# San Francisco for 3-4 days - what must I not miss? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 14, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-for-3-4-days-what-must-i-not-miss/959478 "2022-02-14T20:47:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-for-3-4-days-what-must-i-not-miss/959478/61 "2022-07-02T19:21:48Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > For others, when possible I fly out of Oakland. Much smaller than SFO, but doesn’t get the fog. Also more convenient to my house, but that’s not the major reason we use it. Half of it is Southwest, so it might not work for people. Do you still have to take a bus from the OAK airport to get to BART? It was a screwy system, I think I had to buy a separate bus ticket and then some sort of ticket for the BART. This was before the contactless card era so things might be different now. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-for-3-4-days-what-must-i-not-miss/959478/62 "2022-07-02T19:23:55Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > Do you still have to take a bus from the OAK airport to get to BART? It was a screwy system, I think I had to buy a separate bus ticket and then some sort of ticket for the BART. This was before the contactless card era so things might be different now. No, there is a cool driverless mini-train that goes from the airport to the top level of the Oakland Bart station. Has never been very crowded and very clean. Costs extra, but not too much. I never took the old bus, it sounded awful. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-for-3-4-days-what-must-i-not-miss/959478/63 "2022-07-02T19:32:12Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > For others, when possible I fly out of Oakland. Yeah, when I was regularly flying between LA and SF, I used Oakland. The SF Airport is really inconvenient, especially since I was usually staying with folks in Marin. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-for-3-4-days-what-must-i-not-miss/959478/64 "2022-07-02T19:57:48Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > > [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > > > **Flying** - No problems going, multiple problems getting home. Delta cancelled our flight and re-booked us for the next day. Then, the next morning, they cancelled _that_ flight. After many, many hours on the phone, we eventually obtained a flight home that was a day and a half later than our original return flight (and split us up from the other couple we traveled with, who had to settle for a less desirable flight home). I know this is not a unique situation - and our extra day there was actually wonderful - but the aggravation and uncertainty were not fun. > > For others, when possible I fly out of Oakland… Yeah, we thought of Oakland. They didn’t have any flights for us. Good point, though. > [@Bullitt](#): > > …Note that there is a Vista Point near there where all the tour buses go (yellow circle), but Battery Spencer is sooo much better. (green circle and lines) Yep, we stopped there (Vista Point) via tour bus a couple of times, I know exactly what you mean. Driving over the bridge, in fact, I spied the folks waaaay up high to the left (turns out that was Spencer). “That’s where we need to go” said I. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-for-3-4-days-what-must-i-not-miss/959478/65 "2022-07-02T19:58:37Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Yeah, when I was regularly flying between LA and SF, I used Oakland. The SF Airport is really inconvenient, especially since I was usually staying with folks in Marin Much, much better to LA. I suspect SFO is closer to Marin in miles, but you don’t have to go through the city to get there from Oakland. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-for-3-4-days-what-must-i-not-miss/959478/66 "2022-07-02T19:59:26Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > but you don’t have to go through the city to get there from Oakland. Bingo! ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-for-3-4-days-what-must-i-not-miss/959478/67 "2022-07-03T00:01:01Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Hey, did you know that San Francisco is cool and windy? I did, but I was still unprepared Ha! I made that same mistake on my first visit to San Francisco. I had just moved to California and still felt like a tourist, so I decided to take a day trip there during a long weekend (come to think of it I’m pretty sure it was July 4 weekend). I knew the weather in San Francisco was cooler than it was inland, but I figured if it was 90F in Sacramento it couldn’t be _that_ much cooler in San Francisco. I was so wrong. That was actually when I visited Alcatraz for the first time, and I was miserable on the ferry ride. I guess maybe i should have warned you about that. Sorry. > [@carrps](#): > > And remember what Mark Twain said: The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco. It wasn’t actually Mark Twain who said that. It was some relatively unknown person. But quotes like that tend to get misattributed to a more famous person who seems like someone who would have said it. ETA: > [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > A Lyft ride (the only way to go, IMO) was $41 including tip. What’s wrong with BART? IMO since it’s a fairly compact city San Francisco is one of the few US cities where public transit works pretty well. And BART goes right from the airport to downtown. