Please comment on our SF itinerary
 

My husband and I are headed to San Francisco in a couple weeks for a short vacation while the kids are at camp. We've only been to SF once before for a wedding and were only there a couple days for the rehearsal and wedding - didn't get to see or do much. We're in our early forties (ouch - hurts to say that!) and enjoy outdoors activities. Not into spending a lot of time or money on fine dining. We're staying at the White Swan Inn. Here's what I have planned so far:

Sunday: Arrive SFO at 5:30 pm. Take BART into the city to Powell station, then probably a cab to the hotel. We'll then look for something quick to eat nearby, it will be fairly late.

Monday: Self-guided tour of Chinatown, check out Lombard St, cable cars, Fisherman's Wharf - flexible here on how long we spend each place or if we get to all of it. Back to hotel and then dinner at the House of Prime Rib for my husband's birthday.

Tuesday: Rent bikes from Blazing Saddles at Fisherman's Wharf, ride over Golden Gate Bridge to Sausilto. Wander through town, grab lunch somewhere. Take the ferry back. No other plans at this point for Tuesday, may check out Golden Gate park and/or Ghiradelli Square depending on what time we get back.

Wednesday: Rent a car in the morning, drive to Muir Woods. Hike around as much as possible (can this/will this take all day, or is there just a short amount of hiking trails?). Drive to my cousin's house in San Leandro for dinner. Back to hotel late at night.

Thursday: Drive down Highway 1 to Monterey and Carmel, plan to get there around noon. Have lunch in Carmel, wander around town. Perhaps drive to Pebble Brook for a look around. Do the 17 mile scenic drive. Probably plan to leave around 6 or 7 and find somewhere to stop on the way back for dinner. I know it would be better to stay overnight in Carmel rather than make a day trip out of it, but it's not feasible for us. We have already prepaid White Swan as it's an exchange for points for us.

Friday: Return car in am (we'll probably get back too late Thursday night to return it then, unfortunately). Take ferry to Angel Island. Hike around. Take ferry back. Check out Ghiradelli square, Fisherman's Wharf, or whatever else we haven't seen at this point. Evening Alcatraz tour (already have tickets).

Saturday: head to airport via BART for flight home.

I'd appreciate any comments/suggestions. Since we haven't really been to SF before, I'd like to make sure we hit the highlights. We need the vacation desparately, though, so I'm trying to avoid overplanning or overscheduling it.

Thanks for the help!

Just a suggestion. Have a cab pick you up at your hotel and drive you down Lombard Street. We did this and then the cab driver offered to stop and take a picture of us at the bottom. It was fun and cost us $10.00. We felt it was worth it. He can then drop you off at the cable cars and you can take them to Chinatown. We also did this and had a great time. You can take the cable cars back from Chinatown whenever you want and walk to Fishermans Wharf. Be sure to check out the seals on Pier 39 and the Fish Market has really good clam chowder. Have fun!

I see that the San Francisco CityGuides Chinatown walking tour is scheduled on Monday afternoons.

http://www.walking-tours.com/cityguides/summer.html

A volunteer guide leads a free (pay-what-you-will) walking tour that explores the area and introduces the visitor to more than you will ever discover on your own! Walks are designed to last from 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

No reservation required. Just meet the guide at the designated time and location listed on the webpage.

Tours of other neighborhoods and sites of interest are scheduled every day of the week.

ttt

I think your itinerary looks really good and don't have any changes to suggest. You'll get a good feel for our city and close areas.

I have a "walking tour" guide to Chinatown that I got from the Frommer's site. They have one for North Beach as well. You might find it useful. I follow their walking tours whenver I hit a new city.

It sounds like you are more into outdoor activities than museums, but I would recommend the Museum of Modern Art if it interests you at all. I don't think Muir Woods will take a whole day; more like a half day. But, while you are in the area, you might want to go up Mt. Tam, Pt. Reyes, or into the Marin headlands for other hikes.

I would recommend GG Park over Ghiradelli Square. I'm not really sure what the appeal of Ghiradelli is, well, other than the chocolate, but I love GG Park, especially the arboretum on a mildly warm day.

