Just in case this info is useful -- a friend suggested comparing car rentals on Kayak. I normally compare airfares on Kayak, but I wouldn't have thought of using Kayak to compare car rentals.

And Kayak is useful. I can see the cheapest is Enterprise for about $37 a day. I'll have to load up on all the insurance if I rent though.

Is Enterprise something to avoid? I think the cheapest is a Chevy Aveo.

I also checked Hotwire. Someone had mentioned that rentals are much more expensive at airports. If I compare an SFO rental vs. a city rental, I see that SFO taxes are much higher. Not sure why that is.

Anyway, I'll see how it goes.

All car rentals that I've experienced are more expensive at the airport because they take on extra airport fees.

Several Fodorites have success with rental cars booked via Priceline. Good luck - with the trip and the interview.

My daughter and I just reserved a room at the Orchard Garden Hotel thru Hotels.com for $90 a night (Mar 29 - Apr 1). When I called the hotel to see if we could switch from a king bed to 2 doubles, the very nice man who helped me mentioned that you can always ask for that same rate if you call the hotel directly. Main difference I think is that the hotel wouldn't charge your credit card when you reserve, but rather when you check out. Plus you can be more specific about your preferences. We're planning to take BART from Oakland airport, then walk to the hotel.

Good luck with your interview!

Regarding Priceline for cars, I assume people bid for the rental?

I looked at BFT and someone mentioned on 3/3 that he couldn't seem to bid for a car downtown. He was speculating bidding is allowed for airport locations only. Is this true?

Orchard Garden is really nice, but I just can't figure out how you were able to book it so cheaply, Golondrina. In any case, out of curiosity I checked and those dates are gone on both the hotel's website and hotels.com. I'd be happy to stay there for $90 a night -- but I don't think it's possible for me. I did check some other dates and the rate is always above $150 on both.

Thanks for the well wishes. I'll need the luck I'm sure. The more the better.

Hi, I've a few more questions.

1. Walking Tours

Regarding the walking tours on sfcityguides.org are there some favorites?

I checked the website and no reservations are necessary. I'll see what I feel like when I am there.

2. Bus Tours

I don't know why I didn't think of this before -- but I think I'll go with some tours instead of drive. Driving just feels too risky to me. I'll put this on a to-do list on a future trip.

I checked Greyline and searched some threads on Fodor's. Someone used Tower Tours. Is one tour group more recommendable than another? Monterey/Carmel, Wine Country and Sausalito/Muir Woods are all covered.

I'll check what the hotel has to offer when I get there.

3. City Pass

Is this worthwhile?

http://www.citypass.com/price/sanfrancisco.html

Muni/Cable car 7-day transport is $24. I'm not sure how much the bus and cable car rides are, but I'll be in the city for a couple of days. I'll probably go to SFMOMA and take the cruise (if that's good -- but if not, let me know). I'm confused though by why Legion of Honor and De Young are grouped together (is this a joint admission for $10?). Aren't they quite far apart?

4. Restaurants

I'm wondering if there's anyone here who has eaten at Michael Mina. It has two Michelin stars and I've checked the Lounge menu online and it seems reasonable. How's this place?

Also has anyone eaten at Range?

I'm taking a friend out to dinner at Chez Panisse (well, that's the plan anyway).

-----

I've pasted StuDudley's thread into a file on my PC so that I can pull it up and read later even if I don't have internet access.

I've skimmed the suggestions here and I'm just trying to gather information for later. I don't have too much time now to plan actually.

Thanks again!

Hi 111op,
Stu Dudley can probably give you more info on the tours. I plan to take the Victorian one on Sunday.
Re Chez Panisse - do you have reservations? It's usually pretty darn hard to get a reservation there.
The tour sounds like a good option. I'd put Muir Woods and the wine country on the top of the list.
Have fun! I'll be there next weekend so give a shout if you head out then.

Hey starrs, I'm actually leaving that Sunday, so it looks like we'll just miss each other.

