UKC

Just booked a few weeks, always fancied going, so now i am. What are the do's, must do's and must see's? any good pubs or clubs?

In reply to goldmember:

Alcatraz for sure. Coit Tower, Pier 39, sailboat trips under the Golden Gate Bridge.

In reply to goldmember: I got a bus from sfo to the edge of the sea, walked along to the GG bridge and over it, then the bus back via a Patagonia outlet shop. But to be honest, the city does not compare with European cities like Paris for places of interest.

In reply to altirando:

This maybe true, but im going to San Fran. In future I would love to go to Paris

In reply to goldmember:

Visit Stinky's Peepshow.

In reply to goldmember:

Get a taxi out to Chrissy Field beside the Golden Gate bridge and have a climb at Planet Granite (the bouldering is great) then walk back into town along the bay, past Pier 39 and Embarcadero.

In reply to goldmember:

Just go for a big long walk!!

We walked from Union Square up to Coit Tower, through China Town and had Dim Sum then ended up on the beach looking at a blustery Pacific Ocean.

Awesome!

Presdideo park is interesting, Golden Gate bridge is phenomenol, also get yourself up Twin Peaks for a great view.

The Redwoods at Muir Woods just north of the city are also very special.

Don't be conned by seemingly bargain electronics in China Town - they're all crooks!

In reply to goldmember: get around on the trams, especially standing on the outside of them.

In reply to goldmember:

In San Francisco, I really enjoyed walking round Fisherman's Wharf [though it's a bit touristy] and the whole seafront, with a great fish dinner in the evening - lots of options there. And definitely explore north of the Golden Gate bridge, as others have said: it's a beautiful area, and a complete contrast to the city.

For me, other highlights of California were 1. Monterey and the whole coast road between LA and San Francisco [obviously you need a car for the coast road], 2. the redwood forests. And 3. Yosemite [obviously]. I hated LA and everything there, spent a while there on 2 occasions.

In reply to abseil:

I've known a few people who've been to LA, and they all disliked it.

In reply to goldmember:

Helicopter ride. We were shown around from the air and then flew under and over the Golden Gate.

Robin

In reply to goldmember:

I really like SF; have managed a couple of trips there over the last few years, and further north over the bridge through Malin County and up to Sonoma. Some really good food and drink to be had (even innovative veggie gourmet stuff).

Plenty of cool places for eating and drinking; a run around the Praesidio is always good fun and it's not a bad city to run in anyway, with the possible exception of Mission St and around.

Lots of homeless folk especially around the tenderloin - some of the begging can be pretty aggressive, and there's no shortage of the mentally ill shouting at cars. Having said that it's a heck of a lot less strung out than central LA which I found quite disturbing.

Leave some dollars left over for cheap climbing gear at REI of course... handily placed for the passing climber! There's a full fat Patagonia shop over by the Fort Mason area but I never found an outlet store - the only one I know of was in Dublin.

Have a great trip

b

In reply to Submit to Gravity:


Me too - more than a few - and not one had a good word to say about it, I draw my own conclusions, in addition to myself having spent time there on 2 trips!

Where is best in the city for a 'taste' of america? I have a allergy to shellfish so need to avoid these!
Any good water holes?

In reply to goldmember:

Pizza in Castro, Rotisserie Chicken and Peets coffee at the ferry plaza farmers market. Sushi just about anywhere stuff from Safeway is surprisingly good. China town is definitely worth going to for a meal and sightseeing. There are some good barbecue places in Tenderloin but be careful there as its very edgy.

In reply to abseil:


+1 hated it although Santa Monica was O.K

In reply to goldmember:

Ride a street car, ideally hang on the outside.

In reply to goldmember: Somewhere along where the piers are there is a museum of gaming (i think that's what it's called) with loads of old fashioned amusement arcade machines from the 1929s onwards. You can play on all of them and it's a really enjoyable experience.

get the greyhound (coach) down to yosemite! amazing place even if you are not climbing you could spend ages just walking a taking in the vues

In reply to goldmember:

Vesuvio is a pub on the corner of Columbus and Broadway and is in my top 5 world pubs. There's a bar stool where jack Kerouac used to sit and they have loads of great micro brews on tap.
The barmaids are usually stunning too.
Have a few pints there than stagger across the road to Nick Cage's favourite Chinese restaurant.

E

In reply to Frank the Husky:


Aye me and 2pound-socks from UKC found that - had a coupe of hours of fun playing Galaxian and stuff like that.
Then there's a cool WW2 submarine to have a look around right outside.

E

In reply to goldmember:

After you ride a cable car, go see the museum in Nob Hill, which is also where the cables run from. Stroke of pure genius keeping it running for the tourists.

I hired a bike and rode over Golden Gate bridge to Tiburon, had lunch, hung out and watched the posh people, then got the ferry back to SF. Should have got up earlier but a great day out.

You may need to book days in advance on the trip to Alcatraz as it's very popular.

One of the few cities I could live in, along with Vancouver. I've always fancied being able to sail to work. Another -1 from me for LA - awful place.

Have a great time

In reply to goldmember:

If you want to ride a tram do it early, the queues grow as the day goes on.

