Sight-seeing in San Francisco?

[swimmermom3]

My dh will be attending an international school reunion at the end of July in San Francisco. We're all going with him and will be staying in Santa Rosa. We have all day Saturday for sight-seeing in San Francisco. So what are the top priorities to see in that short of time?

[Diane in CO]

My DH and I will be taking a week long Vacation in SF starting next Sunday, so I have been doing some research lately ;)

 

Alcatraz is a lot of fun, so is riding the cable cars and Fishermans wharf. I would recommend all of those and think that if you start early you can easily enjoy all three.

 

Hope you have a wonderful time!!!

 

Diane

[Wildiris]

To begin with, Santa Rosa is not all that close to S.F. You could take the ferry from Larkspur or Sausalito to S.F. You could go to Tiberon and take the ferry to Angel Island and hike around, or as was suggested, go to Alcatraz. Chinatown is lots of fun as is Japan town. Fisherman's Wharf is OK.

[MyThreeSons]

No matter how warm it is during the day, it WILL cool off considerably at night. There are stores that make a fortune selling overpriced sweatshirts and jackets to the tourists who aren't prepared.

 

I'd do the usual touristy stuff -- Alcatraz, Cable Cars, Lombard St, end up on Fisherman's Wharf for some seafood. With children, I'd try to hit Golden Gate Park and visit The Exploratorium. Driving and parking can be crazy, so plan ahead.

 

Have fun!!

[elizabeth]

 

http://www.sfgov.org/site/recpark_page.asp?id=17796 Golden Gate Park has buddhist temples ,gorgeous trees, plants and flowers and is just all around the most lovely park I have been in!

[Anne]

Remember that Santa Rosa has the potential to be HOT, while SF is usually quite cool...

 

Have fun!

 

Anne

[BeachGirl]

We can always tell the tourists in downtown SF due to them wearing new SF sweatshirts with their shorts. They are usually shivering also. The weather in Santa Rosa will be around 90 degrees +/- 5 degrees. The weather in the city will be around 65 degrees +/- 5 degrees. Wear a lightweight windproof jacket and you should be fine.

 

All of the above suggestions on where to go are great. Kids and parents love the Exploratorium. There really is nothing else like it anywhere. Have fun in our beautiful city.:001_smile:

[LunaLee]

The King Tut exhibit will be at the DeYoung Museum from, I think, now until the end of September.

[Jeannie in NJ]

I have a picture of dh on the ferry going to Alcatrez in JULY wearing a coat and a winter wool hat and he was freezing. After I took the picture he spent the rest of the trip inside the boat (I stayed on deck the entire time since I love the sea spray and ocean breeze on my face, even tho it was VERY cold).

Alcatrez was interesting but of course also depressing, especially how cold it was in the outdoor area that had been used for the prisoners for outdoor time.

 

We enjoyed the Park and Fisherman's Wharf and also drove down the really winding street, I think it is called Lombard st. or something like that.

 

This was about 20 years ago when we went so I don't know how much things have changed.

[katemary63]

We LOVED Alcatraz - that would be my "must do" thing - totally fun. We rented a car and went to Sausalito, Muir Woods and drove down Lombard - very fun, had no problem driving in the city. Loved China Town. The Museum of Modern Art was a complete waste of money - there wasn't a single aesthetically pleasing thing in that building! LOL

[swimmermom3]

Thank you for all the great suggestions. My dh looked at the thread and decided we needed one more night and that we would spend it in downtown SF.:D Since we will be camping for part of our trip there and back, we should have the cooler weather clothes covered. Thanks for the heads-up on the difference between Santa Rosa and SF. I think we all agreed China Town is a must but are still deciding on Alcatraz. Two years ago on our way to Yellowstone, we stopped at a famous old prison. At first it was interesting, but then very depressing. We did figure out our trip would coincide with the SF Marathon, so we'll have to take that in to consideration as well.

