My family (2 kids, age 4 and 6) will be visiting SF in August. We will begin each day from Palo Alto as we are staying with relatives. We will have 4 full days of sightseeing beginning on a Monday.

My first question is regarding transportation. Should we drive all the way in to SF or drive to a rail station and take BART? If we drive in will we likely park the car and walk all day or will we be getting in and out of the car? Which is more cost effective?

I would like to spend 2 days in SF, 1 day in Carmel/Monterey, and the fourth day is open to all opinions.

Here are the things I would like to do. Please add to these and plan my itinerary.
San Fran:
cable car
Alcatraz
Chinatown walking tour and dim sum
Sea lions and street performers at Pier 39
Ghiradelli Square
Ride bikes over the Golden Gate Bridge

Carmel area:
Dennis the Menace Park
Point Lobos

Other:
Muir Woods or Big Basin

Thanks for all the great information I've gotten from previous posts!

Hello vmcenroe, personally I would take BART into SF. If you drive in you will find parking is very expensive. Now I know your children are little and don't know how much walking they can do of course. But I always find it is easier to use a taxi if need be rather than hassling with a car. And in that when I have gotten tired of walking the car always seems to be parked so far away that I have ended up taking a taxi to the parking garage anyway so having the car rather defeats the purpose. Street parking in SF is almost impossible it seems.

If your children get tired and need a little greenery and some time away from crowds you could take them to Yerba Buena park which is across Market St., on 3rd. They could play on the grass etc. Most children love the "shaking man" statue at the park. There is also the MLK memorial at one end, you go behind the waterfall to see it and little ones always seem to enjoy the waterfall. Also the carasoul (sp?) from Playland is there and imagine the would enjoy a ride on it.

In case you do not know this, the F Line, old restored street cars from various cities around the world will take you from Market St. (which is where the BART stations are) to Fishermens Wharf. Think the fare is $1.00 p/p. If you like you can get off it at the end of Market St. also and go into the restored Ferry Bldg. and look around at all the great shops. There are cafes also. Behind the Ferry Bldg. is a large plaza. Great place for the family to have a cold drink and watch all the activity on SF Bay including the various ferries that arrive and depart from there. Then you would get back on the streetcar and continue on down the Embarcadero and around to Fishermens Wharf. I "think" you can get a transfer for the streecar but not sure.

Sounds like you will all have a fun time. You have some great activities planned. To me children and SF just naturally go together. Best wishes.

In addition to all the fun places LoveItaly mentioned, we also like the exploritorium. It's always a big hit with my kid (3) and my niece(8). Street parking is almost impossible but since we usually only go to one area, it's not bad once we found one. In the more tourist places, we use the parking garage. You can park in a garage near fisherman's wharf, walk around Pier 39, take the ferry to Alcatraz at pier 41, walk to Ghiradelli, and take the cable car to chinatown for the dim sum and back all in one day. The next day, drive to see the bridge, (there's parking at the visitor center), spend some time at the exploritorium (free parking), see the presidio (free parking inside the presidio), and gold gate park (free parking). My daughter really likes the Monterey aquarium as well. Enjoy your visit.

We also liked the Exploratorium. If you get there right when it opens, parking isn't a problem.

The hikes in Pt. Lobos are great - many are pretty short.

The slide or some huge structure at the Dennis the Menace playground is closed throughout July & August for renovations, so half the playground is closed. If your kids have played at those huge wooden playgrounds that are more prevalent today, this playgound isn't going to seem too special since it appears the good stuff is off limits. But there is a huge old steam train there that the kids can climb up and around.

We did SF with kids over Christmas. You'll probably want to get the day pass for the cable cars - my kids wanted to ride each of the lines and it is a good way to see the great houses and buildings w/o having to climb those hills. The cablecar museum is free and is definately worth a look.

We did the All About Chinatown walking tour and dim sum with Linda Lee. allaboutchinatown.com It was excellent. Linda was raised in Chinatown and did an excellent job of giving us a glimpse into that life. She was also very open to all of our questions and interacted very well with the kids.

I'm afraid of heights so taking a bike across the Golden Gate bridge would completely unhinge me. Another option is taking a fire truck across: www.fireenginetours.com/

We LOVED the sealions. They're so close that you really get to see them.

Get on the Ghiradelli website and I think you can get a coupon for a free Sundae.

From Palo Alto, you can take the Caltrain Baby Bullet and get to San Francisco in 35 minutes. That beats the car by 25 minutes. When you arrive in San Francisco, you can connect to the N Judah Metro line. The N will take you under Market Street. You can connect at Powell Street Station for cable cars.

Just to tell you, cable car fares are now 3 dollars. A monthly student/youth pass is 10 dollars, and a weekly (adult) pass is 12 dollars (but you will have to pay one more dollar for each cable car ride). A day pass is 9 dollars.

