Dec.21-28th - what to do, where to stay, where to eat??
Family with kids ages 19,20,23

Well, I think a trip to the library for a guidebook is warranted. I am sure you already know about some of the "what to do" stuff or you wouldn't be going there.

Do you really think people can answer these questions with the info you've given?

Budget?
Interests?
Downtown/neighborhoods?
Luxury vs. cost-saving?
Car or no car?
Hotel or apartment?
How many rooms:
Art/nature/city life?

etc.

This will help with the "what to do" part:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...mendations.cfm

Try this too for holiday events in SF:

http://www.sfdineabouttown.com/holidays/

thanks, got the 'what to do' set!
where to stay? got a great price at the Sheraton, fishermans Wharf then was told its not such a nice area....

It's not that it's not nice (i.i. there's nothing unsafe or seedy about it), it's just that it's a very touristy area. There's nothing "real San Francisco" about it.

We stayed in the FW area last year because we got a great deal; it is not our first choice of where to stay [ we prefer Union Sq or Embarcadero].

That said, it worked out just fine for us. We used public transit or walked everywhere. It was easy to catch the Historic F trolley/streetcar to get to Market St and Union Sq and all the way to the Catro. Of course, there are 2 locations to catch the Cable Car there as well.

We were there in mid January and it was pretty quiet during the day [compared to other times of the year, may have also been due to lots of rain] and very quiet [street almost empty at night].

We did not eat in the area, as there really are not restaurants that we deemed worthy [we are admitted food snobs], although we did eat at Scoma's [expensive and "good"- not great food]. There are lots of places to eat so it may be fine for you and yours.

http://www.fishermanswharf.org

if it's your first time, union square area will likely have some great deals and it's a good central place to stay. you can walk to North Beach, Chinatown and the Embarcadero from there...you can even walk to Fisherman's Wharf if you like walking. lots of great places to eat in san francisco...depends on your budget and your tastes.

If you want to attend a holiday worship service, check out Glide -
http://www.glide.org/

Don't miss The Palace of Fine Arts. It was originally built for the 1915 Exposition and they've retained and also restored a good portion of it recently. It's in the San Francisco Marina, easy to see when you're near the bay and Fisherman's Wharf.

I grew up here but while stopping there one day after a short rain, I took some photos of that beautiful place and then looked up the history of it all and have made informational links to some really excellent histories and photographs of it from that time. It's a great respite when you're walking the town -- not as crowded as the commercial areas and a beautiful place to sit and relax.

See the photos and historical links at
http://bit.ly/palace-fine-arts-sf

- Andrys
http://www.pbase.com/andrys/hometown
San Francisco