San Francisco thread - to discuss all things San Francisco

[PrincessInOz]

It is. I hate that steep walk though

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It's steep walking in most of San Francisco.

You won't need to get on the stairmaster for a week!

 

[Marlea98]

It's steep walking in most of San Francisco.

You won't need to get on the stairmaster for a week!

We walked to and from the wharf both days we were there, but that last part was a killer. I'm the person who walked up to the glacier lookout for either Fox or Franz Josef glaciers in NZ (can't remember which one) and threw myself down and demanded DH get me a helicopter as I couldn't go any further

 

[disneyismyhappyplace]

Happy travels!

What time of year?

If you want to head into the city and there is somewhere for you to store luggage at SFO, I would catch the BART from the airport to Powell Street station. It's a short walk to Union Square from there. Should cost about $6 one way per person.

If you want to shop and want to go to a mall, Hillsdale Mall is an option.

Are you planning on hiring a car? You could cover more ground that way.

Thanks for your reply.

We will be there in September. How far from the airport is Hillsdale mall? We won't have a car.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Thanks for your reply.

We will be there in September. How far from the airport is Hillsdale mall? We won't have a car.

Technically, it's about 10 miles south of SFO. If catching public transport, you would take the BART and interchange at Millbrae station; to the Caltrain or to the bus and head towards Hillsdale station. It's directly across the road from Hillsdale station.

It's a toss-up as to whether you head into the city or not. If you caught the BART into the city, you could shop at the Westfield right at Powell Street Station.

There is the Shops at Tanforan, San Bruno. Its a lot closer to the airport (about 3 miles) and we do tend to stop there if we have time to kill before catching the plane home. It's not very big and I would google it to check out the range of shops c.f. the Westfield or Hillsdale. We normally spend about 1 - 2 hours at the Tanforan.

 

[Albertan mom]

So happy to find this thread.
We are visiting SF soon and have never been there, and have no idea what to do or where to stay!
It is me, DH, DD 18 and DS 15.

We are going to San Francisco Aug 1-4.
We land on the Thursday at 10am. We leave on the Sunday to drive to Anaheim, so probably by 11am. (we will have a rental car)

In those days, we plan on doing
-Pier 39
-Alcatraz
-Walt Disney Museum
-6 Flags Discovery Kingdom
-Tour of city and Golden Gate Bridge?

What order would you do this? We think we will do 6 Flags on Friday, and avoid Sat and Sun so it isn't as busy.

What is the best ALCATRAZ tour? Day or night? What company?

What is a good hotel to get to all of these places easily?

Any other suggestions would be great!

 

[PrincessInOz]

So happy to find this thread.
We are visiting SF soon and have never been there, and have no idea what to do or where to stay!
It is me, DH, DD 18 and DS 15.

We are going to San Francisco Aug 1-4.
We land on the Thursday at 10am. We leave on the Sunday to drive to Anaheim, so probably by 11am. (we will have a rental car)

In those days, we plan on doing
-Pier 39
-Alcatraz
-Walt Disney Museum
-6 Flags Discovery Kingdom
-Tour of city and Golden Gate Bridge?

What order would you do this? We think we will do 6 Flags on Friday, and avoid Sat and Sun so it isn't as busy.

What is the best ALCATRAZ tour? Day or night? What company?

What is a good hotel to get to all of these places easily?

Any other suggestions would be great!

Oooh! Welcome to the Aussie section of the DisBoards!

With a rental car, you have options available to you for accommodation; but also you'll have the issue of parking if you choose to stay in the city. Where to stay depends on your budget and whether you are after separate beds for you kids or if you're after a two-bed arrangement.

Aside from the 6 Flags, most of the attractions you've listed are towards the Fisherman's Wharf area. There are any number of hotels down that end of the city to pick from.

Alcatraz night tour is a very popular tour and if you schedule allows, that's the one I would pick. I think that there is only one official tour company - the Alcatraz Cruise:

http://www.nps.gov/alca/planyourvisit/index.htm


Which order you do stuff in will depend on when you book in for Alcatraz and which tour you choose to do.

The Walt Disney Family Museum is at the Presidio. Are you planning on walking across the bridge or driving? You can practically touch the bridge from the Presidio and Fort Point IS located in the Presidio. It'll take you about 5 minutes to drive from the WDFM to Fort Point.

What are you considering doing for the city tour?

 

[Marlea98]

So happy to find this thread.
We are visiting SF soon and have never been there, and have no idea what to do or where to stay!
It is me, DH, DD 18 and DS 15.

We are going to San Francisco Aug 1-4.
We land on the Thursday at 10am. We leave on the Sunday to drive to Anaheim, so probably by 11am. (we will have a rental car)

In those days, we plan on doing
-Pier 39
-Alcatraz
-Walt Disney Museum
-6 Flags Discovery Kingdom
-Tour of city and Golden Gate Bridge?

