Suggested itineraries for 1 week in San Francisco?

Question

I have 1 week of vacation in San Francisco during mid October. So far I have made no plans yet. Can anyone please help to recommend or give any suggestions?

I am just interested to sight see and get to know the city a little better. This will be my 1st official visit to this city, other than a connecting flight from SFO airport many years ago.

Note that I will be mainly walking and taking public transportation and since I will be travelling alone, I will try to avoid all places "unsafe".

And not to mention that I am also kinda on a budget.

Thanks for all help and advice. :)

Answer 1

You can walk around Pier 39, FIsherman's wharf and go to Alcatraz (buy your tix before you come), try to do some of other SF's gems:

Chinatown - try Dim sum

Tour of AT&T Park

North Beach - old Italian Section

Visit Coit Tower

Walk/Bike across Golden Gate Bridge

Walk/Drive down Lombard Street

Golden Gate Park - De Young Museum and Conservatory of Flowers

Ferry Building (Located at the Embarcadero)

The Metreon

Cable car rides

MOMA

A ferry ride to Sausalito or Tiburon would be a great add.You can actually bike across the bridge and take the sauslito ferry back into the city.  

If you like Shopping, San Francisco Center and Union Square is a must

For checking out the diversity of SF, walk these neighborhoods:  You could spend almost a full day in each of these

The Castro District

Marina District

Haight/Ashbury

Mission District (only in the day time)

Take the Golden Gate Transit to muir Woods and hike around for the day.

Go to 511 to get info about how to get a weeklong bus pass. or to get bus routes necessary.

Restaurants:

Lunches- Farmers Market (at the Ferry Building), Mission (La Cumbre, El Toro, or La Tacqueria), Swan Oyster Depot, Mitchell's Ice Cream.  You can also get decent food in the basement of San Francisco Centre.

Possible Dinners: Slanted Door, Zuni, Foreign Cinema, Boulevard, Chow, or for a special but very pricey treat, Gary Danko!

Answer 2

- Spend a full day in Golden Gate Park (Metro: N-Judah line runs parallel to the park). San Francisco's 1017 acre "Central Park" has numerous gardens, lakes, and museums. The Conservatory of Flowers and Japanese Tea Garden charge a small admission fee ($5), but all of the other gardens are free.

There are two major museums in Golden Gate Park. The Museum of Natural History will complete its 300 million dollar renovation in September. At $24.95, tickets are a little pricey. But the VIPs who've gotten sneak previews (like Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York) seem thoroughly impressed with it. The DeYoung Museum - which features mostly American art - charges $10 for entry.

- Everyone and their dog knows about "world famous" Alcatraz. I don't have to tell you to see The Rock, since you probably will want to anyway. But I would caution you to either make a reservation on-line (or head to the Pier 33 ticket booth as soon as you get into San Francisco). Alcatraz always sell out several days in advance.

http://www.alcatrazcruises.com/index.asp...

The much larger Angel Island, on the other hand, rarely sees a line at all. It is one of San Francisco's best kept secrets though. And at only $15, it is a bargain for savvy daytrippers. There are nice hiking trails, picnic areas, and several beaches on this island. You're almost guaranteed to see deer.

http://www.blueandgoldfleet.com/Ferry/An...

- While touristy North Beach (Little Italy) in San Francisco proper still attracts the throngs for soccer matches and festivals, wealthy Italian-American families moved out to Sausalito and Tiburon a long time ago. These quaint little towns are wonderfully pedestrian friendly. And they're easily accessible via ferry boat.

- Visit San Francisco's two "palaces." The Palace of the Legion of Honor (Bus: 18, 38) is a replica of the French chateau of the same name. Admission is $10. The surroundings are as impressive as the palace itself, with a golf course, verdant woods, and cliffside ocean trails.

The Palace of Fine Arts (Bus: 28, 30, 43) looks like a Roman Temple. The "Fine Arts" name is a misnomer, however, as inside is actually a hands-on science museum: The Exploratorium. Admission is $14.

Answer 3

Look into taking a day trip to Yosemite- it is worth the trip and October is lovely.

I would NOT do the city tour - you can see just as much with a good guidebook and taking the different trolleys -  public transportation buses and trolleys go right by everything that you would pay a tour bus to go too.  Cross the Golden Gate Bridge - you can take a tour to Muir Woods - and get across the bridge see some giant redwoods and stop and do some shopping and it's only about 20-25 dollars.  This is the closet to SF stand of redwoods you will see.

You can easily spend a day in the Fisherman's Wharf area (most of the tours leave from there except the Yosemite) and be sure to get some pictures of the seals.

Take the BART over to Oakland - in any event here is a good site that could help you figure some options out.

http://www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com/

PS  - I traveled alone as well.

Answer 4

Hey, 1 week is quite enough to see the most points of interests of San Francisco.

The famous places you need to go are the Golden Gate Bridge, Chinatown, Alcatraz Island, Sea World, Yosemite National Park.

If you are not very familiar with San Francisco. I advise you to take a tour with travel agency. Here recommend you Tours4Fun. http://www.tours4fun.com/5-day-yosemite-...  It has a good reputation in US and its price is very resonable.