Help! need recommendations for a day in San Francisco
 

I have one day to spend in San Francisco, Saturday, April 18th. I have to take my dad to the airport that night, and his flight leaves at 10:35pm. We are staying at the Royal Pacific Motor Inn the night before, and have an Alcatraz tour booked first thing in the morning (8:45 ferry). I will have my car with me (it's an SUV - Equinox), but would prefer to enjoy SF via public transport, i.e. double decker buses, cable cars, etc. We have free parking at the hotel, but obviously have to move the car in the morning. Here are my questions:

Where to best move the car to maximize time in the city but still be fairly close to the airport to battle the least traffic that night? And preferably at a reasonable price...

What to do for our afternoon when we get back from Alcatraz? Some things I've looked at are the walking culinary tours of either North Beach or Chinatown, and a cable car ride. Other option being a hop on/hop off tour of the Downtown loop. We are seeing the Golden Gate Bridge and Presidio the afternoon before, so no need to go back there.

How long should I expect it to take for me to get to the airport from the downtown area (assuming that's the area we will spend our afternoon in) on a Saturday evening with traffic?

Any suggestions are appreciated, we are pretty open! The motel is booked, but if someone has a better recommendation we can always cancel. We chose it because it looked like a fairly decent motel with good prices and reviews, and was close to where we have to board the ferry for Alcatraz. Thanks in advance!

The Royal Pacific Motor Inn is on Broadway near Columbus - not near the Alcatraz ferry pier. I'm guessing that it's a 30 min walk north on Columbus from the hotel to the pier.

Why do you have to move the car if parking is free??? To save time - I would just leave it at the Motor Inn and depart from there to the airport.

To get to the airport, drive south on Columbus to Montgomery, then south on Montgomery, then a very short right on Market and an immediate left onto New Montgomery, then when New Montgomery dead-ends at Howard a short right on Howard and an immediate left (south) on Hawthorne. Then when Hawthorne ends at Harrison, turn right on Harrison and keep getting in the left-most lane. Harrison will soon become a one-way street. Look for the Hwy 101 sign and get on Hwy 101 to the airport. There is construction at the 101 entrance off Harrison - so pay attention. This is how we get home from downtown & we live 3 exits past the airport. Allow 30 mins for the trip. There will be some traffic on Montgomery and near the Harrison/101 Fwy entrance if lanes are reduced because of the construction.

After the tour, I would just explore North Beach and Chinatown - near your hotel. Maybe Union Sq too.

Here are some other ideas:
http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...mendations.cfm

Stu Dudley

I agree, the motel will likely allow you to leave the car for a few hours after you check out.

That's the reason I was assuming we needed to move the car - once we check out I figured we wouldn't be allowed to use the motel parking lot. But if we can leave it, then that's definitely what we would rather do. Thanks!

As for the location of the hotel, Mapquest tells me it's a little less than a mile from the Alcatraz Landing at Pier 33. Is that correct? I know sometimes Mapquest isn't the most reliable. It looks like we could take Broadway over to the Embarcadero and walk north to the pier or take Columbus north to Bay St and then head east. Just want to make sure I'm not totally missing something as far as locations go! Thank you for the link, I'll be sure to check it out! Also, thank you for the directions to the airport, that will be very helpful so we don't waste time trying to figure out where we are going.

Columbus to Bay to the Embarcadero would take you way out of your way. Just head north on Stockton or Grant to Bay, then turn toward the Embarcadero. Or go the other direction - Broadway/Sansome/Lombard/Embarcadero.

It is somewhat downhill to the Bay from your hotel - but uphill coming back. You might consider taking the Hyde St (not the Taylor St) cable car from the Wharf back to Union Sq after the Alcatraz visit. Sit on the east side of the car for the best views. Then explore Union Sq, Chinatown, North Beach, and Jackson St Historic district before retrieving the car.

Stu Dudley

Where is the Alcatraz tour departing from these days - Fisherman's Wharf or Pier 39, or elsewhere? The departure location didn't "jump" at me when I googled it. Lots of stuff recently in the Chron about the departure point, but I don't recall the current location (there have been several in the past & proposed for the future).

Stu Dudley

Pier 33.

From the website we booked our tour on, it looks like it's Pier 33. But I've also had a hard time getting an actual address too.

www.alcatrazislandtickets.com

The piers don't have street addresses. Even the buildings located on the piers are known by the pier number, not a street address.

Pier 33? Then don't go there on Columbus, like I recommended.

Stu Dudley