In San Francisco for Memorial Day weekend. Should I consider Sausalito or Tiburon?
 

I am coming in from NYC. The more that I think of it, it would be just wonderful to see some incredible seascape, might be fun to hike. I can't drive so I need to rely on public transport/taxi. It is only a 3 day weekend for me. I guess I am a little nervous about going too far from SFO. Any ideas?

anyone?

Sarah,

Assuming you mean Sausalito or Tiburon for the day? Absolutely. It's a great idea to get out on the bay and see the city from the water. If you go to Tiburon, you can take another ferry to Angel Island if you would like to hike. Or rent a bike and take it with you. It's not far at all and is all easily done on public transportation.

thanks for answering grasshopper. Actually, I was wondering about basing myself if one of these towns. Would it be silly since I am only there for 3 days? Or would there be easy access into San Francisco.

I want to go to Chez Panisse if I get reservations, ride a bike over the bridge, maybe ride my bike around goldgen gate park.

I live in NYC so not everything in San Francisco is a draw for me. Would like to see that crooked street, maybe chinatown and Japantown but they are not absolutes if it would be more beautiful in Sausalito.

What do you think?

You could. But I think I would base myself closest to easy transportation. My choice would be maybe the Hyatt Embarcadero (try priceline.. people have gotten good rates there). You are close to BART (for getting to Berkeley), the ferries, the Cable cars, the tram along the Emarcadero, Muni....

Alternatively, you could do Sausalito or Tiburon but getting to Berkeley would be more of a challenge.

Getting to Berkeley to go to Chez Panisse from Sausalito without a car is extremely difficult --if not impossible. Is there a particular reason that you would want to base yourself in Sausalito or Tiburon versus SF without a car? Marin is not the most public transit friendly place in the Bay Area--the public transportation that exists is geared towards getting commuters in and out of SF.

Sarah,
You would need to take a ferry or bus
to get into SF from Tiburon or Sausalito. You definetly could ride from
Sausalito, cross the GG and into
Golden Gate Park-it's a long way and be advised the hill from the edge of Sausalito up to the GG is not for the
out-of -shape! From a base in Sausalito
you could ride your bike in the opposite direction on a bike path into
Mill Valley and ride over to Tennessee
Valley Road and loads of trails on the backside of the Marin Headlands or even more trails all over Mt.Tamalpais.
My preference is a mountain bike or
yoour feet :))
If you want views you'll get them!
Marin has fairly dismal public transportation-and I don't know how you would get over to Chez Panise without
going to SF and using Bart or a taxi
from Marin to Berkeley, The hitch with
this is that the ferry doesn't run very late 7 or 8PM???? You can check schedules for the blue and gold ferry or the red and white ferry by a google search. I used to live in Mill Valley and we went to the city using the ferry all the time.
Hope this helps!
R5

thanks everyone

well I don't have those panisse reservations yet. Glad to hear I can ride my bike around so easily. I guess I could ride my bike over from SF also?

Looks like I will be based at the Mandarin unless I fold on the price. Hard to take the bike all the way over to the bridge ,,,,,Wait it won't be my own bike !! I guess I will rent closer to that bridge.

Thanks for the Hyatt recommendation that is near the Mandarin also ?

Sarah, you CAN ride across the GG Bridge, but NOT the Bay Bridge. You can, however, take your bike to the East Bay via BART.

grasshopper what you just said is a bit like jibberish to me. ...splain.

Does the bay bridge take you to Berkley? or Saulsalito?

Jibberish because I don't have a clue to the area :):)

The Golden Gate Bridge takes you to Marin county which is where Tiburon and Sausalito are. It's kind of an exclusive area and a bit rural because there are serious growth restrictions on towns there. The Bay Bridge takes you to Oakland and Berkeley, much more urban areas. So if you want to bike to Berkeley, you can't bike across the Bay Bridge but you can take your bike on BART, and get across the bay that way.

Sarah~are you wanting to eat downstairs at the Chez? If so, I'd recommend taking BART from SF and perhaps taking the Shattuck Avenue bus(I think it's the F but I'm not sure). Or, you can take a cab from the downtown Berkeley station and it will not be much $. Personally, I'd recommend that. If you need a cab company to call..try Friendly cab.If you are ok with eating upstairs at the Chez you can also go for lunch.Reservations at the Cafe upstairs are available for both lunch and dinner and are far easier to come by. You might enjoy a walk around the neighborhood and a walk down Shattuck near or to the BART Station. If you're from NYC, my best estimation is think 10-12 city blocks from the station to the Chez. For seascape..consider the Marin Headlands. You can arrange for transportation via Golden Gate Transit. You might also enjoy a stroll in Chrissy Field with a sweeping view of the GG Bridge. You can take a ferry to Tiburon. You could have great fun lounging on the deck at Sam's. Personally, I'd suggest you base yourself in SF. I agree you might like Angel Island. It's a beautiful place to bike and you can take a ferry from SF.