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First of all I want to say thank you to the people who has helped me in my several posts about my vacation in California, now let's go to the last part.
I am going to San Francisco during 3 days, it is the last part of our tour and we drive there from Fresno, I will show you our ideas about what to visit and tell me if we are right or we should add or eliminate anything.
Friday 6 July. (300kms)
Driving from Fresno to SF. Rental car until late afternoon.
Sausalito and Oakland are worth or should we go directly to SF city???
Arrival and find the good photo points for the Golden Gate:
• Crissy Field
• Mashalls Beach
• Baker beach.
• Twin Peaks: vista panorámica de la ciudad entera incluido el Golden Gate
After that we give back the car.
We plan to buy the MUNI 3 days pass, because we are not going to have the rental car in SF, does it include subway to the airpoort??
Saturday 7th July.
San Francisco.
• Painted Ladies and Haigh Ashbury.
• Old cable car ride.
•Lombard Street
• USS Pampanito (does it worth??)
•Pier 33 and 39.
•Chinatown
Sunday 8th July
9:10 a.m. Alcatraz tour.
After that we didn't want to plan anything in case we don't have time the preovious days to do our plan, or to have free time in case we are reccommended something interesting. We have free the rest fo the day.
How many days is your entire trip? Which airport(s) for arrival and departure?
I'll **** people off by saying this, but skip Oakland. Sausalito is fine, but it's a madhouse in summer. You can call it the poster child for "touristy".
There's a lot to go over with your planned itinerary and I'm off to work right now, but can help out with some advice later.
Feel free to send me a private message. I notice you're from Spain, so write in Spanish, if you'd like.
I LOVE Oakland, but I wouldn't really recommend it if you're trying to check off a bunch of SF touristy sites (nothing wrong with that for a quick weekend trip). Personally, I would concentrate most of your attention on SF, but if you DO want to make a quick stop in Oakland, make sure to visit Lake Merritt. On your way into SF, you should stop at Treasure Island for a great view of SF. Take the exit when you're on the Bay Bridge from Oakland to SF. Have fun!
That's not enough time to do everything on your list!
Since you're only here 3 days, skip Oakland entirely. There's enough in San Francisco to do/see.
Since you want to see the Golden Gate Bridge, you can spend a couple of hours around the bridge and plan on visiting Crissy Field (a beautiful walk right along the shoreline and includes your choice to actually walk across the bridge). You can also visit Fort Point which is a fun way to get a little sense of history. If you prefer... if you're driving, you can squeeze in an in Sausalito which is a beautiful and wealthy little town right on the other side of the bridge. All of these activities will be a day. Then you can have a nice meal in either Sausalito or come back to the City.
Next day you can walk around Chinatown/North Beach (aka Little Italy)/Union Square areas. They are all walking distance to one another. You can also walk up and visit Coit Tower which is has gorgeous views and in a beautiful little neighborhood. It's MUCH better than driving down Lombard Street, imo. Or you can walk around Nob Hill (where cable cars go up/down the steep hills). Grace Cathedral is also a gorgeous church to see and all around this neighborhood are some historical hotels and Huntington Park. The cable car museum is also around here (which I've heard is great!). If you're in North Beach, you can have a meal and see a Beach Blanket Babylon show (a must see unique to San Francisco and very original!).
Frankly, I'd skip Fisherman's Wharf or just do a quick walkthrough. It's a tourist trap and caters to the needs of people that are enticed by cheap souvenirs and crappy ice cream. That being said, it's often fun to watch the sea lions hanging around and the views of the Bay are fantastic. There's a very cool museum called "Musee Mecanique" which holds a huge collection of old games (which you can actually play). I'd be inclined to skip the Madame Tussaud's, "Ripley's Believe it or Not" museums. Either can probably found in any tourist spot across the country. Not really unique to San Francisco. Alcatraz is worth visiting, however it is pretty much an all day affair so it will take up a lot of your time if you're okay with this.
Golden Gate Park could be done on another day. There's tons to see/do in the park. The Academy of Sciences is worthwhile. You could rent some paddle boats and paddle around Stow Lake. There's the De Young Museum and the Botanical Gardens all around this area. You could spend half the day in the park and then maybe get some food in the Sunset/9th Irving area...or walk/drive over to Haight Street and do a quick look at the Painted Ladies.
...or you could trek to the western part of the City and check out Land's End and Ocean Beach. There's a nice walk along Land's End where you can get great views of the Marin Headlands and GG Bridge.
So those are probably what I'd do if I were a visitor with limited time.
How many days is your entire trip? Which airport(s) for arrival and departure?
I'll **** people off by saying this, but skip Oakland. Sausalito is fine, but it's a madhouse in summer. You can call it the poster child for "touristy".
There's a lot to go over with your planned itinerary and I'm off to work right now, but can help out with some advice later.
Feel free to send me a private message. I notice you're from Spain, so write in Spanish, if you'd like.
Ok I will do it
I fly to LA and I depart from SF.
Quote:
Originally Posted by 04kL4nD
I LOVE Oakland, but I wouldn't really recommend it if you're trying to check off a bunch of SF touristy sites (nothing wrong with that for a quick weekend trip). Personally, I would concentrate most of your attention on SF, but if you DO want to make a quick stop in Oakland, make sure to visit Lake Merritt. On your way into SF, you should stop at Treasure Island for a great view of SF. Take the exit when you're on the Bay Bridge from Oakland to SF. Have fun!
