Yes, Washington DC and NY are a piece of cake compared to this.

San Francisco is a wonderful city, and it will be much easier than you think to get around. For one thing, if you are staying at the Hyatt or similar hotels, the concierge or doorman will help you navigate the public transportation.

If I were you, I would spring for a cab to take me to my hotel the first night. It will be $35 to $45, and will take you from baggage to door. Do BART on the way back once you are comfortable with directions.

I also think the De Young tower ride is free. You can also go to the gift shop and café for free. Sometimes that's enough.

Have you been to SF before? If not, you might want to spend your third day exploring the city. Point Reyes is beautiful, but that will be a lot of driving, especially since you have a trip devoted to nature in July.

I definitely agree about the Ferry Building on Saturday morning. Don't stress! Really, your plan sounds great as long as you are flexible to also enjoy yourselves in the moment.

Normally I'd agree about taking a taxi on arrival -- nearly anywhere, but honestly this is one place where I sure don't see any confusion. If you take BART from the airport to Embarcadero, aren't you really standing smack in front of the Hyatt when you come out? I haven't done it, and correct me if I'm wrong, but that's sure the way I'm picturing it -- BART delivering you to your front door. In this case, I think it's simply a matter of being a little frugal or preferring the "comfort" of a taxi.

I'm also scratching my head about 'sometimes the gift shop and cafe would be enough' -- for a museum as wonderful as the DeYoung, I'd think you'd have to really HATE museums to go there and not enter the actual museum!

I do really hate museums. I agree that BART from the airport to Hyatt looks super easy. That one I do have figured out. I am definately going to Pt Reyes. I would probably pick that over Alcatraz if I had to have a choice. I think I just want to do the really touristy things in SF. I am not into history, museums, art. I do like to eat out. we take 2 or 3 trips per year that normally involve national parks. My wife and daughter sometimes take a seperate trip and do things that I don't like to do. Sometimes they go with my parents or my mother nlaw. All of them are going to Europe next summer. They went to Boston this past summer. I sometimes go with them, sometimes I don't. We only have 3 days over spring break to be in SF and we want to spend 2 days doing touristy type things that I have listed. We wanted to spend 1 day at PT Reyes/Muir.

Dear spiro:

Everyone will give you a different answer on what you should do. So, do what you think you want and tweek it here or there.

We normally ride the California Street cable car since it is less crowded and easier to get on. You can hop off at Chinatown.

Something we did several years ago was go to GG Park, see Conservatory of Flowers(only takes about 45 min to see), Tea Garden and then headed out to the beach. We had pupus & drinks at the Cliff House. We then drove along the cliffs overlooking the entrance to the bay, thru the Sea Cliff neighborhood and ended up at Fort Point. My husband is a life long Northern Californian and had never seen this part of SF. Of course, we had a car.

Just some ideas. When you are over in Marin County, you may also want to check out the Marin Headlands.

Good luck on your trip.

MY

In Point Reyes I like the Point Reyes Station Café, and the town is charming.

http://www.stationhousecafe.com/

Kailani

Where is the Station House. I think we will give it a try. I looked on their website, but it doesn't give directions or a map.

I had trouble finding it on the map just now, too!

It's in the town of Point Reyes Station, which is just a block or two. The address is listed as 11180 State Route One. It's moved once over the years, and I haven't been for a few myself, but hopefully, you can't miss it once you find the town. There are some charming shops on the street as well.

And, NeoPatrick, I need to defend myself (sort of) about museum admission. It's just that the Conservatory, Tea Garden and Museum have separate admission fees, and the new Academy of Sciences will have a $25.50 admission! I'm a member, so it's easy to pop in and out.

My couple small tweaks.

I would take a taxi in from the aiport, not attempt BART (assuming you've never used it) with luggage and at night.

I can't imagine 3-hours worth of standing on a Segway, riding around. Seems a bit much.

I think you need to check a map regarding relationship beween the Embarcadero, Union Square and Chinatown... and street car routes.

Actually if that segway tour goes the same way we rode the bikes -- from FW past Chrissy Beach, Marina, Ft. Point, Palace of Fine Arts, etc. towards the GGB it is a beautiful ride.

I am taking the BART and I am riding the segway. We do adventurous stuff all the time and 3 hours on a segway would be absolutely nothing in my book.

Suze,
I think they are Cable Cars that run close to Hyatt. Bart is very close as well. I think the Street Car (F Line) is about a block away. I have checked maps and really don't understand it, thats why I was asking. Thanks

Spiro: Bart from SFO is very easy. I just did it 2 weeks ago and I stayed at the Hyatt. The Hyatt is right across the street from Bart. Cable car stop is also right there. It is the least crowded of all stops. The longest I waited in line was only 10 minutes. I saw the lines at the cable car turnaround near Ghiradelli Square and was told that the wait was over an hour and a half. If you are going to Fishermans Wharf, you can hop on the F line street car which is about a 1 minute walk from the hotel. Or you can walk there. It only took me about 15 minutes to walk to Pier 39. Go to the Ferry Building. Walk through it and keep walking towards the water. Some amazing bayviews and great views of the Bay Bridge. Of course, check out all the vendors inside!

One thing about the area where the Hyatt is, I felt very safe there as a woman traveling by herself. It does get very quiet in that area after 7pm.

Only downside that I found with the Hyatt, was the $9.95 per day fee for using WiFi. But Starbucks is right across the street and there is also a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf just steps from the hotel entrance.
Both have free internet access.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Karen,

Did you happen to eat breakfast close by anytime. We will be looking for something quick and kinda grab and go in the mornings. I don't exactly understand the cable cars, getting off and getting on. I had no idea I would have to wait an hour. I guess I should view it as more like a ride at Disney instead of a means of going from point A to point B.

well OK, but you did ask for a "critique" of your plans... otherwise I wouldn't have made my suggestions. My comments weren't because things were overly "adventurous".

I generally don't comment about activites that people plan on doing, unless I have done it myself. I might perhaps comment if I had read a lot about it or knew someone who had an experience. Myself, I can't imagine anyone not wanting to ride a segway for 3 hours. The segway tour company in SF offers 3 or 4 different tours. I thought it would be good to it early on to get a good feel for several areas. They offer a tour of sausilito, and of Lombard Street as well. My parents did this in Washington DC and said it was very enjoyable. They are 65.

Spiro: I'm not a breakfast person so Starbucks was good for me. I saw Les Croissant. I was going to go in there my last day in SFO but never made it. It is right across the street from the Hyatt. I saw one of the Segway tour groups in the Wharf area. It looked like everyone was enjoying. I was going to do it, but opted to go to sunny Sausalito by ferry.

Don't be worried about getting around. It is easy..believe me. Everyone was so friendly and helpful. Take advantage of the concierges at the Hyatt. They were very helpful.

If it's in your budget, try to upgrade to a balcony room. It was only $35 extra a night and the views were fantastic! The bay on one side and the Transamerica Building on the other.

I'm already planning my next trip!

Thanks again,
I noticed they have a segway in Sausalito as well.

Here is a website with a lot of information and San Francisco flavor. http://www.mistersf.com/

The reviews of the Segway tour look fun (I just googled around for some).

The weather is SF is usually colder than anywhere else in the Bay Area, and March is unpredictable, so especially on the Segway, be prepared.

You can do Google Maps street views for a lot of the places you are going (outside the Hyatt, for example).