Going to San Francisco Saturday - any tips??
 

My husband and I are going on a late honeymoon to San Francisco from Saturday, November 22nd - Thursday, November 27th. Any San Franciscan's out there that can give us some tips, maybe secret insider tips of what we can do while we're there (and what should not be missed)? Thanks! :)

I dont live there, but I have visited around 12 times and was there for my honeymoon back in september. Fishermans Wharf and Pier 39 are on the usual tourist stops. Check out the stores on the pier and then if you like seafood, go check out a few of the restaurants upstairs. Try this link for some ideas http://www.pier39.com/ I can recommend Chic's Seafood Restaurant for great food and great views looking out to Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge, Dante's Seafood Grill once again, for great food and an awsome nightime view of Coit tower and the Oakland bay bridge and the Pier Market Seafood Restaurant, where the view is not as great as the other two, but the food is just as good.

Take a bay cruise which takes you out and under the Golden Gate bridge and then turns around and passes real close to Alcatraz island before heading back to the wharf. I think tickets are just under $20 dollars for this and can be picked up at the blueline ticket office which is just a short walk from Pier 39.

Hop on a cable car near Ghirardelli Square in Victoria park and take it all the way downtown to Powell street. Its an awsome way to see the city and its pretty cheap. I think a return ticket is about $8 dollars.

Check out Ghirardelli Square and visit their original chocolate shop and sample one of their chocolate and ice cream sundaes(sp) You'll gain 20 pounds just looking at it, but there are plenty of hills in San Francisco, so you'll soon walk it off.

If you have a car? then drive through Golden Gate park and the Presidio. Beautifull area.

Check out Chinatown, its huge and you won't believe some of the smells lol.

Lombard Street. You may have seen it on TV, but its commonly known as the twistyest street in American. Although there is another that is worse, its this is just better to look at lol. You will pass by this on the cable car about 5 minutes into you trip from Victoria park.

Twin Peaks. Its the highest point in the city and day or night has the best view of San Francisco, from the Golden Gate Bridge, all the way over to the Oakland Bay Bridge. You can often see the fog come rolling in from the Pacific ocean, and it looks like cotton wool as it sits on the cliffs.

Drive to the Golden Gate bridge viewing areas to get some cool shots like the one I have attached to this post.

If I can think of any more I'll post later. But try this link for some more info http://www.sfvisitor.org/index.html

This pic was taken while hanging off a cable car, looking back at the bay and Alcatraz island.

The cable cars

A pic of Fishermans wharf and the vintage trams that run around the city.

try and grab a day trip up to Napa or Sonoma...there is some amazing scenery and great wine tours and food to be had:

Wineries:

Sterling Vineyards
Bezinger Winery - Sonoma
Robert Mondavi - ideal if you only have a day!

Great Food: , Tra Vigne restaurant, St Helena...you'll swear you are in Italy, the setting is amazing.

Honeymoon - the only sughts you will be seeing darling is the hotel ceiling!

Take lots of dosh...and try one of the 'high teas' that many of the upscale hotels put on. Order one and share, or else you'll pay over $40.00! One is ample for two, trust me.

Enjoy your visit to the 'Bay'

Re: Going to San Francisco Saturday - any tips??
 

.....be sure to wear flowers in your hair....

Re: Going to San Francisco Saturday - any tips??
 

CHINATOWN! CHINATOWN! CHINATOWN. Don't go into a tourist trap chinese restaurant go to one that where the locals go, you will not be sorry! or you could just go to ****ing outback

Patrick

Re: Going to San Francisco Saturday - any tips??
 

Hi, Steffi. I recently moved away from SF after living there for about ten years and what I'm missing the most is the food so that's what my reply will focus on.

Ti Couz is in the Mission on 16th Street (not Avenue!) between Mission and Valencia. It's the best creperie in the city. I highly recommend the salmon and onion savoury crepe and either the banana and Nutella or the chestnut sweet crepe.

If you're a vegeterian you must try Greens which is in Fort Mason near Marina Blvd and Buchanan. The chef also has a cookbook out, the name of which escapes me, so that you can recreate some recipes at home.

I like to go to Suppenküche because it's so hard to find *authentic* German food without making it myself. It's in Hayes Valley on the corner of Hayes and Laguna. The dishes are from many different regions of Germany but often with an emphasis on Bayern. Their Semmelknödel mit Pilzrahmsoße is better than my Oma's.

For good, cheap Ethiopian food Axum Cafe on Haight near Pierce is my pick. Good for mixed groups of carnivores and vegetarians. As long as you like exotic and richly spiced foods there's something for everyone.

You're going to have such a great time. To me, SF is the most European of all the American cities. If you have any other questions just PM me. I don't ever get tired of talking about San Francisco.

Re: Going to San Francisco Saturday - any tips??
 

Patrick, that's always a good rule to follow but I've found that there are many tourist trap places in Chinatown too. There's a really schmancy Chinese place that recently opened on Irving somewhere between 16th and 14th Avenues which was packed to the gills with locals every night pretty much from the get-go. I was sorry that I didn't get to try it before we moved because I'm sure that the food would have been amazing.

Anyone ever heard of a group called SPU in SFO? Heard they are really good, playing anything from the Beatles to Clapton with standing ovations..

Re: Going to San Francisco Saturday - any tips??
 

Thats actually quite amusing:D

Not that I am knocking chain restaurants, but San Francisco is quite refreshing in that its actually difficult to find a chain restaurant, and I do not mean burger king etc, etc. I think the only two I know of are the Rain Forrest cafe down by the Wharf and the Cheesecake factory at the top of the Macys store in Union square. I have the benefits of knowing people who live in the city, that have taken me to some great places to eat. I know an awsome prime rib place on Van Ness, if anybodys interested?. They serve the prime rib with yorkshire pudding and gravy. Yum! :D

Re: Going to San Francisco Saturday - any tips??
 

Is there anything other than cheap Ethiopian food?

Whathappens in thier restaurants? does a red cross bag of rice get parachuted onto your table and then a armed guerilla bursts out of the kitchen and snatches it away and slaughtering your children and raping your wife?
I've never been to one