Miranda

We plan a week's visit to San Francisco with our kids (ages 10 to 16). We won't have a car and will want to walk or take public transportation everywhere. Even after reading a few guidebooks, I still feel confused as to the most convenient location to choose for our hotel. Do we want to be near Market Street for easy access to transportation? What about touristy Fisherman's Wharf --- is the public transportation to other areas convenient from there? Are there better choices than either of these? We plan to visit the major museums in Golden Gate Park, Alcatraz, and Berkeley, among other attractions.

Patrick

Having been to SanFrancisco many times and having stayed in a variety of areas, my favorite for your situation is Cow Hollow. My favorite is the Cow Hollow Suites where you can get a two bedroom apartment -- really spectacular, rented by the day. Or on a lesser budget (under $100 a day instead of about $200 a day), stay at the adjacent Cow Hollow Motor Inn. On the corner just one block away you can get the bus every 10 or 12 minutes that will take you to Fisherman's Wharf, North Beach, China Town, through the financial district to Union Square and Market Street. In other words, almost anywhere you want to go. Bus service to Golden Gate Park is easy as well. In addition, the Cow Hollow neighborhood is filled with medium and inexpensive restaurants and some nice shopping. It is ideal.

Miranda

Thanks Patrick for your prompt and thorough response. We stayed at the Cow Hollow Suites some years ago and loved it. (We had a car on that trip so I never checked out the good bus service you informed me about.) Unfortunately, the suites large enough to fit our family are already booked for some of the dates we wanted, so we are out of luck for this particular trip.

BAK

I stayed in a Holiday Inn hotel near Union Square, with a car. We never took the car out of the parking lot, and instead travelled on the cable cars, and walked. It took a while to get to Fisherman's Wharf, but we did not car because the cable car was fun.

This Holiday inn was an old and elegant place, with a grat roof top bar that provided an excellent view of the city, too.

I certainly would pick a place on the cable car route, rather than ride on conventional buses with my family.

BAK

Patrick

Yes, those Cow Hollow Suites are popular. I recently booked a two bedroom one for 5 days the end of July and got the last one!!!

We've stayed at Cow Hollow a number of times and an apartment near by for a month once. Although we nearly always have a car, we end up not using it. The busses are great, cheap, and avoid all the parking problems.

You could get two rooms at the Motor Inn section for the same price or less than one of the suites -- not quite so luxurious but nice, nevertheless.

maryann

I remember that bar on top of the Holiday Inn - I had a complete replica of the Sherlock Holmes apartment (is it still there?). And we loved the view of the fog rolling in!

CalDC

As a former resident of Cow Hollow who used those great bus lines to commute to work, I'll have to say there's a down side to them--at afternoon rush hour, it can be cattle car conditions getting out to Cow Hollow. (Maybe that's appropriate, after all!) And as a former resident of Nob Hill, who often used the cable cars to commute during that period, I can also testify that they are often too jammed with tourists to be able to grab a space enroute. Particularly in the summer, I usually walked down the hill to Market Street to work and then lined up with the tourists at the cable car turntable at Powell and Market to get home, not only because it was uphill that way, but because there was no space to get on at the few stops nearest the turntable going either direction. I would not want to stay at a Union Square or Nob Hill hotel and depend on the cable car to get around. It's a fun ride and not to be missed, if enjoyed as that.

I think that if one is staying for a week in SF without a car, there's just no substitute for being as close to Market Street as possible. It is the heart of all SF and Bay Area transportation. For instance, two of the three places Miranda specifically mentions they want to go are best accessed from Market Street--Berkeley, for which they'll want to take BART, and the museums at Golden Gate Park, to which the direct MUNI line runs down Market Street and does not go to Cow Hollow or Fisherman's Wharf.

I'd advise them to look at one of the hotels in the low numbers on Post, Sutter and Bush streets, north and east of Union Square near Market, or also in the Embarcadero area at the foot of Market near the Ferry Building, where they will not only have the use of the Embarcadero BART/MUNI station but the bus which runs along the waterfront to Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf, Ghirardelli Square and so on.

kikahead

Union Square--you can get anywhere by public transit from there. Cable cars and buses go by there and it is a short walk to the ferry building to catch a ferry to Sausalito.

Staying near Market Street is great--look for cross streets 5th or below.

tabnab

don't know when you are planning to go or if you already have but you can get around the city very easily on the bus. we are a family of six and went with a 3 month old infant and took the bus everywhere. we purchased weekly passes when we arrived,got the bus map and went everywhere.with proper planning we never had to wait more than ten minutes to get on a bus. went to japantown,fisherman's wharf,the beach,golden gate,sony metreon,giradelli square,union plaza and many other places and felt it was easier than driving and all the hassles that come with being in your own car.it was also a great way to see the sights of the city as i didn't have to pay attention to driving. so, go the bus route.

SFImporter

I'd choose somewhere in Union Square as well. I live and drive here but I have to admit that I'm NOT a bus person. I tend to get lost or catch a bus going in the wrong direction.

The streetcars (not cable cars) are my thing when taking public transportation. There's a subway under Market street that runs the length fairly quickly. If you take the above ground streetcars they go all the way from the Zoo and beach down Market to the Ferry Building and around to Fisherman's Wharf.

It's hard to get lost since the tracks only go in two directions - though there are several lines that go different places.

Check out http://www.transitinfo.org for all your public transit needs in San Francisco - even stuff you can download to a PDA and take with you.

easytraveler

Mranda:

I was in Union Square this weekend and can speak only from personal experience. And a wonderful experience it was!

There were many shoppers, a lot of upscale shops such as Yves St Laurent and Gucci, great old hotels like the St Francis, the Sir Francis Drake and Hyatt, and terrific restaurants like the Farallon. I walked all around Union Square and did not see any "illicit activities" - unless young couples holding hands or old couples walking arm in arm constitute "illicit activities". I didn't see any beggars and the streets were clean as a whistle - which makes me wonder if we are even talking about the same Union Square! Of course, I can only speak from personal experience - and I had a great time in a great city filled with vibrant life!

I live in the Bay Area and love San Francisco and love California! You and your kids will be fine. They'll have lots to occupy them and Union Square, IMHO, would be the best location. Fisherman's Wharf is popular too. You can't go wrong choosing either one of those locations.

Have fun!

Robinsen

If you want to enjoy your time in SF, Union Square would not be the place to stay. I have made the mistake of staying there on two occasions, most recently a couple of months ago. Yes, there may be some nice hotels and stores there, but they came in when Union Square was a clean and nice area to be in. In recent years it has become a dirty, and soemwhat dangerous area as well. I remembere on my last trip I was walking out of the Westin St. Francis only to be greeted by a hooker on one street corner looking for a customer and a a homeless guy harassasing a couple at a street corner for money. When they politely refused to give him money, he proceeded to spit at them and shout explitives. Although Fisherman's Wharf is touristy, I think it would be a much better area for families.

Some of these articles in the local paper descrobe some of the problems in downtown SF.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...NG7M3ER411.DTL

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...2/BU133124.DTL

jwc

I would stay at Fisherman's Wharf. It is touristy but you are tourists.