Help 111op With Trip to SF
 

So I'll be flying to the Bay Area for an interview. It hasn't been scheduled yet, but I'm going to extend my visit and spend some time on the West Coast.

I'm doing the research now since I'm sure the dates will be set soon and I'll have to prepare for the interview instead of plan a trip.

Please help with suggestions regarding the following:

1. Hotels. I'm sure that I'll have to book my own hotel beyond the one night the company will pay for. I guess Priceline for SF is good?

2. Restaurants. I'll dig up a few reviews, but I really don't know the dining scene in SF at all. The only famous one I've been to is Fleur de Lys.

3. Things to Do. I know SF, and I've seen some of the main attractions (Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Golden Gate Park, Fisherman's Wharf, Lombard St., etc.). I haven't seen the new De Young Museum. Is there something you think is especially worthwhile? What's new in the city?

4. Day Trips Out of the City. The coastline is beautiful and I've done some road trips years ago -- Monterey, Half Moon Bay, Sausalito, etc. I've not been to Napa Valley. The problem is that I'm not too comfortable driving, but I imagine I should probably be ok for a drive on the highway. What would be best in this regard?

5. I'm also open to spending a few days in SF and then flying somewhere else. So if there are any suggestions in that regard please let me know too.

Thanks!

I travel alone extensively. The Fog City Diner is a personal favorite SF destination. The Ferry Terminal building has a number of small, casual restaurants that are always good.

Your day trips are all good destinations. Driving up to NAPA for a couple of winery tours and a great lunch is a super day. You don't mention Muir Woods which you can combine with Sausalito for a great outing. Monterey is further than NAPA and Sausalito, but leaving early and taking a leisurely loop around 17 mile drive with a meal in Pacific Grove or Carmel is a pleasure.

My experience is that I have never run out of things to do from Carmel to Napa no matter how long the visit. I don't believe flying elsewhere is necessary.

Hi 111op, I think you'd be fine driving to and in Napa or Sonoma. You'd love the wine country. I'm headed back in a few weeks and am doing the same thing - looking for different things to do in SF. I'm going to do a couple of these free tours - http://www.sfcityguides.org/. A Fodorite's wife does one of them, but I won't be there when she's leading it. I've taken a quick trip out to Sausolito but plan to go back. I took a GREAT trip a year ago (exactly) down the coast and take a glance at that if you decide to do that much driving. Hey, if you go sooner than later give me a shout and we'll take a tour or grab lunch together. I'm out there just messing around while my friend is at a conference.

BTW my favorite hotel is the Hotel Monaco and folks have gotten great rates at other Kimpton group hotels lately. But Priceline works in SF too. Have fun! (Love your last pics - even though I've not posted comments) ((*))

Check out centralparkgirl's recent trip report and kurieff is in the process of posting her trip report.

Great, thanks for the leads! I hope that you enjoy your trip in SF, starrs. I'll see when they want me to fly out.

I'll check out those trip reports.

I *think* I've been to Muir Woods (yes, it's been that long). I've done the 17-mile drive. It's all really beautiful -- I wish that I had a better memory of what's what and where's where. :)

Point Reyes~see my recent trip report:) for a drive out of the city is a great idea. There are so many wonderful walks in that area and just a drive is breathtaking. I always recommend Abbott's Lagoon and Tomales Bluff as places to go within the park. It's about 1 1/4 hours drive from SF. Take Hwy 101 North over the Golden Gate and then out Sir Francis Drake Blvd to Olema turn right and then take a left at Sun Farms to go to the Bear Valley visitors' center.

There are lots of great places to eat in SF that won't break the bank like Fleur de Lys. Check out places like Gitane, Plouf,Tartine & Delfina. Go to Chowhound.com(boards) and read and/or post.

The new Academy of Sciences in the park is great all say. The new de Young is worth check ing out (Yves St Laurent exhibit runs thru 4/4). Go to the top floor and have a wonderful view of the city.

