San Francisco

Lump

Yo, heading to San Francisco on the 20th Feb, already booked the Alcatraz Night Trip, but was wondering if anyone had tips for places to go, good places to Eat/Drink etc

Cheers John

rossie1977

In the city itself i would recommend

* walk across the golden gate bridge and later explore Golden Gate National Recreation Area
* trip up to the top of the coit tower for a wonderful view of the city
* get somebody to drive you back across the bay bridge, the view of the downtown san francisco skyline coming back in from oakland is unmatched in the USA as far i am am concerned, it murders any New York bridge view.
* Union Square
* Presidio National Park

Outside the city

* Yosemite National Park is a must see
* Napa Valley
* Redwood National park

there are loads of things to do in san francisco and the surrounding area, it is a wonderful city.

as for places to eat try Chinatown (which basically takes up 1/4 of the city centre)

Lump

Thanks

sharkDawg

Lump wrote: »

already booked the Alcatraz Night Trip

Alcatraz is amazing, great views of the city from it too! I was on the day tour myself, such an eerie place but so cool. Make sure you wrap up warm for it, its freezing out there.

Get a cable car up California street, the really steep one, great views.

rossie1977 wrote: »

as for places to eat try Chinatown (which basically takes up 1/4 of the city centre)

+1

Really can't beat Chinatown for food.

ladybirdirl

Ooh lucky you,

frisco is fab

There's a little Asian place down by Fulton - can't remember the name of the place think it's Zing or Ping or something. It looks a bit off but the food is fab & really cheap. (on the left around fulton cable car stop ish)

Macy's has the cheescake factory if you're into the whole American enormous portions type stuff - it fills up early particularly on the weekend.

There's also a good place up by Chinatown entrance - called Cafe de la Presse, trying to be pretentious but fab food.

To do


Alcatraz obviously,

Fisherman's wharf & the Boudin bakery is lovely for a stroll & a shop

one of the Napa Valley wine tours is always great - you can bring I think 2 litres home & they pack really well

Helicopter tours are amazing & you can hire bikes & sort of trikes down at fisherman's wharf which are a great way of getting about

Ghiradelli Square is a nice place for people watching too

Harry Denton's startlight room is at the top of one of the hotels - Duke of Wellington or some such - worth a visit too

Enjoy

Ladybird

Lump

Thanks for all the input - Will research them all, once I get Pisa trip out of the way I'm luckily travelling lots this year, heading to Austria and Beijing with work too More irritating threads to follow

ladybirdirl

oh rub it in why don't ya:D;)

Time for me to get out the holiday brochures

Ladybird

dreddredd

Im heading to San Fran for the easter holidays. We spent our J1 there and heading back for old times sake.

We have a fair idea of what to do in san fran, but this time we are hoping to spend some time in yosemite.

Looking to see if anyone has spend time in yosemite in mid march. we are wondering will it be freezing cold and very hard to get around?

Also looking for tips on places to stay near yosemite.

mcgrate

dredd, look up a company called Green Tortoise. They do sleeper-bus tours to yosemite out of sanFran. Havent done it but heard its class. Cheap, comfie and great craic.

mydarkstar

dreddredd wrote: »

Im heading to San Fran for the easter holidays. We spent our J1 there and heading back for old times sake.

We have a fair idea of what to do in san fran, but this time we are hoping to spend some time in yosemite.

Looking to see if anyone has spend time in yosemite in mid march. we are wondering will it be freezing cold and very hard to get around?

Also looking for tips on places to stay near yosemite.

Not exactly sure what Yosemite will be like in March but it's probably still quite cold. I was there 2years ago in mid-September and it was lovely in daytime but got pretty cold at night - wrap up well! In Septmeber most of the waterfalls had dried up so ealry Spring will be a great time to be there. Some of the areas in Yosemite arent that expensive to stay - places like Wahwonna are mad expensive but we stayed in Curry Village in Yosemite Valley and it was very cheap. Was handy for taking daytrips to other parts of the Park too. Tuolomne Meadows is a beautiful area in the park, would really recommend it.
I've heard good things about the Green Tortoise buses that someone else mentioned here.

Alkers

dreddredd wrote: »

Im heading to San Fran for the easter holidays. We spent our J1 there and heading back for old times sake.

We have a fair idea of what to do in san fran, but this time we are hoping to spend some time in yosemite.

Looking to see if anyone has spend time in yosemite in mid march. we are wondering will it be freezing cold and very hard to get around?

Also looking for tips on places to stay near yosemite.

Any reccomendations for places to stay or work? Going there for J1 this summer.

Quality

http://www.fireenginetours.com/

This is the only tour to do in San fran,

It is hilarious, They dress you up in fireman suits and bring you all about san fran and across the golden gate bridge to sausalito... they give you a commentary and sing song along, the way...


Great fun for young and old...