Yes I made reservations for Chez Panisse already. It was actually surprisingly easy. There are two sections -- the cafe upstairs and the main restaurant downstairs. Supposedly the main restaurant is a tougher reservation, but I just called a few days ago and got the date we wanted.

Out of curiosity I checked the French Laundry. I was surprised that I could have chosen to have lunch there the coming week or even dinner. I forget which days. The restaurant is on OpenTable and I think it must have been last-minute cancellations. The only thing is that FL doesn't seem to take one person for reservations on OpenTable, but there were spots available if I tried reservations for 2.

I guess this can be something to look forward to on a future trip (when I actually drive...).

I suspect it's the economic crisis -- but honestly, many restaurants in NYC still seem absolutely packed. But there have been articles in the paper about falling rents. I was just reading another one this morning.

And starrs -- I forgot to say, have a great trip! We'll have to exchange notes afterwards.

3) The muni buses are $1.50; Cable Car $5. deYoung and Legion of Honor together form the Fine Arts Museum of SF; a bit like Met + Cloisters in theory. If you take MUNI to deYoung you can get $2 off admission by showing your bus ticket. Of course, you can get in museums for free if your schedule is flexible.

Thanks. I checked the museum websites and I don't really see free days like the museums in NYC. It seems like the free days are first xx of the month. Did I miss something?

I took the following notes for myself. Any other museums I should think about visiting? I'll just write down a list and see what I feel like doing when I get there.

yk, you mentioned the architecture at Contemporary Jewish Museum. Was there a reason why? Thanks.

SFMOMA, Contemporary Jewish: Closed Wednesdays. Open late Thursdays. SFMOMA 1/2 price after 6 pm on Thursdays.

de Young + Legion of Honor: Free to one if you visit on the same day. de Young is open late Fridays. Both are closed Mondays.

deYoung & SFMOMA - First Tuesday of each month is free

Re: CJM - I was simply interested to see the new/old buildings. You can enter the lobby and see parts of the old substation and a bit of the new section without paying admission.
http://www.thecjm.org/index.php?opti...=article&id=45

Thanks. Admission to CJM is $10 but they say the tours are free? But I assume you still need to pay $10? I just copied and pasted the tour hours.

By the way, can someone recommend things to do in Berkeley? Since I'm going to Chez Panisse, I may as well try to see some other stuff while there. I've been to Berkeley before also, but I just don't know what's really there.

yes, you still need to pay admission for the tours at CJM. But they also have a free cell phone-guided tour of the building/architecture. There are #s and signs in the lobby area, so you can pop in, do the cellphone tour of the free section which you can wander around, then leave. The admission fee is really for the art exhibition - if it's not something you're interested in there's no compelling reason to go in. Is the Chagall show there yet? If it is and if you didn't see it in NY, it's worth paying admission for that.

Chagall show starts April 23. I didn't see it here actually.

Actually the cellphone tour won't be free for me as I don't have a monthly plan for my cell. But your idea of wondering in and seeing the architecture sounds good. Thanks!

Sorry -- wandering in. Who knows how many typos I've made, but that one is especially egregious. Sorry.

>>1. Walking Tours

Regarding the walking tours on sfcityguides.org are there some favorites?

I checked the website and no reservations are necessary. I'll see what I feel like when I am there.<<

When will you be here? - my wife leads the Victorian San Francisco tour today, and a few times in April & May too.

What you might like really depends on your interests - architeture, history, quirky things, Murals, neighborhoods, Chinatown etc.

DebitNW really liked the Cityscapes & Public Places tour - which walks you around downtown & shows you some places that visitors rarely discover. The guide on Deb's tour had his dog with him - which made an interesting ensemble.

I like the Chinatown tour, the Victorian tours (naturally), Haight/Ashbury, Palace Hotel (all inside), Gold Rush City, Nob Hill, Pacific Heights Mansions, - but these really reflect my interests. I also love the neightorhoods walks - Noe Valley, Castro, Inner Sunset, Mission Dolores, North Beach, Cow Hollow, Dogpatch, and also architecture walks - Art Deco Marina, Rising Steel (never beeen on this one), Downtown Deco. There are lso several "Mural" walks.

