Auto in San Francisco
 

I posted this yesterday but it disappeared. I am postin on behalf of a friend who has never been to San Francisco and is taking a three day weekend there. I told her she would not need to rent a car because the transit system is so great within the city and you can walk everywhere. What do you all think?

Gee, I thought you had seen the answers and already responded again to them before the thread was hijacked by the usual person who can't say anything good about SF and has to start verbally attacking anyone with helpful information. To summarize, most of those "real" posters agreed that if you aren't going out of the city that you can totally rely on busses or if necessary cabs. The ones(one) who listed the mile long reports about how miserable the public transportation in SF is, can easily be ignored -- well, they'll have to be now that they(he) have successfully hijacked the thread and had it deleted.

The bottom line. For three days in the city, DO NOT rent a car. (This is not simply my opinion, but again the summary of all the "real" visitors to SF who posted on that thread).

Another vote for not needing a car in SF. The public transportation system is good, esspecially for tourists. Check out www.sfmuni.com for route information and things like that. Your friend can even have a Muni (the SF transportation system) map sent to his or her home ahead of time or he or she can pick one up on arrival. And, SF is a very walkable city. Even with a car, you will do a lot of walking because finding parking near where you want to go is very rare.

I have this thread saved and will pass it along to my friend! Patrick, I know you are definitely a fellow traveller because I have read your posts elsewhere. Thanks!

Ah, and I just realized you're not the same person as "eurotravler" with whom I've conversed on the Europe board. Too many names that seem the same!!

Oh yes, and don't forget cost of parking is atrocious! Our hotel wanted to charge us $40/night! :O We've visited twice, once with a car, once using bus/train/cab. It may sound stupid, but I definitely enjoyed the city alot more when we weren't trying to get around in a car. The only time we needed a car the whole time we were there was when we left for the day to go to Napa.

Also, before I left, I visited the muni website. Since I knew where I was staying, and where I was visiting, I was able to print out the bus routes for where I wanted to go. Easy as Pie!

We drove to the city and had to park our car in the hotel lot for $35 per day. We didn't want the hassle of finding parking or paying additional parking so we took the cable car or walked to most places but $70 for two days and we only drove the car into the city and then to dinner on one night. Wayyyyyyy expensive. I say no car.

For what it's worth this is what I had written on the previous post....

I've been to SF twice and have not needed a rental car in the city. I had a great time and found it easy to use public transportation to navigate the city. Took cable cars and buses everywhere from union city, to the wharf, to gg bridge and to a giants game. Sometimes we didnt even know where we going and would hop on. I will say that sometimes we found the busses very crowded and opted to walk instead. We bought one of those 5 day passes which saved us money. Not to mention our hotel wanted 20 day for parking, plus trying to find spots around town, not worth it.

We spent the last 3 days in wine country and rented a car for that. I almost always rent a car, dont like feeling trapped but in SF I was absolutely fine without one.

Next time I go to San Francisco, I will rent a car for a day. We found it awkward getting to the Legion of Honor, Alamo Square and outlying areas by public transportation and taxi. In fact, once out of the downtown core, we found it difficult to even get a taxi.

April, you are right. Unlike New York, San Francisco is not really a taxi city. You should have been looking at the bus routes and schedules. Those places are very easy and inexpensive to reach by bus. If you're not into riding busses at all, then perhaps a car is a good idea.

If you are staying in San Francisco and rent a car, you will be paying for the car twice; daily rental fee and daily parking fee at the hotel. If you make an attempt to move the car, say to a city attraction, you'll pay again to park the car. If you try to move the car again, say to drive to a restaurant, you'll pay again to park the car. We are assuming you can find a parking spot.

Don't rent a car.

Im not a public transportaion person either but found it fun, almost an adventure on the bus and cable cars. Especially around china town, buses were so packed it felt like a crowded college bar.

We used them for outer places like seal rock and golden gate park, never had a problem, always felt safe. Best part is after dinner finding a cable car and hopping on.

For first time drivers to San Francisco you should see the movie "Bullitt" to get you in the mood for driving the streets of that hilly city.

Yes, Patrick, we did use the buses (and everything else) as well, but the problem was in going to places not on the bus routes. For instance, we made a stop on our way to the Legion of Honor. To try to get a taxi from there then seemed an ordeal. The cab never did show up the shop owner wound up driving us to the museum himself.

When time is short, you don't want to waste it waiting around for transportation. For just three days though, I might not rent a car.

For a brief trip, skip the car. The city is a bit difficult to drive around in, with one way streets and few free parking spaces, plus the public transport system is generally pretty good, particularly to the tourist-popular areas. I would also advocate walking around as much as possible. Much of San Francisco's charm lies in its hills, views and small neighborhoods that are best appreciated on foot. Good luck to your pal.

On our first trip ever to SF in July 2002 we were in the city for 3 days. We live in Atlanta and are used to alot of traffic, not that it would help but we decided to rent a car. My wife set it up upon arrival (in morning) we picked up car at airport, drove to Pacifica with little problem. We checked in, drove down coast to Santa Cruz and back. Nice, beautiful, relaxing drive. Stayed 1 night. Next morning drove back to airport and returned car. Caught a cab to Sheraton Fishermans Wharf where we were staying. That day we did Alcatraz, The Wharf and down to Ghirardelli, etc. (walking). Next morning rented a car from Sheraton. That day we drove to Coit Tower, Lombard St.(parked right at bottom and took some great pics), Union Square, and all around city. Next morning drove to Golden Gate- parked and walked across bridge, then to Muir Woods. Came back and checked in at St. Francis. (Well actually tried to but they had ovebooked and gave us a free night at The Palace!) That night drove to Chinatown and back to Fishermans Wharf. Next morning returned car to Sheraton. All in all it cost us less than 10 for parking deck at FW one night (Fireworks at Wharf), free the night at Sheraton, and we parked on a side street near Palace. (We were probably lucky on that one; it was 30 to park in their garage). What do I think? I think its very possible and really not that big a deal. We were able to do and see things we couldn't possibly have done without a car and never regretted it! Also this was our first time in SF. Very doable IMHO. My 10 year old son still talks about that vacation!

I would not recommend renting a car.

Be advised, however, that, despite the apparent convenient public transportation system and taxis, it's best not to rely on either.

We've waited a very, very long time for buses, for example, whereupon all of a sudden three arrive at once, nearly an hour, or more, later. And, depending upon where you happen to be, taxis are nearly impossible to find. At our hotel, even the doorman was unable to provide a taxi and recommended walking a few streets over to get one ourselves (which took quite a long while...ignore the ridiculously priced limo offers...).

And, it's just not true that "you can walk everywhere". Well, you could, ultimately, but there are considerably steep sidewalks everywhere, and walking downhill on many of them is even more scary (and energy consuming) than walking uphill! And both are required to get to nearly anyplace...