You can probably see Peir 39 and Fisherman's Wharf on the same day you take the cable car, and perhaps take the ferry across to Alcatraz.

Sorry, I cannot give you any advise on Chinatown tours or about riding bikes; I live in San Francisco and I don't need to rent a bike or take a tour.

I do recommend one good Dim Sum restaurant, but it's not in Chinatown: Harbor Village, in the Embarcadero Center 4 (Embaracdero subway station). Their food is very good, but it can be expensive. They use the pushcarts to serve food, and you can just take what ever you want off the carts, but remember, it's not an all you can eat buffet.

Good luck and bon voyage.

Since you are already renting bikes, you might also explore Golden Gate Park.

Regarding the sea lions at Pier 39:

This is something my kids were looking forward to seeing when we were there at the beginning of July. We had told them about how we had seen them on our previous trip back in October of 1992. Unfortunately, there was not a single sea lion there when we were there. According to the pier 39 website http://www.pier39.com/entertainment/...action/1000011
the sea lions migrate to the Channel Islands during the summer. The website says that a small group stays year round, but there were none there a few weeks ago.

This thread upsets me greatly. I can see there are no chocoholics nor chocolate lovers on this forum.

Don't miss the chocolate exhibit at the CA science museum on Howard street behind the Yerba Buena gardens.

AJ Colorado, you're breaking my heart! Where can I get a coupon, can't find anything on the website!

Faina: try googling or yahooing for "Ghirardelli Chocolate Factory coupon San Francisco". It's good for one square of chocolate under some website for coupons. However, if you show up at the store, you'll get a free square of chocolate anyhow.

Otherwise, I have a whole bag of their new raspberry flavor squares. Where can I send it, so you will enjoy it and not the mailman? LOL!

vmcenroe: for Chinatown dim sum, try New Asia Garden or Miriwa, both on Pacific; or Gold Mountain on Broadway.

If you are touring Golden Gate Park, try South Seas Restaurant on Irving (near 12th Street). It's got better dim sum than the Chinatown places. Small unknown location, frequented mostly by locals. Across from South Seas is the San Tung restaurant (Irving near 10th Street) and it has handmade dumplings from the North of China. Absolutely yummy. Try their fried fish in batter - have not had fish that good for a long time! You'll need a car for these restaurants. San Tung does not have dim sum, just regular restaurant fare.

Enjoy!

How about the aquarium in Monterey? I missed it when we went last year but everyone who has gone has really enjoyed it. Sounds like a great activity for kids too.

Jane

I live near SF, but have only recently been taking the opportunity to see it as a tourist, and I've had a lot of fun (with the help of this forum). I recently went on a tour of Chinatown with WokWiz (three hours, including a dim sum lunch), and noticed how kind our tour guide was to the children who accompanied us. Also, I like to remind people that on Pier 45 (the heart of Fisherman's Wharf, at the foot of Taylor Street), people who like maritime stuff should see the Liberty ship Jeremiah O'Brien and the submarine Pampanito--I think your kids would be old enough to appreciate the experience of climbing around these vessels even if they didn't understand the historical context (but be aware that they involve ladders and kids must be watched carefully--the O'Brien is a working ship, restored to its 1940s condition, not an amusement ride, although kids and adults get a kick out of sitting in the gun tubs and aiming at things). Coit Tower is another good thing to do some morning (it opens at 10)if you feel comfy climbing and want to wear out the kids--don't even think about trying to park in the lot at the base of the tower on Telegraph Hill (it's jammed in summer, and most of the rest of the time as well), but walk and climb stairs from below via Greenwich or Lombard streets. You'll feel it in your legs the next day! Tour buses also visit there as well. As regards the sea lions, last week I only saw a couple of them, so I imagine that you won't see many, if any, but you can't be sure. Good luck, and have fun--I'll hope for nice weather for you.

Thanks, Easy, now I found it:

http://www.sfguide.com/ecoupons.htm

And this page has them all: shuttles, shopping, dining, tours, limo.

Ghirardelli works same as before: go there, get a free coupon book and a tiny chocolate, huh?

Easy, now I have to have an un-easy chat with you. What do you mean mailman? I thought you're going to dress Kal into orange jumpsuit, yes? Do I want him at my door?

As for you, you should have my phone and address, just stop by! I have a big celection of teas, and with your chocolate we'll have a ball! Or skin breakouts after all these sweets, LOL

Well, Faina, if you prefer Kal in his orange jumpsuit - jeez, no telling for what some people prefer! (Just kidding!)

I'll look for your address, must be lying among the chocolate squares somewhere! When I find it, we'll set up a tea-and-chocolates session! Yummy!