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Help! San Francisco & surrounding area for 8 days.....suggestions welcomed

Help! San Francisco & surrounding area for 8 days.....suggestions welcomed

Old Oct 18th, 2011, 03:22 PM
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Help! San Francisco & surrounding area for 8 days.....suggestions welcomed

Myself & my husband have managed to wrangle a week off work so doing a last minute trip to SF at the end of Oct........yes literally last minute but soooooooooooo looking forward to it...... We will be flying from the UK & looking to spend 7 nights in California, especially the SF area.

Have been reading some of the Forums on SF & doing trips to Carmel; Monterey, Santa Barbara etc on route to LA which sound great. The only downside is that we have never driven in the US & not sure if we want to undertake this on our first trip to SF.

Would it be possible to do this type of trip using public transport as opposed to hiring a car or is that just mission impossible ?? I'm not familar with how far away all these locations are or if it would be more realistic to stay in SF & do some short trips to the surrounding areas in lieu. We want to see a bit of the area but want to be able to chill out as well.......would really appreciate your guidance on what our best options are if not doing a driving holiday?

If we base ourselves in SF for the duration, using public transport to get around & see all sights where are we best positioned to be staying? Looking at budget type hotels.

What are the must see things to do & see when in SF & the little gems that you guys have picked up on your trips including places to eat etc ? Previous blogs mention booking tickets on line to see Alkatraz - is there a URL for this?

All help / suggestions much appreciated. As this is so last minute we unsure of what is the best use of our time etc..
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Old Oct 18th, 2011, 03:43 PM
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If I can manage to drive in the UK you can do it in the US. It may be possible to see some things in some places by public transport, in San Francisco for instance, but otherwise your best bet is to have a car.

I think for an 8 day trip, if L.A. is less important to you, I suggest you start in San Francisco without a car then get your car and see places that appeal to you north of the city, such as the Napa and Sonoma wine country and south to Monterey and Carmel and maybe the Big Sur area. That will be plenty for a trip at a civilized pace.
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Old Oct 18th, 2011, 03:52 PM
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Stay in San Francisco for the entire trip. There is more than enough to do. You can walk many places and the public transit will take you just about everywhere you want to go. Buy a 7 days pass and it will make it very easy to hop on a bus, trolley etc when you get too tired to walk anymore:
http://www.sfmta.com/cms/mfares/passports.htm

How much per night do you want to spend on motel? That will be important to make proper suggestions.

Free walking tours are the way to really learn about the city:

http://www.sfcityguides.org/

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...isco-style.cfm


Book Alcatraz NOW if you want to be sure to get there; often sold out weeks in advance. http://alcatrazcruises.com/


http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-francisco.cfm
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Old Oct 18th, 2011, 04:03 PM
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Sorry, those links got put in wrong order.

I also meant to say, you do not need a car IN San Francisco. IF you wanted to rent one to go to wine country - do a 1 day rental and pick up and drop off the car the same day. Overnight parking is very expensive in the city. You can do this a second time if you want to go south to Carmel, Monterey etc.

Dollar is a good rental company and often has in city daily specials. The location on O'Farrell St is convenient to most downtown hotels.
http://www.dollar.com/Reservations/T...LocationSearch

This is a good hotel in a great location, especially for 2st time visitors. http://www.themosser.com/

The rooms are small but very clean. Some have private baths, some have sink in room and loo and shower in a locked room in the hall that is shared among several rooms. They clean them frequently and are kept in very good shape. It is a good way to save some money, if you are ok with concept. I tossed in a week at end of Oct with random dates, and it looks like a Queen room with shared bath is $114 or so. Check in on 10/27 and out on 11/3 for example will get you a deluxe room with full bed for $112 with their 3 day stay, 30% off promo.

You could do Priceline, but if you don't know the city and aren't familiar with Priceline, you could end up in some iffy hotels even though the price would be cheap.
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Old Oct 18th, 2011, 05:14 PM
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Well since Deb, just finished what is turning into her annual pilgrimage to the City (as we locals like to call SF), she knows of what she speaks.

