What to do in SanFrancisco?

Question

My husband and I are going to be vacationing in San Francisco in March. We decided not to rent a car because we are both under 25. What is the best way to travel and also what are the best places to visit? Any ideas or personal experiences would be great. Thanks!!

Answer 1

The things to do in SF are endless! My personal favorite is going to Union Square. It's fun to watch the people, wander through the shops and stores, the food is great! Such variety. You can walk down to Powell St. and catch the Cable car and ride to fishermans wharf. While your there the wax museum and Gheradelli Chocolate Factory are really fun to tour. More great places to eat as well! Lot's of yummy, fresh fish and crab and sourdough bread(the greatest in the world) Avoid the tourist shops though! They are a waste. You can get off the trolley and walk down Lombard St. The crookedest street in the world.

Off of Union Square in Walking distance is a great Eastern Indian Restaurant that has some of the best Indian food I have ever eaten and it's incredibly inexpensive, it's a whole in the wall, but well worth it, it's called Chutney's and the address is:

511 Jones Street
San Francisco, CA 94102
[phone]

My favorite is their Chicken Tikka Masala and the Garlic Naan.

Another fun thing to do in SF is go to the Exploritorium. You can look it up on-line. But plan to spend a whole day there. All ages have a great time there.

Beyond that, there's the Zoo, walking across the golden gate bridge, etc ... It truly is endless the things to do. At Fisherman's Wharf you can catch the Red and White Fleet and take a lunch or dinner cruise out around Alcatraz Island. The city is beautiful to look at from the water at night. Whatever you end up doing, have a great time! Best wishes.

Answer 2

This is a repeat of my response to a question about doing non-touristy things while visiting SF.
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A few years ago I taught at an English language school in San Francisco. There were no class Friday afternoons so at noon I'd take off for an afternoon and evening of exploring, usually with no plan.

Sometimes I'd hop on a Muni bus or streetcar, and then just get off when it looked interesting. I prefer the street cars.

One place to catch the street cars is in the Bart station along Market. The stations have gates to both Bart trains and to the Muni street cars. To head out to the neighborhoods, take an outbound street car.

Some suggestions:

Take the J line. The most interesting part is along Church Street. Get off at 24th street and head west. This is the heart of Noe Valley.

Take the the K or M line. Get off in West Portal, either at the end of the tunnel or the next stop or two. You can also take the L line, but then get off at the end of the tunnel before the line turns. East of this area is Saint Francis Woods, an interesting residential area of fine homes.

My personal favorite.
Take the N-line. Get off at Cole. The famous Haight-Ashbury neighborhood is a few blocks to the north, but I like the small commercial area around the muni stop and especially enjoy heading uphill to the east exploring streets that have some of SF's best Victorian and other vintage homes.
From the top of the undeveloped park at Corona Heights are spectacular views from a little known spot. I have lived in the Bay Area all my life, am very knowledgable about the area, love to explore, am over 60 and did not know the spot existed until I stumbled upon it. ("What's up there?")

Take the N-line. Continue past Cole. At 9th the streetcar turns left. Get off. Interesting neighhood shops and restaurants. To the north is the heart of Golden Gate park. The Japanese Tea Garden draws tourists and for a good reason. Far less know is the larger and free Strybing Arborteum.

Take Bart to Berkeley. It's interesting in all directions, but with a limit time head east. The University is right there ans the Telegraph Avenue area south of the campus.

Take Bart to Rockridge in Oakland. Over the last several years the already interesting and lively area has become more and more so. An excellent place for lunch or dinner.

Enjoy!
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Maybe a bit more on the tourist side.
Visit Fort Point and climb to the top to get closer to the underbelly of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.
Go to Alcatraz, touristy, but very enjoyable.
Have a drink seated in a bay window of the bar in the Carnelian room at the top of the Bank of American Building.
There's more to Chinatown than Grant Street. Explore side streets an a couple of the alleys.

The Michelin Green Guide would greatly aid you in exploring the town.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FMichelin-Green-Guide-San-Francisco%2Fdp%2F2060008808%2Fsr%3D8-3%2Fqid%3D1160072098%2Fref%3Dpd%5Fbbs%5F3%3Fie%3DUTF8%26s%3Dbooks&tag=larpmasguidet-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=9325

Answer 3

There are tons of cabs. The trolley system is fun to ride as well as efficient, and their buses are okay as well. This town has great shopping and FANTASTIC museums. There are also restaurants galore. What should you do? Eat, Drink and be merry. The typical stuff like walk the bridge, go to the pier, ride the trolley, eat out at a nice restaurant, there is the mission district, the haight-ashbury district (which is actually kinda scuzzy) and all of chinatown. There is also an awesome garlic restaurant there called the Stinking Rose in which everything on the menu containcs garlic (This place was great and fun to remember. But I'm a real garlic lover.)

Have a great time.

Answer 4

Of course it all depends on what you like but here are a few ideas to get a flavor of the area. Eat, eat and eat. The food is the best thing about the city by the bay. Check out the farmer's market at the Ferry Building on a Saturday. Wander up through Fishermen's Wharf and keep going right up through the Marina and check out the GG bridge. Wander around GG Park. Check out the De Young and Stow Lake and hit Haight Ashbury. Visit Chinatown and North Beach and SOMA. Catch a Ferry to Sausalito.

Answer 5

Fisherman's Wharf, Alcatraz were both cool. Visit the North Beach area, it's about the nicest part of the city. The shopping district is okay too, but don't wonder too far off the beaten path. You could end up in the "tenderloin" area of the city (that would be a bad thing). They all talk about the food, but I wasn't that impressed. It's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. Everything is high prices, overcrowded and there are tons and tons of homeless people everywhere.

Answer 6

whatever you do, DO NOT go to fisherman's wharf....it's a tourist trap and not worth the time or your hard earned money.

here are some of my suggestions (from personal experience)
walk halfway across the golden gate bridge
walk through chinatown
walk up to coit tower
walk down Columbus ave (North beach, italian area---some of the best restaurants in SF)
go to the palace of legion of arts
go to alcatraz
ride the trolleys (but only once, it's kinda cool...but then is stupid after a while)
go to alamo square and see the painted ladies (those victorian houses you always see on tv and magazines)

have fun!!

Answer 7

Visit pier 39 (fishermans warf) pier 41, Alcatraz, and the trolley. Bart, and the trolley are ample means of transportation, and there are also but loads of cabs in the area.

Answer 8

You could drive acoss the Golden Gate Bridge, visit Alcatraz, the Embarkadaro, etc.

Answer 9

http://www.biscuitsandblues.com/
Great blues stiff drinks

http://www.auntcharlieslounge.com/html/event_review.htm
Thsi place is in the bad part of town But is is fun.

http://www.sanfranciscochinatown.com/
bigest out side china, walk the back streets.

Pick up a 3day pass to ride the buses and cable cars best deal.

http://www.starwoodhotels.com/whotels/index.html?type=nonflash

Great place to stay

Answer 10

the city is great, you will not need a car as it is so compact. Fishermans wharf is really tacky but there are plenty of good things all around you