Solo Trip

[capoeira]

Originally Posted by MorganMRE

Ruth, I very much appreciate you taking the time to give such thoughtful responses. The Golden Gate Park sounds lovely! I saw pictures online of the Japanese Tea Garden and it's beautiful. I will definitely visit. I have several blocks of time throughout the week that's just "exploring" time and I figured I'd check out Fisherman's Wharf and other areas during that time. My plane doesn't leave on my final day until 10 pm and the only thing I have tentatively planned on that day is Alcatraz. I'll probably check it out on that day as long as the weather cooperates. Thanks again!

You can see a lot of attractions by travelling on the SF Muni buses and trains. The cheapest way to ride Muni for a visitor is the $5 day pass that is only available as an app on the phone.

https://www.sfmta.com/blog/new-one-d...ble-munimobile

This pass includes buses and muni metro trains but does not include cable cars or Bart.

The $12/day visitor passport also includes cable car rides.

https://www.sfmta.com/fares/1-day-visitor-passport

Here is a pdf map of the SF muni system. Its a good idea to look at it ahead of time to get an idea of how to go to places.

https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/...t2017-j2kl.pdf

Some useful lines are:

The N-train. Board at Powell or Montgomery stations. Get off at Cole and walk 3 blocks north to go to the Haight Ashbury area. Also ride the N-train to 9th and Irving. Walk 1 block north to Golden Gate Park.

https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/...ah_pdf_map.pdf

Or from 9th Ave take the 44 bus ride into the center of the park by the de Young Museum,California Academy of Sciences and Japanese Tea Garden.

After you are done with the park, you can take the 44 bus north to Clement St and the Inner Richmond area. Clement has a variety of international shops and asian restaurants.

https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/...haughnessy.pdf

From there you could walk down Clement to Park Presidio and take the 28 bus to the Golden Gate Bridge. But avoid the 28R, that one does not go all the way to the bridge.

https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/...ue_pdf_map.pdf

After seeing the bridge, continue on the 28 bus to the end of the line at Ft. Mason. From there you can easily walk to Ghiradelli Square and Fisherman's Wharf.

To get back to your hotel from Fisherman's Wharf you could take the 30 bus through North Beach and Chinatown and back to your hotel area.

https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/...on_pdf_map.pdf

Other lines that are useful to visitors:

The 38R(Japantown and Ocean Beach)

https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/...ev_6-16-18.pdf

The 2 bus runs down Sutter and Post but seems to be infrequent. You can take this bus to Japantown, the Pacific Heights shopping area on Upper Fillmore and Inner Richmond.

https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/...nt_pdf_map.pdf

The 1 bus is frequent and goes to the Legion of Honor.

https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/...california.pdf

The 5 bus goes to the northern side of Golden Gate Park,Ocean Beach and by the Painted Ladies houses(get off at Pierce,walk 1 block south to Fulton).

https://www.sfmta.com/routes/5-fulton

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

[TashaPosh]

Originally Posted by Snort

April, come she will.....
When streams are ripe and swelled with rain....

April or May :P

[MorganMRE]

A couple of you all wanted an update on my trip after I went.

So I was in SF last week and it was AWESOME! It was my first solo trip and I couldn't have chosen a better place. There was tons of stuff to do - so much that I didn't get to everything on my list. But I still felt like I made good use of my time. I did a free walking tour through Union Square, Chinatown, and the Financial District. I did a city tour with Painted Ladies that spent 3 hours taking us all around the city. I went to TreasureFest, Japanese Tea Gardens, and Fisherman's Wharf. I rode a cable car and I saw Hamilton (AMAZING!!!). I hiked in the Muir Woods and I did a wine tour through Napa and Sonoma. I visited Alcatraz and I spent time at the Ferry Building Marketplace. And I ate. A lot. I also walked 5-7 miles per day.

Some things I didn't get to do: Sausalito was on my list but it just didn't work out. I wasn't able to see Beach Blanket Babylon and I didn't get to spend as much time in Golden Gate Park as I wanted. I was scheduled for a street art tour through Mission that I was super pumped about but it was cancelled because not enough people signed up. But all of these are reasons to go back.

Some takeaways: The hills are no joke. My hotel was on Sutter/Taylor - and the hill from Jones up to California was brutal. I grew up in Appalachia - and even still, these hills were STEEP. I kept joking that these hills are the reason there's no fat people in SF! Hahaha

I was expecting to see more homeless people. I saw a lot of them when our bus tour went through Tenderloin, but I honestly didn't see an enormous amount of homeless people elsewhere. No more than other big cities. And I walked through many neighborhoods by myself. I was expecting it to be like San Diego where homeless are literally lining all the streets downtown.

Aside from the cable car ride - I didn't use public transportation. I walked a lot and Uber/Lyft were crazy cheap. Most of my rides were under $10 and many were under $5. It was far more convenient to use that than any other form of transportation.


Thanks again for all the suggestions! I had a great time.

[CorporateCowboy]

Glad you had a great time!