To give you an idea of distances: California is just a big longer than Italy, without the train system. SF to LA is 344 miles, driving 382; a longer distance than Venice to Rome. SF to Santa Barbara is about the same distance as Venice to Rome.
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Old Oct 18th, 2011, 05:50 PM
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SAB
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Old Oct 18th, 2011, 07:48 PM
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I think the drive up the California coast is one of the best things our state has to offer. A visit to the wine country is also special but requires a car. I think driving here is much easier than in the UK. Our roads are nice and wide!

That said, in San Francisco a car can be a liability. You could spend all week in SF, but you're coming a LONG way. I'd be eager to see a bit more than just SF.
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Old Oct 19th, 2011, 01:21 AM
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all,

thank you very much for your ideas & suggestions...

LA is not as important to us as we've been there before when we did Vegas so more than happy to spoend out time around the SF area & maybe be brave & hire a car to do some day trips or an overnight stay outside SF.

South to Monterey and Carmel and the Big Sur area sounds lovely. Might add this to the itinery. How long would we need for here? Is it possible to do these as a day trip or woud it be worth spending 2-3 days there & then back to SF for our homeward journey?

Thanks for the hotel ideas. Ideally we'd like an en suite room so will to pay that little bit more to ensure we get that....
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Old Oct 19th, 2011, 02:22 AM
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To make the most of Monterey, etc. you will want to spend at least one night. To get as far down as Carmel will take 2 1/2 hours unless you hit traffic which may slow you down to 3. Believe me though you will want to get out of the car and ramble. Point Lobos state park is my favorite. We spend one night at an airport hotel when we returned, one night in Carmel and five days in town.

As for booking hotels I fouund that city hotels especially near the financial district of SF are cheaper during the weekend. Carmel is cheaper during the week. Don't know how your trip falls.

The driving is easy going down the coast. The road is wide enough you will not be unconfortable going around curves even with the Pacific on one side. SF driving is more difficult the road are very steep. I almost rented my husband a straight drive convertible for fun. I don't think he could have stopped on the hills will out rolling down.
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Old Oct 19th, 2011, 02:50 AM
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I really liked walking the Lands End trail- I had good weather and this trail made me want to move to San Francisco so that I could hike there every week, rofl. I visited Legion Museum (which I liked more than DeYoung btw) then I crossed the golfcourse and went left along the trail and eventially came out to the end of it where they have buses and a parking lot. I found the trail by accident which is probably what made it more magical. Its a really easy walk and you should take all the side paths to get the great views there.
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Old Oct 19th, 2011, 06:29 AM
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You would definitely want to stay in the Monterey/Carmel area. If it's 8 nights you have then I suggest you stay 4 or 5 in San Francisco, return to the airport to pick up a car. Drive back over to the coast from there on Hwy 92, several miles south of the airport, to Half Moon Bay. From there follow the coast, a beautiful drive south to Santa Cruz and on to Monterey. Stay 3 nights and if you have an evening flight you can return to SFO airport the same day or, if an earlier flight, the night before and stay at an airport hotel.

I suggest also that you invest in a good California guidebook to help you plan. You have enough time to have a quality visit to both areas but not enough to waste not knowing what you'd like to do once you get there. Also, get a good map. The car rental people will give you a basic one but not a good one. AAA, your AA, has good ones of specific areas of the state at a useful scale but if you can't get those then try Stanford's: http://www.stanfords.co.uk/Countries...erica/list.htm
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Old Oct 19th, 2011, 06:48 AM
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Here are some of my ideas of things to do & see.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...mendations.cfm

Stu Dudley
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Old Oct 19th, 2011, 09:06 AM
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When I read your initial post, my first thought was to divide the trip up between SF and the Monterey area. And I see that was not an original idea

I definitely agree about spending at least 1, preferably 2-3 nights in the Monterey area. Driving is pretty easy, but if you are still nervous about the car, public transportation from SF to Monterey is doable. The trip would take 3-4 hours compared with about 2 hours driving the quickest route.

