San Francisco help...

[Jaimee]

I recently posted that DS 10 won a website competition, and part of his prize is a all expense paid trip for us to San Francisco (and a laptop lol)
We finally got all of the travel info filled out and we'll be there in September. The first day, Saturday there aren't any activities scheduled and I'd like to take advantage of the time to do some site-seeing.

As part of the package we already have an Alcatraz tour scheduled and a trip to the Exploratorium (science museum). Those trips take place during the week, so we'll have Saturday completely open. I'd love to do a city tour, any recommendations? We're staying at the Renassaince (sp?) Parc on Market St. We've never been to SF before. Any ideas, it'll be me 33 and DS10.

TIA!

 

[Kahana-ri]

I don't think you will have a problem finding something to do in SF. There is always something happening. You can visit Pier 39, SF Zoo, Coit Tower, China Town, anywhere in Golden Gate Park, the beach, Cliff House, Haight Ashbury, Lombard Street and of course there are tons of shops and restaurants. Have a great time!

 

[Master Mason]

I don't think you will have a problem finding something to do in SF. There is always something happening. You can visit Pier 39, SF Zoo, Coit Tower, China Town, anywhere in Golden Gate Park, the beach, Cliff House, Haight Ashbury, Lombard Street and of course there are tons of shops and restaurants. Have a great time!

I would skip the Zoo, it isn't very good anymore.

There is also the fort under the golden gate bridge that is pretty cool as well.

 

[Jaimee]

Thanks for the suggestions. We have been reading about the different things to do, but I was wondering if anyone is familiar with any of the city tours you can take? Would they be worth it, or is it better for us to plan something out on our own?

 

[Master Mason]

Thanks for the suggestions. We have been reading about the different things to do, but I was wondering if anyone is familiar with any of the city tours you can take? Would they be worth it, or is it better for us to plan something out on our own?

sorry, I have lived less that 100 miles away my entire life, so never did any tours.

 

[RUDisney]

One of the best things DH and I did when we got to SF was to go on a tour. We bought the tour at Fisherman's Wharf. I don't remember which company it was. It gave me a lay of the land that I wouldn't have gotten so quickly if I'd driven around myself.

I will say that we were up at 3:00 raring to go since our bodies were on East Coast time so we took our rental out of the hotel's garage and drove around. I've never been so intimidated about driving as I was on those hills! I got over it quickly, but they brought back every bad dream I'd ever had about driving up too steep a road and falling backwards off of it. My DH thought it was funny. There is something really neat (now) about approaching the beginning of a hill and not being able to see how steep it is.

Definitely stop by Girardelli's for an ice cream and hang out at Fisherman's Wharf to look at the sea lions and ride on a cable car.

Oh, and Mom, in case you want to buy a bottle of wine for in your room, take a corkscrew with you. We had a hard time finding one there.

If you have time, rent a car and drive or take a tour to Muir Woods. The giant redwoods are awe-inspiring! You'll need 1/2 - 3/4 of a day to do this.

 

[The Blue Parrot]

Here are a few places I always enjoy stopping in to see what's new --

The Cartoon Art Museum: http://www.cartoonart.org/

Fort Point (right under the Golden Gate Bridge): http://www.nps.gov/fopo/

Fort Mason: http://www.fortmason.org/index.shtml

Hyde Street Pier: http://www.nps.gov/safr/

The Presidio: http://www.nps.gov/archive/prsf/home.htm

Note: Building 104 on the Main Post is under construction as the future home of the Walt Disney Family Museum. It's not open yet, but hopefully sometime in 2009 if all goes to plan. I've seen some of the plans and this will be a "don't miss".


CityPass San Francisco is the best deal I've seen. It includes a Seven-Day MUNI Pass which covers Cable Cars, Streetcars, Light Rail and buses. With Cable Cars at $5 a ride, this is a great money saver. Here's the full blurb from their web site:

"San Francisco CityPass includes five attraction admission tickets, a seven-day MUNI & Cable Car Passport, and saves you nearly half the price. CityPass bundles tickets to the most popular San Francisco attractions in a pocket-size booklet, along with attraction information, transportation directions, best times to visit, a map, special offers, and enticing destination suggestions from the pages of National Geographic Traveler, the most widely read magazine for inquisitive travelers.

All CityPass attractions are accessible via MUNI’s world famous cable cars and light rail: the de Young Museum and Legion of Honor, Aquarium of the Bay, SF Museum of Modern Art, and Blue & Gold Fleet Bay Cruise Adventure for spectacular views of Golden Gate Bridge, Marin hills, Alcatraz Island and the city. An Option Ticket gives you a choice between the Exploratorium OR Asian Art Museum. You have nine leisurely days from the day of first use to enjoy admission to each attraction once, and will avoid most ticket lines.

