teamorris

My family of 4 (myself, husband, son age 11, daughter age 16) will be traveling from Santa Barbara to San Francisco next month for 5 days not including travel days. There is an overwhelming amount to see and do; can't do it all, so looking for help in paring it down to manageable and enjoyable chunks! Our journey will start at 2p on a Saturday in SB and we fly out of San Francisco early the next Sat. We have been to SB before so we are interested in getting on the road up the coast asap. Have been reading (and trying to keep up with, lol) chocoholic's post which seems to follow a similar route, so I apologize for the redundancy. Some of my questions are: where to spend the night on the way to San Francisco, and for how long, and how long to allow in San Francisco. Thinking about Morro Bay or Big Sur, Carmel/Monterey. Husband thinks we should do the Monterey aquarium, but I'm not sold. I'd rather kayak (which we did last year at LaJolla and loved). Also, have chance for private tour of Hearst Castle. Do we have the time? My husband and I visited San Francisco for 2 days many years ago and definitely want to stay longer this time. Any recs on areas of town to stay in with the fam? Will have car but considering ditching it due to high parking rates I am reading about. Interested in Muir Woods, guess I need to keep the car until then. Would love to stay near public transportation.
Any help is appreciated. Have seen Stu's writings on San Francisco and will use that as our 'travel guide'. Need to get more of our itinerary firmed up!
Thanks!

vova

What are your family interests and what are your kids into? What I might suggest for a couple is different than for a family w/ teenagers. Do you want to focus on nature or do you want to get some hustle and bustle of a neighborhood/city? Do you like tourist attractions or do you want to feel like a local?

Anyhow - I might stop in Big Sur on the way up and do a walk and grab dinner. The drive will be beautiful and it will take you about 3.5 hours to get there. I would spend the night either in Monterey or Carmel - i would recommend seeing the Aquarium...especially for your kids.

From there, zip up to San Francisco and enjoy yourself. Depending on where your hotel is, you can park in garages nearby and not pay as much. For instance there are lots of garages in the SOMA area that are between 15 and 20 per day.

In the city lots of activities depending on your interest:
- Go to a Giants game at AT&T Park...gorgeous stadium and the team is good this year
- walk some of the different neighborhoods (Marina, Cow Hollow, Pacific Heights, North Beach)
- tour Alcatraz...if that would be fun for the kids
- Go to some of the museums and walk around Golden Gate Park (Academy of Sciences is great)
- Go the Ferry Building and walk up Embarcadero to Fisherman's Wharf

Some day trips from SF is Muir Woods / Mt. Tam, Point Reyes is beautiful, kayak Tomales Bay

this may push the budget but teatro zinzanni is a lot of fun as a family evening activity.

sf7307

- walk some of the different neighborhoods (Marina, Cow Hollow, Pacific Heights, North Beach)

Just to add to the list of fun neighborhoods to wander around --- Hayes Street http://www.sfgate.com/neighborhoods/sf/hayesvalley/

Fillmore Street

http://www.fillmorestreetsf.com/

StuDudley

And my favorite neighborhood - the Noe Valley

Stu Dudley

vova

sorry - forgot those.
if you're feeling funky you can even include the haight-ashbury neighborhood...lots to do in the city, right?

these days, i center my touring around where i'm going to eat.

sf7307

Stu, how could I possibly omit Noe Valley? (vova, I lived in Noe Valley for years, as did Stu)

luxliving

A really fun place to take the kids for dinner is at the "Rainforest Cafe" at Fisherman's Wharf in S.F.

I've also been to the one in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand.

trippinkpj

I like the Inner Sunset and Irving Street near 8th and 9th. Lots of dining options there. Also, Zazie's in Cole Valley.