San Francisco-one day
 

Hi. We will be in SFO for one full day on our cruise itinerary in May. We have tickets to tour Alcatraz at 9:30 and should be back around 1pm. Our ship departs at 6pm. What can we see and do for the next few hours. Can we see Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf and ride a cable car in that amount of time? Is Chinatown far from the pier area? Suggestions welcome!!

Your alcatraz tour will likely start and end at the wharf. When you return, I'd get lunch there, stroll a bit and then take a tour through the ghiradelli building - you'll still have time to take a cable car ride as well.

I think you can ride the cable car from Fisherman's Wharf towards the Chinatown, then you have to walk there.

And yes, the Wharf is far from Chinatown.

This web site:

http://www.sfcablecar.com/routes.html

shows the cable car routes.

Your best bet, as mentioned above, would be to ride a cable car to Chinatown if you want to experience both. It should certainly be do-able in an afternoon.

Your alcatraz boat will arrive at Pier 41, which is just to the left of Pier 39 marked on that map. If you want to see some of Fisherman's wharf, your best bet is probably to walk through it toward Ghirardelli Square and pick up the cable car at the end of the line on Hyde Street. Chinatown basically comes up to about Powell Street (that would be it's western-most border), so you can get off the cable car along Powell Street to explore Chinatown.

To get back to your ship (if it departs from somewhere in the Fisherman's Wharf area, you could either hop back on the cable car, or walk to the Muni F-line streetcar, depending on exactly where you end up in Chinatown, and exactly where you need to be for your ship.

Thanks guys!

jenifer has given you excellent directions.

To get back to the cruise ship terminal: ... At the moment, I believe, it's still at Pier 35.

To get back from Chinatown, you can take either the Hyde Street cablecar AWAY from Fisherman's Wharf to the Powell and Market Street terminal. On Market Street take the F line streetcar which will go along the Embarcadero. You can get off at Pier 35.

Or you can take the California Street cablecar, also go down to Market Street. Again, take the F line streetcar for the Embarcadero.

Give yourselves at least 45 minutes to get back. If you give yourselves an hour, it'll make me feel better. :)

This means you have only about 4 hours to explore Fisherman's Wharf and Chinatown.

Have fun!

Check the route of bus 30 MUNI, it runs from the Fishermen's area through Chinatown, and it's one of the most dependable bus lines running very often every day.

Wow! I love the specific information. I've included it in my notes for the trip. We look forward to visiting the fine city but realize that our short visit won't give us much time to see much. We just got back from NYC and plan to go again in November. How will SFO chinatown compare?

NY Chinatown is the largest on the North American continent. SF Chinatown is the second largest.

Newer Chinatowns have grown up in other areas as the Chinese, no longer confined to Chinatowns, have moved outward. Thus, the two Chinatowns are the traditional areas (whereas the Chinese who have moved out live in the suburbans, drive SUVs, etc.). They probably have the same kinds of shops and restaurants. It's been years since I've been in NY Chinatown. There is no reason for me to go unless it's to a restaurant. :)

I was going to suggest that you stop off in Union Square (same cablecar route, only several stops later) as more of a unique San Francisco experience.

In my opinion, the Chinatowns of NYC and SF are totally different. In NYC, Chinese people actually live, work, shop and eat there. In SF, most I see are shops and restaurants catered to tourists and non-Chinese. Maybe I wasn't walking on the "right" street in SF, but the feel is totally different.

Good to know about Chinatown. If we get caught up around the wharf maybe we won't take it so hard if we miss Chinatown. Good places to eat in the Fisherman's Wharf area?

Not to be too snarky rkkwan but did you not see all the Chinese people in SF Chinatown? Like NYC Chinese people do work, live and shop in Chinatown--anyone who has taken the 30 Stockton bus or has seen all the elderly Chinese people who come in on the N Judah from the Sunset to shop can attest to that fact. I know it looks like a tourist attraction with the numerous gift shops and it's fake pagoda buildings but it is a thriving cultural center for alot of Chinese people. End of rant.

I think that if all you did was walk down the main drag it would certainly seem like there was nothing to SF Chinatown other than tourist kitsch. So yes, you do actually have to get off of Grant Street to see some of the other businesses that cater to the local Chinese Community. BUT Chinatown still is a big part of the SF landscape and worth a gander. And it's a relatively compact area, so it's not hard to do.

There's about 80,000 Chinese living in SF Chinatown area. Second largest group living in the Chinatown area are Caucasians and there's quite a number of other "nationalities" living there as well. Guess they were not "eating, working, or shopping" when you were there rkkwan. Maybe they were snoozing? :)

Where to eat in Fisherman's Wharf. I would suggest not eating in Fisherman's Wharf or just getting some munchies and eat as you go, given your time constraint. Do you really have an hour to spend on a sit down lunch?

Otherwise, try Lori's Diner in Ghirardelli Square.

If you are going to SF Chinatown, you can pick up any number of hot things like barbecue buns and just munch on those as you walk along.

Cruise ships also pack picnic lunches for people. Just another suggestion.