Thank you I will check those places, to be honest we like the touristy places BUT I love to visit some local places as well, such restaurants, park, neighbourhoods, I like to join the local culture and lifestyle.
Quote:
Originally Posted by clongirl
That's not enough time to do everything on your list!
Since you're only here 3 days, skip Oakland entirely. There's enough in San Francisco to do/see.
Since you want to see the Golden Gate Bridge, you can spend a couple of hours around the bridge and plan on visiting Crissy Field (a beautiful walk right along the shoreline and includes your choice to actually walk across the bridge). You can also visit Fort Point which is a fun way to get a little sense of history. If you prefer... if you're driving, you can squeeze in an in Sausalito which is a beautiful and wealthy little town right on the other side of the bridge. All of these activities will be a day. Then you can have a nice meal in either Sausalito or come back to the City.
Next day you can walk around Chinatown/North Beach (aka Little Italy)/Union Square areas. They are all walking distance to one another. You can also walk up and visit Coit Tower which is has gorgeous views and in a beautiful little neighborhood. It's MUCH better than driving down Lombard Street, imo. Or you can walk around Nob Hill (where cable cars go up/down the steep hills). Grace Cathedral is also a gorgeous church to see and all around this neighborhood are some historical hotels and Huntington Park. The cable car museum is also around here (which I've heard is great!). If you're in North Beach, you can have a meal and see a Beach Blanket Babylon show (a must see unique to San Francisco and very original!).
Frankly, I'd skip Fisherman's Wharf or just do a quick walkthrough. It's a tourist trap and caters to the needs of people that are enticed by cheap souvenirs and crappy ice cream. That being said, it's often fun to watch the sea lions hanging around and the views of the Bay are fantastic. There's a very cool museum called "Musee Mecanique" which holds a huge collection of old games (which you can actually play). I'd be inclined to skip the Madame Tussaud's, "Ripley's Believe it or Not" museums. Either can probably found in any tourist spot across the country. Not really unique to San Francisco. Alcatraz is worth visiting, however it is pretty much an all day affair so it will take up a lot of your time if you're okay with this.
Golden Gate Park could be done on another day. There's tons to see/do in the park. The Academy of Sciences is worthwhile. You could rent some paddle boats and paddle around Stow Lake. There's the De Young Museum and the Botanical Gardens all around this area. You could spend half the day in the park and then maybe get some food in the Sunset/9th Irving area...or walk/drive over to Haight Street and do a quick look at the Painted Ladies.
...or you could trek to the western part of the City and check out Land's End and Ocean Beach. There's a nice walk along Land's End where you can get great views of the Marin Headlands and GG Bridge.
So those are probably what I'd do if I were a visitor with limited time.
Thanks you for your entire advice, out hotel is in Union Square so we are going to be in the centre and maybe we can visit some points walking.
Do not underestimate traffic jams! Coming back at an unfortunate hour, such as late afternoon on Friday, trying to cross the Bay Bridge could mean several extra hours spent in traffic. This can easily spoil your entire SF experience. Try to get there as early as you can on Friday and watch for traffic on google maps or Waze.
While you have the car, I would suggest going to Land's End. It's much easier to drive there than taking public transportation. While there check out Sutro Baths, Cliff House and several vista points. If you are interested, try to find the Dutch Windmill and Bison in the Golden Gate Park on the way back. I'd also recommend exploring the Golden Gate Park by car, especially if you are there on a week day. Also in the park, if you are there Friday night (per your itinerary), I highly recommend going to the De Young Museum. In summer on Friday evenings they not only have free admission, but also live music or some kind of performance, as well as drinks (those you have to pay for, though ). They even have crafts for kids (don't know if it's relevant). For this to have time, you'd have to skip Sausalito, which is what I would do. It's a good place to go if you have about half a day, especially by ferry from SF, but as a stop on the way from Fresno, I think it would be too much.
I don't particularly recommend Painted Ladies as a destination. There isn't much else in this part of town. It's a fine stop on the way somewhere else, though.
I second the Cable Car Museum. It's free and it's cool. We always try to go there when we have people visiting from out of town. Also, it's in a very nice neighborhood. I'd walk there from the Grace Cathedral/Huntington Park, where I'd try to get to by a cable car, since it's at the top of the Nob Hill. Climbing this hill is fine if you are used to walking a lot and also to some change in elevation, but for the unprepared it can be a bit of a chore.
I’d second the Cliff House recommendation! Great place for watching/hearing our famous sea lions, plus you get a great view of the ocean. If you’re mobile enough, go to the lot above the restaurant and check out the hiking trails behind it... mostly flat terrain, and gives you some incredible views if you go the right direction (west). And while you’re on that side of the city, the neighborhood of Bernal Heights is very cute. There’s a park called Bernal Hill at the top, which also offers amazing views of the city. I’m all about the visuals, as you can tell.
One more tip: Don’t be fooled by the calendar saying it’s summer, and make sure to bring some WARM clothing. We laugh at the tourists shivering in their shorts, who come expecting hot weather in July. It’s also very hilly in parts of the city, as you probably know, so bring good walking shoes too. Heels are not your friend here, lol.
And yeah, I agree that Lombard Street and the "Painted Ladies" aren't really worth the trouble... you can see hilly streets and Victorian houses ALL over the (central) city, without the added crowds/traffic. The upper-Haight and Noe Valley neighborhoods have the prettiest Victorians, in my opinion, especially if you wander a bit off the main roads.
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