San Francisco
 

My husband and I are meeting up with some friends in San Francisco and none of us have ever been there. We like to do some touristy things, but ultimately just like to see and do the things that make a city cool to the people who live there and love it. We are in our early 30s and will be travelling there for 4 days. Any suggestions for fun bars (no black booty pants nightclubs please! :) ), great restaurants, or other things to do would be great!

virtualtourist.com SF great tips from many resident locals

also yelp.com zagat.com for food

Happy Researching...

Would strongly suggest searching through the guidebooks and parallel websites for Frommer's and Fodor's here. Also do a board search for posts by Stu Dudley.

San Francisco is one of the biggest food-lover destinations in the US, so you should be able to discover lots of great options with a little research.

Neighborhood walks are great. You get to see the City in a different light. Whenever we do a walk we then stop for a beer in the neighborhood we just walked in. Walking San Francisco (AFalcon Guide Liz Gans & Rick Newby) and Stairway Walks in San Francisco - Adah Bakalinsky. Walking Crissy Field in the Presidio is wonderful and walking areas in the Presidio is also great. you can get a walking guide in the GGNRA office at the Parade grounds in the Presidio. Fort Point right at the opening of the GG Bridge is great as well. Planned walking tours: Chinatown walking tour, architectural tours (look on line) and there is a Victorian House walking tour that we have taken when guests come from out of town. You learn a lot about the painted ladies. Of course make time to do the Alcatraz tour - well worth it. Golden Gate park with the DeYoung Museum and Academy of Science, Legion of Honor Art museum bike riding across the Golden Gate Bridge must be a great experience as many do it. Enjoy our City by the Bay.

I agree with everything Shar said. To expand on the "neighborhood walks" idea, these would all be areas to consider -- 24th Street in Noe Valley, Castro Street in "the Castro", Union Street in Cow Hollow, Chestnut Street in the Marina (a good stop for lunch or a drink after your Crissy Field walk), Hayes Street in Hayes Valley, Mission Street/Valencia around 20th St. in the Mission, definitely walk along the Embarcadero, Fillmore Street in Pacific Heights (and lower Pacific Heights), Haight Street in the Haight-Ashbury, Clement Street in the inner Richmond, and Irving in the inner Sunset. Some you may be happy to just drive through to get the "vibe", others are great for a stroll, a meal, shopping, people-watching, etc.

Where are you staying?

<<<bike riding across the Golden Gate Bridge must be a great experience as many do it>>>

Ha Ha - you haven't done it either? 38 years here, and I've never even walked across.

For a fun place for live music, see who's playing at the Boom-Boom Room on Fillmore and the Independent on Divisadero.

We were just in San Francisco and friends took us to Eos for dinner. Great "Asian fusion" food meant to be shared.

We are staying at the Hilton. Are most if the walks within a decent distance.

Which Hilton?

The one in the financial district I think

Some are accessible via Muni - Certainly the Castro (F car which is an experience in itself), Filbert Steps walk. The Victorian House walking tour meets at Union Square and you take a bus to the walk. This was very interesting and China Town of course is accessible from the California Street Cable car line which is up and running but $$$ $6.00 each way - yipes!

SF7307 ...Never taken it and never walked across it either as I do not like bridges and being in a car is hard enough for me!

For a nice view of the city in the evening, walk over to the Marriott Marguis and try The View bar (restaurant also, but the food is only so-so IMO) on the 39th floor. Just did this about two weeks ago.

I also hopped on the double decker hop on/hop off buses and enjoyed the ride. You'll see areas that you might like to return to for a longer look or a stroll around. North Beach area was having an Italian festival that I would have enjoyed, but alas, I didn't have that much time.

If you're going out on a weekday night, you can enjoy the happy hour atmosphere (and prices!) in the financial district (Cafe Americano is a personal favorite, plus nice views), another busy area within a few blocks is Palominos. Near there is also Mexico, D.F., and Ozumos. Market Bar is right on the Embarcadero, so for all of these locations you could get nice pictures of the bridge, Alcatraz Island, and the big cupid's bow and arrow.

On a weekend night, I would suggest either Union Square (somewhere like Swig, or Tunnel Top), or the Marina for more dancing (Matrix Fillmore, East Side West, etc.).

A fun thing that I tell friends who visit on a Friday night is Off the Grid at Fort Mason. About 30 food trucks all in one place, tasty goodness! You can also use their site to find major food truck gatherings on other nights of the week: http://offthegridsf.com/calendar