Do I need a rental car in San Francisco?
 

We are staying at the Argonaut hotel for 3 nights in January. We will be driving from Big Sur and parking per day at the Argonaut is something around $25 or $30 a day!!! We are near the cable car turnaround but I'm still afraid there are things we will want to see that we'll need a car for. Please help me decide! Thanks

The Argonaut is right on Fisherman's Wharf. You don't have to have a rental car. The public transit system in SF is great! If you decide that you want to go to the Muir Woods (which I highly recommend if you haven't ever been there), you can book a tour just a few blocks away from your hotel.

SF has cable cars, electric street cars, fabulous bus system and cabs everywhere you look. There were only 2 cable car lines running when we were there last weekend but we had no problem getting anywhere we wanted to go.

Have fun!

Actually, when we stayed at the Argonaut, a car would have been handy for a day. It depends on where you want to go. We made a stop on the way to the Legion of Honor and from there we might as well have been in the outback when it came to trying to get a taxi. Taking a bus back from the Golden Gate Bridge wasn't so bad but from Alamo Square to another part of the city by bus was yucky, not to mention slow. Maybe locals know better how to get around. The cable car route from near the Argonaut is fabulous and will take you by the crooked part of Lombard St. and the Cable Car Museum.

I really don't recommend having a car in SF - it is not a car firendly city. I lived there for several years and never used a car except to elave the city for the week-end. Parking anywhere is atrocious and expensive and the traffic congestion with many one way streets and no left turn zones can be confusing to the novice SF visitor. SF has a really good public transportation system. Yes, you may have to wait a little for a bus, but you are likely to spend more time than that circling for parking.

Another vote for not having the car. Buses, streetcars, and lightrail will get you pretty much everywhere you want to go. If you are out late, you can always take a cab. Cable cars are fun, but they aren't great for transportation - during peak times the lines can be pretty long.

OK, does having a car in SF make it easier to see SF, yes. Is having a car necessary, for most visitors, No. Most of the usual sights are easily accessible by public transportation, but driving in SF is not that difficult (I've been doing it for 20+ years without any problems). Parking is the biggest issue. It can be expensive downtown and at the Wharf and it is difficult to find street parking in some neighborhoods, especially in the evenings--my neighborhood Cole Valley is notoriously difflcult. If the cost of parking at the hotel, etc. is not an issue for you, then keep the car. But since it seems to be an issue, you will not suffer from not having a car. I might suggest that before you turn the car in (assuming you are going to do so in SF), you take a drive through the City up to Twin Peaks and maybe across the GGBridge, that way you will have taken full advantage of having the car.