We are considering San Francisco for our anniversary trip. Would appreciate your thoughts on timing-- fewest tourists, weather and any other info that might be helpful. Thanks.

Hands down, September/October.

The fewest tourists will be on a foggy rainy miserable day.
You don't want to be there then either.
Read through StuDudley's lengthy list of things to see and do in SF.
On Friday, I will be driving through SF on my way to Pigeon Point lighthouse.

>>Read through StuDudley's lengthy list of things to see and do in SF.

We have gone in March; Feb; Jan and October. The best weather was October. Winter has the worst weather, rain and cool. BUT it also has less people and the chance to see the Elephant Seals birthing which makes it all worthwhile!

Here's my TR showing that even if it rains, San Francisco is great!

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-francisco.cfm

Go anytime you can but as mentioned - the fall has great weather and fewer tourists.

And rainy days are for going to the great museums.

And here are three of my favorite (real) Museums/Interesting places, and a rainy day is also a great time to catch up on the latest movies.

http://legionofhonor.famsf.org/legio...arde-1860-1900

http://deyoung.famsf.org/

http://www.palaceoffinearts.org/Welcome.html

Another vote for September - October.

" fall has great weather and fewer tourists" I think that fall has more tourists, not fewer. It did in 2011 anyway. While those traveling with children may travel in summer months, fall travel is very popular nonetheless.

I have to agree that fall is definitely the best time to visit SF in terms of weather, but there will still be plenty of tourists around - perhaps less in October than September. It seems rather obvious that the fewest tourists visit when the weather is the worst, i.e. during the rainy season, the 1st 3 months of the year.

In any event - if you get up early to get to where you want to go - you don't really have to worry about the tourists.

We can have wonderful weather in any month, but predicting it would be the problem! April and May and early June are lovely too. July and August get foggy in The City itself, but warm in the outlying areas you might visit, like the wine country, Yosemite, For those reasons be prepared by layering.
October is the biggest month for conferences, so look into hotels, B&Bs early. Most people would prefer vistors stay near Union Square because of the shopping, theatres, restaurants and access to buses, cable cars, trolleys and rapid transit.
If you can get up early, you'll beat those old tourists, but who cares? We love them. You'll find San Franciscans friendly and helpful.
The SF Opera and SF Symphony will be in full swing between mid Sept. and December, and the symphony continues through May. The highly-acclaimed SF Ballet goes from December (Nutcracker) theough mid May. Then the Opera has a 3 opera mini season til early July. Dance and music go on all over the City, all the time.
Id I wan't already married and born in The City, I'd honeymoon here myself. It's quite romantic.

U go NoCaligal: Great stuff.

We honeymooned in the Cite - in '71. We stayed at (UGH) Fisherman's Wharf and even dined there. My wife purchased her wedding dress at the Emporium (she did so on a trip to SF from Laguna Beach - where we lived)

Stu Dudley

We have been to San Francisco multiple times. Maybe you should give your preferred months for your trip?

Fall is lovely. There are some big conventions, a marathon etc in October. I wouldn't let that deter me if you plan for it--it just gives the city a lot of energy. Really it's the rooms that get hard to find if you wait too long--there are still restaurants needing customers, because a lot of times people eat at the conventions or special large events.

Would put in a word for a restaurant we especially loved, the Cafe Claude. Excellent food and a romantic ambiance for your anniversary. It has been two years since we ate there, but it appears to still be highly ranked on yelp.

San Francisco is a city of amazing restaurants though, so you can't really go too wrong, and there are people on this board who are way more knowledgeable about both food and San Francisco than I am. (The only restaurant I really didn't care for was Forbes Island.)

Enjoy your trip.

I can recommend a great condo that we stayed at last October. $150 a night. A block north of Market, in the Castro section. Loved it! Easy to get almost anywhere [historic F cars or J line muni] and lots of great restaurants right there.

You can't have good weather and fewer tourists. You need to take your pick

Thanks for all the replies. We can pretty much go anytime since we are retired. I am not concerned about tourists per se, after all that is what we will be, but the impact of them and conventioneers on hotels. I know it helps to avoid the large convention hotels and of course I will check the convention calendar.

I also should have asked for opinions on weekend versus weekday.

Beautiful weather this afternoon at Pigeon Point Lighthouse.
Cooked jambalaya for me and my wife. The wifi even works.
Headed for Santa Barbara tomorrow.