Discount and offer coupons invite you to save on other aspects of San Francisco culture: Choose a Blazing Saddles bicycle tour or GoCars’ little yellow GPS-guided car tour; shop Bloomingdale’s; take the Boudin Museum and Bakery Tour for a whiff of authentic sourdough; get a Pier 39 Fun Pack, sample a treat from See’s Candies; and get 2-for-1 admission to AT&T Park Tour at the home of the San Francisco Giants."

http://www.citypass.com/city/sanfrancisco.html


If you're looking for dining or drinking, my choices are:

The Buena Vista - Home of the Irish Coffee, right across the street from the Hyde Street Cable Car turn around. http://www.thebuenavista.com/

The Beach Chalet - Great food and beer brewed on site on the Beach! http://www.beachchalet.com/

The Garden Court at the Palace Hotel - History and fine meals, too. Pricey but worth it. http://www.gardencourt-restaurant.com/

Also check out Maxfields with it's original Maxfield Parrish "Pied Piper" mural: http://www.maxfields-restaurant.com/

Looking for a bit of Sam Spade? Try John's Grill, mentioned in the Dashiel Hammet novel, "The Maltese Falcon": http://www.bestofsanfrancisco.net/johnsgrill.htm

Looking for some Tiki fun and food? Hukilau is it! http://www.dahukilau.com/restaurants/sanfran.html

If you just want to graze? Check out the Ferry Building's shops and markets. Lots of good stuff here. http://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/

That's a good start! Enjoy.

 

[kaoden39]

There are also places you can rent bicycles and do tours on them. I will look for the website and post it later. I live 45 miles from San Francisco so tours have never been big for me either.

Michele

 

[SFBayDon]

My recommendation is the Exploratorium. This is a great mix of hands on experiments and science. Growing up in the East Bay we went every few years on school trips and a recent trip with my niece and nephew was a great half day experience. This is the kind of place kids are almost required to touch and try everything. They will run from exhibit to exhibit to try it all. It is located by the Palace of Fine Arts and as not to far from the other attractions mentioned.

Main page
http://www.exploratorium.edu/visit/index.html

Map of the Exploratorium
http://www.exploratorium.edu/visit/images/floormap_1000.gif

Hope this helps.
Don

 

[mamacatnv]

We have never done the tours we just hoof it along with the cable cars, muni and taxi's.

However, if you only have 1 day maybe a tour would be best since getting around can be time consuming.

Highlights for me would be:
Get out onto the GG Bridge, the view is amazing and it is an awesome experience. Fort Point and the Presidio are fascinating historical places to visit. Ride a cable car, see Lombard St. (the crooked street), have a sundae at Ghiradelli, visit the Haight and have a meal in China Town. If you still have time the cable car museum and the fortune cookie factory are also fun.

Fishermans Wharf is the "tourist" attraction and while the street performers are entertaining as are the sea lions, I personally think the rest of it is too commercial and crowded.

I love China Town and we have walked from Union Sq. to the wharf. AAA has a couple of good "walking tours" but again, these are all day events.

Happy Planning!

 

[CPT Tripss]

There are also places you can rent bicycles and do tours on them. I will look for the website and post it later. I live 45 miles from San Francisco so tours have never been big for me either.

Michele

I rented from www.blazingsaddles.com (there are several others and they are all the same price). Went from Fisherman's Wharf, to and across the GG and on to Sausalito (for lunch) taking the ferry back to SF . . . then toured around the waterfront(s). It was a fun trip. A few hills, the one from the fort at the base of the bridge up to the viewing area was tough, but doable for an overweight 59 and a half year old. Total cost, bike and one way ferry $36.

 

[kaoden39]

I rented from www.blazingsaddles.com (there are several others and they are all the same price). Went from Fisherman's Wharf, to and across the GG and on to Sausalito (for lunch) taking the ferry back to SF . . . then toured around the waterfront(s). It was a fun trip. A few hills, the one from the fort at the base of the bridge up to the viewing area was tough, but doable for an overweight 59 and a half year old. Total cost, bike and one way ferry $36.

Oh I bet that ride up from Fort Point was a pull. But I will also bet that was a nice ride and not a bad price. Especially when you consider how much the gas and car rental would cost.

 

[CPT Tripss]

The rental car stayed in the garage the whole time in SF . After biking the bridge, I can't imagine trying to sightsee from a car. Did I mention the beautiful sunny day with great visibility?

