San Francisco and Hawaii

[hk blues]

14 hours ago, Scary Bear said:

I thought P&B would know what to do in San Francisco, so I did a search and came across this thread. I am booked to go there in July this year.

How long are you going for?  

If it's 3-4 days then the main things would be Pier 39/Fisherman's Wharf; Alcatraz; Cable Cars; Golden Gate Bridge; Lombard Street; Ghirardelli Square.  With a bit more time then throw in Golden Gate Park; Sausilito; Chinatown; Haight-Ashbury and into Napa Valley for the wine areas.  It's been a few years since I've been so there will likely be a few new additions to my list that others who have been more recently can chip in.  

[Scary Bear]

4 hours ago, hk blues said:

How long are you going for?  

If it's 3-4 days then the main things would be Pier 39/Fisherman's Wharf; Alcatraz; Cable Cars; Golden Gate Bridge; Lombard Street; Ghirardelli Square.  With a bit more time then throw in Golden Gate Park; Sausilito; Chinatown; Haight-Ashbury and into Napa Valley for the wine areas.  It's been a few years since I've been so there will likely be a few new additions to my list that others who have been more recently can chip in.  

Thanks for the advice.

I’m going for 3 weeks in July. My brother lives in Walnut Creek, over past Oakland. Plan to stay with him some of the time, and stay overnight in some other places doing some road trips

I’m going with kids (9, 11, 13) so I’ll need to find some stuff that kids will like too. I’m thinking water park, beach, that sort of thing.

[Fullerene]

22 hours ago, Scary Bear said:

I thought P&B would know what to do in San Francisco, so I did a search and came across this thread. I am booked to go there in July this year.

For Alcatraz you need to book weeks in advance.  It is extremely popular and unlikely you can get a ticket on the day.

If you plan to drive the route of the famous car chase in Bullitt, be warned - they cheated.

[Scary Bear]

Just now, Fullerene said:

For Alcatraz you need to book weeks in advance.  It is extremely popular and unlikely you can get a ticket on the day.

If you plan to drive the route of the famous car chase in Bullitt, be warned - they cheated.

I’ve been warned about booking Alcatraz well in advance. I saw someone on here saying the earliest you could book was 3 months in advance.

[David W]

3 hours ago, Scary Bear said:

Thanks for the advice.

I’m going for 3 weeks in July. My brother lives in Walnut Creek, over past Oakland. Plan to stay with him some of the time, and stay overnight in some other places doing some road trips

I’m going with kids (9, 11, 13) so I’ll need to find some stuff that kids will like too. I’m thinking water park, beach, that sort of thing.

Exploratorium would be brilliant for kids. Big Science centre place right on the water, probably the best I've been to; as a science teacher I always end up getting lured in so I've seen a few.

I'd always go and see baseball and SF is one of the better ballparks, again right on the water. We were there middle of July and whilst I wasn't dressed like a December evening at Broadwood, it was verging on being just as cold. 

[Stu]

This would seem to be the site for the Alcatraz tickets - book as soon as you know you're going: https://www.cityexperiences.com/san-francisco/city-cruises/alcatraz/

Depending how much/what you want to see and how long you're going for you might want to consider one of these: https://gocity.com/san-francisco/en-us/products/all-inclusive Do your homework though in terms of what is on it you want to do and whether it works out cheaper getting a pass or going individually (and if you do some Googling you can probably find a discount code for the pass). Alcatraz isn't on it.

As mentioned above, walking across Golden Gate Bridge is a must. It may be touristy but getting chowder in a sourdough bowl is also recommended. There was also a museum somewhere around Pier 39 (I think) full of old arcade machines.

[Fullerene]

Walking across the Golden Gate Bridge could be colder than you think.

 

[hk blues]

13 hours ago, David W said:

We were there middle of July and whilst I wasn't dressed like a December evening at Broadwood, it was verging on being just as cold. 

 

11 hours ago, Fullerene said:

Walking across the Golden Gate Bridge could be colder than you think.

 

Agree with both the above.  We had an afternoon at Twin Peaks which was verging on miserable due to a sudden change in the weather and that was in July or August.  Keep a sweater handy would be the advice.  

[Crazy Days]

Re Alcatraz - we are going to SF in May and last week I booked my tickets for Alcatraz.  Try here - www.alcatrazislandtickets.com

[pozbaird]

Buy Ghiradelli chocolate to bring home. Lots of it. None of that Hershey’s shite… Ghiradelli is the business. Especially the salted caramel squares.

[paul wright scores]

On 04/01/2023 at 17:48, Stu said:

As mentioned above, walking across Golden Gate Bridge is a must. 

