Upcoming trip to san francisco (rent, hotel, hotel, bridge)
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Ive decided to go on trip to san francisco. I will be there for about seven days. The trip will take place on the last week in january. What I would like to know is how should I go about exploring the city. I want to see all the major tourist attractions and even the ones out of the city such as wine country but Im having alot of trouble planning how I want to do it. My hotel is in a good location about a block away from chinatown and a cable car line. If anyone can offer insight it would be very helpful to me.
Ive decided to go on trip to san francisco. I will be there for about seven days. The trip will take place on the last week in january. What I would like to know is how should I go about exploring the city. I want to see all the major tourist attractions and even the ones out of the city such as wine country but Im having alot of trouble planning how I want to do it. My hotel is in a good location about a block away from chinatown and a cable car line. If anyone can offer insight it would be very helpful to me.
I'm not even sure where to begin. You can either book a tour or just explore on your own. Don't miss all the cooffee shops and Italian deli's and bakery's in North Beach, the dim sum in Chinatown, and take a cable car once (it's expensive to ride them constantly.)
You can buy a MUNI pass to use the buses, between them and walking, San Francisco is a great and generally safe city. I'd just do a lot of googling to find the things you want to visit.
As far as wine country, it's about an hour north of San Francisco in Sonoma and Napa counties, or 90 minutes south of San Francisco around Monterey Bay. You'll need to rent a car, but for a novice you would be better off just taking one of the many tours that leave from SF. The wineries they take you to are generally not representative of the great wineries of the area, but unless you want to drive or spend big bucks for a private tour, it is what it is.
I would also suggest taking the ferry to Sausalito for an afternoon of exploring.
I've been there a bunch of times, and always have a splendid visit.
It is a very walkable city, but also, the transportation system is easy to use. You actually can even get to the wine country by public bus, but it would be much more sensible to take a tour or rent a car.
Alcatraz is fascinating, but book ahead.
Golden Gate Park is beautiful and has the botanic gardens, art museum etc.
The Ferry Building Marketplace is *very* worthwhile.
I love San Francisco.
Have a great trip!
Ive decided to go on trip to san francisco. I will be there for about seven days. The trip will take place on the last week in january. What I would like to know is how should I go about exploring the city. I want to see all the major tourist attractions and even the ones out of the city such as wine country but Im having alot of trouble planning how I want to do it. My hotel is in a good location about a block away from chinatown and a cable car line. If anyone can offer insight it would be very helpful to me.
I suggest visiting the Cable Car Museum San Francisco Cable Car Museum which is near Chinatown.
Other attractions are: Lombard Street (the crooked street), the Fairmont Hotel glass elevator (for an excellent view of the city), Coit Tower (for another excellent view of the city), Fisherman's Wharf, the former Ghiradelli chocolate factory which is now a shopping mall, the Japanese Tea Garden, the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, Angel Island, etc.
Ive decided to go on trip to san francisco. I will be there for about seven days. The trip will take place on the last week in january. What I would like to know is how should I go about exploring the city. I want to see all the major tourist attractions and even the ones out of the city such as wine country but Im having alot of trouble planning how I want to do it. My hotel is in a good location about a block away from chinatown and a cable car line. If anyone can offer insight it would be very helpful to me.
Just reading this and I realize I'm late but in case others read this later on... When one is visiting the Bay area and they are around Fisherman's Wharf, I HIGHLY recommend you stopping by this place:
It's quite unique and in some ways, it feels like one is taking a step back in time.
This museum used to be located in the Sutro Heights Park area and I thought it was SO MUCH cooler over there... but I guess they realized they needed to head towards where the tourists are located.
While there make sure to visit china town and also if you like italian food you must go to the north beach area of SF. Check out Sausalito, just across the golden gate. there is sooooooooo much to see and do. Lombard St. Also if you get the opportunity take a drive down the 101 fwy south. Ghiardelli's, the wharf and whatever else you can get in. By all means ride the cable cars.
There is so much to do in SF, it's hard to know which highlights to hit.
If you're a couple, rent a tandem bike down by Fisherman's Wharf (walk uphill about 2 blocks to get a much better deal away from the waterfront) and ride around the bay to Fort Point under the Golden Gate Bridge. In January you'll probably see surfers and wind/kite surfers doing their thing under the bridge. It's quite a sight. You can ride across the bridge and take a ferry back as part of a package, but I don't know that it's worth the extra time.
While your at Fisherman's Wharf, cough up $15-ish for a big boiled crab from the sidewalk vendors (DON'T GO TO THE RESTURANTS THERE!). Pick one that's big and still moving. Every time it's the best crab I've ever had, and I've had a lot of crab around the world.
You can get a great view of the GG, City, and Alcatraz from the rest stop on the North end of the GG bridge. It's also a pretty safe place to sleep in your car if you're on a budget as it is patrolled all night long, though you might wake up in the middle of a flock of gawking tourists the next day.
Park your car somewhere cheap/free and leave it. You don't need it inside the city limits, and it will just slow you down. The muni is great and you can ride all day on just two fares just ask for a transfer. Each fare is good for about 2-3 hours, so you don't need to waste money on a transit day pass unless you plan on riding all day long. Most of the city can be walked to. Night busses run all over town so you'll never get stranded. Ride the electric bus, trolly, and cablecar (big extra charge, but worth it once). You'll get a taste of the non-electric busses if you ride one of the lines out to the Haight. It's not so exciting nowadays, but worth a stroll through for the vintage shops.
Climb Coit tower hill at sunset and watch the sun set behind the GG bridge. Eat out in little Italy. Walk one street up from the main drag in Chinatown and browse through the great fresh veggie/fruit/meat/fish markets spilling out into the street. Stop in a Taiwanese deli for light and delicious bread snacks.
There are bus tours to the wine country but you should look it up online. There is also a tour out to Muir Woods, which is very nice. If you want to save time, renting a car is more expedient and maybe even cheaper. (And you could drive down Lombard "Crooked" Street.)
Study the bus and BART system, print out whatever you think you need.
You have lots of good suggestions here. Here's a few more:
Legion of Honor (glorious art museum)
Asian Art Museum in the Civic Center
Palace of Fine Arts w/the Exploratorium adjoining it
Haight Street
Drive around Pacific Heights to view the homes
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