Itinerary/Car Advice for SF in Oct
 

I am shaping up our plans for Oct trip to wine country and SF and need some advice. We will be entering SF mid-week after lunch in Berkeley and the plan was to get rid of the rental car immediately. We will be staying in the Union Sq area for four nights and heading home after a fifth full day. A colleague of DH (who is a local) said that we should have a car to go to the Cliff House for lunch and drive through Golden Gate Park. I have also just reread Stu Dudley's notes. I am now wondering if we should keep the car an extra day to go to the Cliff House as well as do Stu's drive around SF and up to Twin Peaks. This means an extra day's rental, parking overnight at the hotel, etc. I am more than willing to do that if I can see things that I wouldn't have access to otherwise. This is my first trip to SF.

I'm also wondering if cars have access into GGP all the time. That is not the case in NY for certain parts of Central Park.

I'm sure you west coast fodorites have the answers. Thank you, as always, for your help.

I'm curious to know as well.

I did learn that there is a Dollar rental return in the Union Square area. If you're renting with Dollar, return your car, avoid paying the parking fee and possibly pick another car up when you take your drive.

( When will you be in SF? We'll be there Oct 9-12th in SF and beginning our trip in Carmel and Big Sur.)

Some parts of the park are closed to private transport on Sunday, the entrance on the 8th avenue is opened for buses only (bus # 44 cuts through the park).

To go to Cliff House for lunch, you can take bus 38 Geary that has "48th avenue" destination (I beleive it has 3 different sub-routes) or bus # 2 Sutter and # 18 from Union Square area.

I live in the Bay Area (work in SF) and I'm a big fan of having a car for sightseeing the areas you mentioned. It's just a lot easier getting to the "outer reaches" by car than by public transportation.

I would keep the car for 1 or 2 extra days if you are OK with the cost of renting, storing it, and driving it in The City. IMO, SF driving is only difficult east of Van Ness Ave. In Pacific Heights, (Union & Chestnut st), Crissy Field, Fort Point, the Aveneus, GG Park, GG Bridge, GGNRA on Marin side, Noe Valley, Haight/Ashbury, & Postcard Row are not difficult to drive in. Only Haight/Ashbury in this list has extremly difficult parking. Many things on my driving itinerary would be difficult to do without a car - or they would take a long time.

Stu Dudley

When we were there a couple of years ago we had a car and did parts of Stu's drive. We found it much easier with a car for certain areas (like those mentioned). Public transportation was great but it was nice to just get in our car and go down Lombard Street, Alamo Square, etc. at times. Also, avoid rush hours. We didn't find it any more difficult driving there than in other cities -- have a really good map of the streets and be aware of the no left turns on certain streets at certain times.

>> SF driving is only difficult east of Van Ness Ave. <<

Stu - is it difficult because of hills or difficult because of congestion or both? We are very comfortable with city driving, but we don't have hills here.

BG247 - We are arriving late SFO 10/10 and heading to Healdsburg and Napa the next morning. We will head back to SF on the 15th. I think my reservation is with Hertz.

I think we will keep the car a bit longer. I would probably not get to the further areas without one and it seems like something we would enjoy. I have an AAA map of SF.

So, should we drive to the Cliff House? Is there street parking nearby?

Thanks for all your responses!

Centralparkgirl, if you have an automatic shift, the hills aren't a problem (except for seeing over the top!) When I first moved here, I had to learn to do the hills with a manual shift :).

There is quite a lot of traffic in the Union Square area, but honestly, it's nothing like driving in Manhattan, so I think you'll be fine.

Just lots of congestion, one-way streets & difficult parking east of Van Ness - but if you're from NYC, this will be a "piece of cake" for you.

Lots & lots of parking available for the Cliff House - especially at Ocean Beach which is just south a tad. Visit the Cliff House in conjunction with the Palace of the Legion of Honor, El Camino del Mar, & Lincoln Dr. Easy access to GG Bridge & GGNRA lookout too on that drive.

Stu Dudley

Repeating BeachGirl's idea, we've rented a car for a single day before in SF. I just checked an October date an random and found that you can pick up a car from Dollar right on O'Farrell at 8 in the morning and return it by 7 or so that evening for a grand total of less than $50. That makes a lot more sense to me -- renting for a one day drive and lunch and not having to deal with parking and extra days of renting anyhow. So I say turn in your car on arrival, and then about your second or third day there, do a one day rental for your drive and lunch.

>> pick up a car from Dollar right on O'Farrell at 8 in the morning and return it by 7 or so that evening for a grand total of less than $50<<

In that case, a rental for 1 day is about the samed as parking overnight in the Union Sq area.

Stu Dudley

Great suggestions. It's easy enough to check prices and see which way makes more sense. At least I'm now clear that I do want a car at least one day in SF.

dmlove - I will, without a doubt, be driving an automatic!!! lol

Thanks again everyone. I will be back with more questions soon.

I am probably wrong in my post, saying some roads are closed in Golden Gate park on Sundays.

Here is what it saying on the De Young website:

http://www.famsf.org/deyoung/visiting/index.asp

John F. Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park is closed to traffic on Saturdays from April 4 through September 27, 2008.

We always take a bus, and remember closed streets, but I am not sure now if it's Saturday, Sunday, or both.

JFK through the park is closed to traffic on Sundays and has been for a fairly long time; the Saturday closure, which closes less of JFK is a new experiment, hence the ending date.

I will probably have a car on a Wed and Thurs.

We did a 1 day rental with Dollar and it was $22 for the day plus a bit of tax. Got in on O'Farrell Street. Picked it up first thing in morning and dropped it off at 5 or so.

Dollar is one of the few places that does not have 1 way drop off fees in SF. We rented [from the same location] again, a few days later, and returned it to SFO and had no expensive airport tax or 1 way drop off fee. Same price per day. We booked directly on their site and got that rate.

Deb

Good to know Deb. Thanks.