I'll be a first time visitor to SF in late June -- my adult daughter and I will have 3 days to be tourists, then she leaves and I have 4 days at a conference, 1/2 day at the end to be a tourist again on my own.
Hotel is Mosser, 54th 4th street, chosen because of proximity to Convention Center.
I like history, nature, art and just watching people/seeing new things. I'm not a shopper, not really much of a foodie although I like fresh/different food.
I'm from small town, not at all used to cities. We're not renting a car and I'm not safe on bike, but am a good walker. I've been reading Stu Dudley's great posts on the forum & am using the 2014 Fodor's San Francisco book and this is what I"m coming up with for a tentative schedule. Advice and comments very welcome.

Main things I think I want to see: Golden Gate Bridge area, Japanese Tea Gardens, Muir Woods, Fisherman's Wharf/sea lions, Chinatown, Coit's Tower/parrots around Telegraph HIll, and Alcatrez.
Arriving in SF Tuesday, 9:30 a.m., after very early flight from Atlanta -- plan to take Lorrie's Airport Shuttle to hotel. Afternoon sightseeing: Cable car ride? Bus to Coit tower or Ferry Building?
Wednesday: Alcatrez and Muir Woods (we're considering a tour that picks us up at hotel and does both of these -- hate to give up flexibility by making this reservation but also seems easiest/most efficient. I've looked at making reservations for ferry and shuttle schedules. Need to make this decision and reservations in the next few days.) I also noticed an alert on Muir's Woods NPS website that it was experiencing very large crowds.
Thursday: Fisherman's Wharf and Golden Gate Bridge , are these 2 good combinations? I think we could spend the entire day at Golden Gate park. Would like to make it to Cliff House there but if walking, is that practical? Wish the park shuttle operated on weekdays!
Friday: Chinatown/start conference at 4 p.m., what else would we have time for? We like old houses/gardens, so maybe just walking would be good?
Tuesday afternoon on my own: California HIstorical Society, Contemporary Jewish Museum. Am confused about art museum, sounds like large Museum of Modern Art is closed but it has exhibitions somewhere in area??, possibly Asian Art Museum -- leaving from hotel on airport shuttle about 6 p.m.

Meals: any suggestions for quick breakfasts very close to Mosser, places to pick up coffee & bread? Looks like we can get quick lunches and suppers at places in the Metreon or general area.
I've looked at SF citywalks schedule but doesn't look timing is working out.
A m trying to pack for cold and windy; I'm coming from always hot and humid Georgia.
Thank you!

You can easily use Uber to get around in SF, if other public transportation isn't feasible. Less expensive than cabs. Just download the app on your mobile device, and sign up.

Instead of Fisherman's Wharf, I would go to Fort Mason and walk along the Marina Green. Then walk along the shore at Crissy Field to Fort Point. Watch the surfers if the surf is "up". Much better views of the GG Bridge than from the Wharf - and certainly less tacky/touristy than the Wharf. Stop for coffee/snacks at the Warming Hut. If you still have some stamina remaining after Ft Point, walk up to the Bridge and wander through the shops & Bridge displays there. Then walk across the Bridge to the mid-point and admire the views - then return to the display/shops area. I'm not very familiar with the bus routes, but the 28 bus might take you back to Ft Mason where you would walk to the Wharf and stand in a long line & take the Cable Car back downtown (sit on the left/east side for the best views). Make sure you are on the Bridge in the afternoon when the views downtown are best (can't really see much of downtown in the AM when the sun is in your face).

Stu Dudley

You will have no problem finding places for a quick coffee-and-croissant breakfast near the Mosser. Just step outside and walk in any direction! As for dinner, if you just want a quick bite, the food courts in both the Metreon and San Francisco Centre (around the corner) are excellent. San Francisco Centre also has some nice options of real restaurants on the 4th floor (Cupola, Lark Creek Steak, Tap something, and MY China). Note that reservations for many SF restaurants are hard to come by! For ex., We live across the street from Marlowe and have been there only once, because we almost never make reservations in advance, and it's always full.

