The Camera Obacura may be a challenge. There’s a reason the area it’s in is called Lands End and it’s extremely weather dependent. From your hostel, it’s about 45 minutes each way by bus. But, if you go out that way, there’s the Cliff House, the ruins of the Sutro Baths, and Lands End itself, so you could easily spend an afternoon out there. Lands End San Francisco. A local's guide, from Fog City Secrets
I haven’t been there in 5 years but unless things have drastically changed I second Magnolia. Good food, and I fondly remember the beer ice cream. Tastes not much like beer, but it’s very good.
Just to clarify: you mean that distance is longer but only $4 more? They have their proprietary algorithms. The San Jose route can go through heavy traffic while Oakland airport is in the east well before downtown. Also I didn’t adjust for rush hour etc.
Nothing inside the city of SF is that far. The airport is 3 or so towns south despite the name.
I really prefer flying thru OAK than SFO. Internationally, that may be more difficult.
You can walk across the bridge. It’s an interesting walk, IIRC under 2 miles one way. The sights depend on fog. Just avoid looking “thoughtful” while peering over the edge. I am not personally aware of bike rentals except that there are dozens of options.
As far as general local travel, Uber/Lyft is the way to go. Take a cable car if you must but not merely for A to B.
A bit closer to San Jose (although probably not enough of a travel time difference to be a major factor, all things considered) is the Computer History Museum. Very sadly, though, they no longer have a Babbage Difference Engine on display—the demonstration was something to behold.
Yes, but no bus gets you near the spot I am thinking of. The problem with a cab is, while it shouldn’t be that hard to get one to take you there, it’s a bit of a hassle getting one to pick you up; also, a number of cabs charge extra for crossing the bridge, in part because it is a toll bridge.
On the other hand, there are plenty of places on the San Francisco side where you can get decent views of the bridge; the already mentioned Fort Point, as well as Pier 39 on Fisherman’s Wharf (where, IIRC, the sea lions are located). I have a feeling one of the “hop-on, hop-off” tour buses has a stop near a bridge photo spot. While Pier 39 is a bit touristy (there’s a Hard Rock Cafe there), it has another advantage; there is a trolley service that runs between there and Market Street consisting of trolleys from various eras and countries.
One place you must visit at Fisherman’s Wharf: the Musee Mecanique (Mechanical Museum) at Pier 45 (three piers west of Pier 39), which is a museum of antique arcade machines, just about all of which still work (and check the site to see what I mean by “arcade machines”).
Quoting where the link is… I went to San Francisco on purpose in 2014. The Point Bonita Lighthouse itself is worth the trip (we spent about half a day there, going by city bus since we did not rent a car), but I got some good shots of the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge from the hills on the way there.
If you go to Monterey, consider going a little bit father to Point Lobos State Natural Reserve. Years ago I took a friend there who said, “Everything here looks like a Sierra Club calendar.”
If you want to take a slightly unusual iconic shot of the Golden Gate Bridge, take one from the west side from a boat (as close to dawn or sunset as possible is a good idea) - almost all the other photos you might see of the bridge are taken from the Marin Headlands (Hawk Hill is a popular spot, but the Point Bonita Lighthouse as mentioned by blondebear is also good,) the east on the Bay/Alcatraz, or the south/southeast from every part of the city from Fort Mason to Baker Beach.
Photos from the west give people a bit of a surprise, and you can get the skyline of downtown and Oakland in the frame too. There are ferry rides and other boats that leave from Pier 39 or Fisherman’s Wharf that would take you out west, just far enough outside the bridge to take a good shot.
Sigh, my wife is tired of me singing “If you’re (accidentally) going… to San Francisco…”
By the way, my favorite thing to do in SF is to wander. NOT do the touristy things.
But I’m like that in any city – been to London many times, never been to Big Ben or the Eye. But I’ve found some wonderful pub lunches.
Oh, speaking of food, you’ll be near some lovely French places: Café de la Presse for coffee and croissants, but also tasty dinners. Amid dozens of European newspapers and magazines. That’s at Bush and Grant St. A block or so west on Bush and you get tinier and hipper at Bouche.
And I’m not even a Francophile… I just usually stay nearby (Orchard Garden Inn or the Klimpton), and stumbled into them.
Oh, you say you want cheaper food, and lots of it? Then you want Tommy’s Joynt. Check the pics, those are sides of beef and pork being sliced in thick piles onto your huge plate… Mmmm… I walked there from Union Square because that’s where the (frugal) locals wanted to eat.
I’m not a native, but is the Golden Gate Bridge even visible from anywhere in Golden Gate Park? You’d think it would be, but GG Park and the San Francisco end of GG Bridge are in completely different neighborhoods. If you mean the park at the southern end of the bridge, that’s the Presidio, formerly a U.S. Army post. (And before that, Mexican, and before that Spanish I believe). IIRC there was always a small park at this end of the bridge, even while the Presidio was still in commission.
You might consider taking the ferry from Fisherman’s Wharf to Sausalito, which is how I got this photo using a Nikon point-and-shoot. If you have a DSLR and a decent amount of practice with it, you should be able to do a lot better.
Now that you mention it, the picture I linked to earlier from the Sausalito ferry was taken near the end of the trip, i.e. near Sausalito, so again, basically from the northern end. Also while on the ferry, but closer to SF, I got some nice skyline shots.
I have other shots of the bridge which I haven’t put on Flickr yet, though they are on FB if you know me there. While it’s true that it has been photographed from every conceivable angle hundreds of times, every hour of every day can be different with regard to the condition and apparent color of the ocean water, atmospheric conditions, fog, etc. You could do a whole album of photos of the Golden Gate Bridge.
Two spots in the park come to mind for this - first, Strawberry Hill, which is in the middle of Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park, has a view of the bridge - although it’s not where I would go to take photos of the bridge. Second, the Hamon Observation Tower, which is a free-to-visit part of the de Young Art Museum (if you like art museums, go to the museum too.)
Golden Gate Park is far enough away that I’d recommend if you want to take pictures of the bridge, head up to the Presidio, Fort Point, Baker Beach on the south side, or Horseshoe Cove, Hawk Hill, Point Bonita on the north side.
Photos from the ferries are also doable - but highly dependent on weather since you only have a 30 or 45 minute window during your ferry ride.
One of the best spots would be from Battery Spencer, one of the former gun emplacements just across from San Francisco, on the north side of the bridge. It’s readily accessible, either by driving to it, or by a short hike from the parking area a bit downhill off the foot of the bridge.
Some representative photos from the spot you can see here, or you can even just search for “Battery Spencer” on Google Earth and it’ll take you right there, so you can scope out the location in 3D.
Highway 1 is lovely but a bit easier if you’re doing it northbound - what with being on the mountain side of the road versus the southbound side that drops off into the surf in places.
If you do go down to Monterey, the aquarium is also worth a visit. It’s where they filmed part of one of the Star Trek movies (IV, I think).