SF has some great movie theaters. Some of my favorite include: the Kabuki, The Clay and the Castro. Depending on when you are planning to be here, the SF Film Festival might be on. Google same to get a schedule.

And since you are taking some time, wander the neighborhoods. Walk around North Beach and have a cappucino and meatball sandwich at Mario's Bohemian Cigar store then head on down Columbus to City Lights Books for a great indie bookstore experience. Walk out Crissy Field and have a hot dog at the Warming Hut while you are taking in the Bay and the GG.

And btw~good luck with the job interview.

111op ! don't tell me ! you might move to SF? How great is that ?? Good luck, PamSF is brilliant with her suggestions..
If you are in the neighborhood, go to the Buena Vista Cafe and have a Pimms Cup for the the Scarlett of many years ago... ((F))

Thanks PamSF. I still haven't done my research yet.

Scarlett, honestly I think that the chance of getting hired is small. I certainly didn't plan for any of this to happen. I'm just thinking of this as a free trip right now. :) If I really get an offer I'll think about moving, but the truth is I'm pretty happy with NYC (apart from how expensive it is). However the economic landscape is shifting, and I need to be flexible.

111op, the drive up to Napa or Sonoma is really very easy, but depending on the time you have to spend, there are several different ways of getting there. I don't think you'd have any problem.

Good luck and once you see SF and see it through the eyes of someone who might live there, maybe things will look different .. Best of luck to you !

Here is a link to some of my favorite things to do in the Bay Area.
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=35129049

Stu Dudley

You can't go wrong with www.belden-place.com imho for casual but current restaurant choices (financial district near-ish Union Square). I like to stay in the Union Square area. I like the shops, restaurant, spas on and near Maiden Lane (again just off Union Square). My favorite activity is tackily tourist, taking a street car from the turn-around at Market down thru Chinatown to Fisherman's Wharf.

You can look up my trip report from last fall. I visited several museums: deYoung, Asian Art, Contemporary Jewish Museum, SF MOMA, and Legion of Honor.

I think you might enjoy the architecture tour of the CJM.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...nd-museums.cfm

Thanks to everyone. yk, your report was the first one I checked, actually.

I still haven't had time to research the other info in this thread just yet, but I hope sometime the coming week.

I do have questions about car rental. I haven't rented one in years. Is there something to be aware of? Websites to use, etc.? Do the rates normally work out in such a way that, say, you want the car for 3 days you may as well rent for a week?

I'm planning to try some other job contacts. Though I think that it's very unlikely I get an offer, I don't want to run into the situation of getting an offer and having to decide without having tried other job options more seriously. So I need to focus on that right now.

111op, it's a lot cheaper not to rent at the airport and a car is more of a hindrance than a help in SF. So, you'd save money all around if you pick one up at a rental counter in town - near your hotel. I've done this everytime I've gone to SF and it's a breeze. Several people have had success using Priceline for cars, but I've not tried it yet.

DF's DD and SIL have just moved to the Mission district so if you are "house hunting" a bit while you are there, take a look there. They LOVE it!

Thanks. I think that house hunting at this stage for me would be like what they say about putting the cart before the horse. :) I don't like to count chickens before they hatch (actually I probably should have posted this thread after I get the date for the interview, but it was sounding definite enough for me).

I can't imagine driving in SF either. Actually I've done it, but I can't parallel park so you can imagine how difficult it is for me -- especially with all the crazy hills in SF.

<i>but I can't parallel park so you can imagine how difficult it is for me -- especially with all the crazy hills in SF.</i>

And then there's parallel parking ON those crazy hills -- not for the faint of heart!!

Hi, are there people who use the NYT travel archives to plan their trips? Normally I check out the articles in the archive.

I go to overview for San Francisco:

http://tinyurl.com/6lortk

But to my surprise, there really aren't any articles that come up beyond the multimedia links on the left (and the 36 Hours in SF article).

