One day in San Francisco - suggestions?

[acd80]

I'm off to California in a couple of weeks on a work trip on my own. I fly in on the Saturday evening and am staying in the Sunnyvale area. I've got a day free on the Sunday and intend getting into San Francisco on the BART first thing on the Sunday. I've no intentions of driving into SF though.

I plan to do the Alcatraz tour first thing and will wander around Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 afterwards. That'll take me up to early afternoon though - has anyone got any suggestions on what else to do? I fancy hiring a bike and going across the Golden Gate Bridge and cycling back - any preferred companies or ones to avoid?

I've got a fair bit of time to kill on the day my flight leaves so I'll hit the Union Square area then and do some shopping.

I'm hoping to head back out that way next year on holidays with the wife and daughter next year so will have more time next year to explore the area.

[acd80]

Cheers for all the suggestions - I'm definitely going to squeeze in a rocketboat tour and the tram museum (and the obligatory tram ride -that's tram, not tran!).

I only want to get some tacky magnets for my collection in Fisherman's wharf / Pier 39 (and a quick pint in Hard Rock Café).

[acd80]

Thanks all for the tips. The day I had in SF was when Fleet Week was on so the place was RAMMED beyond belief. I did make a reservation for a bike tour but they never 'received my email' and by the time I got there, they were fully booked. I was just getting over a vomiting bug though from the previous week so it was probably just as well.

The rocketboat was out of service but I did manage to do the hour cruise out to the Golden Gate bridge and around Alcatraz. The US Navy Blue Angels and a P-51 Mustang formation team were doing overhead displays and I probably had one of the best views throughout. The weather was fantastic as well. I didn't make it to the Tram museum but I did get to go on one from Fisherman's wharf up to one of the Bart stations. Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 39 were tourist traps as warned so I didn't spend much time there.

Whilst out there on my work trip, I did manage to get to visit the Intel museum (free, worth a visit if you're into IT - if you're not, it will be your worst nightmare), Apple's HQ (and more importantly, the company store where you can buy loads of gizzits such as mugs etc), Stanford University campus (very nice and the shopping mall there is decent - especially the staff in Victoria's Secret ) and the SF 49er's new stadium in Santa Clara (very impressive but tiny capacity of around 69,000).