Help with planning SF July trip!
 

I'm just so tired and really wish someone could just help plan our trip for us.

We are 60+ couple visiting SF for the first time and are going to be in town for 4 nights (leave day 5 for LAX about 8:30 AM.)

We will walk to some places, but our stamina, at this moment, is just not like it used to be. We will most likely be staying at the Wharf Inn, Columbus Inn, or Chancellor Hotel. (I'm leaning towards the Wharf Inn)

We'll probably buy a 7-day Muni pass. ($6 extra dollars buys one 4 extra days of use.) We won't have a car, but will consider a one day rental. We think we'll take BART + Muni to hotel on arrival at SFO, or maybe the RT shuttle for $24 a person.

We probably will go on the Alcatraz tour and are thinking of seeing the Beach Blanket Babylon, Muir Woods and Salsaulito.

As of right now I have some free time, but come 8:00PM tonight, all my time will be involved with watching my grandchildren and taking care of my daughter who will have foot surgery tomorrow!! I'm trying to clean up my house and be ready for them, but I haven't finished my planning of our vacation.

Even suggest a few restaurants if you'd like. We spend moderately :)

Please help if you can. I'm usually good with planning, but I'm really tired. Thanks in advance.

If you stay near the Fisherman's wharf you can walk to most things you've mentioned since its flat there. You should also consider taking a private tour of SF. I'm sure your hotel can put you in touch with a good company. Its a good way to get to know the various parts of SF and their history.
If you have not see the show Jersey Boys I'd really recommend it. It was a very fun evening of music we "60's" appreciated! I don't know if there are many good restaurants in the Wharf area, but you could take a taxi to a more central location. This forum has lots of posts on good places to eat in SF.

Is Salsaulito near PicodeGalloville?

sorry couldn't help myself :-).

do yourself a favor, if your hotel is far from the BART line just hop into a cab. Don't do Muni with luggage.

Book your Alcatraz tickets early (I mean now if you can). They will sell out a couple of days before you plan to go.

Go to Fodor's main page, click on Destinations, San Francisco, it all was planned out for you!

http://www.fodors.com/miniguides/mgr..._francisco@137

Check out "best in 7 days" and see what you like, it is by areas of the city, pick any and follow the advices!

Thank you. We have done this so far: Reserved Alcatraz tour tickets for the last 9:00 AM departure from the Official website. Also, we reserved BBBabylon tickets for the Sunday 5:00PM performance sitting in Center balcony. Wish we had known about the $25 dollar Rear balcony tickets before they sold out. We chose the Center Balcony over the main floor at the same price.

So, we still need the Muir Woods/Salsaulito tour to finalize.

Also, still don't know if Cancellor is best bet (BART from Airport) or the Wharf location hotels?

We always stay in the Union Square area so we would recommend the Chancellor. You can get off BART at the Powell station and wheel your suitcase to the Chancellor. We live in the Bay Area and often drive & stay in the city for the weekend. There is a good reliable Italian restaurant near Chancellor called La Scala. Kuletto to the south is well known but actually not as good. If you want to try a traditional French restaurant, you can walk to Fleur de Lys which hs prixfixe 3 course meals starting at $58. The best and must taste restaurant is Gary Danko at the back of the Ghirardelli building. Their multiple course dinner costs $75, really worth the splurge for the high quality meals and service.

The difference between Fisherman's Wharf hotels and Union Square hotels (Chancellor) is a matter of choice.

The hotels in/near Union Square tend to be high-rises, so that the further up you are, the less street noise you will hear. It's near Union Square, the Theater district (BBB, however, is not there) and a lot of sophisticated shopping and dining (more expensive also).

Fisherman's Wharf is more family oriented, the hotels tend to be no more than 3/4 stories high and it's quieter there at night. Tours to Alcatraz, etc. start from FW. There's plenty of dining options at FW, but generally of lesser quality than the restaurants around Union Square and tend to be seafood heavy in menu. There are plenty of nearby attractions such as Ghirardelli Square, the Cannery, Pier 39, the Maritime Museum and the Hyde Street Pier, etc. Little Italy is not far from there and just up from Little Italy is Chinatown.

If you choose an FW hotel, make sure it's close to the center of FW. A couple of hotels are labelled "FW hotels" but tend to be located almost ten blocks away.

If you have a walking problem, I would suggest that you take a general tour of San Francisco, like the Grey line tour. It'll be an easy way to get a feel for the entire city without having to go everywhere yourself. Do this tour first and then return to the places that took your fancy. Use your Muni pass. If you are in San Francisco for 4 days, I recall there is a three day pass.

The extra day when you rent a car, you can drive to Muir Woods and Sausalito. Muir Woods is very user-friendly and the walk is the best and easier of all the redwood walks, probably made especially for people like yourselves and for folks with young babies/children. :)

Have a great trip and welcome to California!