San Francisco for 3-4 days - what must I not miss?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve never been, but I’m going. What are some must-sees?

My plan is to grab the hop-on hop-off bus, probably the 2-day pass. My only plans so far:

  • Walk the Golden Gate bridge (anyone done this?)

  • Haight-Ashbury (a must for me)

  • Alcatraz (maybe, not sure if this is worth the time and $)

  • Golden Gate Park

  • Ride a cable car

  • Ferry Building Marketplace

  • Twin Peaks (maybe, have to read more about it)

Please comment on any of this that you have experienced, as well as suggesting other attractions.

Thanks!

mmm

2

Good list! Definitely walk the bridge, but if you want to take it a step further, and are inclined, you can rent a bicycle around Fisherman’s Wharf area and ride to Crissy Field (awesome views), across the bridge, and then to Sausalito (just follow the stream of other bicyclists) for coffee or lunch, then catch the Sausalito Ferry right back to Fisherman’s Wharf - you only have to ride one way, and the ferry passes near Alcatraz as well.

Ferry Building Marketplace - try to go on one of the days with the Farmers Market - it just amplifies the whole thing.

If you have a car and can get out to Treasure Island, there are some great views to be had there.

If you like food trails you can head away from the tourist areas to Clement Street from around 19th Ave to 27th Ave, or Balboa Street from around 34th Ave to 39th Ave, toward the west side of the city. There is also the Mission district along Mission Street around 17th St to 25th St to the south.

Have fun!

3

Get out to Mt Tam or better yet Muir Woods. Not sure of the public transportation options.

4

I have a set of walking tours on flash cards, and have done almost all before the pandemic. Definitely walk the bridge, but decide if you want to walk back (I did) or catch a Lyft back. It will take a while.
Definitely do the Ferry Building, and Chinatown. There is also Japantown, a kind of mall with lots of restaurants and a great bookstore the last time I was there. The Presidio (near the bridge) is nice. There is a museum there also. It is free. There is a trail from the bridge along the Pacific to Land’s End, which is amazing since you could be miles from a city.
Golden Gate park starts at the Haight. If you walk it, you’ll get to some cool windmills on the ocean side of the Park.
One good walk is the Embarcadero from the Ferry Building all the way past Fisherman’s Wharf to Ghiradelli Square, and past it to the Marina.
Definitely plot your visits on a map, since things are closer together than you might think.

5

Bike the Golden Gate. Seriously, it’s kinda big and not super easy to get to from where you’re liable to stay.

Go to Muir Woods and hike for a half-day. Go past the little walk by the front gate. Go in up the hills and explore a bit.

Alcatraz is worth it if you’re up for touristy stuff. You can generally wander the island relatively freely after the tour and take whichever ferry back you want. Also being on the bay in a boat is a neat part of the experience. It’s not earth shattering of course, but it’s not the kind of thing you can find anywhere else.

Haight-Ashbury is NOT worth the time.

Fisherman’s Wharf is super touristy but you can find some nice snacks and souvenirs if that’s something you care about.

If you’re able to get access to a car I think driving south to Half Moon Bay is worth the time just to see the coast.

6

Walking the bridge is great.

I had more fun taking a bay tour boat rather than going to Alcatraz (the boat goes near Alcatraz :slight_smile: ). The boat went under the GGB all the way to the Bay Bridge.

Two other things worth seeing (IMO) are the Exploratorium and the Bay Area Model. Though I don’t know about public transportation to get to them.

7

If you’re a fan of The Maltese Falcon (book or movie), you can go to the corner of Stockton and Bush (warning: spoiler!), where an important event in the story takes place.

On my first visit to SF, I did my own Maltese Falcon tour, and except for John’s Grill, a real steak house that’s still there, there’s only one actual location in the story that can be precisely pinpointed. That’s the one.

8

Pretty sure there is bus service during the peak tourist season. Or there are park and ride lots in Sausalito from which you can catch a shuttle bus. See the Muir Woods web site for details.

If you will have a car and just want to drive yourself to the Muir Woods, be aware, you must reserve your parking space in advance.

And I, for one, recommend Alcatraz. And I recommend the audio tour. Most of those audio tour things are pretty dry, but the one for Alcatraz is actually pretty engaging. They actually used former guards and inmates as narrators, who share personal stories about their time there, rather then just dry facts.

Oh, and if you walk from Haight-Ashbury to Golden Gate Park, don’t be surprised if someone tries to sell you weed.

ETA: Oh, and Musée Mécanique on Fisherman’s Wharf is a fun place to kill some time. It’s an old fashioned penny arcade with everything from 100 year old games to modern video games and everything in between (including Pong).

9

Both of these are great, if you like geeky things.

Maybe take a photo of you holding up the Millennium Tower?

10

This is the Dope, buddy. Geek is our middle name. :slight_smile:

11

Coit Tower is kind of fun. It’s an iconic building. It has cool (WPA?) murals. There’s a pretty good view from the top of the tower. And it’s easy to get to.

My first time walking on the GGB was back in 1968, and a friend of a friend was on his way to Vietnam. His navy ship was going to pass under the bridge, so a group of us walked out half way and waved to him as he went by. Then, we walked back to that little round building that was a coffee shop then for hot chocolate and/or clam chowder to warm up!

