First time in San Francisco
 

We are going in September for the first
time in S.F. and would like a suggestion
about how many days we should stay, and also
a nice and centrally located Hotel, to walk
everywhere. We are going to Carmel, after
S.F. and needing a Nice, quaint Hotel in town.
Thanks for your suggestions.

How much time you'll spend in San Francisco depends a lot on your interests. Perhaps if you will give us some idea of your interests, Fodorites could suggest activities that would interest you and yours.

As for lodging, the hotels around Union Square are favorites for being within walking distance of a number of attractions. These hotels have a wide range in price. What would you like to budget per night for your hotel?

BTW, will you have any children with you? Their ages?

Dear MN:

You should stay at least 3 days in SF. Do a search on this site for SF trip reports & other info. Union Square/fin. district are preferred areas to say. You will also find lots of info here on Carmel/Monterey.

Good luck,

MY

Thanks for the suggestions.
We are a young couple without children, and we like Art, Museums,Shopping,
sightseeing...etc....
We are looking for a $150 to $200.00
Hotel.
Thanks.

Take an organized tour of the city to know where things are, and the history of the different neighborhoods. I'd stay around Union Sq. if I were you. There is a lot to do in the area, and its easy to get from there to anywhere else in the city. If you are in SF on a Wed. night, go to the Top of the Mark Hopkins Hotel and hear the live music there...its a good show and a beautiful cocktail lounge..

Hotels near Union Square: Chancellor, Donatello, Drisco.

If you know how to bid on Priceline, you can get the Hyatt for under $100.


Museums: 1) The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) has a Matisse exhibit through September 16.

2) The Legion of Honor has a special Rembrandt to Thiebaud exhibit through October 7.

3) The DeYoung Museum in Golden Gate Park is well worth a visit. It is open late every Friday night.

4) The Asian Art Museum is one of the finest in the world.

Then there are other museums, such as the Cartoon Art Museum.


Art Stores:

1) Xanadu Gallery on Maiden Lane (Union Square) is in a Frank Lloyd Wright building and has some wonderful art.

2) At Ghirardelli Square at Fisherman's Wharf on the bottom floors, there are some art galleries featuring more modern artists such as Picasso.

Sorry, those are the only art galleries that come to mind at this moment. I'm more of a museum person than an art gallery person.


Shopping: Union Square. Again, my apologies, I'm not a shopper. I'm certain someone else can help you here. Lots of good shoppers on Fodors. :)


Transportation: Get a 3-day pass which will allow you on almost every form of public transportation in the city. You don't need a car in SF.

Good luck on your planning! :)

Make time to visit the wine country too.

...and maybe a Giants game?

We are also going to S.F. for the first time in early August. After much research on this site as well as the Fodor's S.F. travel guide and trip advisor site we have booked the Chancellor on Union Square for our 4 night stay. The location will be convenient, it sounds like a very nice hotel for the money and we feel we got a good price. We booked through Expedia with a hotel/air package which we have never done before. Our room cost is about $130 per night which includes taxes.

We plan to buy the Muni pass when we get there. It seems like a deal as we want to see as many areas of S.F. as we can. We already bought our tickets for Alcatraz, want to bike over the G.G. bridge into Sausalito as well, Chinatown, The Wharf, North Beach and all the others. Yes, it's our first time so we will be doing all the tourist things. Our days will be long, we will be tired but we will have had a great time.

MNPAGES I suggest you check the S.F. threads on this site. As we have been able to do more traveling over the past couple years I have found the advice on this site to be a tremendous help. I have to say we have yet to be disappointed with a travel related decision we have made following Fodorites advice. It takes some time to search the threads sometimes but it certainly is worth it in the end.

THANKS, Kleroux, PJS, and easytraveler,
its a BIG HELP all you suggestions,
and advices.
We will follow them, and we will keep
looking at this site for more advice.
I am going to try the Chancellor, but
we cannot take a package, because we
are going after S.F. to Carmel.
THANKS a Lot.

you can also book just a hotel without the package.

I prefer to go through the hotel's own site and book directly, because this usually allows me to cancel up till 6pm of the date of arrival.

Otherwise, I use Travelocity and have never had a problem with them.

Personally i don't like Expedia because of the horror stories online and here at Fodors.

Good luck and have a great visit! :)

Here is a site which works with San Francisco hotels as a broker, gives discounts, and does not charge up front or have a no-cancellation policy. You give them your credit card as a deposit for the first night and from there on you deal with the hotel, paying when you check out, and adhering to the hotel's own cancellation policy. No surprises.

Hotelres.com

I agree that the Chancellor is a great reasonably priced hotel in a superb location with a great staff and management. See what you can do with them on hotelres. And then call the hotel directly to ask what specials they are running during your time there.

Also look at other hotels in the Union Square area. hotelres. lets you do that and gives you all of the details about the hotels. If you click on "packages" at the top of the screen you may find some which include breakfast.

We are very fond of the Donatello, which is a block from Union Square, because it has comfortable large rooms with a sitting area, a wet bar, fridge, coffee maker and microwave. And a top floor lounge with a fitness center. Sometimes we can get it on hotelres. for the same price as hotels without these amenities.

If you have questions, call them at their 800 number. Once they found us a great room when the conventions in San Francisco had evidently filled every room.

If you are talking about three days in San Francisco including the day you arrive and the day you leave, this is in no way enough time. I would say the minimum is three whole days.

kleroux and eastytranveler have given you great advice. Do take a half day tour as soon as you can so that you can get the "lay of the land" and make decisions on how to spend the rest of your time.

For quaint in Carmel. I don't know your budget but you might google these.

Carmel Fireplace Inn www.carmelfireplaceinn.com

Carmel Wayfarer Inn
www.carmelwayfarerinn.com

Normandy Inn
www.normandyinncarmel.com

And, more expensive, but an historical hotel in a former 1904 mansion

http://www.laplayahotel.com/

OH...I hope you are not renting a car at the airport and taking it into San Francisco to park at the exhorbitant rates hotels are charging. Best to rent the car for your Carmel trip at the time you need it. Since you mention walking, you probably already knew this.

You can walk to SFMOMA and the Asian Art Museum, but you will need public transportation for the Legion of Honor and the DeYoung.

Do allow enough time. If you are doing the museums you need MORE than five days, outside to see San Francisco.

I do go on, but this is my favorite city in the world. I hope some of it is helpful.

Thanks jtrandolph, your advises are
really good, and with a lot of sense,
also Thank you for the Carmel hotels
websites. I am very grateful!!!