I'm leaving on Friday and will only be there through Sunday morning. I haven't planned a damn thing except where I'm going to sleep. What would you do if you had a day and a half to spend in San Fran? I'm not a touristy type traveller...so no jam packed agenda's please, just a few worthwhile quality places.

3/10/2009 10:56:09 PM

I'd spell it correctly--Francisco

then I'd hit up Alcatraz, ride a cable car, and check out the Haight-Ashbury district. The Napa valley region and its wineries and vineyards is worth seeing, but that will take up a day. Maybe also check out the financial district area of the city.

3/10/2009 11:11:49 PM

i thought walking around in China town was fun.


at the very least, you can feel tall for a while.

3/10/2009 11:32:14 PM

fisherman's wharf!

also, go to the monterrey aquarium if you have time.

3/10/2009 11:38:17 PM

If you want to try wine and not spend a fortune don't go to Napa. Livermore and Lodi (for Zin) are closer and have great wine.

Just pick up a weekly and you'll find something interesting.

3/10/2009 11:46:34 PM

Yes, I did realize I've been spelling it wrong. Very helpful. I saw Milk recently, is the castro district worth passing through?

3/10/2009 11:54:24 PM

Spent 10 days in SF/Napa for my honeymoon and then spent a week there last year while my wife was attending a veterinary pathology conference so I had a lot of free time.

Eat at House of Nanking for Chinese... just don't go at peak hours. You can kill hours just walking in all the shops and watching random 90 year old asian women doing tai chi

Alcatraz is actually pretty nicely done now, though touristy of course. Its all a self-guided audio tour now. Takes a couple hours so will kill a lot of your time.

Golden Gate park is amazing and plenty to do (Japanese Tea Garden, Conservatory of Flowers, Arboretum, De Young Museum, etc). Great for people watching too.

We stayed for a week right at Embarcadero and Market so I hung out at the Ferry Building a lot and it has great choices for food. The best quick bites being Taylors Automatic Refresher and Boccalone Salumeria... though honestly, I would kill to have access to at least 5 or 6 other eateries from the Ferry Building. One stop picnic place too... bottle from the wine shop, a few slices of fresh salumi from Boccalone, some cheese from Cowgirl Creamery, and the most amazing bread from Acme Bread Co.

I spent a lot of free time just walking around. Union Square has all the shopping you could want. So many different communities like little Italy, Telegraph Hill (Coit Tower), Russian Hill (Lombard Street), the ritzy Knob Hill, and the ever interesting Haight-Ashbury and Castro districts.

I would skip Fisherman's Wharf, especially Pier 39, because it is the epitome of "touristy" (complete with Ripley's Believe It Or Not, a wax museum, animatronics, and all the air brushed attire you could want) but some like that. Ghiradelli Square's renovation wasn't complete when we were there but it seemed like a slightly more upscale commercial tourist trap (some crappy winery tasting room, new age jewelery, and overpriced hot fudge sundaes etc).

Monterey Aquarium is like 2.5 hours from SF so you can strike that.

I think Duke's got a good idea... hit Alcatraz early, take a streetcar down the Embarcardero to the Financial District and have lunch there at the Ferry Building. You can hop on a cable car there (and do this in reverse) or walk up Market to Union Square for shopping, then head north to Chinatown, then north to little Italy, west to Russian Hill for Lombard Street, and eventually north to Fisherman's Wharf where you can ride the cable car back to Market. It is really easy to get around, just get a map of the Muni so you know what to catch and where... oh yeah, have exact change too! Golden Gate Park is a great place to relax but it is a long ride to get there, probably no time for you

3/11/2009 12:46:06 AM

i live in the east bay and work in SF. pm me if you have any specific questions.

3/11/2009 1:06:08 AM

muir woods national park to see the redwood trees. http://www.nps.gov/muwo/

3/11/2009 6:51:04 AM

just walk around and eat food

3/11/2009 8:18:46 AM

Quote :

"I'm leaving on Friday and will only be there through Sunday morning. I haven't planned a damn thing except where I'm going to sleep. What would you do if you had a day and a half to spend in San Fran? I'm not a touristy type traveller...so no jam packed agenda's please, just a few worthwhile quality places."