What order would you do this? We think we will do 6 Flags on Friday, and avoid Sat and Sun so it isn't as busy.

What is the best ALCATRAZ tour? Day or night? What company?

What is a good hotel to get to all of these places easily?

Any other suggestions would be great!

PIO is our Australian expert on all things SF but I've only been to SF once and can definitely say go to Alcatraz! We only had a couple of days there and didn't get to do much at all but loved Alcatraz. We did the day tour and just bought tickets at the booth right where the ferry departs. We were there mid-January '11 and it must have been quiet because we walked up to the booth, bought tickets and got straight on. This time we plan to do Alcatraz at night and will do the same thing by walking up because we'll be there roughly the same time next year. I can only vouch for the Worldmark in Bush St because that is where we stayed (we have WM timeshare). It's an historic building and the rooms are small but it was ideal for our family of 4 because it was only for two nights. It's a bit of a walk to the Pier but that didn't bother us as we consider the walk to be part of the adventure of traveling.

Good luck with your trip. I love SF and hopefully you will too

 

[Mum from oz]

So happy to find this thread.
We are visiting SF soon and have never been there, and have no idea what to do or where to stay!
It is me, DH, DD 18 and DS 15.

We are going to San Francisco Aug 1-4.
We land on the Thursday at 10am. We leave on the Sunday to drive to Anaheim, so probably by 11am. (we will have a rental car)

In those days, we plan on doing
-Pier 39
-Alcatraz
-Walt Disney Museum
-6 Flags Discovery Kingdom
-Tour of city and Golden Gate Bridge?

What order would you do this? We think we will do 6 Flags on Friday, and avoid Sat and Sun so it isn't as busy.

What is the best ALCATRAZ tour? Day or night? What company?

What is a good hotel to get to all of these places easily?

Any other suggestions would be great!

Sounds like a good trip. We did the day trip to Alcatraz as I think our kids would've been scared there at night. It was great and I just booked online.

 

[heidispidi]

Hi everyone. I spent 24 hours in San Francisco in Jan 2011 and enjoyed visiting Alcatraz, however the fog was in ALL day and while our private driver was great, driving us here and there to visit the sites, we couldn't actually see too much of it. So while we're visiting DL again over Easter, we've decided we'll (most likely) fly to San Francisco on Easter Sunday, stay 2 nights, then return to LA for a few days before we fly home.

Now, my questions. Will anything (shops, restaurants) be open in San Francisco on Easter Sunday or Monday? I plan on arriving there around 2 - 3pm on the Sunday. Thought we would maybe visit Pier 39 and eat dinner somewhere down there. But if nothing is open, I'll need to re-think the plan.

My DH and SDD haven't been to Alcatraz, I was thinking the day tour would be good for them so they can look from the boat back to the city (assuming no fog!). The other plan was to do a 1/2 day city tour. Which tours do you all recommend? I cannot recall who our driver worked for.

Finally, where should we stay? Last time was at the Radisson Fishermans Wharf, which was very noisy, and a bit old and 'tired'. Is there a specific area or hotel we should stay, in your opinion? TIA!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Hi everyone. I spent 24 hours in San Francisco in Jan 2011 and enjoyed visiting Alcatraz, however the fog was in ALL day and while our private driver was great, driving us here and there to visit the sites, we couldn't actually see too much of it. So while we're visiting DL again over Easter, we've decided we'll (most likely) fly to San Francisco on Easter Sunday, stay 2 nights, then return to LA for a few days before we fly home.

Now, my questions. Will anything (shops, restaurants) be open in San Francisco on Easter Sunday or Monday? I plan on arriving there around 2 - 3pm on the Sunday. Thought we would maybe visit Pier 39 and eat dinner somewhere down there. But if nothing is open, I'll need to re-think the plan.

My DH and SDD haven't been to Alcatraz, I was thinking the day tour would be good for them so they can look from the boat back to the city (assuming no fog!). The other plan was to do a 1/2 day city tour. Which tours do you all recommend? I cannot recall who our driver worked for.

Finally, where should we stay? Last time was at the Radisson Fishermans Wharf, which was very noisy, and a bit old and 'tired'. Is there a specific area or hotel we should stay, in your opinion? TIA!

San Francisco does do an Easter Parade. Usually down at Union STREET (not the square). There are quite a few shops down Union Street and its rather like our strip shops. It's nice to start at one end and wander down the street, stopping and grazing. But it comes down to what you want to do and see.

I think that the Westfield down Market is shut for most public holidays. But Fisherman's wharf should be running. I've never seen them shut down.

What's your budget for hotels? I usually stay in the Silicon Valley area and train it into the downtown...so maybe someone else might provide recommendations for hotels.