[CAMom]

We've spent a lot of time in SF recently as my dh was working there one week per month. We also spent a weekend in Santa Rosa for a speech tournament. It's true that SR is not that close to SF. It takes a good hour to get between them.

 

The Larkspur ferry was suggested and that is a fun ride. (Just a note...there is a Marriott Courtyard right across the street from the Ferry Landing in Larkspur. It is way, way cheaper to stay there than in SF and you can get a suite with a mini fridge and sink. That's where we've been staying. The ferry is 7.50 per person each way.) You have a great view of San Quentin prison if you want a nice view of a prison without having to visit it.;) The ferry ride is about 25 minutes and drops you off right at the foot of Market Street at the ferry building. We like to have a burger at Taylor's Refresher. There is also an awesome Farmer's Market there on Tuesdays and Saturdays. YUM!

 

From there, you can get about anywhere. You can walk down to Pier 39 to watch the tourists and the sea lions. You could walk up to SOMA and hit the Yerba Buena Gardens. There is a great playground and a bowling alley there.

 

China town is fun and can be easily walked to if you stay near Union Square or SOMA near Market Street.

 

As mentioned, The Exploratorium is awesome!! It's in the Marina District which is fun to walk around. The homes are beautiful and there are lots of great places to get a snack. Our favorite is The Grove on Chestnut near Scott St.

 

I also love Alamo Square where you can see The Painted Ladies.:)

 

One of our favorite things we've done is walk across the Golden Gate Bridge! There are parking lots on the SF side and the Sausilito side right at the foot of the bridge. You can walk as far as you like and turn around and go back. My kids insisted on walking all the way across and back.:) It's a great experience!

 

We also took the cable car from Ghiradelli Square and hopped off at Lombard street and walked down the "crookedest street." There are stairs on either side and you can really take in the scenery!

 

My "bible" when we've been there is San Francisco with Kids. It tells you everything from which neighborhoods are safe at what time of day to where all of the bathrooms are in town to the cost of food at different restaurants.

 

It's a great city and my kids have had so much fun there! Have a great trip!!

Edited June 22, 2009 by CAMom

[CAMom]

Just another tip...:D

 

If you are going to stay in the City, budget in at least $50 per day for parking at your hotel. Some places are a little less, some are a little more but $50 seems to be about average. (BTW, the Marriott in Larkspur has free parking.)

 

Also, if you are going to be driving around in SF, make sure you have a roll or two of quarters. Parking can be hard and you will have to pay for it pretty much anywhere you go. Some spots are metered and others have a pay station inside of a garage. Parking is expensive and at a premium.:)

[TKDmom]

We lived in Santa Clara for a summer and took several day trips to SF. I think my favorite day was when we went on a walking tour of the city. I'm pretty sure we found it in a AAA tour guide. It's about 5 hours of walking, so you'd want to make sure everyone would be up for lots of walking, but I felt like it gave a great overview of the city. I really liked Chinatown and eating sourdough bread down by the piers.

 

We used public transportation for everything. If you can, I'd avoid taking a car into the city at all. Finding parking spaces is not only expensive, but hard to find.

 

And btw, I was one of those tourists who had to buy a jacket. ;) It was the wind coming off the ocean in the middle of the afternoon that got me. Take a good windbreaker with you.

Edited June 22, 2009 by bonniebeth4

[Ali in OR]

We had a day in SF over spring break. Here's what we narrowed it down to:

 

California Academy of Sciences museum. New science museum by the DeYoung with aquarium, tropical rain forest, penguins, etc. Dds enjoyed it. If we were going now, though, we'd be seriously tempted by the Tut exhibit across the way at the DeYoung.

 

Viewing Golden Gate Bridge from the Presidio. Dh wanted to shoot a few pictures from there--photography is his hobby.

 

Drive down Lombard Street.

