Planning to visit the states for 1 week to celebrate anniversary. We can decide between the two cities and neither of us have been to either city before. (We are from Scotland) Is San Francisco too far for 1 week?

Basically we are looking for something to see, romance!, good restaurants/hotels, and a chance to relax.

What would you recommend?

Thanks

Time of year would probably make a difference.

San Francisco- I live in New York but its my favorite city and if you have never been its not to be missed

Sorry, June 8-15th.

In June, I guess it would be a toss-up, but, I think it would be easier to spend a week in NYC. I would probably want to spend part of a SF week outside of the city, necessitating a car. That, plus the shorter flight, makes it sound like NY might be you best bet.

I live near New York so maybe I just take it for granted but I would say San Francisco, especially because you used the word 'relax'.

If you are willing to drive a bit, there's more to see outside of San Fran than outside of NYC. I'd recommend wine country, Muir Woods, and a drive down to Big Sur (not all in the same day)! I did Muir Woods/Napa/Sonoma together and Big Sur/Monterey on another day.

One good thing about NYC is that a rental car is useless and the subways can get you anywhere fast. I found the SF Muni much less convenient (long wait times after 7PM)

New York is a great place to visit in June. I live/work in downtown Manhattan and there is alway something going on! New York could also use your business (tourism is down since 9/11)! Take in a play or even a ballgame, a carraige ride through Central Park, a romantic dinner at One if by Land and a vist to the Statue of Liberty and Empire State building as well as the museums!

alison: Pick NY. The weather will be better in NY rather than SF (most likely) and it will be a shorter flight from Scotland.

This is a no brainer! New York. Easy. San Fran is great, too. But if you can only pick one, it has to be NYC.

IF you will confine your visit to city limits, I'd choose NYC.
IF you are willing to do some (easy) highway driving, the SF area has much more to offer than the NYC area. In fact, there's more variety and better quality of things to do and see in the SF area than in any other area in the USA.....but driving is required.
If you seek romance, and have a liberal budget, you're not going to do much better than a clifftop hotel room overlooking the crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean.

A few notes suggested that a visit to SF can be enhanced if you are willing to drive outside the city. That suggests SF is a three of four day visit at most. You won't even scratch the surface spending one week in NY. If you want a city/ countryside experience SF is the answer. For a solid week of exploring a city NY is the answer.

The flight is longer and the time change is greater, but given your priorities SF is the better choice. NYC's intensity is similar to London's - would you go to London for a week to relax and get romantic?

IN SF you have the best of both worlds - lots of indoor pleasures - great hotels and restaurants, theatre.. plus it's California, for heaven's sake! Take a ride to Muir Woods and see some Redwoods (all my Scottish friends find the big trees life-changing); visit a (US) Civil War fort directly below the Golden Gate Bridge; hire a car and tour up the coast for a day or explore the wine country - an hour's drive. Visit Alcatraz, eat dim sum in Chinatown or fabulous Latin American food in the Mission District (and visit a Spanish-era mission while your're at it.) Go shopping at Gumps or Flax; attend a baseball game where people in motorboats circle waiting for balls to be hit into the bay; visit Berkeley or Silicon Valley (NOTHING like Silicon Glen, I assure you); take the ferry to Tiburon and drink Ramos Fizzes in the morning on a restaurant deck, looking back at the city skyline. Walk on the beach on the Great Highway (in June you'll probably need a good jacket to fight off the fog and wind, but that's part of the romance.)

Have a great time.

NYC. It's truly a no brainer. I love them both. But it's almost impossible to begin to describe the attractions of NYC. Good public transportation, as well.

new york is a great city, no question. an unbelievable amount of things to do, except for one -- relax. you'll end up running yourself so ragged you'll need another holiday just to get over the first one.

go to san fran. farther away, for sure, but for beautiful vistas, relaxation, great restaurants and romance i think it would be better.

can you arrange your flights so you can do a stopover in new york to take in the major sights?

I would definitely go to New York City. I can't get enough of that City. I have to say that NYC is one of the safest and cleanest big cities in the U.S., thanks to Mayor Giuliani. Also, it is a much shorter flight from Scotland. Despite the fact that New York is a big city, there are some very romantic spots in Central Park or aong the promenade in Brooklyn just across the East River from Lower Manhattan. I have lived near San Francisco for 20 years and go there just a few times a year (to Davies Hall for a symphony and to the Palace of the Legion of Honor museum, which is easy to drive to & has parking). But, sadly, San Francisco has deteriorated over the past decade. A local TV channel, a few months ago, had a hidden camera which showed people (in a public fountain near the Ferry bldg) actually using it as a toilet! (1 woman, on film, had just defacated. Ugh!) There were drug syringes in the water and children were playing in the fountain! The day my family and I walked to the main library (on a street near Market), I felt as if we were in a madhouse with some really mentally ill people calling out (& the fancy new library smelled of urine).
It's unfortunate that San Francisco has become like this, but in all honesty I think you would have a much better time in New York City.

I love NYC but there is nothing relaxing about it. I'd fly to SF, stay there for two nights, than go up the coast a bit and stay in a quaint bed and breakfast.

Having flown across the pond many times, I would recommend that the recovery from a 5 hour jet lag is a lot easier than an 8 hour one, especially for a rountrip within a week.

Consider the June Weather.

NY is a slam dunk decision and we need the visitors.

Otherwise, both are nice.

In either case, go to a professional baseball game just for the experience.

New York. SF is nice, but it's just too far for one week. My Scottish cousins visited me here in NYC & loved it.

I don't agree that you can't relax in NYC. Just pick a few "must-sees", & avoid the crazy clogged-up tourist areas. (i.e: Times Square)
Do one or two sightseeing things in the day, and then have a nice dinner in a neighborhood, like Chelsea, the Village, or along 9th Avenue if you're in midtown.

There's nothing more relaxing than having a picnic, or just spending some time by Bethesda Fountain & the lake there in Central Park. Go on a weekday if you can.

Use the airfare you save by not going on to San Francisco on a complete spa treatment for you both at one of the upscale hotels in Manhattan. And, although your rosy scottish complexions probably need no improvement,(what anniversary is this?) you will be relaxed and ready for romance!

I am English and have been to both cities. I wouldn't say either are relaxing - too much to see and do in both cities, but I have to say, SF is more beautiful. (Sorry NY - I do love you too!). Jet lag flying out to either isn't a problem, it is the coming home that is! We had a motel about a 15 minute walk from the pier area in SF - much cheaper to do it that way.