My husband and I are first-time travellers to San Francisco. We'll be there for 3 days in the latter part of January. What are the top 5 places/attractions and top 5 restaurants that we should definitely get to? We like the spots the locals enjoy and would say, "You've got to do this while you're in San Francisco." Thanks to all!

Hmmmm. Not sure about the top 5, but don't miss Alcatraz. It's really a great tour. There's nothing too special about Pier 39. See Golden Gate Park, the Cliff House at Ocean Beach and the Musee Mechanique underneath the Cliff House. North Beach. Chinatown.
Restaurants: Farallon, Foreign Cinema, Fringale, Lulu's, Chez Panisse (in Berkeley). Have fun!

Don't miss an excursion to Muir Woods just on the other side of the Golden Gate bridge. Redwoods!

What a beautiful city you're going to visit - Not to be missed are Alcatraz, Golden Gate Park and Chinatown. Another must is driving down Lombard Street and riding a cable car. Would skip Coit Tower, but rather head towards Twin Peaks (near the Height-Ashbury area) for a spectacular view of the city. Speaking of views, you might want to consider walking across the Golden Gate Bridge-that was an experience I'll never forget.

Just over the Golden Gate is beautiful Sausalito-lots of boutique shopping and places to eat. Time your visit so that you're there at dusk, just as the lights of San Francisco are coming alive. If you have time, take the PCH down to Carmel and the 17-mile drive.

You'll find that 3 days isn't nearly enough time to enjoy the city and surrounding areas.

I live in New Orleans, but if I had a choice of another city in the country, it would be San Francisco.

I second the recommendation on Alcatraz. Yes, it's touristy, but - we were tourists and truly enjoyed it. The ferry to Sausalito was a nice way to spend an afternoon having lunch and a glass of wine at a nice restaurant, but I'm not sure that would make my top 5. Golden Gate Park and Chinatown would be numbers 2 & 3. Pier 39 can be seen in a quick overview while you're waiting on the Alcatraz boat - but I highly recommend having a dungeness crab and a bowl of chowder (in a sourdough bread bowl) while you are there. The most memorable meal we've ever had there was at an Italian place called North Beach Restaurant. Does anyone know if it's still around? Muir Woods is incredible and might be done in conjunction with an afternoon drive and a stop in Sausalito which would also include a drive over the Golden Gate Bridge. Two definite top fivers should be a ride on the street car from Union Squre to Fisherman's Wharf (or vice versa) and the drive down Lombard.

As a long-time visitor to San Francisco who loves the city very much, here's my two cents: spend your time in San Francisco and don't bother with Sausalito. The walk across the Golden Gate sounds wonderful, something I've always wanted to do, but it will be January. Somewhat contrary to my earlier advice, Muir Woods is worth the time if you have it and haven't seen the redwoods.

Personally, I love the view from Coit Tower as well as Twin Peaks. From Coit Tower you can walk down the Filbert steps which take you through some folks back yards. Also the view from the Top of the Mark in the Mark Hopkins is great--and you can enjoy it inside with a drink.

Love North Beach and Chinatown, especially Stockton St. where the food shops are, is fun. I haven't been wowed by Golden Gate Park when I've been there, so my advice would be to trek out there only if there's something specific you want to see. Alcatraz is great, Pier 39 and Fisherman's Wharf are nothing special.

Go see Beach Blanket Babylon for an only in San Francisco experience and take a Victorian house or other type of walking tour.

Check the restaurant reviews at www.sfgate.com to pick your restaurants. We ate at Boulevard--wonderful--and LuLu's--also good--this year among others. There are so many good restaurants in the city, I wouldn't go to Berkeley with the short time you have.

The city also has great department store shopping at Union Square, if you're at all interested--the Macy's is huge.

To Meg--yes, the North Beach restaurant was still there in August. To L&G, have a wonderful time--I'm jealous!

Just went to San Francisco for the first time this past July. Didn't have any memorable meals (my bad), but had a great time! One highlight was Beach Blanket Babylon. It has been running for 25 years and is absolutely hilarious. I mad the mistake of not buying tickets in advance (it was their 25th anniv) and had to buy from a broker, we paid at least twice face value, and still it was well worth it. I recommend it to everyone who visits.

Alcatraz was fascinating, and contraary to some of the above posts, I thought Sausalito was great also. The ferry ride between Saus. and SF is fun and gives a great view of San Francisco. We never had the time to have a leisurely afternoon there, but we walked over the Golden Gate bridge (which was also great but I don't know about Jan) down into Sausalito and had to catch the next ferry. But I would love to have the time to explore there, would even consider staying there when we go back.