For the public transportation option, you would take Caltrain from SF King Street station to San Jose Diridon station (the main SJ station). This trip will take 1 to 1.5 hours depending on whether you get the Baby Bullet train or a regular train.

http://www.caltrain.com/

Then from SJ Diridon station you take the Monterey-Salinas Transient bus #55, which is the San Jose-Monterey express. There are a few departures each day and the ride from SJ to Monterey takes about 2 hours. Then reverse the route to go back to SF.

http://www.mst.org/

The above web site also gives you info about transit in Monterey - the area is pretty well covered by buses and there is a tourist trolley that serves the main sites. If you enjoy walking, the area is very walkable and you can rent bikes to cover more ground. There are some areas that aren't really served by public transportation, such as the Carmel Valley where the wineries are, but there are tours that you can take if you want to.

Anyway - a trip to Monterey is move convinient with a car, but it isn't particularly difficult without one - it just takes a little advanced planning and a little longer to get there and back.
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Old Oct 19th, 2011, 09:13 AM
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return to the airport to pick up a car

You do NOT have to go to SFO to rent a car; in fact, that will end up costing you MORE money to do so as there are a lot of fees that are only applicable to airport locations. Rent from downtown location and simply return it to airport. Dollar [as I mentioned above] does not charge one way, drop off fees.
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Old Oct 19th, 2011, 10:37 AM
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"You do NOT have to go to SFO to rent a car..."

My suggestion to pick up the car at SFO was based on ease of exiting the city and driving to Monterey which for me, when driving at all is of concern, would be well worth the extra cost. It's easy to say "Rent from downtown location.." but less easy logistically in my opinion.
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Old Oct 19th, 2011, 10:41 AM
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I've used this website for discounts on that rental car, wherever you pick it up!

http://www.rentalcarmomma.com/
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Old Oct 19th, 2011, 03:29 PM
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thank you all for all the hints & tips.....much appreciated.

We're now going to split our time between SF & the Monterey area & def give LA a miss.

looking forward to our visit to California & exploring the area. I'm sure this will be the first of many visits
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Old Oct 19th, 2011, 07:40 PM
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One way to get out of San Francisco without all the traffic is to head west on Geary Blvd all the way to the ocean.

Before you fall into the water, make a left turn (actually, the road will naturally curve left - you'll have a fantastic view of San Francisco's beach right around the curve) and just keep going south along the ocean. This part of the road is called the Great Highway.

The southernmost part of the Great Highway is currently closed to traffic, so you will be directed naturally to make a left turn onto Sloat Blvd by the zoo. Skirt the zoo and take a right onto Skyline Blvd. Skyline Blvd is also called Highway 35. Just follow Highway 35 all the way down until a major junction, then take Highway 1 south. Highway 1 will take you all the way down to Santa Cruz/Monterey/Carmel.

This sounds complicated, but it's not. Just check a map, you'll be going essential west and then south. You'll be avoiding the traffic downtown and after Geary Blvd, you will be free of city traffic.

The best part of this route is that you'll be immediately by the Pacific Ocean.

Remember we drive on the RIGHT HAND SIDE of the road. It'll take you a day or so to get used to this (I always tend to want to smash all the cars on the right the first day I'm driving in GB, you'll probably be wanting to do the same to the cars on the left side of the street the first day you're driving here.)

Fortunately, all our rental cars are automatic, which eliminates your having to learn an alien gear-shifting system.

Have a fine trip! Hope this glorious weather holds up for you!
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Old Oct 20th, 2011, 04:54 PM
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We just went to the San Francisco area this past summer. Definitely make time for Point Lobos. We took a couple of the trails and the scenery is just gorgeous. One of the highlights of our trip.

Small museums in San Francisco of interest are the Walt Disney Family Museum and the Legion of Honor.
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