 

1 Chocolate sundae and several spoons at Ghiradelhi Square.

 

Dh and I used to live in the bay area so we weren't as excited about Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, Union Square which we've done many times. Dds wouldn't let us eat in Chinatown. Maybe we'll get to those another time.

[KrissiK]

Oh, how fun. I used to live in the East Bay and we'd take BART over to the City a lot. I can't remember what we used to do. We just would go over and goof around. One thing I do remember doing, but it took all day, was ride bikes over the GG Bridge to Tiburon and then take the ferry back to Pier 39. That was a great day. I just kind of browsed through the rest of the posts, and I can't remember if anyone mentioned kayaking around Sausalito. I did that at night once with a group of friends and you could see all the lights of the city from there. Beautiful. One thing for sure, don't drive in the City. It is a nightmare. It's an easy city to walk from here to there, and if you can't walk, there's a good bus system.

[buddhabelly]

So at least you won't be as cold as we were! I like the idea of staying in Larkspur and saving a few $$, but be sure to get a ferry schedule so you don't waste time waiting for the ferry. If you do want to stay in SF, we very much liked the Argonaut. It is a Kimpton Hotel, so join the Kimpton Honors club before you book (no charge) and you will get a room upgrade. But don't reserve the lowest grade of room, because you might get it and they really, really small. So I would suggest splurging on a bay view room if you can. We had a view of the Golden Gate bridge and were only about 20 yards from the terminus of the cable car. We were also within walking distance of Greens Restaurant, which is spendy but very good. And there is a really good restaurant across the street (towards the water, not towards Ghirardelli Square) at which we ate numerous times. It has an Italian name and the food and service are wonderful. Check my review at tripadvisor.com. I'm "mamayogini" there.

 

If your 11yo is coming with you, he might like Zeum. It is a children's museum that is high tech. We didn't know about it, but the doorman at the Argonaut told us to check it out. It was my son's favorite part of the trip.

 

The Academy of Sciences was not open yet when we were there, but there is a wonderful view of the whole area from the top floor of the DeYoung Museum which is right next door to that. If the weather had been nicer, we would have rented bikes and ridden to Tiburon, like someone else suggested. There is a very interesting little museum right at the bottom of the G G Bridge..... you just walk along the waterfront from the hotel, or take a cab if the weather is really rainy. It is called Fort Point Historic Park: http://www.nps.gov/fopo/ It was closed when we got there, but it still intrigued us. We watched the surfers instead. All of this is quite near the Exploratorium, which is OK but not one of the best science museums in the country. We also went to Muir Woods, which is kind of wierd for Alaskans to do but there is a lot of interesting historical information there. That is on the Marin County side of the G G Bridge.

 

That's all I can remember.... have fun! Oh, I just remembered one more way cool thing about the Argonaut Hotel. A branch of the Maritime Museum is located in the lobby! I hope it wasn't just while the real museum was being renovated, which it was when we were there. So if your dh wanted to sleep late, your kids could go to the Maritime Museum and hang out reading way cool books and looking at displays!

 

Julie

Edited June 23, 2009 by buddhabelly
Maritime Museum in lobby of the Argonaut; then to add correct title of Fort Point

[KarenNC]

We were there a couple of years ago for a week and loved it. We stayed a portion of the week in Japantown at the Hotel Tomo, redone in a manga style http://www.jdvhotels.com/hotels/sanfrancisco/tomo It was newly renovated and nice. While on a busline, it isn't terribly central to much, though. We enjoyed walking across the street to the mall in Japantown http://www.inetours.com/Pages/SFNbrhds/JapanTown.html

 

Favorite places for us were the Exploratorium (and Crissy Field which is about a block away---nice beach on the bay side, with the Golden Gate in the background); the Asian Art Museum http://www.asianart.org/; cruise of the bay (saw Alcatraz but did not stop); the sea lions at Pier 39; the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park (and the botanical garden); Green Apple used books; walking around Chinatown. We saw Muir Woods and Half Moon Bay on another trip and enjoyed them greatly.