San Francisco

[mrhairy]

The sealions at Pier 39 and Alcatraz also do night tours. If pre bookings are full get there early Pier 33 as they have a nice standby area

 

[London Irish]

Most people agree with this, but I kinda love LA.
Worked there for a few months and will likely go back again next spring.

I don't know why it gets a bad press. It's about 14 cities in one, everything is there

 

[Lady Whistledown]

Was there a few years ago and was a bit disappointed, to be honest.
OK, the weather wasn't brilliant but it could be such a beautiful city if it wasn't so full of rubbish. It was pretty filthy. Plus loads of druggies sitting in doorways.

The US version of Brighton, in all sorts of ways?

 

[Mattywerewolf]

That was the plan, but half of the Pacific coast highway is cut off due to a collapsed Bridge through big sur etc, so you can't get to it currently!

Actually a massive land slide on route 1 (Big Sur as you say). Need to cut inland but still can get loads of route near Carmel. Visit Cypress Point and Pebble Beach golf courses as well...Might be biased...

 

[Mattywerewolf]

Hire bikes and cycle over golden gate bridge
Go to Angel island and hire bikes to get amazing views
Muir wood
Monterey aqua marine park & carmel
17 mile drive near carmel
Get to Yosemite if you have a couple of days spare and hire a car

 

[DIFFBROOK]

Ive literally just left SF. Now in Yosemite. SF is ok. Cycling Golden Gate Bridge to Sausolito coming back via ferry is a must...about 8 miles. Fishermans Wharf, Coits Tower, Cable car ride (que time 1 hr). That's about it. So 2 days really. Id give Chinatown a miss...simply cant see the fuss.

We too were going to travel down highway, but if course road closed. We went to Sequoia and Yosemite instead. Fab places.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

 

[Daffy Duck]

The US version of Brighton, in all sorts of ways?

It was actually quite a bit worse. There were several times we saw people openly injecting themselves in doorways.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I found this fascinating

http://www.cablecarmuseum.org

 

[AZ Gull]

Was in northern California (including San Francisco for three nights) just a couple of weeks ago - took my nieces and nephew who are staying with me. My random suggestions:-

As others have said, make time to cycle (or walk) across the Golden Gate Bridge. The Cable Car Museum at Washington & Mason is free and well worth a visit. There are the sea lions at Pier 39; the rest of that pier is now full of shops and restaurants, we ate at Fog Harbor Fish House where the food was decent. There was also a decent Indian at Mason & Eddy (Little Delhi). We also visited Tiburon and Sausalito on our way back into SF from the north.

If you are willing to explore a little further, you can cross the GG Bridge and head north. Plenty of hiking opportunities around Point Reyes (plus you can see dramatic evidence of how far the ground shifted in the 1906 earthquake). A bit further north there are little towns like Bodega Bay (where Hitchcock filmed The Birds) and I love Salt Point State Park.

 

[knocky1]

Great feeling cycling the Golden Gate Bridge after cycling 1700 miles into an El Niño headwind and rain from Vancouver. Still one of my favourite bridges.
Once you've done that you could watch the tide roll away whilst sitting in the Dock of the Bay.

 

[Don Parasol]

I think it's a superb city, one of my favourites in fact.

As others have suggested Golden Gate Bridge, and the surrounding area for views is a must. The Haight & Castro are great and very unique neighbourhoods, although I too would give chinatown a miss. AT&T park for the baseball is a good evening. Fisherman's Wharf is nothing special -

If you like good food SF is better than anywhere I've been in the US. I would make it down to the mission district, with authentic Mexican street food and lots more besides. (Mission Chinese is better than any Chinese I've eaten here for example). Loads of nice breweries in this area too, you're spoiled for choice if craft beer is your thing.

If you don't want 5 days in the city I would personally drive up the coast to Sonoma for a night or two, through Marin County for lots of rugged foggy coastline, with redwood forests etc. Russian River is nice too, and on the way back there's also Napa Valley for wine. That's the great thing about SF, there's amazing outdoor stuff and diverse scenery so close by.