Have a great time!

For some comic relief and a blast from the past - how about a tropical cocktail in the Tiki Room at the Fairmont Hotel. The indoor rain shower and floating band was something I have never experience anywhere else before or since.

I visited San Francisco for the first time in October. Agree that with only three days you should concentrate on the city. My five favorites: The Wok Wiz tour of Chinatown (there's a website), The Cannery and Ghiradelli Square, Coit Tower and the walk all the way down the steps to the Levi Plaza, the shopping and beautiful buildings in the Union Square area, and not to be missed is a ride on the entire route of the Powell-Hyde cable car line. We spend a fabulous evening at a restaurant called Piaf's and another at the Cafe de Paris (see www.bayarea.citysearch.com). Both had wonderful food and entertainment with moderate prices.

Farallon is everybody's favorite right now, but make reservations today! There are so many great restaurants in San Francisco. Top 5 depends on what you like to eat, whether you like large or small etc. The favorites of the natives often are not the ones the tourists go to. I could list 50 off the top of my head. The one we keep coming back to is Jardinere because it's a pretty little restaurant with good food and nice service, but it's not grand, and Boulevard because it has delicious food. Look at www.sfgate.com for reviews, but be aware that reservations must be made long in advance (you can always cancel).I would also suggest Beach Blanket Babylon which all our house guests rave about. Enjoy this wonderful little city.

In SF, do try Lulu and the Zuni Cafe. Boulevard is nice, but you can skip Fringale. Here's my absolute best tip!!! Avoid HAWTHORNE LANE ... whatever you do. avoid it!!! Very expensive - poor service - so-so food - crowded and rude to the customers. This place has so much business they don't have to try. I had a reservation for four on 12/17/98, and we had a very bad experience. What a disappointing evening, I contacted management, etc. and nothing!!! I love SF and the restaurants (at least most of them), but Hawthorne Lane is the pits. I contacted the Zagat's people, and they refused to even reconsider their write-up. You can check out the restaurant's website and you'll see nothing but praise. I strongly disagree. Good luck, and have a good trip.

First time visitors? Don't forget to buy some Ghiradelli chocolate and some sourdough bread.

First, let me correct an earlier posting -- it's the Tonga Room in the Fairmont, and though the drinks are a bit pricey, it's campy and fun. Most of the suggestions here are things tourists do and not things locals do. If you really want the latter, avoid Fisherman's Wharf like the plague. And it will be cold and windy on the Golden Gate Bridge.
For the local perspective: One of my favorite things to do is go to the Japanese tea garden in Golden Gate Park and have tea and fortune cookies. For restaurants, try Cafe Jacqueline in North Beach -- small, romantic, serves nothing but delicious souffles. The French onion soup is the best I've ever had. Have a pizza at Tommasso's, a tiny hole-in-the-wall with lines out the door, in North Beach just off Broadway (pepperoni is incredible!). You must see a film, any film at all, at the Castro Theater, a fabulous old restored movie house. San Franciscans are the best movie audiences I have ever met. Have a drink in the Carnelian Room, at the top of (I think) the BankAmerica building downtown. Most importantly, check out the book "San Francisco As You Like It" by Bonnie Wach, a native who is a great writer and tells it like it is. No one should go to SF without it.

"San Francisco As You Like It" is fabulous. Relied upon this for our first trip and am still reading it in preparation for the next. We took the ferry to Tiburon. Wish we had just gone over and right back. There were a few "cute" shops, but our time would have been better spent in another SF neighborhood. The ride over and back was fabulous, though.

Just came back from S.F. Monday a.m.avoid like the plague Pier 39 unless you like tacky...Take cruise of harbor around Alcatraz, last time we took bus tour of S.F. which we liked very much and included Japanese Garden...walk Chinatown and of course the waterfront...Avoid La Pasta it has changed hands and it's terrible..Ate at Scomas=touristy but good, I've been told that the one on Sausalito is much better. Oh yes, on Maiden Lane, near Union Square, next to Frank Lloyd Wright building on third floor is a local find...called Akimbo...go at 11:30... Also, visit Gump's, you can always find a Macy's.. We missed out on Beach Blanket by not ordering in time. For more info write me...

Thanks for correcting my post Susannah. It's been over a year since I've been there, and I do remember the drinks were pricey. But Tiki or Tonga, I do remember it felt just like the South Pacific when that tropical rain started falling as I sipped a drink from a ceramic volcano glass. What fun.

For those of you taking the ferry over to Tiburon (which I would recommend, especially on a good day) there is a wondeful Mexican restaurant called Guyamas with great views back to the city and wonderful food.