Help! I need to park a car in or near San Francisco for 2 days while we visit the city. Does anyone know a lot we could use? I refuse to pay a hotel $30 a night for the car when the room is only costing $50 through Priceline. We'll use public transportation or cab to drop off and pick up the car. Thanks for your help.

Try this:

http://www.betterbidding.com/?act=ST&f=197&t=284&

Good luck - $30 is still a good hotel rate for parking in SF.

if you have "in&out" flat daily rate for $30 day,I agree with Blondie that it's pretty good. You can try parking at the Sutter Stockton Garage but I think you cannot enter or exit after 10 pm.

If you don't need to use the car while in SF, have you considered parking it in one of the long-term lots at the airport? For example, Fox Auto Parks in South San Francisco only charges $7.95/day (see foxautoparks.com). Skypark.com charges $15/day for indoor parking and $12/day for outdoor parking. There are many other lots as well.

The city run parking garage at Fifth and Mission ( by Metreon, Moscone) has an $18 per day maxium. Its one block south of Market and easily acessible by public transportation. There are some parking lots further South of Market that are cheaper, but I wouldn't park any car in them overnight as they are not very well lit or monitored.

merrymice
I understand what you're saying, but a total of $80.00 per night in SF is not a bad deal. Especially for the convenience of entering and exiting the city without paying cabs and you'll not find anyplace without paying something.

Thanks for all your suggestions. This is just a quick weekend getaway on Memorial Day weekend and we are trying to keep the basic costs down. We found a site with a listing of city owned parking lots.
http://www.sfgov.org/site/dpt_index.asp?id=13451
The lot at Mission and Barlett is listed for $11.50 for 24hours.
The lot at SF General Hospital is $10.00 for 24hours and has 1701 spots. Has anyone used either of the lots.
Sorry for the long post and thanks for your help.

I'd say just on loation the lot at Mission and Bartlett although I know nothing about it. Public transportation to SF General could take some time. I also do not know if the lot at SF General would be a place I'd want to leave my car frankly.

Mission and Bartlett garage would be around 21st and Mission, I think (Mission and Barlett are parallel to each other). There are differing opinions on this neighborhood, because two blocks in the wrong direction and your are in questionable areas. In any event, it would be a case of penny wise, pound foolish if you were thinking of taking a cab to and from this location (or SF General) to a downtown hotel) because you would spend the difference between these locations and say Fifth and Mission in cab fare. Getting to either of these locations on public transportation would take some time.

The city owned Mission & Bartlett lot, is at 16th I believe.

Whoops, no, It's Mission & Otis I'm thinking about.

Mission & 21st 3 blocks away from the Mission/24th BART station. This is about a 10 minute ride into down town. It's an interesting area, kinda gritty, but with lots of good food & a few good bars in the area.

I'd -STRONGLY- advise against SF General, just don't do it.

If you are determined to park outside of downtown, you might consider street parking in a neighborhood that is easily reached by streetcar or bus, assuming you are visiting on the weekend when permit parking is not in effect.

Thanks for all your advise. I think we have decided to use the Japan Center lot. It is open 24 hours on the weekends and until 2:30am on weekdays. It is easy to get to at 1610 Geary Blvd. and it is only $13 for 24 hours. We are staying near Union Square, so it should be easy to get there using public transportation. BTW, We were in San Francisco in October and found the Mission District to very interesting. A little rough around the corners, but lots of life. I really love visiting a city with a working public transportation system : ) It is so wonderful not to have to drive.

Just an update on cheap parking. We stayed at Union Square and parked the car at Japan Center. It was an easy (5 minute) bus ride to and from the center on Geary. Dropped the bags at the hotel ($33 valet), parked the car and took the bus back ($1). It was safe and secure.

For the absolutely cheapest parking, you can do street parking. I recommended it to a friend who had no problems with it. If you park near the end of the L Taraval or N Judah Muni line, you have a straight return to downtown via streetcar.