Your concierge can book it for you... and if you are down that way go down and get some fresh crab for dinner... Amazing..

dr.bollocko

If u fancy a J1 I would stay in Berkeley for the summer. The students sub let the houses for quite cheap and its a great buzz. Much cheaper than renting in the city. A short commute on the BART to the city centre / union sq area where there will be plenty of joe jobs to keep you going.

dr.bollocko

I would avoid the Haight these days. Its gone to the dogs. But the Golden gate park is a must see. Also the presidio because you can bike around it and then over the golden gate for pretty cheap. I would also avoid the tenderloin and the Mission at night, though the Mission has some kickass bars and restaurants that are super cheap. Don't forget a stroll around berkeley area, that's great fun. Personally I thought that the MOMA sucked.
The Castro is a pretty kickass area. And you should check out the City Lights bookstore if you are into the beats, or just want to feel a bit of the san fran art history.
And finally, you are a lucky lucky sod. I wish I was back there all the time. Such a brilliant city. Except for the teeming homeless loons reading upside down bibles and all the goddamned hippies. You might be ambivolent towards hippies now, but just wait until you meet a soy-mocha drinkin vegan dude on the bus asking you for change for a new pair of flipflops.

Alkers

Think thats where we've our eye on alright. Did you get a house their easy enough or did you have it sorted beforehand? Do they all stay in frat houses or is it possible to find somewhere of your own?
Thanks man

dr.bollocko

Well u can get off campus accommodation too, but expect to share. On balance, its a difficult choice, whether or not to book a place before you go, or to wait until you get there and try your luck. If you book right away from Ireland, its possible that the place could be ****ty, or in the middle of nowhere or just all around unpleasant you know? But then you do have the relative joy of having a base as soon as you get off the plane, which is important when so many other things are up in the air. Make sure and have enough money to have a few weeks of fun in San fran. Actually, you could probably set up a short term let using craigslist. Might cost a bit more, but its nice to give you that breathing space to find something permanent you will be happy with. I was lucky because I had a friend to stay with, which really makes it much easier. But when I rented a place in San Diego sight unseen, it turned to be out deep in the suburbs, hours from the beach, far from the city (which is really horrible BTW) and basically felt like I was living in Shannon.
I would say, over all, try and keep your options as open as possible. Stay in the hostel a while, live cheaply, enjoy a week or three of touring while you get your social security number and all that stuff. Also get some help with writing a resume rather than a CV, little things like that can make a big difference.
And you have to eat out as much as you can afford. All the food there is fantastic. Just so good. Avoid the Mc. Donalds trap and stick to the small restaurants and order a lot of seafood!

mcgrate

Hi, Does anyone know of any good winery tours out of SanFrancisco? Just a quick one for an afternoon etc?

peanuthead

Wondering when is the best time to do alcatraz trip? Day or night?

Thanks

Peanuthead

oblivious

peanuthead wrote: »

Wondering when is the best time to do alcatraz trip? Day or night?

Thanks

Peanuthead

I like the day for the view of the city

peanuthead

yeah i was thinking the same myself, however a friend of mine strongly suggested that i go at night. Yeah this sounds good, like it would be really creepy but i want the view too,

really recommend the "night" tour, it departs early enough about 6pm
Great views looking back on San Fran, also they open up parts ie the hospital which are not open during the day, the night trip tends to have smaller crowds.
It starts to get dark about 8.00, and the last boat back is 8.30pm.

If you hang on in the prison, there will be hardly any people there around 8.00pm, and really it gets kinda spooky,

you also get a great view of the city and all the lights on the trip back

oblivious

Then you could get the ferry over to Sausalito in the day and there great view of the cite on the way over. Also the are water front bars which have a fantastic views of the city and great place for a food and or beer/cocktail.

Sausalito

Golden gate ferry

Lump

peanuthead wrote: »

Wondering when is the best time to do alcatraz trip? Day or night?

Thanks

Peanuthead

Night tour.... it's only getting dark at the end of the tour, and I went in Feb, so it got dark earlier. And as it's been said earlier there's much smaller crowds.

I think you should head to Sausalito too, but when you head out of where the ferry lands, head to the right down the main street, it's away from the tourist area, and much nicer. Also if you want good cheap food, here's a couple of amazing place's we went to:

American Diner - Cheap food, and big portions - It's above the shops on Powel Street - It's got a small entrance but it's large upstairs. Good place for lunch.

If you like good steak and lamb dinners - Head to the Daily Grill at 347 Geary St - I can't go on about it enough! It's amazing There's a few reviews on googlemaps etc.

Also if you want a cheap good place to stay - I recommend the Adante Hotel - It's on Geary Street too.

I went in off season, so lots of things are probably different during summer, but I loved San Francisco.

BurnsCarpenter

Nip into the Westin St Francis hotel on Union Square and take the elevator to the top floor. It's an outside/glass elevator with great views over the city.
Wine tour is a good idea as well. Should be plenty of flyers in your hotel.

Lump

Or the top floor of the hilton, for a cheeky cocktail looking over the city