I live in LA, but I’ll be hosting a friend from Melbourne for the holidays, and he wants to see SF. Because of work, it looks like we’ll be going up sometime between 12/7 and 12/15. I need to figure out where to take him and how to finagle this…
What is a good, centrally-located, fairly inexpensive (but safe) place to stay in or near SF? Usually I’d stay with friends or family, but it looks like there will be 5 or 6 of us in the group, and that’s more than most folks feel comfy hosting.
How long should we plan on being there, to get a feel for the city and to not feel rushed, but to keep hoteling expenses to a minimum? I was thinking 3-4 days, plus a day on either side to drive up.
What do we need to take him to? Alkatraz, of course; The Dickens Christmas Faire is a given, as we have friends who work there; what else?
It’s been so long since I did All The Touristy Things In SF that I’ve forgotten what they are…
Hmmm…pondering making the trip up a Road Trip - take the Eastern route up, through the high desert, past Manzanar (which I’ve always wanted to see), visit my aunt in Lone Pine, then to Yosemite, then west to San Francisco. Would that be feasible, or will the roads be too difficult over the mountains at that time of year?
SFMOMA is closed (for repairs or something), so don’t plan on going there.
The Asian Art museum is FANTASTIC, it’s gotta be the largest collection of Asian art outside of Asia. If you like art, you could easily spend 2 full days there.
Cable cars are always a good tourist attraction. Crowds probably won’t be too bad, but if you take the cable car from Embarcadero (near the Ferry Building) up to Nob Hill (where you can have a fancy drink in one of the fancy hotels) there is no line at all. (Most people prefer the Union Square - Chinatown - Fisherman’s Wharf route, but if you just want to ride a cable car, Nob Hill is your best bet. I mean, unless you like standing in line for an hour, maybe you do.)
Exploratorium is now located walking distance from the Ferry Building; that’s a good place to kill a few hours for anyone who is science-minded.
You also might want to wander around Union Square to see Christmas decorations. That’s always fun. Go inside the big stores, etc.
Not likely that Tioga Pass will still be open into Yosemite. Plan on having to go as far north as Lake Tahoe before you can get back over the Sierra on 50 or 80. That’s a very scenic route, but driving could get interesting if there’s a storm going on.
If you want to include Yosemite, a safer option would be to take 41 from Fresno, then back out 120 to SF.
There’s a big red bridge across the mouth of the bay you might want to take a look at. You could hang out at Crissy Fields at see it from there, or hike a bit from the Cliff House (after seeing that too), or drive across it into Marin County.
I really like the drive and the visit to Pt. Reyes, especially the lighthouse. It’s actually better in winter because there’s less fog.
Nob Hill Motor Inn - 3 blocks away from the cable car route. Also has free parking, which is invaluable. In a more residential area, but centrally located. Yummy deli on the same block.
ETA - spend the little extra to get the 7 day cable car pass, or any of the other public transit options. It’s completely worth it.
Mt Tam overlook - 2nd exit past the bridge, hang left - you will see a small cut-through on your right as you start to merge back onto the bridge. Take it.
Air quality is now as bad as LA (thank you, yuppies, in your high-density, high-rise condos, each burning that “firewood” you bought in the little white box at the big box).
There’s a giant conference (as in 16-18 thousand attendees) of the American Geophysical Union at the Moscone Center that week. If you’re thinking of anything in the SOMA area, you’ll be better off booking it as early as you can.
If you’re into Christmas shopping or just Christmas window shopping, Union Square is quite the spot. Have an Irish Coffee at the Buena Vista-- it can be sort of touristy, but not too bad. Still nice to pop in on cold day and warm up a bit.
Best viewing of the Golden Gate Bridge is from Battery Spencer just on the Marin County side of the GGB.
I lived there for 29 years. What is your basis for dismissing the entire post?
The air quality? Has it been cleaned in the last year? That is the last I had a direct report. Whoever is is that monitors air quality, last I heard, listed SF as “unacceptable” - a really neat trick when you are surrounded by water on 3 sides and have nearly constant on-shore/off-shore breezes. I have a cherished memory of looking north from the top of Nob or Russian hills and seeing the pretty white sailboats on a deep blue bay wih a brilliant blue sunny sky. That was 1980.
Last time I looked at live cams, the haze was pretty much LA level. My impression was much of it was wood smoke, and adding 60 stories of condos, each with a “wood-burning fireplace” was not a good idea.
Or do the condo boards buy cords of real wood and store it on the roof now?
Did the Filbert St steps disappear?
GG park as well?
I do hope they haven’t planted the park with condos - they can use the Presidio for expansion, while the Socialists who built the park and Hetch-Hetchy (SF’s water supply - the valley north of Yosemite was dammed and an aqueduct built to supply SF’s drinking water. Let’s see a Republican show that foresight) spin.
You might want to come up with one plan for dry weather and another for rainy weather. I doubt, for example, that you’d want to walk across the Big Red Bridge during a rainstorm. If you do visit the bridge, you might also want to see Fort Point, a civil-war-era brick fort that sits under the San Francisco side of the bridge. There is also a fantastic view of the bridge from the Marin headlands on the side away from S.F.
Coit Tower will be closed for repairs for several months starting next month. This means that there won’t be a prize waiting at the top of the Filbert Steps. You might want to climb the steps, anyway - the views are spectacular, and the houses and gardens are very nice.
The new San Francisco Jazz Center is very nice. Yoshi’s is another fine jazz club (and restaurant), with branches in both S.F. and Oakland.
There’s a lot of stuff to do in Golden Gate Park: Strybing Arboretum, the Conservatory of Flowers, the Academy of Sciences, De Young Museum, the Japanese Tea Garden. . .
If you’re interested in food, you should visit the Ferry Building Marketplace. It really is foodie heaven.
I don’t know about the entire post, but the air quality here has gotten steadily better over the last 20 years, not worse. And SF, proper, almost always has good quality air since it’s right on the ocean and the prevailing winds are on-shore.