Good afternoon

I'd appreciate some advice on areas to stay with our 4 month old for 4 nights in July - we are a couple in our early 30s.

We have looked at The Mission, The Marina, Russian Hill and Pacific Heights based on opinions on here and elsewhere.

We have an image of walking out of our apartment, there being a nearby street with lots of great independent restaurants, a few bars, some galleries and interesting shops including food (eating all of the time won't work with our daughter), interior design, clothes, etc, and being able to hop on transport to other areas easily.

We'd like the area to be safe and somewhere we feel we can explore on foot.
We don't want to stay in a really commercial area like Fisherman's Wharf as want something that's more authentically SF.
We will have a hire car - appreciate parking is tough in SF but if there are relatively good/bad options, please let me know.

Any advice appreciated.

Price per night??

Be very careful...I am guessing you'll have a stroller...lots of neighborhoods have some significant hills and won't be fun with a stroller.

If you don't need the car while in SF [and normally you wont] think about getting it after you leave SF. Parking is a pain and expensive.

Try finding an apartment in Duboce Triangle; really nice area and convenient.

I would skip Russian Hill (unless you're very very close to Polk Street) and Pacific Heights (unless you're very very close to Fillmore Street) because they'll be less convenient with the stroller. You should try to be close to any of the following:

1. Noe Valley - 24th Street between Castro and Church
2. Pacific Heights - Fillmore between Post and Washington
3. Marina - Chestnut between Fillmore and Broderick
4. Cow Hollow - Union Street between Gough and Steiner
5. Duboce Triangle - it is a great location, but there isn't a specific street of shops and restaurants
6. The Mission (near Valencia/Mission, between 15th and maybe 22nd Streets)
7. Hayes Valley - Hayes Street (perhaps my newest favorite area)between Gough and Webster

Those are all approximations of the "center" of the shopping/eating area. You can decide how far you want to be from the center.

[Duboce Triangle is close enough to The Castro to find all shops and restaurants.]

You may have warmer weather in The Mission in July, but be aware there is a lot of fog in San Francisco then. The Marina and Cow Hollow will be most impacted of the areas on the list above.

You don't say if you are going anywhere other than SF, but certain cities can be as warm as 100 degrees. We love our microclimates!

Thanks for the helpful replies.

Budget - a lot of places we have looked at (based on Airbnb, not including cleaning etc) seem to be around $350 to $650. We're not into spending money for the sake of it however are budgeting more to counterbalance a little apprehension with this being our first trip with our daughter!

We will have a lightweight stroller. We both like walking and we expect hills in SF but we would like to be located somewhere where we don't have to walk long distances, up and down steep hills, to access some good local restaurants, shops, etc.

We are on a West Coast road trip which will include Carmel, Santa Barbara, SF, LA and San Diego.

Thanks again.

On Lombard Street there are lots of motels that are popular with tourists. It is just 1 block from Chestnut St which has good restaurants and shops. Located in the Marina district, you are just a few blocks from the Marina Green and Crissy field with great views of the GG Bridge and Alcatraz. There is a wonderful trail that connects the Marina Green to the Golden Gate Bridge. You can also take the #30 bus that weaves through Fisherman's Wharf, Little Italy, Chinatown to Market St/5th downtown.