Anything "unmissable" in San Francisco?
Discussion
Go to Mama's for breakfast. The queues starts at about 07:00 so get there early if you don't want to eat fairly early.
Do not stay in the King George hotel.
If the 49'ers are playing at home go watch the game. The new stadium at Santa Clara is simply amazing and the whole experience was one of the best days of my life. The end zone rally party before the game was awesome.
Do not stay in the King George hotel.
If the 49'ers are playing at home go watch the game. The new stadium at Santa Clara is simply amazing and the whole experience was one of the best days of my life. The end zone rally party before the game was awesome.
If the Giants are away, don't forget the Oakland A's, across the Bay bridge. They'll probably be at home. Family Blib attended a game there a couple of weeks ago.
Definitely book ahead for Alcatraz. A bicycle ride over the Golden Gate and down into Sausolito is fun. You get the ferry back.
Also, if you're planning to visit the giant redwoods at Muir Woods I strongly suggest getting there early. Otherwise you'll never be able to park.
Definitely book ahead for Alcatraz. A bicycle ride over the Golden Gate and down into Sausolito is fun. You get the ferry back.
Also, if you're planning to visit the giant redwoods at Muir Woods I strongly suggest getting there early. Otherwise you'll never be able to park.
Often these "What to do in xxx " have a few posts and fizzle out. The fact this has a decent number definitely, for me, shows that San Fran is a great destination with loads to do.
One other point, if you are expecting the sort of bargains you can get in Florida for food, clothes etc you might be surprised, it's not a cheap city in general.
One other point, if you are expecting the sort of bargains you can get in Florida for food, clothes etc you might be surprised, it's not a cheap city in general.
Fluffsri said:
Im not into baseball, none of us were but we went to a game ($14ish for a ticket) Great time and a great view over the harbour.
Well worth doing if you can fit it in....as you say great views over the bay from the grandstand.
My best mate from here in the UK now lives in San Jose, and on one of the visits over to see him, we went to game one eve.
People have covered most things on here, but would definitely agree about drive some of the Bullitt locations - have done that a few times......if nothing else, do the drive down Taylor Street, from the junction with Broadway, i.e head west up the hill and then down over the top and down the other side.
Here's a great link to all the locations
http://www.rjsmith.com/bullitt-locations.html
A visit to Brizio's is worth it as well, to wander around the workshop and watch craftsmen at work.
Just to add to the growing list of stuff to do and recommendations.
I've been there 4 times now in the last two years- done some sightseeing stuff either side of business trips.
Trains / metro are cheap. Don't forget the rides on the tram. Best thing to do is walk down to the end of the tram stops by the bay in the morning and get a ride back to the centre of town near Powell St later on. You will avoid the queues then.
San Francisco really isn;t that big. Even the golden gate park can be done in a few hours ( best on a sunday when they close most of the roads to cars through the park).
Bike hire/segway hire is cheap. But walking around is easy. Take note from hotel staff about go/no go areas. The few streets around the Civic centre are to be avoided for reasons mentioned before..
I'd recommend Mikkellerbar.com on 34 mason st if you are a fan of Beer. They have 100's to choose from and are very knowledgeable to taste and food combos.
San Fran weather is bizarre too. Very changeable. Boat trips out to the bay bridge area can start off warm and sunny and by the time you have sailed under the bridge you are freezing so go prepared.
Alcatraz- you can never book too early. I went on the first trip of the day before it got busy as suggested by hotel concierge, and ignored the guide and wandered around. Fascinating place.
Baseball games- get your hotel to book them or install Stub Hub on your phone. If you have an iPhone the tickets turn up in Passbook even for multiple tickets. Handy. Dont take anything to a baseball game like a bottle or can- you have to surrender it on the way in.
Boat trips- book in advance online to make 10-20% saving.
Pier 39 is just touristy shop/tacky food nonsense.
If you do hire a car which is usually for the US dirt cheap, remember that car parking in the city is awful. Sometimes you end up parking 3-4 blocks away from where you wanted to go. Walking is far easier in all honesty.
