TassieTwo

I have just changed our flights to extend our stay in San Francisco from two nights to five. I think this will give us an opportunity to see a few more must see places.

From my previous thread, advice given was to stay in the Embarcadero area and I have found a couple of hotels that look promising.

Over to the experts!
What MUST we do?

sf7307

Well, fess up....what are the "promising hotels?"

Have you seen this:

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...mendations.cfm

spirobulldog

heres what we enjoyed in a 4 day trip

ride the cable cars
Segway Tour
Ghiradelli Chocolate
North Beach is Little Italy area and has great food
We liked The Mona Lisa in North Beach
Try Dim Sum in Chinatown and see the sights there
we ate at City View for dim sum and it was good
stop in a the fortune cookie factory and kite shop
we did the night tour in Alacatraz and it was very good
walk down Lombard Street(crooked street)

we left the San Fran at 5 one morning and drove to Pt Reyes and then even had time for a stop @ Muir Woods in the afternoon- both of these very good. Pt Reyes really needs a full day. Muir Woods is a short distance from San Fran and while not as good as The Redwoods or Sequoias, still an awesome awesome place. At Pt. Reyes you will see Elk, possible whales and other marine wildlife. Great coastal drive and a lighthouse. I would suggest a hike to McClures Beach at lowtide to do some tidepooling(you will see hundreds of starfish, mussels, etc).

We enjoyed Golden Gate Park. We did the Botanical Gardens, Japanese Gardens and Tea Room, Dutch Windmill and Tulips, Acadamey of Science Museum, and had lunch at Park Chalet Restaurant. Had a good meal at Boudin Bakery.

yes, these are all touristy things, but that's what we wanted to do.

Kailani

Must see: North Beach, Chinatown, the Ferry Building, Golden Gate Park.

One strategy I like is exploring the neighborhoods, including some yummy and historic eating/drinking (I'm thinking Irish Coffee at the Buena Vista, here), shopping, sightseeing. The architecture in SF is so appealing, and people watching, and stumbling onto unusual places is lots of fun.

Personally, I love the museums, and would recommend a day in Golden Gate Park, including the De Young, the California Academy of Sciences, the Japanese Tea Garden, the Conservatory of Flowers. Not all of these things, but the ones that interest you, and there are many more lesser known but memorable places in the park.

I also love the Museum of Modern Art, and the Yerba Buena Center across the street is an interesting area with other new museums.

The California Legion of Honor museum is in a beautiful location with a gorgeous view, and it's pretty close to the Cliff House restaurant, and Beach Chalet with WPA era murals and the Windmill end of Golden Gate park.

I like this website for getting a sense of San Francisco places. http://www.mistersf.com/

Lots of hotels are having specials, and I've been pretty impressed with the quality and value of many.

Add in Alcatraz, Sausalito, Muir Woods, Giant's stadium, the Exploratorium.

See some theater. Beach Blanket Babylon is quintessential SF entertainment. Sometimes you can get half price tickets on Goldstar, and Wicked is playing and has lottery tickets available.

And, a cable car ride.

Kailani

Hi Spirobulldog... I posted before I saw your reply, so I duplicated some of your suggestions, but I was thinking of you recently about the Segway tour which is also offered for half price on Goldstar. I've been trying to get my family to go with me, even though we're local. You made it sound so fun when you reported about it earlier.

TassieTwo

Embarcadero hotels I am contemplating are Harbor Court and Hyatt Regency but am open to suggestions from anyone.
Now that we are staying a bit longer I might have to research further to try and keep accommodation costs down so we can do more sightseeing.
We both hate shopping so that's not important!
I'd love to see Yosemite but the idea of six hours sitting in a bus gives me the horrors.

spirobulldog

Here is a link to my San Fran

photos.http://www.photoworks.com/slideshow/...7?source=pw980


http://www.photoworks.com/slideshow/...B?source=pw980


Included are a few of the Segway. My parents did this while in Washington DC. This is available in a lot of cities that have sights to see. It is fun and everyone will stop and stare. We stopped at a park about halfway through the tour and took about a 20 minute break. Your feet do get a little tired, because you are standing in one place the entire time. My daughter and I loved it. My wife probably would say it was just ok. These photos are just so so quality as we just used a point and shoot camera.

spirobulldog

We stayed at the Hyatt on Embar. when we were there in March. Do plan on visiting the Ferry Building as other mentioned and I forgot it. The Hyatt worked out nice for us, because we took BART from the airport and it is basically right at the front door of the Hotel. The street cars and cable cars are right at the front door as well. The Argonaut was the other place we considered. It is probably nicer and in a location where a lot of the "action is". But, we didn't want to take a cab to and from the airport.

sf7307

I know nothing about the Argonaut, but I wouldn't really consider Fisherman's Wharf "where the action is". I'd much prefer the location of the Hyatt Regency and the Harbor . Both are on the Embarcadero, across from the Ferry Bldg. walking distance to Union Square (15 min.), Chinatown (10 minutes), North Beach (15 Minutes), AT&T Park (20 minutes), etc. There are excellent restaurants in walking distance of both hotels.

TC

Just returned from 5 days in SFO. Here's what I did.

Hotel:
The Serrano (Taylor & O'Farrell) A Kimpton hotel in a good central location for transportation (near Union Square or Market St.) Rooms vary widely in size (ask for an upgrade). We got into a suite for $118 which included a modest Continental breakfast in their restaurant each day and an hour of wine each evening. I heard that others got this hotel on Priceline for $70.
http://www.serranohotel.com/

Day 1:
After getting up at 4AM to make our flight from the midwest, we wandered around Union Sq shopping and galleries the first afternoon. Dinner at Colibri (Mexican) near our hotel before crashing. Excellent food and killer margaritas.
http://www.colibrimexicanbistro.com/

Day 2:
Took the bus to Golden Gate Park for a City Guides free tour of the Japanese Tea Garden. Lunch at the deYoung museum. A walk through the Conservatory for orchid viewing. Back to hotel on bus -- a great inexpensive way to see the city's neighborhoods. Dinner at Sushi Groove for some amazing food and saki.
http://www.sfcityguides.org/
http://www.opentable.com/rest_profile.aspx?rid=4000

Day 3:
MUNI to The Ferry Building for City Guides tour, shopping and lunch. Dinner at Hayes Street Grill. Great fish.
http://www.hayesstreetgrill.com/

Day 4: MUNI to Fisherman's Wharf for City Guides tour, photo ops, lunch. Dinner at Albona. Wonderful Istrian food in North Beach.
http://albonarestaurant.com/

Day 5: Rented car only 1/2 block from hotel. Drove to Marin County Farmers Market for photo ops, great arts & crafts and purchasing picnic fare. Drove to Muir Beach for a picnic of bread, cheese, sausage and wine. Drove to Muir Woods for a hike. On to Sausalito for a look at the galleries and dinner at Scoma's. Wonderful, simple fish with a killer view of the city and GG bridge.
http://www.marinfarmersmarkets.org/
http://www.scomassausalito.com/

Planned all my city travel using "Transit 511". A wonderful tool for getting around SFO on public transportation. http://tripplanner.transit.511.org/m...T2?language=en

We were able to return our rental car at the airport for only $5 additional charge, thereby saving a $40 taxi fare. Tip: request this when you pick up the car, not in advance. When reserving the car the cost to return to the airport was an additional $35. When we ask at the time of pick up, it was only an additional $5.

Thanks to all Fodorites who helped with my planning -- especially Stu Dudley.