>>2. Bus Tours

I don't know why I didn't think of this before -- but I think I'll go with some tours instead of drive. Driving just feels too risky to me. I'll put this on a to-do list on a future trip.<<

Tour buses are not allowed to go to several places in the city. There are Mr Toad tours, and the motorized cable car tours.


>>I'll check what the hotel has to offer when I get there.<,

It's usually tours where they get a commission.

>>3. City Pass

Is this worthwhile?

http://www.citypass.com/price/sanfrancisco.html

Muni/Cable car 7-day transport is $24. I'm not sure how much the bus and cable car rides are, but I'll be in the city for a couple of days.<<

In addition to the cost analysis - note that you can't transfer on Cable Cars - each trip is $3. So, if you want to get on the Calif Line & transfer to the Powell/Hyde - that's $6. If you are staying downtown or at the Wharf, and want to take the Cable Car to a restaurant on Hyde - and then back after dinner - that's another $6. Bus transfers are good for 1 1/2 hrs (with some hedge in there).

>>I'll probably go to SFMOMA and take the cruise (if that's good -- but if not, let me know). I'm confused though by why Legion of Honor and De Young are grouped together (is this a joint admission for $10?). Aren't they quite far apart?<<

If you've visited Paris or other cities, passes for 2 museums on the same ticket are common. They are both in the western half of SF.

>>>4. Restaurants

I'm wondering if there's anyone here who has eaten at Michael Mina. It has two Michelin stars and I've checked the Lounge menu online and it seems reasonable. How's this place?

Also has anyone eaten at Range?<<

I've dined at Range a couple of times. Don't know why it's a 1 star - when Quince, Gary Danko, la Folie, Boulevard, Chez Panisse are also 1 stars - but much better, IMO.. I think Aziza is much better too, and it's a 0 star (these are from my '07 Michelin guide).

Stu Dudley

Thanks. I'll be there the coming week.

I actually can't recall any museums in Paris that are paired up, but maybe that's because I normally go to them separately. I agree that the Met/Cloisters analogy in NYC is a good one, but the Cloisters is normally not on people's itineraries. I've only been to the Cloisters there once myself.

The friend I'm taking to Chez Panisse likes Range and not Boulevard. I guess it's like everything else. People like different things. Personally I was surprised to see that Range has a star also -- at least based on what I can find on its website. Michelin can be like that sometimes. The Spotted Pig in NYC has (had?) a star.

111, I haven't been, but everyone I know who has been to the CJM has enjoyed the building/architecture but has been unimpressed with the exhibits themselves.

Re Range, when I mentioned recently to some foodie co-workers that we might go there for my birthday, their collective eyebrows raised, as in "why Range?".

Oops, forgot Berkeley. We were just there yesterday. I would take a walk through campus, up Bancroft, down Telegraph a bit (you'll get the full "Berkeley experience" on Telegraph. If you have time and you're driving back to the city, drive down College Avenue through Rockridge, it's a great neighborhood. Berekeley residential architecture is excellent, too.

That's interesting. Range seems to get good reviews online.

Others I've noted to check out -- Nopa, Burma Superstar, Slanted Door, Yank Sing. I think that I've to go to Yank Sing because I'd heard about it for so long and I've never been there. Even if it's not good, I'll have to check it out for myself.

I don't plan to have a car, but I'll try to walk around Telegraph Avenue.

I just went to buy a copy of Time Out SF and I was flipping through it. I saw a mention of Amoeba Records in Berkeley that I remembered reading about elsewhere many years ago. Supposedly the one in Haight-Ashbury is bigger these days. So if it's convenient I'll see what I can find there. I buy classical music CDs once in a while.

By the way, "Good" hotel (the one on 7th and Mission) was reviewed in NYT a few months ago. I saw the article when I was checking the archived articles in the Travel section on SF. But with good Priceline deals the prices it charges are really not that competitive.