 

[The Rivet]

USS Pampinito pier 45, the Alcatraz tour. Golden gate park, Coit Tower and theatres. 2/3 days max then move on.

 

[Eddiespearritt]

Endorse everything said on here - just don't forget the big one - San Francisco is cold in August because of the fog. In the city you'll see plenty of people in their thick North Face puffa jackets and overcoats - wrapped up like we would be for winter. Easy to get out of the city into the sunshine but the city itself is COLD.

 

[Not Andy Naylor]

I've been several times and I always find new things to see and do. Mind you, I'm a Dirty Harry and Bullitt fan so checking out movie locations always takes up plenty of my time. The cable cars are great, the City Lights bookshop and Vesuvius bar where Kerouac and company hung out, Haight Ashbury actually has some great places to eat and drink ... hire a bike and as well as the Golden Gate bridge, check out Golden Gate Park. I really wouldn't bother with touristy places like Pier 39 or that area unless you're on the way to Alcatraz or one of the harbour tours, which are mostly good. Or of course going to In and Out Burger, the best burger chain on the West Coast. One thing - SF has more forms of public transport than any city in the world. I even found myself going along Market Street in an old Blackpool tram. You can get passes that let you use the underground, buses, cable cars, trolley buses, the lot.

 

[Jesus Gul]

AT&T park for some baseball

 

[Nigella's Cream Pie]

Endorse everything said on here - just don't forget the big one - San Francisco is cold in August because of the fog. In the city you'll see plenty of people in their thick North Face puffa jackets and overcoats - wrapped up like we would be for winter. Easy to get out of the city into the sunshine but the city itself is COLD.

I think it was Mark Twain who quipped that the coldest winter he ever experienced was one summer in Frisco.
One of my favourite cities. Magnificent views if not foggy, go to Coit Tower or Transamerica Pyramid especially for these. Also ride a cable car, take a ferry to Alcatraz to get locked in a pitch black cell, take BART underground across to Berkely campus, go across Golden Gate to Sausalito and to Muir Woods for giant redwoods, go on a whaling trip, wander around Golden Gate Park, explore Little Italy, eat sourdough bread, go down to Silicon Valley for Googleplex, visit Fisherman's Wharf for the seals, etc., walk the world's crookedest street and pray there's no earthquake!

 

[trueblue]

Cycling Golden Gate Bridge to Sausolito coming back via ferry is a must...about 8 miles.

This. Hire bikes by Fisherman's Wharf. It's an easy and great ride all the way. You don't want to be riding back up the hill into Sausalito though so jump on the ferry, and it brings you back for another easy ride to return the bike. SF - great place.

 

[Albion my Albion]

Two days should do it. Just don't buy some very strong acid off a random guy on Haight Street one lunchtime when you've got to meet some friends you haven't seen for years a few hours later down at Fisherman's Wharf on the other side of town and the curbs keep moving every time you try to step off them to cross the road.

kerbs = curbs

 

[Albumen]

Bang goes any work done today.

 

[Albion my Albion]

I think it was Mark Twain who quipped that the coldest winter he ever experienced was one summer in Frisco.
One of my favourite cities. Magnificent views if not foggy, go to Coit Tower or Transamerica Pyramid especially for these. Also ride a cable car, take a ferry to Alcatraz to get locked in a pitch black cell, take BART underground across to Berkely campus, go across Golden Gate to Sausalito and to Muir Woods for giant redwoods, go on a whaling trip, wander around Golden Gate Park, explore Little Italy, eat sourdough bread, go down to Silicon Valley for Googleplex, visit Fisherman's Wharf for the seals, etc., walk the world's crookedest street and pray there's no earthquake!

Overnight, currently 15 degrees in SF.

Also, see the California Golden Seals in the bay or at the zoo.

One of the best Chinatowns in all the world.