Alice9

My husband and I will be in San Francisco in mid-October for a bat mitzvah. We arrive late Thursday, and don't have (well, have CHOSEN not to have) any bat mitzvah related activities on Friday. We're staying at The Hotel Majestic at 1500 Sutter Street. Haven't decided about renting a car, leaning against though.

We like to walk, we like to eat, we like to get the feel of a city. Haven't been to SF for over twenty years. Any suggestions on how best to plan our day?

Thanks in advance,
Alice

DebitNM

If you don't need a car to get to Bat Mitzvah, don't bother with one. The city is meant to be seen on foot or via public transportation. Plus driving in the city is less than stellar and parking astronomical.

That said, do you want to do any museum-y stuff or do you want to be out and about?

What kinds of things interest you?

Off the top of my head [and brace yourself for 25 replies, each with different suggestions] I would throw out:

-Alcatraz [although it will eat up a lot of your time]

-The Ferry Building and take a ferry to Sausalito and back [again time users but lovely way to get amazing views of the city]

-Take a tour or 2 using SF Libarary City Guides [there are lots to meet a variety of tastes, but for a Friday I would do "City Scapes"

http://www.sfcityguides.org/current_...?month=October 2010

I would have lunch or dinner at Tadich Grill, a quintessential SF landmark and have Ciopinno.

I would go see Beach Blanket Babylon and have dinner in North Beach.

Check this out to see what piques your interest:

http://www.fodors.com/world/north-am...san-francisco/

Good luck and have a great time!

DebitNM

http://beachblanketbabylon.com/

http://www.tadichgrill.com/ [lol, but other than address, there's nothing on the website]

garyt22

Get yourself booked on a Grayline Trolley hop tour... The actual tour is an hour loop of the best sites, but you can get off the bus and stay as long as you wish at each stop... then you just catch the next trolley.. when you are ready...

also follow DebitNM's advice... the best of both...

Alice9

Thanks so much! I'm glad to hear we can manage without a car. I love museums but with just one day, unless the weather is bad, we'll probably skip that (we live in the land of museums, DC).

City guide tours are EXACTLY the kind of thing we like to do, thanks very much for that link. And I love the idea of the Trolley hop tour. I will definitely check out the other recommendations, it seems like we will fill our day with no problem!

Thanks VERY much,
Alice

Dayenu

If you have only one day - take a city tour first. I think they pick you up at the hotel, but confirm. After that you can go back to the places you liked and explore.