....sorry L'Italy...

[-X You're <i>no</i> Stu Dudley.

My suggestion is the same as Loveitaly's - about the second week in Sept till the second or third week of Oct.

Stu Dudley

...you're <i>no</i> LoveItaly, Stu.
[-X

What will I be Kal, if I pipe in? I don't have much to add, this post has it all!
LoriNY- Did you visit the Haight during the day or in the evening? I had your same experience at night about a year or so ago, though it was pleasant during the day. Alternatives to the Haight, would be the Castro, Noe Valley and the quieter/smaller Cole Valley. Also Union Street in Cow Hollow is fun, though more upscale shops &amp; dining. I see Stu already mentioned most of what I said, LOL.

When I walk around the Haight, I rarey set foot on Haight St itelf. I wander around Page looking at the Victorians. On any side street, if I see a house that looks interesting or has a new paint scheme I'll hit a few streets between Page &amp; Haight or Page &amp; Oak. I might even wander on the Panhandle side of Oak to admire the Victorians and find the &quot;Wren's Nest&quot; plasterwork decorations in the gables of a few Victorians. Then I'll walk up Masonic (lots of Queen Anne Victorians) to where it ends, and then wander through that area (it's called Corona Heights) - totally different architecture. I'll then walk north (downhill) along the west end the of Buena Vista Park to admore the large homes &amp; the views. Then west on Waller to Cole, up &amp; back on both sides of Cole, then east on Frederick to Downey. Head north &amp; then south on a 1 block stretch of Downey, then south on Downey to Ashbury St. and then north on Ashbury past the Greatful Dead House at 710 Ashbury.

One of the Grandest Victorian houses in San Francisco is the Spencer house at Haight &amp; Baker. It was built around 1895. It remains as one of the fe relatively unaltered free-standing Queen Anne mansions left in San Francisco. It occupies 3 city lots. It's spacious lot &amp; corner location allowed the possibility of trimming the house on all 4 sides. No exterior modification of a significent nature has ever been done to it. It stood peeling &amp; decrepit for 40 years. It was offered for sale in 1975 for $125,000 - a high price at the time. After a resale it received a thorough restoration as a B&amp;B in the '80s with lavish period furniture &amp; fixtures. The attic floor was completly rebuilt and finished as the owners residence. The house was sold as a private residence in 2000 for 3.5 million. (Quoted from &quot;San Francisco, Building the Dream City). Recently, it has undergone another exterior restoration that cost over 1 million. We've visited the interior of the house a few times - and it's magnificent. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in '05.

You'll see a lot more baby buggies on this stroll than wiped-out druggies.

I'll post this again with fewer typos

San Francisco – Stroll around the Haight.

Let's define the Haight (for this purpose) as bordering on Oak St to the north, Divisadero to the east, Stanyan to the west, and 17th to the south. Cole Valley &amp; Corona Heights will be within &quot;my&quot; defination of the Haight

When I walk around the Haight, I rarely set foot on Haight St itself. I wander around Page looking at the Victorians. On any side street, if I see a house that looks interesting or has a new paint scheme I'll hit a few streets between Page &amp; Haight or Page &amp; Oak. I might even wander on the Panhandle side of Oak to admire the Victorians and find the &quot;Wren's Nest&quot; plasterwork decorations in the gables of a few Victorians. Then I'll walk up Masonic (lots of Queen Anne Victorians) to where it ends, and then wander through that area (it's called Corona Heights) - totally different architecture. I'll then walk north (downhill) along the west end of Buena Vista Park to admire the large homes &amp; the views. Then west on Waller to Cole, up &amp; back on both sides of Cole, then east on Frederick to Downey. Head north &amp; then south on a 1 block stretch of Downey, then south on Downey to Ashbury St. and then north on Ashbury past the Greatful Dead House at 710 Ashbury.

One of the Grandest Victorian houses in San Francisco is the Spencer house at Haight &amp; Baker. It was built around 1895. It remains as one of the fe relatively unaltered free-standing Queen Anne mansions left in San Francisco. It occupies 3 city lots. Its spacious lot &amp; corner location allowed the possibility of trimming the house on all 4 sides. No exterior modification of a significant nature has ever been done to it. It stood peeling &amp; decrepit for 40 years. It was offered for sale in 1975 for $125,000 - a high price at the time. After a resale it received a thorough restoration as a B&amp;B in the '80s with lavish period furniture &amp; fixtures. The attic floor was completely rebuilt and finished as the owner’s residence. The house was sold as a private residence in 2000 for 3.5 million. (Quoted from &quot;San Francisco, Building the Dream City”, and the Victorian Alliance monthly newsletter). Recently, it has undergone another exterior restoration that cost over 1 million. We've visited the interior of the house a few times - and it's magnificent. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in '05.

You'll see a lot more baby buggies on this stroll than wiped-out druggies.

Stu Dudley

I don't know if it's been mentioned, but there are two especially nice pieces of architecture on the U of SF campus, a Jesuit school. The church on the corner (which name I forget), and especially the Lone Mountain campus. It was originally a Jesuit residence, I believe, and is a gorgeous old Spanish building with views all around from the back garden. Very nice place to visit for free.

thanks so much for this wealth of information! it will be a treasure for my parents' upcoming trip to San Francisco.

WOW!!!! Can't wait to print and file for next trip. Many thanks!

Bookmarking for Sept trip to Sonoma

Ditto for our resident SF lover.

