Am going to S.F. in May with two teenagers. Staying near the airport, renting a car, and planning to drive into town then use public trans. Any tips on where to park, please?

I'm curious - why are you staying near the airport instead of in the City???

If your hotel has an airport shuttle, you can take the shuttle to the airport & take BART into the City.

Stu Dudley

Depends on where you are going? If you are staying near airport, just take BART into City.

Hey Stu, notice how we residents the City?

Oops, that s/b say the City.

Staying near SFO because we want Embassy Suites and downtown hotels are very expensive. We're renting a car because we're also planning trips to Napa and Carmel. Is BART safe? Still interested in parking.....

>>Staying near SFO because we want Embassy Suites and downtown hotels are very expensive.<<

Don't take this wrong, but are you coming to San Francisco to enjoy all the wonderful things that the City has to offer, or to coming to stay in an Embassy Suite?

Round trip on BART for four will be about $40. If you drive into the city and park the car, you may end up spending $20-40 for parking plus whatever your car rental cost are per day.

The best way to enjoy San Francisco is to stay IN the City so that you can wander around late in the evening after dinner, or take a cable car to dinner, or have coffee in one of our neighborhoods in the morning. If your teenagers purchase some heavy stuff at one of our many interesting stores, they can drop it off at the City hotel, or if someone needs to crash, or a pottie break, they can go to the hotel. If I had a nice dinner outside at a cafe on Columbus St in North Beach, I would certainly not want to then have to find the nearest BART station (not close to North Beach) or retrieve the car in a area you are not familiar with, and then navigate the streets at night & get back to the airport hotel.

I live near the airport, and I visit the City all the time. It is very difficult and costly to park anywhere downtown, in the Financial District, in North Beach, and near the Wharf on work days. It's costly on week ends also, but there is less traffic then. I've lived here for 30 years, and I know how to drive in the City, where the garages are, what areas are impossible to park in, when "sticker" parking will restrich a visit more than 2 hrs, where it is easy to park, etc. You won't know this.

Please - to get the most out of this wonderful city STAY IN THE CITY.


>>We're renting a car because we're also planning trips to Napa and Carmel.<<

Just rent the car when you plan on visiting these places

>>Is BART safe?<<

perfectly safe. Areas around some stations might be a little threatening at times

>>Still interested in parking.....<<

That depends on where you want to visit. You could park on the street away from downtown in an area without "sticker" parking on week days, and take public transportation to areas you want to explore. On week-ends, "sticker" parking does not apply, but it is still very hard to park anywhere east of Van Ness Ave, and also hard in some areas like the Haight, Castro, Mission, etc.

Stu Dudley

I often recommend places like Cow Hollow Moter Inn in the great Marina district, but sometimes people want to be right at Union Square. That I understand -- but staying by the airport? Cow Hollow Motor Inn and sister motels have huge rooms and cost just over $100. What's more they have FREE parking. And you can also leave your car there and take convenient and frequent busses from just around the corner to the all the major spots.

That would solve all your problems at once. Of course you could splurge there and go to their very deluxe Cow Hollow Suites with a separate bedrom (or even two) for a little over $200 a night, but again with free parking -- well.

Stu,
Thanks for all the good info. I will reconsider the lodging issue. We like Embassy Suites because of the separate sleeping quarters (not feasable to cram all of us into a single hotel room) and the on-site included breakfast. I'm not a cheapskate, but paying for one hotel room instead of two and having breakfast thrown in does help. The plan is to park near the Wharf and use cable cars and Muni to get around town. All your suggestions are well taken. Thanks again.

Realize that taking a cable car from Fisherman's Wharf area will normally involve at least an hour's wait to get on one. In my opinion they are not for transportation, they are a tourist attraction (but one that admittedly you must do once).

The Wharf is a very difficult area to park, unless you are prepared to pay for a parking lot or garage.

I'm from San Jose (orig. Danville) and I also say "the City". I think it's a Bay Area thing.

Living in the SF/Bay Area all my life I too say the City. All of my family does also. Never thought about it but it probably is a SF/Bay Area thing.

In any case ccpdpio, agree with others here, I think you would be happier staying in SF. Unless you are familar with SF most (not all of course) find driving in SF very stressful and parking is quite expensive. Best wishes on your visit with whatever you decide to do.

Hey, I'm familiar with SF and I still hate driving there. You just have to watch too many things (where you are going, hey is that a pedestrian/bus/psycho car driver, and where is the parking anyhow!). I would totally advise sucking it up into one room over driving from SFO to San Francisco every day just to have a suite.

Take the Cow Hollow/ Marina tip. The places there I know have free parking: Coventry Motor Inn, Chelsea Motor Inn, Cow Hollow Inn and Suites (there's your "suite" place!). Tell me if you want more help.

Hi - I'm a local.
If you'd like to stay at the Embassy Suites here is an easy tip for you: Drive to the South San Francisco BART station on El Camino Real near Hickey Blvd. You can leave your car here for FREE and BART right downtown - get off at Powell for Union Square and Embarcadero for the Ferry Building.
Staying in the Marina is a great idea and you can catch buses downtown.
If you end up having to park downtown the best garage is probably Fifth and Mission - still it will cost about $20/day.
Here's another local tip. If you get downtown about 15 minutes before 6pm you can slide into a meter and wait a few minutes. Most of the downtown streets clear the parking lane during commute hours 3pm-6pm. Be careful - the streets in the financial district sometimes keep the lanes free until 7pm. Have fun