irenequiz

Planning a three-day visit to SF in Oct 08. We want to enjoy the city with some leisure – we will power boost for some active sightseeing here and there but we do not want to scramble from sight to sight. I’m looking for feedback on the sightseeing segments – think I’m most unsure about how much time some of these activities will take and are there some segments too jammed up. I would do a walking tour where I have placed a neighborhood and will cross-reference with SF City Guides as it gets closer to see what tours are available. I’m happy with my restaurant choices and trying to cater our sightseeing around them, if possible -- there will be some commuting to and fro to eat, I realize. We will not have a car so will be relying on taxis and public transportation. It's like putting a puzzle together and I'm starting to get cross-eyed! Thanks for any help here.

SUNDAY
Arrive mid-afternoon to Hotel Drisco
Explore Golden Gate Park
Dinner at Aziza

MONDAY
Explore Financial District
Wells Fargo Museum
Lunch at Yank Sing
Travel to Berkeley via BART, Explore Berkeley
Dinner at Chez Panisse

TUESDAY
Alcatraz – early bird
Walk (?) to Ferry Building/shop in Ferry Building
Lunch at Slanted Door or graze in Ferry Building
Back to Hotel Drisco for quick respite
Explore Nob Hill
Cable Car Ride/Museum
Grace Cathedral service 5:15
Dinner at The Dining Room

WEDNESDAY
Explore Pacific Heights
Lunch at Zuni Cafe
Walk or view Golden Gate Bridge
Muir Woods
Begin route to Napa

kleroux

I think it a bit odd that you are not seeing any of the great museums in SF, but have chosen out of the way ones. Why not the Asian, Modern, De Young, new Science/aquarium museums??

irenequiz

What is the best way to ask for help?

easytraveler

I'm with Kleroux on this: why the minor museums instead of the major ones?

Also your "explore" is kinda - different.

Explore the Financial District? Nob Hill? Pacific Heights? Are there specific things in the Financial District that attract you?


As for Pacific Heights, here's one famous house and its current resident:
http://www.yelp.com/biz/spreckels-mansion-san-francisco

I don't know what appeals to you, but I'd suggest spending some time at NorthBeach/Little Italy or, better yet, spend that first half day on a Grey lines bus tour of the city, since you ahve so little time to find out exactly which neighborhoods you would like to explore in depth.

A lot of your "exploring" could be done in one day with a car. How are you heading up to Napa? Will you have a car then? I'd rent it a day earlier and do exploring of san Francisco by car. Just a suggestion.

Have a great trip!

jtrandolph

I think you have been slammed. Sorry. I know what it is like to try to figure out an itinerary in a new city.

Let's start over.

I don't see anything wrong with Sunday. In Golden Gate Park be sure to do the DeYoung Museum. If you do not want to see the exhibits, be sure to go up in the tower for the view. There is a great art glass exhibit there called (I can't spell it) Chiuhy, or something, which is supposed to be fabulous.

The Japanese Tea Garden is right next door.

On Monday there is nothing really to explore in the financial district except a lot of big buildings. I would not spend time at the Wells Fargo museum necessarily.

In fact, if you are going to Berkeley to explore the campus and then having dinner at Chez Panisse, I would not take the time that particular day for Yank Sing. I would hie myself to Berkeley. Go to the campus and take a ride up the Campanile for one of the best views of the San Francisco Bay you can get. Hope that the carillon master will be playing.

Tuesday and Wednesday I think you have nailed.

And DO NOT follow the last suggestion in this "slam" to rent a car to explore San Francisco. You DO NOT want a car in San Francisco...only when you are ready to get out of it.

You are completely on the right track. Have a great trip.

I am only sorry that this forum, unlike Trip Advisor, does not allow personal messages.

May I suggest that you pose these questions over there? www.tripadvisor.com

easytraveler

i find it rather curious to characterize a question of why the OP chose minor museums instead of major ones as a "slam" - and then, contradictorily, go on to recommend a major museum - the De Young!

