SFO layover
 

I am connecting in SFO for a flight to Hong Kong. Due to getting the best fare possible I have a 8 our layover in SFO. Is it quick to get to Union Square or Fisherman's Wharf from SFO and back during a Tuesday afternoon? Please advice. I do not want to sit in the airport for 8 hours, and unfortunately can not change my ticket.

The connecting system is BART, check the website, should be fast, convenient and dependable to Union Square, your stop is Powell.

To go to Fishermen's you'd need to switch to a bus or a trolley. This may take a while. Bus maps and schedules are on MUNI website.

You could take the "Bart" train to San Francisco, $4.95 each way. Get of as suggested at Powell or Embarcadero. Walk across the street and take the "F" streetcar which gets you to Fishermans wharf. Wear a coat as it will be windy and cool, most at the time.

8 hours is not a lot of time. On my recent trip to SF, it took 1.5hrs from the time my plane landed to arriving in Union Sq via BART. (From the terminal, it was quite a walk to the AirTrain station. Then we waited for the AirTrain to take us to the BART station. After that was waiting for the BART - it runs 3x/hr.) Therefore, just traveling time alone is at least 3 hrs.

Assuming you'll have your boarding pass already for your HKG-bound flight, you will still have to arrive in SFO at least 1hr before your flight. That leaves you with 4 hours to spend in SF downtown at the most.

If I were you, I'd just aim for Union Sq or just Fisherman's Wharf but not both.

SQ 1 departs SFO at 12:05am in the winter, and CX 873 five minutes later. Assuming you're arriving at SFO around 4pm, you will have tonnes of time to get out out San Francisco, walk around, have dinner, etc...

San Fran's city center is pretty quiet at late night, and I don't think you really want to hang out there for too long. While taking the BART downtown is fine, I'll probably opt for a taxi or schedule a car/van service for your return trip.

If you do decide to take BART to Union Square:

If you land around 4:00, you shouldn't have to wait too long for BART. At that hour (evening rush hour) two lines will take you from SFO to SF: the Richmond line and the Pittsburg-Bay Point line. Each one stops at SFO every 15 minutes and they're staggered so barring unscheduled delays the wait shouldn't be more than 8 or 10 minutes.

The big Union Square shops and some of the smaller ones stay open at least until 8 and there will be restaurants open and people around then.

Thanks for the quick response. I will take the BART into town as soon as I arrive and go to Union Square. I just want to go and have an early dinner in a restaurant I love that is located in the area, I can't remember the name right now. So it will give me time to have dinner and take BART back to the airport or a taxi if running late. Thanks.