12

I actually lived in SF for 11 years, but I’d still go to Fisherman’s Wharf for the food, you can walk down pier and see where your fresh fish were caught

13

Exploratorium Exploratorium Exploratorium!

The bridge is fine to walk, 3.4 miles one way. Your visual enjoyment really depends on weather, either you’ll be able to look down on Fort Point etc. or see nothing due to fog. Bring a jacket.

Sorry, Haight Ashbury is just a yuppie neighborhood with some faux-hippie tourist stuff. That doesn’t mean there’s not nice things to check out there, just don’t come in too rosy. Outside Golden Gate Park is where you now buy the drugs. The park itself is cool.

I haven’t been to Alcatraz since I was a kid but I feel it’s a standard tourist thing that might be worth it, YMMV.

Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39 are tourist traps and can be expensive, but I don’t think you should avoid them. You should avoid the Tenderloin, especially at night. It’s right there, so if you don’t know or aren’t paying attention you can walk right into it even though you were just in a nice neighborhood.

Some tourists like the Painted Ladies/the Full House house, if that’s your thing.

14

Second/third/fourth the Exploratorium (and unless you’re hopelessly out in the boonies, it should be easy to get to via the streetcars that run along the Embarcadero). I also enjoyed the Musée Mécanique, though the term “penny arcade” is a bit misleading — everything costs at least a quarter.

Next to the Musée is the WWII submarine USS Pampanito, which can be fascinating if only trying to envision how 80+ crew lived and functioned aboard her.

I used to recommend Tommy’s Joynt, though it’s decidedly not to everyone’s taste*. But it seems to have gone downhill: last time I was there the counterman didn’t snarl at me once.

* Understatement.

15

They are terrible. The guiding principle in designing public transit in the North Bay is, “How do we keep the poors out?”

16

Whatever you do, don’t EAT there (exception, there is reportedly one decent ramen shop, but I don’t know which one). It was mediocre before Covid, now it’s disgusting, and not even remotely Japanese. The bookstore is called Kinokuniya, and if you have any interest in Japanese stationery/pens, stop by Maido across from it.

Alcatraz: it may be different now with Covid but I would check for reservations before you come to SF, sometimes the tours sell out well before.

Twin Peaks is a spectacular view and nothing else except a lot of wind. You need a car to get there. Also recommended for a different view: Telegraph Hill, which also has Coit Tower.

GG Park is huge and there are enough things in it to keep you busy for at least a day, including the botanical garden, huge greenhouse, and arboretum, Cal. Acad. of Sciences museum, DeYoung (art) museum, and a whole lot of beautiful trails and open spaces.

You might want to see how the other half lives in Presidio Heights and Pacific Heights. Walking here is recommended to get the full flavor of the residential magnificence of the filthy rich.

If you’re there on a Sunday and in summer (you didn’t say when you were coming) there’s a great outdoor performance venue called Stern Grove, entrance at 19th Ave. and Sloat Blvd. Bring a coat and a picnic lunch. Nothing for this year is posted yet, go to sterngrove.org for more info.

There is also, of course, the beach (called, cleverly, Ocean Beach), at least 5-6 miles of it, on the west end of town. It’s worth a walk up and down, if not on the sand then on the concrete boardwalk alongside. There are two windmills at that end of GG Park. Again, bring a coat.

You didn’t ask, and it really is variable, but the climate here is often quite cool even in the summer (please no Mark Twain quotes!) The usual advice is to dress in layers (and to carry something like a backpack to hold the layers you may take off).

17

Mrs. L and I spent one day there a few years ago. Our strategy in several cities has been: take the tour bus, the hop-on hop-off kind. It might have been this company.

Ride the circuit, listen to the guy tell you what’s what. For example our guy pointed out a football field. Remember this scene in Dirty Harry where he tracks down bad guy Andy Robinson etc.? It was filmed there. That’s kinda cool to know.

Anyway once we’ve seen the circuit, we know which areas look worthwhile and which don’t.

You have to reserve tickets well in advance for Alcatraz AIUI.

We rode the bus over the Golden Gate. It’s impressive but my, it was windy! And yes, the Mark Twain quote is available on tee shirts…funny because it’s true, plan to dress warm. We ate at Fisherman’s Wharf. Meh. Chinatown was cool.

18

If you can’t make it to Alcatraz, Angel Island is well worth visiting.

19

If you go to Muir Woods, go a little further to Muir Beach Lookout! Seriously, this is the most stunning view on the California coast. You walk out on a ridge trail and are surrounded by the ocean, 270 degrees. Do it at sunset if you can. (Sunrise is probably fogged in, but try that also). Amazing spot that nobody seems to know about.

20

We did the hop on hop off bus, a tour bus out to Muir Woods - we lucked out and got an excellent bus driver/tour guide - the California Academy of Sciences (my father wanted to see the African Hall for its old time dioramas), the Conservatory of Flowers, which I liked immensely, wandered around Fisherman’s Wharf and hit the Zoo, which had defiantly miserable lemurs.