Chinatown

It's the second largest establishment of Chinese people right behind China.

3/11/2009 8:21:16 AM

What is awesome about that?

just a bunch of cheap trinkets and less than sanitary food.

been there, it's extremely underwhelming.

3/11/2009 8:30:15 AM

drive down to 17 mile drive and walk around pebble beach and see carmel by the sea

3/11/2009 10:53:59 AM

The drive from SF to Napa takes about an hour


I was in SF/Napa for my honeymoon in October.


Definetly ate my weight in clam chowder mmmmmmmmmmmmmm

3/11/2009 11:01:25 AM

Quote :

"I would skip Fisherman's Wharf, especially Pier 39, because it is the epitome of "touristy" ("

i actually liked the Wharf and Pier 39

i took some amazing photos on that pier and it has a great view of "the rock". yes, very touristy but Pier 39 is also where Houdini performed way back in the day.

i'd go there just to say that i had been ... you can spend an hour or so there and everything pretty much and grab a nice bite to eat.

3/11/2009 11:21:47 AM

This is great! I'm really glad I asked you guys!

Couple questions...Alcatraz, I've heard it's impossible to get tickets in an "at the door" fashion. I've heard you have to order well in advance. Clearly that's not going to happen, think it's still possible to get a trip out there?

Completely forgot about the cable cars. One thing is that we aren't really going to have a ride from the airport, so unless we want to stop in Oakland first (which we don't) we'll either have bags to drag with us, or will stash them at the airport. Anyone know if they have lockers to do this in at SFO? Also aside from taxis, do cable cars or busses run from the airport?

My uncle's office is on Pier 38, for some reason I think that is near Embarcadero (maybe?) We could drop our bags there I'm sure. Are the districts and shopping sort of in that area? I know it sounds like food is, which we will definitely be taking full advantage of!!

What's a good bar to stop in at? Something with a rather extensive beer selection maybe? Ideas?

OH, and the point of this trip is to venture northward to Covelo, CA. Anyone heard of it? What is your impression of it? I've heard the Indian Reservation out there is kind of dangerous.

3/11/2009 11:32:57 AM

Quote :

" i actually liked the Wharf and Pier 39 i took some amazing photos on that pier and it has a great view of "the rock". yes, very touristy but Pier 39 is also where Houdini performed way back in the day. i'd go there just to say that i had been ... you can spend an hour or so there and everything pretty much and grab an nice amazingly awesome bite to eat. "

Quote :

"What is awesome about that? just a bunch of cheap trinkets and less than sanitary food. been there, it's extremely underwhelming."

That was just a random fact I had learned out there, but I enjoyed Chinatown. The Sushi out there was awesome.

[Edited on March 11, 2009 at 11:56 AM. Reason : ]

3/11/2009 11:54:33 AM

^^ go to toronado for beer (on haight near fillmore)

i'd recommend grabbing a burrito in the mission

and if you're heading north afterwards, you can do the wine-tasting thing along the way in santa rosa/sonoma up the 101 (otherwise i wouldn't recommend leaving the city if you're only there a few days, there's plenty to do in SF)

oh, and you can take BART from SFO into the city no problem

[Edited on March 11, 2009 at 12:55 PM. Reason : bart]

3/11/2009 12:53:26 PM

Ok so BART into the city. And muni (?) around the city?

Unfortunately I have to leave SF. The whole point of the trip is to help with a spay/neuter, free care clinic in Covelo 4 hours north. Does anyone know of a train or bus system that might take me into Ukiah from SF by any chance?

[Edited on March 11, 2009 at 1:34 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on March 11, 2009 at 1:35 PM. Reason : .]

