Review our San Francisco itinerary please
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Review our San Francisco itinerary please
Hello.
We are hoping for some constructive criticism please of the first draft of our itinerary for a trip to San Francisco from Sunday, September 25, to Sunday, October 2.
We are then going to on to Carmel-Pacific Grove (October 3 and 4) and the winelands (Napa and Sonoma October 5 and 6), so would not need to include day trips within our San Francisco itinerary.
We will see Alcatraz from our boat cruise, and feel this is sufficient as we aren't terribly interested in touring the attraction itself.
Sunday, September 25: We only land at 6pm, so our plans are really limited to getting a cab to our Noe Valley self-catering apartment, leaving our luggage and popping out for some essential groceries. We don't sleep on planes and, after a trip from the UK, expect to be too tired for much exploring.
Monday, September 26: First objectives are to buy a disposable phone and visit the Union Square tourist information centre.
Then we would head back to Noe Valley to explore our immediate neighbourhood, along with the Catro and Mission District. We realise this means backtracking, but we find a visit to the tourist information centre can prove useful as a first port of call.
Tuesday, September 27: 10am Local Tastes of the City tour in North Beach, San Francisco boat cruise, Coit Tower and a wander around North Beach.
In the evening, a visit to AT&T Park to watch a baseball game.
Wednesday, September 28: Shopping in Union Square, and hopefully a walking tour of Chinatown. Perhaps some recommendations here please?
Thursday, September 29: Berkely - we've allocated a day to this, since there seems to be a lot to see.
Friday, September 30: Presidio, then walk across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito (after 1pm as advised on previous posts) and take the ferry back to SF.
Saturday, October 1: Visit the Farmers' Market at Ferry Plaza, SFMOMA
Sunday, October 2: Lombard Street, Painted Ladies and, in the afternoon, Golden Gate Park and the De Young Museum.
We've kept our days as light as possible. We do tend to try and pack too much in and generally enjoy having a wander. We are wondering if we should swop Sunday and Friday. The work on the western walkway of Golden Gate should be complete by then (I think the website says it is closed for September) and I guess we wouldn't have to worry about competing with cyclists? Is this really a big problem? Do they invariably not yield to pedestrians as required?
Appreciate your time and advice.
Thanks
Lisa
We are hoping for some constructive criticism please of the first draft of our itinerary for a trip to San Francisco from Sunday, September 25, to Sunday, October 2.
We are then going to on to Carmel-Pacific Grove (October 3 and 4) and the winelands (Napa and Sonoma October 5 and 6), so would not need to include day trips within our San Francisco itinerary.
We will see Alcatraz from our boat cruise, and feel this is sufficient as we aren't terribly interested in touring the attraction itself.
Sunday, September 25: We only land at 6pm, so our plans are really limited to getting a cab to our Noe Valley self-catering apartment, leaving our luggage and popping out for some essential groceries. We don't sleep on planes and, after a trip from the UK, expect to be too tired for much exploring.
Monday, September 26: First objectives are to buy a disposable phone and visit the Union Square tourist information centre.
Then we would head back to Noe Valley to explore our immediate neighbourhood, along with the Catro and Mission District. We realise this means backtracking, but we find a visit to the tourist information centre can prove useful as a first port of call.
Tuesday, September 27: 10am Local Tastes of the City tour in North Beach, San Francisco boat cruise, Coit Tower and a wander around North Beach.
In the evening, a visit to AT&T Park to watch a baseball game.
Wednesday, September 28: Shopping in Union Square, and hopefully a walking tour of Chinatown. Perhaps some recommendations here please?
Thursday, September 29: Berkely - we've allocated a day to this, since there seems to be a lot to see.
Friday, September 30: Presidio, then walk across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito (after 1pm as advised on previous posts) and take the ferry back to SF.
Saturday, October 1: Visit the Farmers' Market at Ferry Plaza, SFMOMA
Sunday, October 2: Lombard Street, Painted Ladies and, in the afternoon, Golden Gate Park and the De Young Museum.
We've kept our days as light as possible. We do tend to try and pack too much in and generally enjoy having a wander. We are wondering if we should swop Sunday and Friday. The work on the western walkway of Golden Gate should be complete by then (I think the website says it is closed for September) and I guess we wouldn't have to worry about competing with cyclists? Is this really a big problem? Do they invariably not yield to pedestrians as required?
Appreciate your time and advice.
Thanks
Lisa
#2
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You can find most all San Francisco tourist information on line. The one big reason to go to the tourist office is to purchase a pass for using the bus and cable car system, but that pass can also be purchased elsewhere: http://www.sfmta.com/cms/mfares/passports.htm
If you buy a pass, it is also useful to purchase a map of the transportation system.
Fodor's publishes an excellent guide to SF: http://www.fodors.com/world/north-am...san-francisco/
You may also find some good ideas here: http://www.frommers.com/destinations/sanfrancisco/
HTTY
If you buy a pass, it is also useful to purchase a map of the transportation system.
Fodor's publishes an excellent guide to SF: http://www.fodors.com/world/north-am...san-francisco/
You may also find some good ideas here: http://www.frommers.com/destinations/sanfrancisco/
HTTY
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We will be there at the same time, 2 weeks and staying not too far from you.
We visit SF regularly and absolutely love doing free tours given by SF public library. A small donation [$5 or so per person] at end of tour is all that is suggested. We have done close to a dozen tours. They cover so many different aspects of SF.
http://www.sfcityguides.org/
Also, a free City Hall tours [given by docents at City Hall] is worthwhile [watch the movie "Milk" first.
We visit SF regularly and absolutely love doing free tours given by SF public library. A small donation [$5 or so per person] at end of tour is all that is suggested. We have done close to a dozen tours. They cover so many different aspects of SF.
http://www.sfcityguides.org/
Also, a free City Hall tours [given by docents at City Hall] is worthwhile [watch the movie "Milk" first.
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Thanks, DebitNM. I didn't know about those tours. I've made a note.
A few years ago we took and greatly enjoyed a tour of the Haas-Lilienthal House: http://www.sfheritage.org/haas-lilienthal-house/
HTTY
A few years ago we took and greatly enjoyed a tour of the Haas-Lilienthal House: http://www.sfheritage.org/haas-lilienthal-house/
HTTY
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Thank you DebitNM, we are hoping to do one of these tours. We'll have a look at their calendar closer to the time to see what's available. We thought a tour would be particularly useful for an area like Chinatown.
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I love the City Guides tours - definitely recommend at least one.
Regarding the cyclists on the GGB, I think that the problems are overstated and mainly due to a few cyclists who try to zoom through and a few clueless pedestrians who don't watch where they are going. As long as you pay at least a little attention to your suroundings, you should be fine.
Regarding the cyclists on the GGB, I think that the problems are overstated and mainly due to a few cyclists who try to zoom through and a few clueless pedestrians who don't watch where they are going. As long as you pay at least a little attention to your suroundings, you should be fine.
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I love the City Guides tours - definitely recommend at least one.
Regarding the cyclists on the GGB, I think that the problems are overstated and mainly due to a few cyclists who try to zoom through and a few clueless pedestrians who don't watch where they are going. As long as you pay at least a little attention to your suroundings, you should be fine.
Regarding the cyclists on the GGB, I think that the problems are overstated and mainly due to a few cyclists who try to zoom through and a few clueless pedestrians who don't watch where they are going. As long as you pay at least a little attention to your suroundings, you should be fine.