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Heading to San Fran for a week in Feb half term (really cheap booked direct with United Airlines ATM, six hundred quid for both of us with a 23kg bag), what do we definitely need to do? We fancy hiring bikes and cycling the Golden Great Bridge, maybe have a look around Alcatraz - anything else we shouldn't miss? 🙂
was there in august, will write up a list shortly!
Fishermans Wharf/Pier 39 to see the seals
Channel your inner Kerouac at Vesuvios.
Haight-Ashbury is a pleasant stroll, bit gentrified though. I was underwhelmed by the painted ladies, in fact so much that I thought we must have missed them when we got there.
Tartine bakery if you can get in (queues were too big when we got there).
Views from Ina Coolbrith Park were, er, pretty cool. Wasn’t that impressed with Lombard Street, get there really early if you want to see it without a few hundred other people.
If you’ve got a hire car, definitely worth heading to the Pacific coast and driving down towards Monterey. I preferred it there to SF, Pebble Beach drive was very nice too I thought.
Hearst Castle is worth a visit if you have time. W.Randolph Hearst, who IIRC Citizen Kane is based on
If you want to get in some road biking I can give you some amazing 100km routes. Make sure you climb the Hill up to the Coite Tower - best views of everything, plus lovely neighbourhood to wander through.
If you cycle over the bridge, make sure you turn left into Marin Headlands and ride up Hawk Hill (don’t worry, first 100m is the steepest! It gets better) By far the best views and a lovely loop to ride, coming back through the tunnel & into Sausalito for brekkie - Try Fred’s at the far end of town and have the Millionaires Bacon.
If you want to ride the Trolley Cars, get the E/W one on California as the queues are less than the other one, and transfer where they cross. There’s an App now to buy tickets.
Definetly hire bikes and cycle over the Golden Gate, be aware that it much colder when your on it so wrap up well.
Carry on over the other side and follow the road downhill on your left to the old naval base then onto Sausolito(gorgeous little town) and have lunch there,
Alcatraz is definetly worth a visit to , watch the Clint Eastwood film first and you will recognise so much of it once there,
Agree with Dan about riding up Hawk’s Hill, just watch the descent on the other side.
Back through the tunnel and on to Tiburon for the ferry ride home is a very pleasant day out.
Lombard Street, Pier 39 (Hollywood cafe for breakfast), Alcatraz (book early) etc., etc.
Just be aware that the tourist bits aren’t that far away from some of the more gritty bits - there are a huge number of homeless people, and the stench of cannabis is everywhere.
Be aware that the brake levers may be backwards 🙂
+1 for Alcatraz - take advantage of your jet lag and get the first boat. Ignore the speech on arrival and head straight in - you'll get the empty atmosphere. As unovolo said - it is exactly as per the film.
If you do go down US1, esp at the weekend, then leave time for traffic, stopping at beaches, parking in Monterey etc. Whale watching from Monterey is better than Santa Cruz, plus the aquarium is world class. There is also a great sea otter/wading bird safari at Moss Landing, plus Elephant seals North of Santa Cruz.
Or head north to Muir Woods and/or stop at Battery Spencer for sunset.
Wouldn't bother with a car rental if staying just in SF, as parking is hard. Walking is fine and then bike to Presidio/Bridge via Chinatown/Coit Tower/Russian Hill etc. MoMa is good if that is your thing.
If you ride over the bridge and do a bit of Marin you can catch the ferry back
Alcatraz
coite tower
china town
baker beach
bit of art
some seafood
wander around streets with insane gradients
club in the Castro
this is what I did 20 years ago
Used to travel to SF regularly - my favourite place was Muirwoods National Park. Get there early before the coaches arrive and walk a few hundred yards, further than most 'muricans will waddle - even on a cold, misty morning it's quite magical.
Ignore all the sellers of seafood chowder in a sourdough bowl around Fisherman's Wharf and that area. Same, ignore Boudin. Go to the Ferry Building and go to the Hog Island Oyster Co for some really stunning seafood instead. Plus the Cowgirl Creamery, and the bar/winery next door...
Like others have said, make use of the jetlag. If you're up early and want to do the cable cars, get in early and there'll be very few queues - I was there in July and that worked for me.
Be sure to wear a flower in your hair!