We hired bikes and cycled across the bridge and on into Sausolito, stayed there for a few hours then got the ferry back to SF. 

We also went to the baseball one night as well, which was enjoyable. 

HK Blues covers the best things to do n his post yesterday.. 

 

 

[hk blues]

10 hours ago, paul wright scores said:

We hired bikes and cycled across the bridge and on into Sausolito, stayed there for a few hours then got the ferry back to SF. 

We also went to the baseball one night as well, which was enjoyable. 

HK Blues covers the best things to do n his post yesterday.. 

 

 

From memory we took a ferry from Pier 39 to Sausolito and nosed around for a few hours.  We had lunch in a big restaurant overlooking Alcatraz in the distance.  It was fine for a half-day but probably wouldn't want to do much more unless, like you, we had a bike and could ride out into the nature a wee bit.  We walked across the bridge as well which was great for a while but became a bit boring as we also walked back the same way and it was a bit chilly too despite being summer.

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

On 04/01/2023 at 13:49, Scary Bear said:

Thanks for the advice.

I’m going for 3 weeks in July. My brother lives in Walnut Creek, over past Oakland. Plan to stay with him some of the time, and stay overnight in some other places doing some road trips

I’m going with kids (9, 11, 13) so I’ll need to find some stuff that kids will like too. I’m thinking water park, beach, that sort of thing.

Theres apparently a really good ice cream place in Walnut Creek that was in Man Vs Food. 

[hk blues]

4 hours ago, Inanimate Carbon Rod said:

Theres apparently a really good ice cream place in Walnut Creek that was in Man Vs Food. 

https://www.tvfoodmaps.com/restaurant/CA/Walnut-Creek/San-Francisco-Creamery

[Dirty Sanchez]

Regarding Alcatraz tickets, I'm not looking to be contrarian here, but I've bought on the day tickets on two occasions without any problem at all.

I guess the time of the year matters. That was in May and September. I presume it's only in high season and on big holidays when demand is crazy.

[true_rover]

9 hours ago, Dirty Sanchez said:

Regarding Alcatraz tickets, I'm not looking to be contrarian here, but I've bought on the day tickets on two occasions without any problem at all.

I guess the time of the year matters. That was in May and September. I presume it's only in high season and on big holidays when demand is crazy.

I think it depends - we were there for a few days last May and if you want to go to the night time trips then you need to be booked up in advance, was definitely sold out for the Saturday evening we went.

On that note, definitely recommend the evening trips - less people on the island and adds to the creepiness of the place - gets cold though!

[MONKMAN]

I was in San Francisco last year and loved it a lot more than I thought I would.

Do the night tour of Alcatraz, it only runs a couple of nights a week and books up in advance.

Hire bikes, cycle over the golden gate bridge to Sausalito then get the ferry back.

Fishermans wharf for the Sea Lions and the seafood restaurants.

Chinatown for food.

Trams.

If you're walking about, then be prepared for how ridiculously hilly the city is.  Saying that, I didn't get the hype with Lombard street.

Don't go to see Mrs Doubtfire's house (wife's suggestion), it's shite. 

 

[kennie makevin]

If they still do it get a bus to Sausalito - goes over the Golden Gate bridge - stroll about a bit, Sausalito's a lovely wee place, then get the ferry back to San Francisco. 

[hk blues]

On 27/01/2023 at 07:12, Dirty Sanchez said:

Regarding Alcatraz tickets, I'm not looking to be contrarian here, but I've bought on the day tickets on two occasions without any problem at all.

I guess the time of the year matters. That was in May and September. I presume it's only in high season and on big holidays when demand is crazy.

We've been twice - first time was tour group so tickets covered but 2nd time was solo trip and we got tickets on the day for a few hours later.  Possibly we were lucky and wouldn't bank on being lucky next time. 

[arab_joe]

On 04/01/2023 at 17:49, Scary Bear said:

I’m going for 3 weeks in July. My brother lives in Walnut Creek, over past Oakland. Plan to stay with him some of the time, and stay overnight in some other places doing some road trips.

I'd never heard of it, but a quick Google tells me that Walnut Creek is a pretty brilliant location for exploring - you can fairly easily get to Yosemite, Napa Valley, Lake Tahoe, Big Sur, Carmel etc.

These are all well worth a day or two (and I suspect there are many other places that I'm unaware of - I've only been to the area twice).

On 04/01/2023 at 21:21, David W said:

I'd always go and see baseball and SF is one of the better ballparks, again right on the water. We were there middle of July and whilst I wasn't dressed like a December evening at Broadwood, it was verging on being just as cold. 

Giants baseball is absolutely brilliant!