It's Dale Chihuly, BTW, and his exhibit ends September 28th - before the OP's October trip.

irenequiz

Thank you for the input. The omission of "major" museums was not intentional - the "exploring" description of the neighborhood was my way of indicating a time allotment or time available to find sights within that particular neighborhood. I threw in the Wells Fargo because it looked close to Yank Sing and was mentioned on this board before. The itinerary - which I should have said more clearly - was the beginning structure; not so concrete and inflexible.

This was my first post - ever - on a message board so I am still learning.

mouseRD

Hi! My husband & I visited SF in May & did have a bit more time in SF than you; 3 days at the Washington Square Inn in North Beach, followed by 1 night in Carmel, then 3 nights at the Hotel Drisco in Pacific Heights. We loved the Hotel Drisco & the area! If you have a car (which we did), the bellman will move your car throughout the day as there it is only street parking (& it is free!) We spent one day down by the Golden Gate Ntl Recreation area/Fort Point which is right by the Golden Gate Bridge. We walked across the bridge & back which was fun. Then we drove across the bridge, stopped off at a little turnoff right after the bridge to get a view of the city of SF from across the bay - bet it's lovely at night. Then we proceeded to Sausalito where we had lunch at a little place called FISH. Some people will bike across the GG Bridge & take the ferry back from Sausalito. We had dinner that night at Osteria, a little Italian place that we walked to from the hotel (~ 10 minutes) - great gnoicchi!
The next day, we went on a self-guided tour of some of the Pacific Heights area with a guide given to us by the staff of the Drisco; it was a lot of fun & a beautiful area. Then we walked down to Filmore Street & spent a couple of hours shopping & having lunch. We went to Golden Gate Park & Ocean Beach in the afternoon & finished with dinner at Cafe Maritime in the Marina District. It is within walking distance, but very steep, so it is recommended by the staff to drive or take a taxi.
Hope you have a great visit - wish we were going back again in October!

dmlove

I live in the Bay Area (work in downtown SF) and I agree with the poster who suggested having a car for one day of "exploring" San Francisco). Yes, you can do it all using public transportation, but it's a lot easier with a car. You might want to go out to Land's End, take in some portion of the 49-mile drive, pop over to Haight St., or Union St., or Chestnut, drive through Pacific Heights (out Broadway in particular), etc.

I also have no idea why one poster thought you were being "slammed". I think the suggestion to waste no time "exploring" the financial district is a good one. You can walk through the financial district on your way to the ferry bldg., chinatown or North Beach, though.

jandee

Question to mouseRD: How long does it take to walk to and fro the Golden Gate Bridge. Also is it possible to walk from SF over the bridge and get an alternate transportation back? irenequiz: sorry to add questions to your post but we also need a 3 day itinerary for SF in Aug!

maj

We don't normally like to go on tours, but at one point we got tired of having to think, ride buses, etc. and decided to hop on a tour from Fisherman's Wharf. It only took about 3 hours and was definitely time and money well spent. It took us through parts of North Beach, Chinatown, Financial District, Mission and Castro, Golden Gate Park etc. It stopped at 4 places (Mission Delores, Japanese Tea Room -- two places we hadn't planned on going to and really enjoyed), Twin Peaks and crossed to the other side of the GGB where we got out for a while. The information from the tour guide was great and we could cross these areas off our list. The hotel can set up a tour for you -- there are many different ones available and I really haven't heard of a bad one. I'd do it early in your trip.

We also used parts of Stu Dudley's driving tour for areas we wanted to go. We got an AAA map of San Francisco (not California) which had even the one way streets marked. We didn't find it that difficult to drive around at times and, although we loved the public transportation, it was easier to drive to get to some places (especially during the week and avoiding rush hours). Not sure that this would work for you, but just thought I'd put it out there in case some of your plans change.

I love the view from the Marin Headlands. You can easily stop there on your way to Muir Woods.

irenequiz

Yes, the city tour is a good suggestion for us.

I would like to know about the bridge walk, as well...

Thank you all. Trip is shaping up nicely. Wish we had more than three days!

zooey91

Although driving in SF is not for the feint of heart, there are several areas that are not very accessible unless you have a car (Chrissy Field and Baker Beach, to name just a couple).

