Down Town Parking (San Francisco: to live, vacation, metro)

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Definitely pay for the hotel parking. It's a good deal for SF.

[clongirl]

Originally Posted by ServoMiff

I don't really mean to be rude here, but are you visiting family or friends who want to see your kid, or are you just being touristy?

I'm curious why you'd choose to visit a major metro city with an infant? What are you planning to do in town? Parking isn't really easy or cheap in any touristy part of town. Far be it for me to tell someone how to spend their money, but paying over $100 for parking on your vacation plus the really unnecessary rental car (if you didn't have a child in tow) seems like throwing money away to me.

Wow. It is rude and not any of your business how/why they spend their $. OP wasn't asking for your opinion on vacation plans---just parking info.

[comingbacktocali]

that daily parking rate seems fine to me. the trouble is, when you use your car where are you going to park it??

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

Originally Posted by comingbacktocali

that daily parking rate seems fine to me. the trouble is, when you use your car where are you going to park it??

Good point! Hadn't even thought about that. The last time I parked in SF, I'd taken a friend to the wharf area around Pier 39. Probably around 2005. It cost me $25 way back then to park in a garage in the area.

[04kL4nD]

Skip the car and rely on UberX. Less of a headache.

[malcorub16]

Hi mricu, I recognize you from the San Diego forum. Did you go to SF already and decide where to park while staying at your hotel?

My family and I will be going in December and have the same question.

Originally Posted by capoeira

Stay in a hotel on Lombard St. with free parking! Or maybe just rent the car for 1-2 days when you go out of SF to a place like Napa.

We have stayed at those budget hotels on Lombard Street with the free parking, it is convenient plus public transportation is very convenient along Lombard and Van Ness. Too bad one of the hotels we stayed at before has bad reviews that involve bed bugs. When we stayed there in 2012 the hotel was not too uncomfortable, but things change.

Francisco Bay Inn - Marina/Cow Hollow - San Francisco, CA | Yelp

My family and I will stay in the city a few days and we want to ditch our automobile, let's say I drop the family off at the hotel, let them check in, and then I take the vehicle to park it somewhere. Is there anywhere that I can park it for free/cheap, even if its outside of the city, and then take public transportation back to the hotel? I would then just pick it up after our 3 days there before check out. I suppose we will stay at the Wharf or around the Marina. Any ideas?

[mricu]

Here's an update.

We returned from our trip and the parking wasn't at all bad as most of the folks had responded. I opted for the valet parking for the hotel which was very convenient with an infant in tow. There are some parking garages close by that may have offered parking for maybe a few $$ cheaper, and prior to leaving for my trip, I do recall some garage companies offering groupon deals. Overall, I am glad to use the valet service as it took the worry out of climbing all the hills in the Nob Hill area of town.

In terms of parking while discovering/visiting the sights of the city, I had absolutely no issues finding street parking and feeding the meters. Most meters were free after 6pm which made things a lot easier and there are always people coming and going that a finding a spot was never an issue with me (I lucked out a few times with meters still having an hour of parking left!). When visiting Pier 39, I opted for the parking garage where if you eat at one of the restaurants, they validate for 2 hours of parking ... otherwise it's $9/hour which is not bad at all, considering the parking lot across the street was charging $35.

San Fran is very easy to get around in with public transit, but keep in mind that some of the better sights are not serviced directly by public transit without a good walk (Twin Peaks, Battery Spencer Park and Fort Point all come to mind where I believe are the best/memorable parts of my trip).

malcorub16: If you want an option for leaving the car for a few days out of the city, you may want to look at a car share service like Relay Rides. You can actually make money buy them renting your car out to someone, I heard this is a good option. They cover all insurance and make sure the car is kept clean and limit milage to 100 miles a day and they vet potential renters by investigating their driving records prior to renting to them. I've never used the service, just read about it when I was looking for car rentals. You can leave it at their airport location and grab the Bart into town.

[dalparadise]

Imagine that. Someone had a nice stay in SF with an infant. This will enrage the haters.

Glad you enjoyed it.

[mricu]

Originally Posted by dalparadise

Imagine that. Someone had a nice stay in SF with an infant. This will enrage the haters.

Glad you enjoyed it.

Yep, pleaseantly surprised that everything worked out great. We all enjoyed it and don't understand why folks were so negative about travelling with an infant to SF.

[dalparadise]

Originally Posted by mricu

Yep, pleaseantly surprised that everything worked out great. We all enjoyed it and don't understand why folks were so negative about travelling with an infant to SF.

It's a little difficult to find things to do with an infant, as the City is not the most "family-friendly" destination in America, but as you found, it is rather easy to navigate if you are prepared for dealing with public transportation, hills and such. And for sight-seeing, it's hard to beat SF and the immediate area.

You did your research and planned accordingly. People who have negative things to say about SF are usually those you see in July at Fisherman's Wharf in shorts when the fog rolls in, lined up at the Buena Vista for a $9 Irish Coffee, with their $20 "I Left My Heart in SF" sweatshirts, trying not to make eye contact with the homeless guy asking them for a dollar.