2 months in San Francisco
 

Hi, I'm a college student from Michigan and I've never been to California. I will be working outside San Francisco from June until August and I was wondering if anyone has any ideas for fun weekend activities. I love "off the beaten path" restaurants and shops. I welcome advice and ideas. Any travel tips would be helpful too, as I don't travel often.

I put together a list of my favorite things in the Bay Area

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=35129049

Stu Dudley

Thank you!!

This is the local newspaper with sections for food and entertainment

http://www.sfgate.com/

The Bay Area is great for weekend trips. Every direction has something wonderful.

So, here goes.

Close:
Sausalito: Take the ferry and explore the charming sea side town of galleries and enjoy the great views. Pick a sunny day.

Golden Gate Park: There is a new Culture Bus which will take you to the main museums. I think that might be an easy way to explore the park with the De Young Museum, new Academy of Sciences, lovely Japanese Tea Garden, and Conservatory of Flowers. There is a herd of buffalo in the park, windmills, paddle boats, wonderful gardens, and much more.

Yerba Buena Garden and Museum of Modern Art: Interesting architecture, and great people watching.

North Beach: Home of the Beat Poets. Go to City Light's Bookstore, and explore the cafés and interesting shops, and walk through Chinatown as well.

Giant's Stadium: Go see the Giants! It's even free if you want to stand at the gates outside outfield.

Bit Farther: Stanford & Palo Alto. Take the train to a great college town, explore the campus, the Papua New Guinea Sculpture Garden, and walk down University Ave.

Santa Cruz: Fun in the summer. Great old fashioned boardwalk with wooden roller coaster.

Wine County & Gold Country.

Stinson Beach, Point Reyes, Mendocino.

Half Moon Bay, Carmel, Monterey, Big Sur

You will probably enjoy reading a book of Bay Area getaways, because there are so many great places to explore!

Wow! StuDudley did a fabulous job laying out a comprehensive report. I live in the Bay Area, but I'm printing his report out as well.

You might want to take BART over to Berkeley. Or, go down to Santa Cruz or Stanford. Berkeley has a nice botanical gardena and a rose garden. It's fun to walk around Telegraph Avenue, Shattuck Avenue, and the campus. There's also Moe's Bookstore. The Berkeley Marina is nice.

BART will take you to a lot of places. Go to 511.org for public transportation info. Also, Cal Trans goes from SF to the Silicon Valley.