 

[heidispidi]

Thanks PIO Hotel budget is $250-$350 per night. Say 4 stars? The Sir Francis Drake was recommended but everything on Tr Adv says the street noise comes straight through the windows.

 

[PrincessInOz]

Thanks PIO Hotel budget is $250-$350 per night. Say 4 stars? The Sir Francis Drake was recommended but everything on Tr Adv says the street noise comes straight through the windows.

I know a couple of the others like some of the timeshare places.

If not at Fisherman's Wharf, I quite like being at the Hyatt Regency, Embarcardero. It's close to the Ferry Building, not too bad a walk into the heart of town and is quieter around there.

Let's see if anyone else has a better recommendation.

 

[Marlea98]

Thanks PIO Hotel budget is $250-$350 per night. Say 4 stars? The Sir Francis Drake was recommended but everything on Tr Adv says the street noise comes straight through the windows.

I find that if you've had a big day of tripping about you are usually too tired to be bothered by street noise in most places.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[heidispidi]

I'm happy to say that I found a great rate for The Argonaut, which is the hotel I wanted to stay in last time, but found it to be too expensive for our budget. So I booked it! Another problem solved. I like its location, along the water and within walking distance of Pier 39 etc. which is what DH is quite interested in.

 

[knewton64]

OK.....gotta Goofy ? to ask:
(Goofy is my fav character)


Has anyone been to Chinatown?? Any particular restaurants you would recommend or foods (includ bakery items) to try??
-(I have the option of going there in the evening of my day 7 upcoming SO CAL adventure or Pier 39 it ) -


Love the thread -
need to get caught up -




Subbin!!



T.T.F.N.

 

[PrincessInOz]

OK.....gotta Goofy ? to ask:
(Goofy is my fav character)


Has anyone been to Chinatown?? Any particular restaurants you would recommend or foods (includ bakery items) to try??
-(I have the option of going there in the evening of my day 7 upcoming SO CAL adventure or Pier 39 it ) -


Love the thread -
need to get caught up -




Subbin!!



T.T.F.N.

Hmmm.......am I stalking you or are you stalking me?

I'm running in and out on the Dis lately; so it won't be a long winded answer. There's a post of cheap eats in Chinatown someone in this thread. If you haven't caught up, let me know and I'll try and find it for you.

Hope you're looking after LB!

 

[knewton64]

Hmmm.......am I stalking you or are you stalking me?

I'm running in and out on the Dis lately; so it won't be a long winded answer. There's a post of cheap eats in Chinatown someone in this thread. If you haven't caught up, let me know and I'll try and find it for you.

Hope you're looking after LB!

&


I had no idea you started this thread!!
(I am only on page 1 of it an am still reading)......

Love what I see as this thread ROCKS!!


Ok.....silly ? - where is Bush & Grant street in relation to Fishermans wharf ie Holiday inn Fishermans Wharf??

Reason why is:

1) I may opt in
for the Chinatown tour, meal, etc. getting more info from my TA on this (for my evening of day 7).
2) if not, I may then go out on my own & book a night time Chinatown tour via sffoodtours.com/pages/tours/t_night.php (they meet at 6pm at corner of Bush street & Grant).
3) OR
hang around Pier 39
4) or any other suggestions I would greatly welcome.



I finished reading this thread & really really feel you have done a fantastic job putting this all together.





T.T.F.N.

 

[carnival kid]

I'm happy to say that I found a great rate for The Argonaut, which is the hotel I wanted to stay in last time, but found it to be too expensive for our budget. So I booked it! Another problem solved. I like its location, along the water and within walking distance of Pier 39 etc. which is what DH is quite interested in.

Ohhh can I ask where you found a special rate? What was it? I would love to stay here as well (the room size and location would be great for our family size) but sadly its out of our budget.

 

[heidispidi]

I got it through Expedia, via the Olotel website, for AU$578 for 2 nights. Decided not to include breakfast (that would have cost almost $200 extra for the 4 of us). I'm sure they have more rooms available!

 

[PrincessInOz]

&

Ok.....silly ? - where is Bush & Grant street in relation to Fishermans wharf ie Holiday inn Fishermans Wharf??

Reason why is:

1) I may opt in
for the Chinatown tour, meal, etc. getting more info from my TA on this (for my evening of day 7).
2) if not, I may then go out on my own & book a night time Chinatown tour via sffoodtours.com/pages/tours/t_night.php (they meet at 6pm at corner of Bush street & Grant).
3) OR
hang around Pier 39
4) or any other suggestions I would greatly welcome.



I finished reading this thread & really really feel you have done a fantastic job putting this all together.





T.T.F.N.

Bush and Grant is nearer Union Square (the downtown) area than Fisherman's Wharf.
A night time tour sounds AWESOME! I haven't done one in Chinatown at night. If you do it, you know I'll be stalking your TR!