For an excellent bar meal (not traditional bar food, no fried finger food), head to the Brick House between 3rd and 4th on Brannan. Very good American food at very reasonable prices.

For great rotisserie chicken at an unbelieveably low price, head to Limon Rotisserie (several locations).

Pizza - there's a new place at 2nd and King called Slice House and it's very very good. Hours are a little weird though - we once went by on a Saturday at 6 p.m. and it was closed.

Consider the De Young and Legion of Honor art museums. Asian museum is also beautifully organized. SFMOMA will be opening soon. Walking in SF can be difficult, unless you are into hills. Check if Muir woods would be less crowded towards the end of the day. I like the idea of Uber to get around.

Am appreciating the advice. I'll remember to try the walk on Golden Gate bridge in afternoon. I am thinking about the De Young art musuem; may go with weather & mood when at Golden Gate park to decide about that. Asian art museum would be something different to me. Using shuttles, I wonder though if we can stay late at Muir Woods. I think I read that the last ones leaving park are extremely crowded. I'm used to flat for walking so will keep that in mind.

There's plenty of flat walking here, too, although SF is a city of hills. From the Mosser, you can easily walk down Fourth Street to the Bay, hang a left, and walk on flat ground all the to Chrissy Field and the Golden Gate Bridge.

>> From the Mosser, you can easily walk down Fourth Street to the Bay

I highly recommend free walking tours sponsored by SF Public Library.
http://sfcityguides.org

We have done close to 30 of them and they are wonderful. They are given by volunteers who go through vigorous training. They have a real passion for the walks that they do; often times the volunteer doing the walk also created the tour because of a love of the subject covered by the tour.

For coffee and pastry or croissant - walk out of The Mosser and turn left. Walk to Market St and turn right. There will a number of choice on both sides of Market.

FYI - They have coffee and muffins in the lobby of The Mosser. Decent on both counts.

The Alcatraz tours frequently sell out in advance. Try to purchase your tickets online so you will not miss out.

My favorite way of seeing Chinatown is through the Wok Wiz tour. It's been many years since I last did it, but we went to a tea shop, bakery, butcher shop, fortune cookie factory, saw a calligraphy demonstration, and ended with a dim sum lunch.

stu, I'm a multi-tasker. Never watch TV without my ipad on my lap!

A note to other SF travelers: I tried yesterday to make reservations for the only tour I found that goes to both Muir Woods and Alcatraz. I had 3 days to chose from in late June but they are booked up, with first availability coming in mid-July. So plan early! I'll now probably plan on figuring out the shuttle/bus to Muir Woods and maybe skip Alcatraz.

CLBtravel: I'd seriously consider Alcatraz over Muir Woods. You only have 3 days in SF and you'll use most of a day getting to Muir Woods and back. You first travel to Sausalito and then nearly an hour on the shuttle to the park - then repeat for the trip back.

IMO that just takes too much time out of your very limited time in SF. Muir Woods will be crowded, and if it is a weekend it will be VERY crowded.

Thanks -- I didn't have realize it would be so long on the shuttle. I've never seen redwoods though and am a longtime Sierra Club member; this might be my only chance to see the giant trees. Will think about this. I'm coming from East Coast time zone so possible that we could get a very early start, take first ferry and first shuttle to get ahead of some of the crowd.

On our last trip to SF, we went to the Legion of Honor museum. Thought they had an amazing Rodin collection, best outside of France(?) as I recall. I highly recommend it if that is your thing. We used Bart ,bus, taxi and yes cable car to get around. We had our then 11 and 9 year olds with us, so iwe wanted them to experience it all. We have no real public transport so to speak at home. We found it all interesting, convenient and reasonably safe.
We also really enjoyed Hyde St. Pier and exploring the Balclutha, a square rigged cargo ship launched in 1886.

Debit NM- thanks for the free walking trip heads up as we will be there again for a day and a half at the end of our northern Ca trip to the Humboldt County section of the redwoods.