Thankfully I had a low, low gear . . .

 

[djark]

Touring SF will be a wonderful experience for you. There are a lot of must-see in San Francisco, you can drop also by in Yosemite Park. Check this out for your reference: Mapjack.com/SanFrancisco Mapjack.com/Yosemite

 

[kaoden39]

Touring SF will be a wonderful experience for you. There are a lot of must-see in San Francisco, you can drop also by in Yosemite Park. Check this out for your reference: Mapjack.com/SanFrancisco Mapjack.com/Yosemite

Yosemite is not exactly a quick trip from San Francisco, it's far enough I certainly wouldn't want to do it on a day trip.

 

[SanFranciscan]

There are a number of tour companies here in San Francisco. The tour that I am hoping to take when my husband and I get a day off together is Mr. Toad's Tours. It has no connection to Disney or the Mr. Toad ride at Disneyland because I have seen their local advertisements on Craig's List while they were seeking tour drivers. The company is family-owned and seeks comics to hire as their tour guides.

I saw one of their drivers pitching his tour while I was on Fisherman's Wharf about a week ago. They drive funny little vehicles designed to look antique and wear uniforms of a style probably popular in about the 1930's. He was claiming that Mr. Toad's tours takes on the hills that other companies just won't. That is a little impressive because I learned to drive a stick shift on the hills of San Francisco so I know that they can get pretty rough.

Another tour that looks entertaining for those who don't mind being out on the Bay on a boat without the enclosed areas the ferries have is the Bay Quackers tour company. They do a tour that is partly on land, where I have seen them driving around the City, and partly out on the San Francisco Bay in the same vehicle because the vehicle also floats. Even on a warm day the San Francisco Bay can feel cold though so the wind and the fog is something to consider, especially since you are traveling with a child

 

[SanFranciscan]

One more thing I just thought of. If you or your son have any interest in baseball, A T & T Park does tours. I went on the tour with my husband last month and did learn some things about the park, even though I work there. This is my second season photographing the Giants games so I had already been all over that ballpark, except for things like the players' club houses, where they go for massage therapy and so forth. They were included on the tour.

I am not even a baseball fan because I want to keep my mind on the job and not on watching the game when I am supposed to be working. Yet I found this tour interesting so I can imagine that it would be very much so for a baseball fan.

 

[jlmarr]

We're staying at the Renassaince (sp?) Parc on Market St.

I've stayed there - nice rooms and location, from a touring point of view. You're right by the Powell Street BART station and the Powell/Market end of the cable car line. The cable car turn-table is a very touristy area, and you'll see a lot of colorful locals and/or homeless, which may or may not be off-putting. IMO it's not too hard to steer clear of that stuff if it bothers you.

The Westfield Shopping Center on the south side of Market has a very extensive food court that you can get to through the Powell BART station (or street level of course). There are actually two disjoint food courts, the eastern-most of which also has a Bristol Farms market for all of your grocery needs.

If you get the Muni pass note that you can take the historic F-Trolley, which is an alternate way to get to or from Fisherman's Wharf. http://www.streetcar.org/mim/streetcars/fleet/index.html

The Muni pass also includes the Muni Metro, which is a light rail line that runs a level above BART under Market Street. This is a good way to get to AT&T Park, where the Giants play baseball. http://www.sfmta.com/cms/mroutes/pacbsvc.htm It's worth a look even if the Giants are out of town.

BART is not covered by your Muni pass, but it's a great way to get to distant parts of the Bay Area such as Berkeley. http://www.bart.gov/stations/map/systemMap.asp Yes, you do go under the bay to get to Berkeley. Your DS10 will be amazed at how fast the BART train accelerates out of the station.

 

[nzers]

We're also going to San Francisco for the first time in September. We've been recommended the Fire Engine Tour which is apparently a hit the the kids (they have a website but I can't post the link sorry). Looks interesting, unless it's raining! I can't decided between this one and Mr Toads.

Does anyone have any comments / recommendations?

nzers

 

[Jaimee]

Thank for all of the great advice! As the trip is getting closer, I have one more question...what clothes to pack! I looked at the weather for this week and it looks like low 60's. I'm from Wisconsin and this week we'll be in the high 80's even in September we're usually in the 70's-80's.

For some reason I can't decide what kind of clothes to bring. Are layers the best bet? I don't normally wear shorts anyhow, but DS thinks I'm crazy telling him to only bring pants since it's CA lol. If we're out on the water for let's say the Alcatraz tour is just a light jacket or sweatshirt good enough?