Hi. Many thanks to the myriad old posts (esp Stu Dudley’s recommendations) that I have been referencing to plan our trip.

We will be staying in Menlo Park for five days and are planning to tour the city this Friday. If we choose to drive to the city, what is a good (safe, convenient, and not prohibitively priced) place to park? Also, we have to meet someone who will get out of a class at San Francisco University at 3PM. What’s a good meeting place - somewhere that will lend itself for more sightseeing the rest of the day and dinner later.

Our plans are fluid but we’d like to tour at a leisurely pace and minimize long walks without rest stops. The main thing we want to do is to ride a cable car - bonus if we get to the end of a line to see the turntable. We’d like to see (in order of preference) Lombard Street, the Palace of Fine Arts, Chinatown, and the Wharf but won’t be terribly disappointed if we don’t tick off everything in the list.

Thanks in advance for your recommendations!

There are parking lots and garages all over the city. There's a big one at Pier 39 and other garages and lots near FW. None of them are cheap, so just be prepared (Pier 39 is $10/hr, max $50 for the day).

Is the person you're meeting with at San Francisco State University, or at University of San Francisco (two entirely different schools, and in very different locations)? It would be best if you pick a place like Chinatown to meet, as opposed to you going out to meet them, because neither school is in an area that would normally be frequented by tourists (nothing to sightsee around them - SF State is near a mall and otherwise residential area, and Univ. of San Francisco is in a residential neighborhood. Either would be about 45 minutes to downtown by public transportation.

Thank you. $50 for the day is steep. But then again, if we add up the CalTrain fares and Uber rides to and from the Menlo Park station, we may be better off driving.

SF State University. Thanks - we don’t need to go all the way there.

Use this map to find parking. https://www.spotangels.com/#id=10564...kton%20St%20SF

The M-Ocean View Muni Metro goes all the way to SF State from downtown. Your friend could take it from SF state and meet you downtown



Stu Dudley

There are lots of places cheaper than $50. The Civic Center garage would be fairly convenient for you coming up on 101 and it's near both a BART station and a streetcar line. It's only $29 a day max, and only $18 if you get an early bird rate by getting there by 8:30? (I think you'd have to check). There's an Embarcadero lot that is only $34 a day (3 Embarcdero Ctr) and only $18 if you get there by 9 am.

$50 per day is for the "Tourist Central" Pier 39 lot. Not many (maybe none) locals would park there.




Actually, when I want to go downtown during the day - I'll drive to the Noe Valley, park my car free somewhere west of Sanchez St, north of 30th St, and south of 24th St that doesn't have a 2 hr parking restriction or a street cleaning restriction. Then I'll hop on the J-Church Muni Metro (sit on the east side of the car for the best views) and 20 mins later I'll be downtown or at the Ferry Bldg..


BTW, sf7307 & I lived in the Noe Valley at the same time in the mid/late 70s, and then moved to Burlingame/San Mateo 3 blocks from each other at about the same time. Then she moved back to The City a few years ago.


I'll repeat this for about the 10th time. The farther away I get from Union Square - the more I enjoy San Francisco. Consider spending some time in the Noe Valley, and Union St/Fillmore St/Chestnut St area. And also Fillmore between Jackson & Bush (not named after "W"). Crissy Field & Fort Point is where I take visitors when I want to "show off" San Francisco.


Stu Dudley

I actually lived AT 30th and Sanchez (Sanchez between Day and 30th).

Thanks everyone!

Stu Dudley - based on your SF recommendations post, we went to one of the lookouts on Conzelman on our way back from Muir Woods yesterday. We spent a few minutes just sitting on a bench soaking in the beautiful view. After crossing the bridge, we went to the Palace of Fine Arts for a lovely stroll. Thanks for the great tips!

Didn’t get a chance to update. We ended up parking at the Music Concourse at Golden Gate Park. Met our friend at the Japanese Tea Garden.

Appreciate the parking tips. We parked at a big garage by Fisherman's Wharf because it was part of a package deal with Alcatraz and a Segway tour. I have to admit that it was pretty helpful if you have an early boarding for Alcatraz.