Help with San Francisco Plans
 

I'm heading to San Francisco for all of Labor Day weekend with my girlfriend, and we are trying to decide which City Guides walks to do. Some of the ones we are considering are North Beach, Coit Tower Murals, Victorian San Francisco, and the Telegraph Hill one. We'll probably be able to get in 1 or 2, but would be exploring these areas on our own if the times don't work out anyway. What I'm trying to decide is which tours would we be able to easily do on our own (with the help of Stairway Walks or other resources), and which ones would be more beneficial to take the actual tour instead.

Also, we are probably going to rent bikes to take across the bridge to Sausalito. I saw a recommendation to not do this in the morning, but I'm wondering, given the holiday weekend (and with the Sausalito Arts Festival), if it would be better to do it earlier in the day to avoid the ferry rush and crowds later in the day. Also, I know the fog can take a while to burn off in the AM, and that it usually returns in the afternoon anyway, so I'm just trying to figure out the best time to do it.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Hi, krazyk19:

If the North Beach one is the night-time tour, that's very good.

Haven't done the Coit Tower Murals tour, so can't say. But, if it were me, that'll be the one to skip.

Victorian San Francisco is very, very good as is the Telegraph Hill one. If it came down to a choice between these two, then personally I'd choose the Victorian San Francisco tour.

As for the fog, it has a mind of its own and comes and goes as it pleases. Just play it by ear and see how the weather report pans out for the day of your proposed ride.

Sounds like a fun weekend!

While you might be able to "do them on your own" that won't begin to compare with going on City Guide tour! The tour guides add SO much to the experience, I just don't think you can get that from walking around on your own. We have done close to a dozen tours with City Guides, and with the exception of one guide, they were all top notch. They love what they do, are knowledgable, fun and personable, and really give you an amazing perspective.

I would do Coit Tower on your own. We have done North Beach [during the day] and liked it a lot. We have also done Victorian SF and that was great as well, very different than North Beach. It would be my first choice, then Telegraph Hill.

We also really liked The Castro tour.

I see that the North Beach at Night tours for Sun & Mon this weekend are cancelled.

>>Victorian San Francisco is very, very good<<

That was because you had the best guide !!!

>>We have done close to a dozen tours with City Guides, and with the exception of one guide<<

Hope that wasn't my wife !!!

Don Langley is the leader on the Victorian San Francisco walk on Sept 5. He is an excellent & veteran guide. He is also a long time member of Victorian Alliance - so he knows his stuff. You'll get info on this walk that you can't find in a guide book. In fact, my wife has had many people on her walks taking notes - perhaps leaders of "other" Victorian walks or tour book people???

Another interesting walk is City Scapes and Public Places. Jay Streets is the guide on Sept 3 - and he usually brings his dog - which makes the walk even more interesting. However, City Guides recently passed a new "law" not allowing dogs on walks - so I don't know how that impacts guides taking their dog.

Stu Dudley

Oh no! We loved Jay and his wonderful Golden Doodle, Norton. It added so much to the already great tour. Norton even had his own City Guide photo ID!

"<i>Victorian San Francisco is very, very good<<

That was because you had the best guide</i> !!!"

You bet we did, despite the POURING rain and because of the company, included!

"<i>and with the exception of one guide<<

Hope that wasn't my wife !!!</i>"

Nope, not Mrs Dudley! Hardly!

Along with Ellen and Jay Streets, we really liked - John Ferreira [Embarcadero South: Ruth Miller Ramble, Naughty & Bawdy] and Paul Brown [The Castro].

Thanks all for the tips! We are going to for surely do the Victorian San Francisco tour, and possibly another. Looking forward to visiting San Fran for the first time!

Stu:

<i> >>Victorian San Francisco is very, very good<<

That was because you had the best guide !!!</i>

Absolutely! :)

You'll get the most info on a City Guide tour. But if you decide to do a little walking on your own just to savor the ambiance of the city and its marvelous views, I recommend (from the Stairway Walks book) Walk #5 Russian Hill North and/or Walk #8 Presidio Wall and Marina. These are a little like going on a treasure hunt and the book gives little tidbits of info - but you can just walk and enjoy, too.

I went to the Visitor's Center and found a guided walking tour to do with architecture in the financial district that was the best tourist thing I've ever done! Sorry, I can't remember his name but his info is at the V.Center. Walking tour took 2 hours, Wonderful information and amazing details that few people have heard of. Highly recommend this tour!

We did the City Guide tour of the Ferry Building when we were there 2 weeks ago....Helen was the tour guide. She was awesome. We also did a City Guides tour of The Palace Hotel and really tried to make it for the Haight Ashbury tour but got on the wrong bus....silly tourists!! The City Guides tours were wonderful. Wish we would have had time for more. We eventually did find our way out to Haight Ashbury...glad we did, interesting. By the way, thanks Stu for the great thread on your city, we relied on many of your tips.