Go buy tobacco in what used to be Jimi Hendrix's 'Red House' (from 'red house over yonder')
Hire good road bikes, take advantage of jet lag to ride UP Lombard early in the AM, head out to Marin County and take advantage of some of the awesome road riding through the hills
Visit Fairfax and the mountainbike museum there.
Go to Sausalito and propose to your partner on the 'Dock of the Bay' where Otis Redding wrote his song (sorry, I already stole that idea 😉 )
Go CD shopping in Haight Ashbury
Take a trip to Half Moon Bay and see if the 'Mavericks' wave is kicking off, when we went it was flat calm and there were just a couple of stand up paddle boarders dicking about, no 50 footers 🙁
Loved the "cable cars" (tram/trolley) up and down the steep hills. We got lucky and hopped on as somebody got off, right at the front hanging off the footplate thing. That was brilliant.
One of the few US cities where walking around is a good thing, though as others say there are areas to avoid.
Cable car museum, the amusement arcade near seal rock if it's still going. Of the above I liked Coit Tower but not Pier 39. Get some proper Mexican food while you are there.
There are some bars in skyscrapers if that's your thing (it is mine).
A cycle up Twin Peak.
If you CBA Bolinas and Stinson are cool, riding in Marin would be a necessity for me .
Avoid stepping on used needles and faeces.
Don't leave your heart in San Francisco, a sleepy city...
maybe have a look around Alcatraz
That's not a maybe. And book in advance
Do the combined Alcatraz / Angel Island trip - Angel Island is a nice place to walk around
Try and see if there is an "Off The Grid" event happening - basically a load of really good food trucks and live bands etc, free to get in - good night out
Doing the ride over Golden Gate bridge is good, worth it just to end up in Sausalito....but I prefered hiring E-bikes and spending a day doing a big loop of the city taking in Lands End, Haight Ashbury, Golden Gate Park etc - we rode about 25 miles that day on what was really just one big ebike assisted beer crawl
Go for a walk around Pacific Heights - beautiful neighbourhood to stroll around with amazing houses
Ferry Building Market Is definitely worth a visit
Spend a night around the Mission District - much better neighbourhood bars in a small area - better than the usual busy areas where everywhere is mainly eating places rather than bars
Top tip - take photo ID if you're planning on a bar crawl around the Mission, even if you've got greying hair. 🙁
YES^^^^^^^
What Corroded said - in fact just have photo ID with you anywhere
"Have you got your ID?" - "I'm 38!" - "Why would you come out without ID, we don't know who you are!?"
I love the food there. You can't go wrong really, though some of the most touristy bits aren't all that great.
Captain - I agree. The lovely thing about SF is the views and wandering the streets, not the honeypots. Definitely not Fisherman’s Wharf!!
Before I changed jobs, I went once a month for the last few years.
Go and see a baseball game
Alcatraz is a must do. I got lucky and met a former inmate doing a book signing session. He was great.
If you like engineering things, the Bay Area Tidal Model in Sausalito is worth a visit if you're in the area
Ride on the cable cars then go to the cable car museum to see then engine that drives them. Talk to the cable car drivers. We had one who reckoned he had the most brilliant job in the world and explained how the cars work - what happens when two routes cross each other for instance
We did the bus tour which you can hop on/off and gets you round the whole City with lots of info.
Loved San Francisco, Alcatraz was a highlight. The bridge was great on the one day it came out the fog. We did the hop on/off bus tour to cut down a bit of the walking
If Star wars is your thing, There's a mini star wars museum, in that they let you in the reception foyer to mingle with the memorabilia. Near a yoda fountain.
Fantastic stuff, thank you all - much to consider, can't wait! We're thinking of a trip to Yosemite or Lake Tahoe - worth sacrificing a couple of days, do we think?
Take a look at the travel times to get to and from places like Tahoe, and especially Yosemite. They are both incredible, but it is time consuming to get to (and back from) either of them.
We drove from San Fran to Yosemite for a couple of nights. Yes it’s a long drive but it was part of our plan and I was very pleased we did it. Yosemite is worth a very long horrible drive, but this one was an enjoyable drive. We went to Monterey afterwards and headed South to San Diego via SF etc.
A simple trip down the coast might be an easier alternative. Beautiful bike ride (we did it decades ago mind you) and I assume driving would work too. We stayed overnight at pigeon point lighthouse.
