Karends65

We are travelling to the US in September and will be stopping in San Francisco for a few nights. Can anyone tell me if both areas are reasonably flat for someone who is a manual wheelchair user, as we are trying to decide which is the better area to find a hotel in. We have been told that Union Square is a more exciting area to locate ourselves.

Suzie

Fisherman's Wharf is flat but Union Square is not. Have you taken a look at Google Maps for Union Square by putting the little gold man on the streets around it or done a street view? You can see the inclines for the various streets for yourself by walking the gold man along the streets around Union Square you plan on using.

Tomsd

Check out the motels/B & B's along Lombard - especially the Chelsea Inn. That is in the Marina area - which is flat and has a couple fun streets to explore - with Chestnut more for a family and Union St more for the yuppie crowd. There is also good bus service from there which I think is somewhat wheelchair accessable?

MichelleY

You may want to check out hotels down by the Ferry Building, such as the Hyatt Embarcadero.

sf7307

How will you be getting around town? If you'll be driving, then I agree with Tom's -and Michelle's suggestions that you stay along the Lombard corridor or on the Embarcadero, simply because FW's sidewalks are very crowded (we rode our bikes through last weekend, and it was packed, and this was February!).

As for ambiance, Union Square isn't exactly exciting, unless you're from a small town, I suppose - it's a bustling shopping district, always busy/crowded, with many top department stores and boutiques, and lots of hotels and restaurants. Fisherman's Wharf is more "tourist central". I don't exactly agree with Tom's choice of words re Union and Chestnut Streets. Both areas are upscale, Chestnut Street is totally "yuppie" including yuppie families, while Union is somewhat more upscale than that (fancier boutique shopping). They're both great though because there are so many places to eat, shop and people-watch, among mostly locals.

janisj

Car or no car? If no car -- then the Lombard Street motels could be the worst possible place to stay (not the absolute worst, but close)

If you will have a car - the main advantage to Lombard St is the parking (both free and available)

Ackislander

Without a car or even with one and a healthy budget, I think MichelleY's suggestion of the Embarcadero near the Ferry is very good. Union Square is too hilly and not in itself very interesting.

There are good places to eat in the Ferry building and nearby at all price ranges.

Tomsd

OMG. There are several nice hotels and B & B's in the Lombard/Marina area (although a number do have traffic noise - as Lombard is a wide/busy street) - and a number of frequent bus lines. It's also generally more peaceful around there than the busy Embarcadero. Lived there for years - on Union Street - and loved it.

You are also close to the bay and a stroll/roll along the Marina Green affords an incredible view of the Golden Gate, Alcatraz and Sausalito, etc, and check out the Palace of Fine Arts, built for a Worlds Fair in the early 1900's.

Reminds me - you might want to take the ferry ride over to Sausalito.

Again, check out the Chelsea Inn - and it's sister hotels - and the B & B's.

easytraveler

If Rome has seven hills, so does San Francisco.

It all depends on what you/the other person want to do in SF, whether you will have your own car or not, how mobile the person is, etc.

Maybe you could give us some more information, so we can better match hotel/hotel area to your needs.

bardo1

To expand on what Suxie said: Even better, just go to Google maps and there's a pull down menu called "Traffic" on the right side of your screen. Click on the Traffic pull-down tab and click "Terrain". You'll notice the Marina neighborhood is completely flat - it's also a very nice area and worth considering staying in even beyond the flat terrain.

StuDudley

>>Fisherman's Wharf is flat>but Union Square is not

Karends65

Hi, thanks for all the replies. My husband is a tetraplegic so is confined to his wheelchair. He is capable of wheeling himself around although hills are a bit tricky. We won't have a car so will need to rely on public transport. Main points of interest at this stage are Alcatraz, Sausalito and possibly the California Academy of science.

Thanks again

easytraveler

Karen: You are certainly presenting one of the more interesting challenges for those of us who have been giving suggestions here on San Francisco!

Alcatraz is very hilly and some parts very steep. Here are a couple of websites, if you haven't already seen them, that give you some idea of how to get around Alcatraz. The best thing to do is to call the phone number at the bottom of the page and ask them specific questions on mobility issues specific to your husband. You can then decide if you want to visit Alcatraz or not.

http://www.alcatrazcruises.com/websi...ssibility.aspx

http://www.nps.gov/alca/planyourvisit/accessibility.htm

Here's someone who has actually visited Alcatraz in a wheelchair. You might find his story interesting, even though it's a bit dated. You might even be able to email him and ask him specific questions on how he was able to get around San Francisco and which were the best/easiest places to go for someone in a wheelchair.

http://www.gimponthego.com/dest21a.htm

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To get from San Francisco to Sausalito, check out the Blue and Gold Fleet faq sheet. You can also email or call them for information specific to your needs.

http://www.blueandgoldfleet.com/visitor-information/

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Of the three places that you've mentioned, the one with the best accessibility is the California Academy of Sciences.

http://www.calacademy.org/visit/plan...A_Overview.pdf

The N Judah Metro Muni Streetcar is wheelchair accessible, but it's a long walk from the stop through Golden Gate Park to the Academy.

http://www.calacademy.org/visit/getting_here/

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At this point, if you don't mind my asking, you said that your husband is a tetraplegic (which means that he has both spinal nerve and brain stem damage, is this correct?) - is his wheelchair mechanized in some way that he can move around by himself? How much help does he need from you?

http://www.sfmta.com/cms/mmaps/indxmaps.htm


Here's a SF transportation website for those with disabilities. You might email/call them and get their help to transport your husband around, especially on those special paratransit vans.

http://transit.511.org/accessible/disabled/index.aspx

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Finally, you didn't mention a budget for your hotels. This might help in determining which would be a good area for you and your husband.

Dayenu

Why line N to CA Academy of Sciences? Depends from where you start, you'll probably need 2 buses, line 44 is the closest.

The buses, I think all of them, have platforms that operated by the bus driver. Wheelchair gets lifted onto the bus. If taking metro (the routes have letters instead of numbers) check first if the elevators are working, sometimes they are not. Exceptions: historic streetcar line F, and cable cars: none of the cars are accessible.

To get to Sausalito you can take the ferry boat, or a bus. Buses are "Golden Gate transit" - while I know they are w/chair accessible, don't know if you need to call in advance.

easytraveler

Why the N Judah line?

Because that's what's recommended on the Cal Science website itself.

You know the transportation in San Francisco best, Dayenu. Maybe once the OP has chosen a hotel, you can give the best public transportation to take where.

Dayenu

Ahh, those recomendations are usually written by people who don't take buses