If I do the same for Paris, I get tons of articles:

http://tinyurl.com/y78xaq

Is this a glitch in the NYT website? I find it hard to imagine that there are so few relevant articles on San Francisco.

Yes, I used them for Buenos Aires and actually still do when looking into day trips and restaurants.

btw-I learned to parallel park in SF... I had a boyfriend who was going to make me park on Lombard Street but I refused to get in the car lol.

Have you considered a job in Paris? lol

Where on Lombard Street, Scarlett? That might make a big difference. Or depending on how much you enjoyed the bf, you could have said, "Why don't you stand in the front/at the back of the car and see how well I've parked?" :)

Some of my French skills may be up to par, but I don't think the most relevant ones are. (Just kidding!)

I'm finally taking a look at some of the suggestions mentioned here. The walks on sfcityguides.org are interesting. The schedule just goes out to 1 week in advance though. And there's a lot of info in Stu Dudley's thread.

What does GGNRA stand for? I think I missed that. Thanks again.

Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

Hi 111op - I was just in SF for a long weekend. Take a look at my trip report. I especially recommend the new Academy of Science in GG Park.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...rip-report.cfm

There is a complete monthly schedule on the City Guides site

http://www.sfcityguides.org/current_schedule.html

They offer some additional walks in May.

Stu Dudley

The De Young Museum is definitely worth seeing; be sure you go up to the tower for an amazing view. When I was there last month, the tower closed before the rest of the museum, so don't leave it to the end of your visit; we ended up catching the last elevator up.

We visited four vineyards in the Napa Valley in our day trip there. One of them, the Hess Collection, has a substantial gallery of contemporary art, very nice. That one is a bit up in the hills, but the drive shouldn't prove too difficult. Most of the driving in the Napa Valley is very straightforward.

We also took a day trip to Muir Woods and Point Reyes, which are easily combined. Be aware that if you drive out to the lighthouse at Point Reyes it is a very long drive though, so leave enough time. We did it too late in the day I thought, but the silver lining was that there was terrific late afternoon lighting for photography.

We took lots of suggestions from Stu Dudley's thread cited above. A wonderful resource.

My trip report: http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...rip-report.cfm

Photos: http://tinyurl.com/bx9gwo

Hi, 111op, we rented a car last Thursday in SF. We used Hotwire to book a car rental online, and then we picked the car up at the Dollar rental agency on O'Farrell Street near Union Square. I think it was $28 with tax to rent a small car.

It was very easy, and the rental company had clear and easy to follow directions to get out of town and back to the car rental return garage. We drove to Sonoma and Healdsburg and then back through Petaluma to San Francisco. It was very simple, and we enjoyed seeing some of the wine country.

Ok, the NYT archive for SF is back in business, so I am browsing some articles there. I also skimmed some of the reports mentioned in this thread.

I can't recall who mentioned Tartine Bakery, but it's written up in an article by Mark Bittman here:

http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/travel/28Bite.html

I'm sure I'll have some more questions soon.

This is what Mark Bittman has to say about the Ferry Building that's also been frequently recommended (someone suggested it in this thread, in fact).

http://travel.nytimes.com/2006/04/30.../30choice.html

I remember skimming this article when it first came out. It seemed just yesterday, but actually it was published about 3 years ago!

He mentions, among others:

BOULETTES LARDER
THE SLANTED DOOR
TAYLOR'S AUTOMATIC REFRESHER
HOG ISLAND OYSTER COMPANY

(Too lazy to convert to lower case after my copy-paste.)

Ok, thankfully I have a date, but the logistics need to be worked out, so I should really be flying out. I've time to plan still.

I'm checking hotels now. I've topped a thread on Priceline.

The only hotel I see recommended in this thread so far is Hotel Monaco. I've not checked the Klimpton website, but it lists for over $250 on Expedia. I can cross this one out.

The cheapest one I can find with ok reviews is "Good Hotel" (yes, that's the name). The location (112 Seventh) seems iffy. It's near the Civic Center, I think, and near Davies Hall. If memory serves, that area can be indeed be sketchy, but is it really as bad some people seem to think it is?

