San Francisco. Recently I did just that. This day involved mainly wandering around the Telegraph Hill area, after having spent many hours on google maps and street view looking around here. I’d been to SF several times before but it was always for specific purposes and didn’t really do much outside of those.
I live not far off now, and can go now and then for the day easily enough. I want to see the Exploratorium again and the Golden Gate general area next time.
San Francisco Spring Break 2009
5 months ago
My boyfriend and I knew we wanted to visit San Francisco for spring break around 3 weeks before we actually took the trip. We flew STA travel, a student booking company that provides VERY affordable round trip tickets all over the world. We stayed at the Fisherman’s Wharf Hostel in Fort Mason – my HIGHEST recommendation. We had views of the Golden Gate Bridge AND Alcatraz in one panoramic backyard vista. San Francisco is a wonderful place, and I miss it immensely.
zombiegrrl needs to get back on track.
just got back yesterday!
6 months ago
at 11 pm! my boyfriend and i went up last thursday. we left la around 3 pm and drove pretty continuously, stopping twice to get gas and stretch our legs. we made a longer stop to visit some friends in berkeley and didn’t reach our hotel until friday, midnight. we intended to stay until the following tuesday, but ended up extending our stay for another day! we left yesterday on thursday around 1 pm.
i had SO MUCH fun! i expected to do tons of touristy stuff, but my bf’s been there already and we have a couple of friends who live up there, so we took our time and visited one or two places a day. dined in chinatown and japantown, visited the academy of sciences, viewed the tower at the de young museum, traveled to thrift town in el sobrante, visited moma, experienced sketch tuesday at 111 minna st., and made several trips to berkeley and oakland. i have yet to see the golden gate bridge, but i KNOW i will be back! i love the architecture in the city, and am willing to withstand the cold! my bf and i even found a local frozen yogurt place that we frequented three days straight. :)
zombiegrrl needs to get back on track.
soon??
7 months ago
i kind of gave up my san francisco dream for the time being, cause every time i planned to go, something would get in the way. however, my boyfriend suggested we go on a little trip, and he mentioned wanting to go up north. i immediately shouted that i wanted to go to sf, which he agreed! (he’s already been there at least twice.)
hopefully i’ll be able to go this time!
my birthday
8 months ago
For my 38th I finally got to san fran with hubby…the best vacation ever…..favorite spot was stinson beach and going over the golden gate bridge…..the views…the people…I must go back again….Highly recommend driving down US1 the most amazing views
my birthday
8 months ago
For my 38th I finally got to san fran with hubby…the best vacation ever…..favorite spot was stinson beach and going over the golden gate bridge…..the views…the people…I must go back again….Highly recommend driving down US1 the most amazing views
Untitled
14 months ago
i live in estonia (north europe) but ive always somehow been attracted to san francisco . i want to walk on the steep street and ride those train-y things . ;D
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i don't think this is happening.
14 months ago
weekends are off limits, now that i’m working at the library. (i work 6 days a week now.) maybe i can squeeze a trip october, november, or even winter break. it’ll be impossible to schedule something in september because my weekends are pretty full, and it’d be rude to skip work when i haven’t even started yet!
sydneyrellaaaa is trying out 43 things!
Untitled
15 months ago
that only interesting thing here in northern california. so many places to explore and see. never gets dull. one of my favorite places to be :)
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 Los Angeles
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Muriel asks,
“Hi everyone - I'll be in San Francisco this weekend, staying at the Grand Hyatt on Stockton. I wanted to hit some neat shops for gifts and home - antiques, kitsch, cute, cool, hip, whatever. Not too touristy. Any suggestions?”
— 18 months ago |
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