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-for-3-4-days-what-must-i-not-miss/959478/68 "2022-07-03T00:18:18Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > What’s wrong with BART? IMO since it’s a fairly compact city San Francisco is one of the few US cities where public transit works pretty well. And BART goes right from the airport to downtown. I’m interested as well. I hate to say that I can’t really recommend the CTA in Chicago especially at night from Ohare, I used to recommend it enthusiastically. And I wasn’t a hypocrite, I took the blue line from the Loop to Ohare often before Covid. I’ve got a friend who’s a flight attendant and we’d try to meet if he overnighted in Chicago. I’ve used BART often and definitely preferred it to San Francisco Muni metro trains. Used to take it from both SFO and OAK when I used to travel to the Bay Area before Covid. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-for-3-4-days-what-must-i-not-miss/959478/69 "2022-07-03T03:06:02Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > > [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > > > Hey, did you know that San Francisco is cool and windy? I did, but I was still unprepared > > Ha! I made that same mistake on my first visit to San Francisco. I had just moved to California and still felt like a tourist, so I decided to take a day trip there during a long weekend (come to think of it I’m pretty sure it was July 4 weekend). I knew the weather in San Francisco was cooler than it was inland, but I figured if it was 90F in Sacramento it couldn’t be _that_ much cooler in San Francisco. I was so wrong. When you commute on a motorcycle you are part of the climate. It’s 45 miles from San Francisco to Dublin / Pleasanton and in the summer afternoons it would be 100s when leaving Dublin / Pleasanton and 50s in San Francisco. On a motorcycle coming home and crossing the Bay Bridge, it was pretty cold. ---
**Author:** ![fedman1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e495f1/32.png) [@fedman1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fedman1)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-for-3-4-days-what-must-i-not-miss/959478/70 "2022-07-03T05:26:52Z")
while in North Beach, don’t forget the Vesuvius bar (where Beats hung out) and the bookstore next door ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-for-3-4-days-what-must-i-not-miss/959478/71 "2022-07-03T06:30:31Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I knew the weather in San Francisco was cooler than it was inland, but I figured if it was 90F in Sacramento it couldn’t be _that_ much cooler in San Francisco. I was so wrong. Welcome to microclimates (though Sacramento isn’t in the SF area microclimate.) It’s one of the things the housing assistance people told us about when we did a house hunting trip, and you’ll see them on the weather in the local news. There are major temperature changes from Milpitas and Fremont to Pleasanton as you go over the Sunol Grade on 680. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-for-3-4-days-what-must-i-not-miss/959478/72 "2022-07-03T10:53:28Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > What’s wrong with BART?.. Probably nothing. We were advised against it, though, due to being luggage-toting tourists. Also, I suspect that it does not drop us off at the front door of our hotel as Lyft did. mmm ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-for-3-4-days-what-must-i-not-miss/959478/73 "2022-07-03T13:36:56Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I knew the weather in San Francisco was cooler than it was inland, but I figured if it was 90F in Sacramento it couldn’t be _that_ much cooler in San Francisco. I was so wrong. That was actually when I visited Alcatraz for the first time, and I was miserable on the ferry ride. I guess maybe i should have warned you about that. Sorry. I was warned but got away with just pants and a t shirt except for the ferry ride (on a generic bay tour boat that sailed past the various landmarks, including Alcatraz, but didn’t stop there.) Once I got to the shore of the bay I realized that it was going to be very windy on the bay, and thankfully there was a stall there at an open air market that was selling tie dye beanies\*, and I thought, I could use it three ways, as a souvenir, to protect my head on the bay, and to run/hike in the winter because it is lightweight and would not be as easily misplaced as a black beanie. Ironically, it was _so_ windy on the boat that the beanie was in danger of slipping off! Thankfully it wasn’t _that_ cold without it. \*Not sure exactly what I should call it. It was the thickness and shape of a beanie but was one solid sheet of material without anything special on its top. It was thinner than a toque and only fit slightly over my ears without being able to roll it. And it was not as solid as the other types of skullcaps that Wikipedia lists (and skullcap itself connotes a specific type.) ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-for-3-4-days-what-must-i-not-miss/959478/74 "2022-07-03T17:01:54Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > It wasn’t actually Mark Twain who said that. It was some relatively unknown person. But quotes like that tend to get misattributed to a more famous person who seems like someone who would have said it. Well, it isn’t the attribution that’s the key here…it’s the quote itself. But, thanks. > [@fedman1](#): > > and the bookstore next door City Lights??? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/san-francisco-for-3-4-days-what-must-i-not-miss/959478.md?page=3)