Bear in mind that the traffic jams in Yosemite can be as bad as the jams getting out of SF. I think it depends how long you've got and whether you think you'll be back again. If it's a one-off trip I'd be tempted to squeeze more in. I do enjoy getting out of the city - I'd prefer Lake Tahoe to Yosemite because you can rent mtbs and ride (Northstar is near too). My absolutely favourite place for a weekend of trails is the Lakes Basin, which is more low-key Sierra Nevada. But if you've got limited time, stick to the city - use the BART to get out and visit places like Berkeley and Oakland. It's all interesting.
Alcatraz, book it and try to get a time where you get a boat over in daylight and and back in the dark. The City looks amazing as you come back in, just make sure you wrap up warm.
More generally, it's a city I like to just walk around and see what you see. Through the Chinese quarter, maybe go up Coit Tower, or head the other way to Haight. Whenever I've been, the best days have been where I walked relatively aimlessly.
Oh and take in a basketball game - the Golden State Warriors are rather good.
Yosemite is doable in a day, but better staying over. I’ve done both. We stayed in the permanent “tent” site on the river - a lovely spot. We stopped in Mariposa - an old gold rush frontier town - for an American Diner breakfast. In Feb, both Yosemite & Tahoe will have snow - some Mountain passes will be closed.
Car hire - good tip is collect from OAK airport. All the majors there, open much longer hours than downtown, and easily reachable on the BART.
Go visit the Ghirardelli chocolate factory if you've got a sweet tooth. It's wonderful stuff! The polar opposite to Hershey's crap.
Oh speaking of diner breakfasts, go to Pinecrest Diner near Union Square for one, it's sensational. I've been to SF a few times and always make a point to have breakfast there at least once.
We did San Francisco, highway 1, Monterey, Santa Cruz, I40, Grand Canyon (finally walked down, in snow, spent Halloween at the bottom) , Yosemite and back to SF.
Yosemite being a long drive is relative.
As well as the above suggestions from others, still around soak up the atmosphere. There are some brilliant little bakeries and coffee shops.
I always say go visit Roaring Mouse Cycles, run by Chris he can give you all the info you need. They are on the Presidio.
Fantastic stuff, thank you all – much to consider, can’t wait! We’re thinking of a trip to Yosemite or Lake Tahoe – worth sacrificing a couple of days, do we think?
Suspect that in Feb you won't be able to access very easily unless you prepare well in advance, not an 'on a whim' sort of trip. We were on honeymoon in SF and NorCal in October/November 2000 and nearly got snowed in to Tahoe. When we finally got out over the rim a state trooper stopped us to check we had snow chains, etc. and when we told him we were planning to go into Yosemite just laughed...... I asked when roads would be passable again and he said 'May or June'
...be sure to wear some flowers in your hair..
The road from Tahoe to Yosemite is via the Tioga Pass - a very high altitude pass @10000ft and will be closed all winter.
From SF you can enter Yosemite via the western gateway, which whilst still subject to snow, will be open.
I went many years ago in June and the Yosemite road was closed for 24hrs with snow, had to turn around and find a room in a one-horse town before trying again the next day. Save it for a summer trip
Can't imagine anyone has not suggested this, we stumbled on it getting lost over the golden gate bridge, didn't know if we needed change to cross the bridge back in the hire car. Imagine my surprise reading the words Nuclear missile battery.
https://www.nps.gov/goga/nike-missile-site.htm
Totally fantastic place to spend an hour or so.
Alcatraz.
Rodeo Beach/the Headlands.
Presidio.
Boy Scouts MTB trails inc Repack.
Marnee Thai - best Thai in SF.
Skeggs MTB trails.
Cliff House is good for breakfast.
Baker Beach.
Stinson Beach.
South Lake Tahoe is great if you’re going to ski or snowboard but I’d not go just to see the scenery. Don’t get me wrong, it’s incredibly scenic but not worth the five or so hour drive from SF. The first 3 or so hours of the drive aren’t great either, just freeway and only the last hour or so is in the mountains.
Even if you are going for skiing, be warned that they close the roads at short notice and are strict on enforcing chains. And Heavenly resort have a reputation of closing due to wind at the drop of a hat. Oh and it does get busy at weekends, though we were there for Presidents weekend so busier than normal.
The USS Hornet in Alameda was good both for a wander and the talk from a retired Korean war pilot and unlike Alcatraz (which was good) I think we were the only visitors.