Vacationing in San Francisco

[EvenOlderButWiser]

Hey Guys,

So I got a great deal on a London - San Francisco flight for November this year :biggrin:

Now Im looking for somewhere to stay. Ive never been in SF before - closest Ive been is LA a few years ago.

There are plenty of places to stay, from 5 star hotels to AirBnB rentals, however the choice is a little overwhelming, and not knowing SF at all, I don't really know what areas I should be looking in.

I'll be coming for 10 days and Im open to all types of rental options. Can any of our SF/Cal members make any suggestions on areas I should look in?

Idea is to do all the tourist things and walking distance to eating places/parks/places of interest etc. May take a few days out of the city as well. Still working on my itinerary.

If there is anyone who would like to act as a tour guide for a few days, feel free to shout :dance3:

[LONDONER]

I've stayed in SF on two occasions, the first time in a hostal that was cheap and cheerful, the second time I stayed here:

http://www.theopalsf.com/about_the_opal/

It was comfortable in a slightly old fashioned sort of way but it's location was very convenient. You'll see from the website the distances from various points of interest. It's also about 10 minutes walk from Japantown that was very convenient for me as a vegan. PM me if you want any specific information and I'll do my best to answer.

[Lexington]

One of the best things about San Francisco is the public transportation. Buses, street cars, cable cars, BART - getting from Point A to Point B is possibly easier in San Francisco than in any other American city. Therefore, I wouldn't worry too much about what area you stay in, as getting to any other part of the city is pretty easy.

Lex

[MikeW]

Yo [MENTION=16670]OlderButWiser[/MENTION], I live in Berkeley, right across the Bay from SF.

To answer your question... part of it has to do with what you want and your sense of class level. There are areas of SF that are total ghettoish that many more civilized people would find rather appalling, if not down right threatening. However, there are also some VERY posh neighborhoods that aren't for the working class.

Generally speaking... if your plan is to do the tourist thing... somewhere near either Civic Center (as [MENTION=18457]LONDONER[/MENTION] has suggested) *OR* something in the Union Square area. Lots of hotels near there and, generally speaking, north of Market, and especially north of Geary, are "posher." Civic Center tends to be a bit "seedier" (more or less) BUT the Opera House and Symphony Hall are right there... as are other entertainment venus. Union Square tends to be more shopping, tourist, gallery-going oriented. It's also closer to "Fisherman's Wharf (which I would generally avoid) and China Town.

If there is are particular Air BnBs you're considering, post links to them or their addresses and I'll give you my thoughts.

As [MENTION=21778]Lexington[/MENTION] said, there is plenty of public transportation in SF and the Bay Area. For example, if you want to come to Berkeley (one of the biggest public universities in the country... and a college town with a remarkable history, see video trailer below) it is about 45 minutes from down town SF by BART.

As for playing tour guide. Well... MAYBE. I seldom go to the city, TBH; and have a bit of a love/hate relationship with it. Depends on what you're interested in. For example, local art galleries near down town... that I can show you. Anything having to do with the night life, the jazzy North Beach area, that sort of thing, I'm clueless about. I haven't been to the Castro in so long I can't even remember the last time. OTOH, if you want a quick tour of the UC Berkeley campus (and some of Berkeley itself, which is quite a remarkable town), that I could easily do.

Another thing, if you're going to be here for 10 days, you *may* want to rent a car at some point so you can get out of the city to explore other local "scenes." A day trip to the north across the Golden Gate Bridge to Marin County, Mount Tamalpais, the great redwoods and the rugged coastline and Point Rhys is worth it. South of SF an hour or so is Santa Cruz. To the East, about a four hour drive, is Yosemite National Park -- one of, if not the oldest national parks in the country. You'd need to plan to stay at least one night either in the valley or close by and reservations must be made WAY in advance.

Also, WEATHER is weird in November... Specifically, will you be here in early or late November?? Knowing that might make a difference. Weather is always difficult to forecast long-range BUT there are general patterns. "Generally speaking" it doesn't get "cold" (in quotes because we're talking something relative) until after Thanksgiving. Early November often sees warmish sunny days. Later November tends to be cooler and more foggy. RAIN *could* happen but we've been in a drought for several years with basically nothing but drizzles in November if that. (All of California is semi-arid, its just that being north, we tend to average 10 to 15 degrees cooler than SoCal.) Also, due to little humidity in the air, regardless how warm it may be in the day time, as soon as the sun goes down the temperature drops at least 10 degrees... So you have to cary sweaters or layers if you're going to be out after sunset.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

BERKELEY IN THE SIXTIES:

[EvenOlderButWiser]

Hey Mike,

Sorry for the late reply, work got in the way......

Im going to be in SF from the 16th November. Ive kind of decided to stick with a mainstream hotel, and Im leaning towards the Fishermans Wharf area. I know its not downtown, but its close enough to hop on a tram and be pretty much anywhere in an hour.

Good point about the car, hadn't considered it, but yes, a car for a few days seems like a great idea.

I'm more into some general sightseeing than specifically "going gay" though Im sure I will pay a visit to Castro at some point :biggrin:

Thanks for the offer re Berkley, that could be cool. I'll give you a shout closer to the date.

Cheers,

[Lexington]

If you're looking to get a quick overview of some of the highlights of tourist-y San Francisco, I'd suggest taking the Go-Car tour. You putt around the area in one of these little barely-street-legal vehicles, and an audio guide tells you what's around. It gives you several options to stop and explore areas, and "pick up the tour" afterwards. That's a good idea in theory, but since you're paying for the Go Car by the hour, it's usually best to do it quickly, and simply make notes of places you'd like to see more of.



Lex