1 day in San Francisco

[rasto]

I'm lucky enough to be going on a business trip to San Francisco in May (Google IO 2016). I will have 1 day free in SF (the Saturday) and would like to try and see the best bits, so obviously need to know what those best bits are

I would like to get a good view of the Golden Gate bridge, but I'm not too bothered about crossing it. So apart from that, what is worth seeing there?

[hoegaardenruls]

We found the hop-on hop-off bus tour pretty good - it meant we could decided where else we wanted to see other than the main sights, including a trip across the bridge.

http://eng.bigbustours.com/sanfrancisco/home.html

Some have commentary as well, so maybe worth finding the schedule for those..

Usual advice for Alcatraz, namely book before you go - and the Coit Tower is worth a look as well.

[GCH]

Mamas (Washington Square) first thing for breakfast - get there early.
Alcatraz in the morning - book in advance
Rent a car - or a driver/uber - and head across the bridge into the Marin Headlands for the best view of the bridge. You could do it on a bike but may take a while!
Something in the afternoon - I am sure others will suggest something.
Delfina for dinner



If you want to get the cable car, don't get it it either terminus- lines are long. Hop on further down route.

[loafer123]

The fire engine tour (link below) was brilliant, and covers the Golden Gate and both sides of the water:

http://sanfranciscofireenginetours.com/

Sausalito Ferry was a nice round trip, from Fishermans Wharf.

Perhaps go and see a Giants game? That was a lot of fun, and you can catch the Embarcardo tram to and fro from Fishermans Wharf, which works well.

Worth having Uber on your phone for getting around.

[rasto]

Like the look of the bus or fire engine tours

I was thinking about Alcatraz, but given how little time I have there I assumed that it would take too much of the day.

I will be transferring from my conference hotel into a hotel in the middle of the city on the Friday evening so I could probably do some site seeing then too.

Some nice food destinations too.

[marcosgt]

rasto said:

Like the look of the bus or fire engine tours

I was thinking about Alcatraz, but given how little time I have there I assumed that it would take too much of the day.

I will be transferring from my conference hotel into a hotel in the middle of the city on the Friday evening so I could probably do some site seeing then too.

Some nice food destinations too.

You can do Alcatraz in 2-3 hours, well worth a visit.

I wouldn't rent a car, though, to go to Marin County, get a bike.

A bus tour sounds good, you won't see it all, but you'll get a taste.

Fort Point under the GG bridge is well worth an hour of your time too, great views across the bay as long as it's not foggy.

M

[mackay45]

GCH said:

Mamas (Washington Square) first thing for breakfast - get there early.

I'd recommend this as well. I queued for about 1hr15mins for breakfast there and would happily do it again!

Good way to fuel up for a day of sightseeing too.

[anonymous-user]

If your one day includes the evening then book the night tour of Alcatraz. Way more atmospheric, saves the day time for outdoor stuff and also is limited to just one boat load of visitors so the place is far less busy than during the day.
Book as far in advance as possible though. It sells out, fast.

[Hoddo]

Might be considered boring but if you only have a day why not put a pair of comfy shoes on and walk around the city. I did this first time I visited and loved it. Walked the length of the wharf, did downtown, Lombard street (stayed in Pacific Heights so close by), Coit Tower, Columbus Tower etc. Great day.

[nyt]

Uber was a great way to get about last time I was there.

Plenty of cars, no wait and very reasonable cost - $21 from Union Square to the far side of the bridge for instance.

[marcosgt]

Hoddo said:

Might be considered boring but if you only have a day why not put a pair of comfy shoes on and walk around the city. I did this first time I visited and loved it. Walked the length of the wharf, did downtown, Lombard street (stayed in Pacific Heights so close by), Coit Tower, Columbus Tower etc. Great day.

That was going to be my suggestion, initially, but if you're only going once (even possibly) I'd want to see all the key sites.

Certainly do this if you go back - My company used to be based in SF so I went quite a bit for a while, some wonderful, happy memories of the place.

My current company is based in Santa Monica, which is one of the few parts of the charmless hole that is LA that I can tolerate, but it's almost NOT LA (as is Long Beach)

If you ever get stuck in LA for night, spend it on the Queen Mary down at Long Beach - Great experience as a hotel and a museum.

M.

Edited by marcosgt on Thursday 31st March 20:46

[Puggit]

Judging by his Facebook, if you want Swerni's advice on the less salubrious parts of town, he can help there too

[andy-xr]

There's actually a better view of the Golden Gate Bridge from the 'other side' and it's worth crossing it. There's also a really nice restaurant/bar place that's got a great view of it. Damned if I can find or remember the name of it, but I think it's signposted.

I never bothered with Alcatraz, felt a bit too touristy, went to north beach instead which is quite a good night out.

[rasputin]

The bridge does look better from the other side because it has the city as a backdrop, but I don't know if I'd bother with only 1 day to spare - better to spend it enjoying the city itself. Plus in my limited experience (4 visits to the area), there's a 99.999% chance it'll be too foggy to see the bridge anyway :

An unusually clear day, from the other side:

Golden Gate Bridge with San Francisco by Elad V., on Flickr

What you're more likely to see:

Transamerica Pyramid through the Golden Gate Bridge by Elad V., on Flickr

And from the side of the city. Not too ugly:

Golden Gate Bridge at Sunset by Elad V., on Flickr


If I had one day there I'd try to get to Chinatown for lunch and up the Coit Tower for sunset. Excellent 360 degree views from Coit Tower:

San Francisco from Coit Tower by Elad V., on Flickr


Golden Gate Sunset by Elad V., on Flickr


Sunset over Alcatraz by Elad V., on Flickr

I wouldn't bother going into Alcatraz unless that kind of thing really interests you. It is worth a visit, but with only 1 day I don't know...

[andy-xr]

swerni said:

Sausalito?

Wherever it was, it as a 2 minute drive from Vista Point, we went just up the hill away from the carpark which is where I thought was probably a better view of the bridge

[rasto]

Thanks for all the suggestions chaps, I've got a lot of options to think about now.

[krisdelta]

Another vote for Alcatraz, night would be most atmospheric. The trams are unique and facinating and worth a ride, get some fish soup served in bread down near the quays and a cold beer with a view of the bay. There is an excellent mexican called Colibri near union square. Enjoy

[marcosgt]

andy-xr said:

I never bothered with Alcatraz, felt a bit too touristy, went to north beach instead which is quite a good night out.

I'm not an unmitigated fan of all things American, but they do do National Parks REALLY well and Alcatraz is a National Park.

It's certainly not 'touristy' at all in a commercial sense and, whilst I can see the prison would be very atmospheric at night, the views from the island are great and you won't get those at night.

If you've been to SF more than once or twice and not been to Alcatraz, you've missed out.

Another place we really liked was the Japanese Garden (I think it's in Golden Gate Park), which is a lovely spot to relax for an hour or so.

Muir Woods is fantastic over in Marin County, but unless you're mad about Sequoias, it's probably too far to go in a single day.

M.

Edited by marcosgt on Monday 4th April 10:09

[rasto]

I need to change the thread title to 2 days in San Francisco as I've managed to rejig the travel arrangements a bit

The only downside is that I will have to take 2 red-eye flights on the way home as I need to stop off in Boston for a few days (work) on the way back.

Thanks for all the suggestions, I should be able to see more of the city at a slightly less hectic pace now.

[krisdelta]

Boston: Beer