And a minor coincidence - Stu's early reference to 'the police station on Vallejo' sent a shiver down the spine, having only last night watched <i>Zodiac</i>, which featured the police station <i>at</i> Vallejo.

My daughter and her new hubby will be going on their honeymoon to SF at the end of DEC. What are the weather conditions at this time? They will be there for New Year's Eve . Any suggestions????

Stu, everytime my husband and i plan a trip i get on fodors to get some input and you are writing about our destination place. Thanks for being involved in all the planning and help for italy(tuscany), croatia, san fran and now napa.

ttt

thank you

Oh my goodness!!! I'm just starting to really get into the planning of our trip this Sept and came across this post.
Wow!!! Thank you SO much Stu.
I am thrilled to have found it.
You certainly have gone to a lot of work, and I know I appreciate it, as I'm sure others do.

A huge , huge thank you.

Bookmarking. Thanks, Stu.

Hello Kodi. I always think of StuDudley as Mr. San Francisco.

He is as charming as is his most informative posts and his wife is a very lovely woman. They are now in Europe but they will be home by the time you arrive here.

I always encourage any new or even repeat visitor to San Francisco to pull of StuDudley's posts. He is a true born and bred San Francisco man!

WOW, Stu. Thank you so much for this information.

Bookmkg for Sept trip.

We used parts of your last list (a couple of years ago)and are finally going back so I was thrilled to see that you have updated it with more information. Thanks so much.

We got the AAA map before our last trip -- one of the best things we had with us.

Hey L'Italy!

I thought <i>this</i> guy was Mister SF???

http://www.mistersf.com/

:))

Someone posted this site here long ago.
Good website.

Hi there Kal. Well let's rephrase Stu's description. Stu is OUR Mr. San Francisco!

Hope your weather and air is better, it has improved here!

The last time DH &amp; I were in San Francisco was on our honeymoon almost 25 years ago! So it's only fitting that we are going in March 2009 to celebrate our wedding anniversary!

What good luck to come across this informative thread - thanks, Stu! It will be great fun to rediscover your beautiful city!

2010

L'Italy...((Y))

Awesome post on one of my most favorite places in the world!!!

Fantastic, thanks!

bookmarking

hi, Could you please email me your info on Provence?
my email is
[email protected]

thank you, brenda

I'm using this again for our upcoming October trip back to San Francisco.

Thank you, Stu Dudley, for the time and generosity of sharing your wealth of information!!

Wow. Stu, the information here is unbelievable. Kudos. Multiple kudos. Every city needs its own Stu-like tour guide.

Mr. Stu, our travel savior. First France, then Italy, and low and behold we just want to take a week in San Francisco and your name pops up. We automatically smile and know our trip will be, again, fantastic because of all your wonderful time, effort, and knowledge. You have become a household name when we talk about traveling. :)

Thanks again for all your support and for helping all of us truly get the most enjoyment out of our travels.

eholden

P.S. Do you happen to know of a French restaurant in SF that will have good &quot;Cassoulet au confit de canard&quot; like in Sarlat? My husband hasn't stopped talking about it since we have come home from France.

Thanks again!!

Thanks for the &quot;thank you&quot;.

I've only had casoulet a couple of times in SF, and was disappointed.

Stu Dudley

Bookmarking for a hopefully near future trip.

Thanks Stu!

This is fantastic - thank you. Would you recommend renting a car for a 4 day trip to SF? Unfortunately, we are staying in a hotel near Fisherman's Wharf. Fortunately, we are staying for free on hotel points.

I would rent a car for 1 or 2 days and get to some of the places that you can't get to easily by other means - views from the GGNRA on the other side of the GG Bridge, Twin Peaks, Presidio, Fort Point, west of Van Ness, Golden Gate park, Ocean Beach around Cliff House, etc.

Stu Dudley

Stu -
We are visiting SF for first time at end of Sept. We have 10 days to see what we can see. We also are visiting Lake Tahoe on way in and Monterey and Yosemite on the way out (home is midwest). We also want to spend at least 1-2 days north of SF in Sonoma/Napa/Muir.

Our concern is where to stay since we want to park free and have a base around SF and ride cable cars, etc. It needs to be a safe, clean place, but we will spend all our daylight hours sight-seeing. I've heard you talk about the Marina near Lombard. Would that fit our description? Or one of the towns out north of GG?

Any info on Tahoe and Yosemite also appreciated.

Great info -

I don't know anything about specific hotels, but any on Lombard St west of Polk St (Motel Row) would be fine. The closer to Van Ness the better. There are some in that region that might not have Lombard St addresses - but the general location is the same. I think there is one on Union &amp; Van Ness (same region as Lombard St motels) which would be a good fit also.

Stu Dudley

Hi Stu
Thanks for all the great info. I have a couple of questions I hope you can answer. First of all we are thinking about visiting San Francisco in the beginning of November but after reading about the weather we are having second thoughts. How cold can we expect it to be that time of year? Also, what do you think about the hotel 480? Thanks for any advice you can give.

This year the weather has been very strange. No rain since about February. Right now we're supposed to get our best weather. It has been chilly &amp; very foggy instead. Even cooler temps predicted for the next few days.

No telling what it will be like in early November. usually it's pretty nice then.

I don't know anything about hotels, since I don't stay in them.

Stu Dudley

Stu -
Thanks for posting such complete routes. We are first time visitors to California. We wanted to see the Golden Gate Bridge. Now we know there's a lot more to do and are excited. We hit SF on 10/1 for three days. Just wanted you to know how much we appreciate your information.

bailey3909