I've been there 4 times now in the last two years- done some sightseeing stuff either side of business trips.
Trains / metro are cheap. Don't forget the rides on the tram. Best thing to do is walk down to the end of the tram stops by the bay in the morning and get a ride back to the centre of town near Powell St later on. You will avoid the queues then.
San Francisco really isn;t that big. Even the golden gate park can be done in a few hours ( best on a sunday when they close most of the roads to cars through the park).
Bike hire/segway hire is cheap. But walking around is easy. Take note from hotel staff about go/no go areas. The few streets around the Civic centre are to be avoided for reasons mentioned before..
I'd recommend Mikkellerbar.com on 34 mason st if you are a fan of Beer. They have 100's to choose from and are very knowledgeable to taste and food combos.
San Fran weather is bizarre too. Very changeable. Boat trips out to the bay bridge area can start off warm and sunny and by the time you have sailed under the bridge you are freezing so go prepared.
Alcatraz- you can never book too early. I went on the first trip of the day before it got busy as suggested by hotel concierge, and ignored the guide and wandered around. Fascinating place.
Baseball games- get your hotel to book them or install Stub Hub on your phone. If you have an iPhone the tickets turn up in Passbook even for multiple tickets. Handy. Dont take anything to a baseball game like a bottle or can- you have to surrender it on the way in.
Boat trips- book in advance online to make 10-20% saving.
Pier 39 is just touristy shop/tacky food nonsense.
If you do hire a car which is usually for the US dirt cheap, remember that car parking in the city is awful. Sometimes you end up parking 3-4 blocks away from where you wanted to go. Walking is far easier in all honesty.
sly fox said:
If you do hire a car which is usually for the US dirt cheap, remember that car parking in the city is awful. Sometimes you end up parking 3-4 blocks away from where you wanted to go. Walking is far easier in all honesty.
Oh yeh! If you *do* have a car, you may notice all the front wheels are turned into the curb on the hills.We live in Los Gatos (San Jose) and have spent a fair bit of time doing all the tourist stuff, so not really anythig to add.
One thing with regard car parking - there is a garage between Ellis/O'Farrell street where we park whenever we go there. It's only $1 per hour after 6pm and last time we went, we got a rebate so $2 for 4 hours parking. It's only a block from Union Square and right next to Maceys - it's a great location. IDuring the day it's $2.50 (morning), $3.50 (afternoon) an hour which is still a bargain for such a central location. Better to park there and take teh cable car to Fishermans Wharf than pay $35 down on Embarcadero. https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/parking/parki...
Santana Row in San Jose is a great place to shop/eat if that's your thing. It also has a Tesla showroom which is cool to get up close and personal with them - loads around here.
Yosemite isn't THAT far, we do day trips there from home - 4 hours each way. Lake Tahoe is a favourite, again about 3.5 hours.
Highly recommend the Segway tours, they are great fun. We've done the Golden Gate Park and Angel Island ones.
One thing with regard car parking - there is a garage between Ellis/O'Farrell street where we park whenever we go there. It's only $1 per hour after 6pm and last time we went, we got a rebate so $2 for 4 hours parking. It's only a block from Union Square and right next to Maceys - it's a great location. IDuring the day it's $2.50 (morning), $3.50 (afternoon) an hour which is still a bargain for such a central location. Better to park there and take teh cable car to Fishermans Wharf than pay $35 down on Embarcadero. https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/parking/parki...
Santana Row in San Jose is a great place to shop/eat if that's your thing. It also has a Tesla showroom which is cool to get up close and personal with them - loads around here.
Yosemite isn't THAT far, we do day trips there from home - 4 hours each way. Lake Tahoe is a favourite, again about 3.5 hours.
Highly recommend the Segway tours, they are great fun. We've done the Golden Gate Park and Angel Island ones.
Fantastic suggestions, so thank you everyone! Off at the end of the month, so really looking forward to it. For our last weekend there we are driving up to Bodega Bay (Mustang is booked!) which will be 3 days of chilling out and a bit of wine tasting, so the SF part of the trip will now be filled with a lot of walking and plenty to see thanks to everyone's recommendations.
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