My 15 year old son and I would like to visit San Francisco. We like historical sights and serendipity. We also like baseball, but since we live in Atlanta, seeing a game is not a must. What time of year is best to visit? What's a good place to stay -- $200/under? What sights/experiences would you recommend for a teenager? Thanks for your help.

Sights that would interest a 15 year old boy:

Pier 39 (including Underwater World and the Earthquake experience)

Fisherman's Wharf,& Ghiradelli Square. This would be a good area to stay in. Try the Holiday Inn Express hotel. It's new, clean and reasonably priced. I found my best hotel prices on www.hotelres.com - though I must admit I haven't tried priceline.

Alcatraz Tour

Golden Gate Park - Aquarium, Japanese Gardens

Exploratorium - near the Palace of Fine Arts.

Chinatown

Lombard St (the winding part)

Cable Car (least crowded boarding place is at the bottom of California Ave, near the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero. Perhaps, jumping off at the top of Nob Hill and taking the glass elevator at the Fairmont Hotel.

Climbing to the top of Coit Tower for the view.

Angela,

Just because you are from Atlanta doesn't mean you should skip the experience of going to a Giants game at PacBell Park. It is truly a GREAT baseball stadium. They did it right! Reminded me very much of Wrigly Field in Chicago.

It will be quite a differenct experience than you expect in Atlanta.

Dick

Angela:

If your son likes outdoor things, Muir Woods and the Marin Headlands are great. In both places (which are part of the National Park), there are great hiking trails. Muir Woods is crowded on the main path, but once you get off the main, paved path and onto a side, dirt trail, you'll have it to yourselves. You can find more info about these at www.nps.gov/goga

Also, I would think that every 15-year-old boy would love the Alcatraz Night Tour. I think it's cooler than the day tour because the atmosphere is sort of eerie plus it's much less crowded than during the day. I've seen lots of postings from families with teenagers who've done the night tour and liked it.

Chinatown is an interesting place to wander through if you don't have one in Atlanta.

I especially like Angel Island, which is another island in the Bay. It's a state park and has great hiking, lots of history, and incredible views. I think that your son could even rent a bike or a sea kayak there. Check the California State Parks website for more info on that.

September and October are wonderful times to visit SF because the weather is good. If you'd like to make it an economical trip, though, I'd wait until November or December. It's the off-season then and things will be much less crowded and probably hotel rates lower too. Though we get some rain during those months, we also get a lot of clear and beautiful days. It's not like Portland or Seattle, plus the temperature is always pretty mild here. Temps in November or December would only be in the 50s or so.

I've heard good things about the Tuscan Inn (Best Western chain) by Fisherman's Wharf. If you're on a limited budget, look into the international hostel at Ft. Mason. I think they have private rooms there and it's not just for youth.

Have fun!

We were there 2 summers ago. Our then 14 year old son was fascinated by Alcatraz, liked riding the cable cars uphill while holding on, wanted to eat crabs at outdoor place on Fisherman's Wharf. I second idea about going to PacBell - he will like the varied food there, as well as the baseball.

One word of caution, being from Atlanta, if you go in the summer, you will be unprepared for the fact that San Francisco does not have summer. We thought we packed appropriately, since being from Boston we can get cooler days in July. We half froze to death in the evening - when the fog rolls in it can get quite chilly - bring long pants and sweatshirts.

I too am from Atlanta, have a 15 year old son and just returned from San Francisco last week. The things he enjoyed: 1)Alcatraz; to him it was almost eerie-the walking audio tour 2)Fishermans Wharf-Bubba Gump Shrimp resturant 3) Ghiradelli Square-he loved the chocolate! 4) Golden Gate Bridge-walking across 5)Muir Woods-but not the lack of parking 6)Believe it or not he liked the rides at Santa Cruz pier- (1-1/2 hr away)especially some ride that had dual laser guns 7) the drive from Pacifica to Santa Cruz on hwy 1. Things he didn't really like 1) Chinatown 2) cable cars-we could never get on one 3) Coit Tower-they weren't open when we got there early 4) the parking. In all we loved San Francisco and will return! He also LIKED the cool and mostly sunny weather.

Whether or not you like the Giants, do get tickets to PacBell Park. It's a wonderfully old fashioned/new baseball stadium and great fun. Cable car museum, walking the GG Bridge, Alcatraz tour, maybe going down to the Mission District for Mexican or other ethnic food, a trip over to Berkeley if he's at all interested in that as a college choice (same for Stanford in Palo Alto) . Best time of year to visit is September/October and would recommend staying at Fisherman's Wharf. If you wanted to travel farther a field, I would recommend Monterey with the Fishermans Wharf, Aquarium and kayaking with the sea otters or maybe farther north to Santa Cruz, the "Surf City, USA" where he could take a surfing lesson from professionals who guarantee to get you up on the board in one lesson. Under $200 I would recommend the Fisherman's Wharf area of SF or perhaps Lombard Street motels if you are going to have a car.