I've a short list already, and based on what I've seen, $120 (taxes included) a night should be doable.

Thanks!

Look at the Orchard Hotel. The hotel you mentioned is, in fact, in an area that can be sketchy. I think it's a stretch to call 7th Street close to Davies.

If you are a woman and travelling alone I would really say skip the 7th Street place.

Thanks. You must have mentioned Orchard in something else I was reading (maybe even in this thread?). I just checked the hotel's website and it looks very nice, but the cheapest rate (for AAA members) is around $172 (not sure if that includes taxes). I think I can sacrifice luxury to save some money.

It's more than a stretch to call 7th Street "close" to Davies, and yes, it's NOT a nice place to stay (for a single woman or anyone else!). Much better to use Priceline for either Embarcadero or Union Street East areas.

Thanks. From Google maps I see that that area should be well within one mile of Davies (actually I'm thinking it's within 1/2 mile). It doesn't look that far.

I don't really remember that area well, though I've gone to a few concerts in Davies and even waited for buses nearby. I do remember being nervous while waiting for buses.

If you were nervious around Davies - you'll be petrified around 7th.

Stu Dudley

Thanks. Out of curiosity I tried to look up the bus I used to take. It looks like they changed the numbers. So at least that's different. :)

Interestingly I think the bus stop was possibly near the "Good Hotel," though I can't remember for sure. They could have changed the route too, but there's a stop on the current route near Mission Street, and the street name does sound familiar.

I wasn't nervous around Davies. I was nervous when I was waiting for my bus, and I guess the bus stop was not super close to Davies, but a short walking distance away.

I just looked up the Good Hotel on googlemaps and actually its not in that horrible of a location (I wouldn't walk at night from Davies, but it's not bad). And it IS a Joie de Vivre Hotel. If I remember, I'll drive by on my way home tonight and post back.

Thanks. I'm more interested in knowing what it's like out late at night, and I doubt that you'd be driving by at that hour. Still it'd be useful info if you happen to drive by.

I think that the rate is not that competitive with what I can potentially get on Priceline, but I can save on parking (web searches quote parking as around $20 + taxes a night (with possibly 50% off if I book on Orbitz), though I haven't called the hotel directly). In any case, that difference may not be that significant. Now that I know how expensive it is to park, I probably should keep a rental car for only a day or two.

OK, if you're main interest is in knowing how that area is late at night, the simple answer is you wouldn't want to be wandering around there on foot late at night (see Stu's post). But there are always cabs from whereever you are.

Thanks. Remind me again -- public transportation in SF runs 24 hours?

By the way, I think I once stayed at the YMCA on Golden Gate Avenue. That was an "interesting" experience. Slightly different area though.

I'm surprised that there are still these bad pockets in SF with the boom we had. Most of the bad areas of Manhattan you wouldn't dare set foot in 20 years ago have been cleaned up these days.

NYC has done a better job than we have. It's a long story. The "boom" had little to do with it.

Stu Dudley

I still haven't booked my hotel yet. I'll try to do it soon.

Now regarding the car rental -- the more I think about it, the more I'm thinking that I shouldn't drive at all.

Is there something outside the city that's accessible by public transportation? (I've been to Sausalito, to north of GG bridge, to Monterey, etc.) I haven't been to Napa Valley, but I don't know if it's accessible by public transportation.

I know this sounds silly, but since I haven't driven in years, I'll be nervous when I drive. Maybe it's ok, but I'm concerned about it. The more I think about it, the more nervous I get.

If it's really impossible, then I guess I'll have to drive. Then I should probably rent a car for one day? What options should I explore? Is one car rental agency better than another? How much should I expect to pay?

Are there any tips when I pick up the car in that event? Maybe I should drive around in the parking lot before I actually drive outside. (Or maybe I should just stay in the parking lot. :) )

Thanks again!