Take a ferry out to Sausilito and walk back to SF over the Golden Gate bridge.

In reply to timjones:

thats sounds like a great day out. topped off with a man v food sized meal!!!

whats the best steak house?

In reply to goldmember:
Watering hole, been a while since we visited SanFran but -
Scottish "theme" pub - http://www.castlenews.com/ (It had tennents on draught which was about as scottish as it got really)

Looked up the excellent brewpub we visited a few times but sadly its closed.

Actually, best thing we did was hire a car and go to yosemite for a few days.

In reply to goldmember:

For a bit of balance, I enjoyed visiting San Francisco a lot more than I did Paris - which I just kept comparing with the far superior London.

Still, they're both great places to visit.

Everywhere I'd have suggested has been said above, except perhaps we went to an outdoor cinema one night in a square downtown, dunno if they're regular, but recommended & nice festival atmosphere in the heart of the city.

In reply to goldmember:

I meant, not a lot to see in the city. Tramcars, Pier, Bridge ....then what? European cities have hundreds of years of history. My daughter lives nearby, don't think she ever bothers to go in.

In reply to goldmember:

San Fran City Hall is a pretty impressive building. Try and take one or two of the open top bus tours - they run in a few directions from near fishermans wharf.
Visit Haight Ashbury. go to the japanese tea gardens in golden gate park. Visit the Hyde Street pier boat museum - there's a steamer there from Newcastle
Alcatraz is a must see - book before yo leave the UK cos it gets full very quickly - try and take a night cruise as it's geared more towards adults.
Nice steak and burger place on the main street in sausalito - Napa Valley burger co. also Capurros restaurant and grill west of fishermans wharf is very good.
Hire a car and take a trip into the napa valley - do a wine tour.
Visit AT&T park, home of the Giants.

In reply to goldmember:

Don't forget to go and see that really twisty street on a steep hill. Sorry, can't remember the name of it.

In reply to goldmember:

Just look at the girls and see if Brian Wilson was right
"Well east coast girls are hip
I really dig those styles they wear
And the southern girls with the way they talk
They knock me out when Im down there

The mid-west farmers daughters really make you feel alright
And the northern girls with the way they kiss
They keep their boyfriends warm at night

I wish they all could be california
I wish they all could be california
I wish they all could be california girls

The west coast has the sunshine
And the girls all get so tanned
I dig a french bikini on hawaii island
Dolls by a palm tree in the sand

I been all around this great big world
And I seen all kinds of girls
Yeah, but I couldnt wait to get back in the states
Back to the cutest girls in the world

I wish they all could be california
I wish they all could be california
I wish they all could be california girls

In reply to altirando:


I'd have to disagree with you there, I much prefer San Francisco to Paris! In fact I prefer it to any other city I've ever visited.

In reply to Removed User:

on a hire bike? might see if i can get a KOM of starva

In reply to goldmember:

A seedy place in my experience.

In reply to goldmember:

I really enjoyed Golden Gate park. Clam Chowder with a can of budweiser on Fishermans Wharf was very touristy but brilliant. I also enjoyed Sonoma and Bodega bay.
You mention a few weeks.
If I had a few weeks I would be seeing a hell of a lot more than San Francisco.

In reply to Removed User:


Lombard St, with the world's slowest traffic jam slalom.
A mate and I ran up it accidentally and we got a standing ovation from a bunch of corpulent tourists at the top

If you have time then Yosemite has to be on the list, surely...

b

In reply to goldmember:

San Francisco is ok (Alcatraz is good), but hire a car and get yourself to Yosemite; it's an amazing place, even if you don't climb (which we didn't).

I agree with the sentiments about L.A; it's a god awful place. Only good thing there is the Science museum (they have a space shuttle)

In reply to goldmember:

I drove down it, happy for you to report back with your times etc, so we can do a comparison.

Another recommedation for Alcatraz.

In reply to goldmember:

My brother lives there and I've been a few times. The one thing I'd add to the above is go to the Exploratorium, it's an interactive science museum where you can just fiddle with endless fascinating science experiments. The first time we went we got there at 10 and left when it kicked out and came out saying "Wow there's so much more we wanted to do/see" so we went back a second time the next time we were in the city and exactly the same thing happened. I remember spending about twenty minutes in an acoustically perfect xylophone room just banging away on the xylophones in awe of the beautiful noise they made. The only caveat is that I have not been back since it relocated to pier 15 but I assume it is as good as it used to be - and a hell of a lot easier to get to public transport than when it was at the palace of fine arts!

As others he said Alcatraz, the submarine, cable cars, china town, coit tower, golden gate bridge etc etc place is packed with stuff to do. Do book Alcatraz early though to avoid disappointment! I think you've got to get to Yosemite while you are there though - you can't post on this website and pass that opportunity up! Ditto Muir woods I guess.

In reply to GLUF:

A thing I got in San Francisco was a vague sense of Dejavu, then realized that it was because I grew watching "The Streets of San Francisco" and I recognised many of the street names.

In reply to GLUF:

The same thing happens to a slightly younger bunch who played "Driver" on the PlayStation - fifteen years ago...

b