3/11/2009 1:31:38 PM

Take BART to get to Civic Center and then Muni is your friend. Well an unreliable, slow, loud, and interesting smelling friend, but it will get you pretty much wherever you need to go for a lot cheaper than a cab.

And for all the people bashing the wharf and chinatown for being 'touristy', all I can say is that if you had high expectations, it's no wonder you were disappointed.

surprised nobody has mentioned baker beach, sutro baths, crissy field, coit tower, twin peaks, the cliff house, lands end, or even treasure island. SF is a photographer's paradise.

oh and BART goes to the East Bay too. people bash Oakland and Berkeley all the time, but if you want awesome food at a more affordable price and far superior weather to foggy SF, it's worth the time to check it out.

3/11/2009 1:41:31 PM

I have a better time going out in Walnut Creek than I do the Marina District...

I've never been too impressed with North Beach. I've yet to find Italian food that is even the caliber of my Italian places in Raleigh... which are none too impressive.

[Edited on March 11, 2009 at 2:20 PM. Reason : x]

3/11/2009 2:19:29 PM

^^ yeah, I liked the Wharf, and Chinatown is worth seeing, if only briefly. Also, you've gotta go check out the Golden Gate Bridge sometime during the trip.

3/11/2009 2:27:26 PM

http://www.flickr.com/photos/adamncsu/sets/72157601123476948/

my gallery from my trip to San Fran, Oakland & San Jose

3/11/2009 3:12:17 PM

^^^ If you want better Italian food, youre probably better off in North Oakland on College Ave or Piedmont Ave. There are some great places in Berkeley on Solano Ave and in the gourmet ghetto as well.
And I agree, the Marina is for chumps.

People rant and rave about the nightlife in SF and a lot of it is good, but I tend to spend my weekends out in Rockridge or Berkeley unless there is something crazy going on in SOMA or Union Square at one of the clubs. SF gets expensive quickly and the East Bay is just less hectic in general.

3/11/2009 3:27:10 PM

Fisherman's Wharf is pretty touristy. For a really good meal go to Coi it's near the strip club district it recently just got it's 2nd michelin star. Smoker4 and I ate there and French Laundry 2 weeks ago and Coi was way better. This guy runs a food blog and thought the same:

http://linecook415.blogspot.com/2009/03/coi.html

The mission, haight, and marina all have really awesome drinks (in some cases cheap), but way different scenes.

And holy shit I know you.

3/11/2009 6:59:53 PM

Holy Shit! I know you!

Justin how have you been?

You ate there 2 weeks ago? Are you in California now?

3/11/2009 9:02:27 PM

Quote :

"Eat at House of Nanking for Chinese"

YES. Don't order off the menu. Just say if you want chicken, fish, veggies, and they'll do the rest.

Stay away from fisherman's warf.... although Boudin has really good clam chowder bread bowls.... But if you do go, beware of the bushman.

I live in the mission district, so i'm a little partial. Some people love it, some people hate it. Valencia street is really cool. Go to El Farolito @ 24th and mission if you want a really good taqueria style burrito. El Metate @ 22nd and Bryant is super good too. Pretty much any hole in the wall taqueria will not disappoint.

The haight is fun. Lots of cute little shops. Magnolia brewery has okay beers. Check out Amoeba records if you are into music.... actually just go there. Its amazing.

The castro is cool too, but don't plan your afternoon there. Maybe just drive down castro st. You'll see the castro theater, etc. There is a really good noodle shop on castro st called Nirvana.

Financial district is cool if you're looking to do any kind of shopping.

Coit tower gives panaromic views of the city, but can get really crowded during the day. The presidio is nice, so is crissy field, ft mason.

The california academy of sciences is supposed to be AMAZING. I have yet to go. I heard you have to dedicate a day to it though.

China Town isnt worth it. But thats my opinion.

I've only been to Alcatraz once, and I remember it being insanely crowded.

If you can, go to the Marin Headlands. Its absolutely gorgeous and its right across the GG bridge.

3/11/2009 10:16:39 PM