But if you only have three days, there's plenty to see that is reachable by taxi or public transportation. So I don't think your itinerary is far off the mark. It's refreshing to hear someone wanting to explore neighborhoods that aren't tourist traps. I work in the financial district and agree that much of it isn't worth too much of your time, but it is surrounded by things that are (the Embarcadero, Jackson Square [well worth a slight detour], and North Beach, for example).

If you do change your mind and have a car in the city, keep in mind that left turns from two way streets are often prohibited, which is not always indicated on maps.

SAB

Fitting in lunch at Zuni between exploring Pac Heights and the Bridge, especially if you then intend to go to Muir Woods (I assume on the way to Napa) will be very rushed without a car. Zuni will require a trip across town from Pac Heights and then you will backtrack to go to the Bridge. It might be better to pick some place on upper Fillmore, such as SPQR.

Indeed, Wednesday might be more feasible if you pick up your car early, you could drive around Pac Heights, have lunch (even at Zuni) then drive across the Bridge to Muir Woods and then make your way to Napa.

irenequiz

Here is a revised itinerary in an effort to put these good suggestions in play.
DAY 1 (1/2 day)

Arrive SFO
Golden Gate Park
DeYoung Museum
Japanese Tea Garden (if not on our particular “City Tour” (eg. Grey Line) itinerary
Dinner at Aziza

DAY 2

City Tour
Lunch – (originally had Yank Sing but this may change if we head off to Berkeley– the goal is to try dim sum – other idea was Great Eastern)
Berkeley
Dinner at Chez Panisse

DAY 3

Alcatraz – early bird
Walk to Ferry Building
Lunch at Slanted Door or graze Ferry Building
Back to hotel
(Placecard for neighborhood we want to see more of – this may be determined when in SF)
Cable car ride – provided this fits in with neighborhood above
Grace Cathedral
Dinner at The Dining Room

DAY 4 (1/2 day)

Drive around Pac Heights
Lunch at Zuni (provided we have a car) or SPQR (was on my preliminary list!)
Marin Headlands/Muir Woods
Drive Golden Gate Bridge en route to Napa

I am happy with how this turned out. We will no doubt miss some "must sees" with such a short time to work with. I call this the SF Sampler. Many thanks!

maj

Seems like a good starting point -- and you have a couple of months to add/subtract as you read other posts and opinions. Also it is easier to see what you have in mind for each area. Assume you already have tickets for Alcatraz.

When are you going? I think Fleet Week is in the first part of October. Have fun planning!

jencee

Went on a girlfriend's trip to SF in May. One of the best things that we did was the Golden Gate Park, especially the Japanese Tea Garden. Absolutely beautiful. We easily spent most of a day there including visiting the de Young Museum.

Also, we signed up for a "Taste of the City" Tour in Little Italy which was a lot of fun. We visited coffee shops, bakeries, a deli & a great truffle shop. Here is the link if that type of thing appeals to you:
www.localtastesofthecitytours.com
It took about 3 hours.

mouseRD

We walked fairly briskly across the bridge & back (it was a hot day in May - 100 degrees, but a great breeze by the bay); I would say an hour round trip. There didn't seem to be anyplace right across the bridge for easy transportation options back to SF; maybe someone more familiar with the area could help or someone who has biked over might know of a path leading to Sausalito.

planning_ahead

booking marking for tour info
Thanks
Hilary

easytraveler

You can walk across the Golden Gate Bridge and once on the other side, follow the Bay Trail to the old Fort Baker complex where the Bay Area Discovery Museum is located. Then you head eastward to the Bay and pretty much follow the shoreline to Sausalito.

Here's a map that might help you orient yourself. Remember that the GG Bridge is way up high while the Discovery Museum is pretty much down at water level. This map doesn't show contours nor elevations as well.

I'd suggest giving yourself more time in San Francisco and less time in Berkeley. If you plan to walk across the GG Bridge, that'll be a much better experience. Berkeley is the kind of trip I'd suggest doing when you have a car.

http://www.nps.gov/goga/upload/2008-...he-map-web.pdf