Also, I'm sure you know this, but I'll give the obligatory warning about the weather: just because it's summer doesn't mean it's warm in SF. Bring some warmer clothes in case the fog rolls in. It's pretty variable, so you could get some warm days, but it's better to count on cool days in the 60-70 degree range to be safe.

Have a great trip!

Just for your info, Carmel has a hotel called the Cobblestone Inn which is one of the 4 sisiters inns (affiliated with the White Swan Inn). You may be able to "trade" one night at the White Swan for the Cobblestone if you want to. We stayed at both places a few years ago - they have specials whereby if you stay at more than one of their inns you get a discount or a free night..check it out.

The Gosby House and the Green Gables in
Pacific Grove are part of the Four Sisters group, and both are lovely. The White Swan is no longer part of that group, but is now under new ownership, as is the Petite Auberge. Not sure if you could substitute for a night at the White Swan. In any case, you'll love the White Swan's location, rooms, breakfast and afternoon tea.

Another recommendation for the City Guides' Chinatown tour - my husband and I took it last year and had a great time. We learned a ton about Chinatown and at the end got a list of recommended dim sum restaurants in the area.

I like the idea of seeing Pt Reyes and Muir Woods on the same day - Pt Reyes is great.

Big Basin is my favorite place for redwoods and I definitely prefer it to Muir Woods, but I think that combining it with a day trip to Monterey will be too much for 1 day. If you were going to stay in Monterey overnight, then it would make more sense, but as it is, you would just be too rushed to enjoy it.

Another possibility, if you are really interested in hiking through the redwoods would be to do a day at Big Basin before you head to San Leandro rather than a day at Muir Woods and Pt Reyes.

Whatever you decide, you can't really go wrong. There is so much natural beauty in this area that you will see great stuff either way.

Thanks so much for all the helpful replies.

I had initally tried to fit Big Basin into the plans in lieu of Muir Woods, but couldn't make it work sensibly without doing an overnight stay in the Monterey area. I did check into trying to change hotels for one night, but it was cost prohibitive. Decided that we'll save it for another trip when we bring the kids and make it a longer stay to include Yosemite.

I checked out the info on the Chinatown walking tours - sounds great! I'll also keep the art museum in mind, especially if we have any bad weather while we're there. Both kids especially like modern art, so that would be a good thing to see in preparation for a family visit.

Does anyone know much about Angel Island? Are there lots of trails, is there a lot to see, or is it pretty much a quick hike and head back?

Thanks again for the help. I used the Europe board a lot last year for a family vacation to Paris and London, but this is the first time I've been on the US board. What a helpful group of people!

I know it's all depends on what interests you, but if we had to choose between Carmel with the 17 mile drive or Point Lobos (about 3 miles south of Monerey) and the Monterey Bay Aquarium we would choose Point Lobos and the Aquarium every time.

Point Lobos is a great place to climb on the rocks, watch the seals, see the wildflowers, picnic, etc. And the aquarium has an awesome jellyfish display complete with Chihuly glass as well as other art.

On Friday, I might drop Angel Island. However, if you do decide to go to Angel Island, take the tour around the Island and get off at the immigration center. It should be the stop before returning to where you initially got the tour. Check out this area and perhaps walk back to the stop with the barracks. Both these areas are extremely interesting and from here you can either walk back to the boat or hop on the tram.

Also, check out where your boat is going as it leaves the island. Our boat went to Sausalito and then to Pier 39 which added another 30 minutes to the ride. I just don't want you to miss your boat to Alcatraz!

I agree w/ J-Correa. Muir Woods is fine - but Big Basin is much better. And I don't see a conflict - on Wednesday do what you had planned. But just do it south instead of north. Pick up the car and go to Big Basin and afterwards drive over to San Leandro. In fact I think that would be an easier day trip than going up to Marin County and then down to San Leandro.

re Angel Island - there is plenty to fill a 1/2 or full day. Besides some of the best views in the entire Bay Area, there are Civil War, WWI, immigration and Cold War historic sites. Plus deer and other wild life. It is a wonderful place!