San Francisco (2007, 2015, May 2021)
https://www.nomadicmatt.com/travel-guides/united-states-travel-guide/san-francisco/
Day 1 - Friday
- Drive or fly, arriving at SFO
- Drive 101N then passing the bridge to CA1 to Muir. This place requires a parking reservation
- National monument Muir woods
- Muir woods trail, 1.3 miles, 30min
- Fern creek, lost, canopy trail, 3.2 miles, 1.5 hours
- Hillside trail, 0.8 miles, 22min
- Walk 4 bridges, Fern creek then turn back to the camp then to the base
- Twin peak (not worth it, and so windy) - By Car. Twin Peaks is very easy to get to if you have a car. Just follow Market Street west (away from downtown) all the way to the top of the hill (where the name changes to Portola Drive), then turn right on Twin Peaks Boulevard. A short, winding road brings you to the free parking lot at the top.
- https://www.sftodo.com/sanfrancisco/twin-peaks-san-francisco/
- Sausalito - quaint small town, harbor parking $4 an hour, should have walked to the other direction; mostly yacht parking at the harbor, small bars, and restaurants
Day 3 - Saturday
- Japantown
- From twin peaks, take LBus or Kbus or 37 then at Church and market change to 22 Fillmore St & Geary Blvd
- Golden gate state park https://goldengatepark.com/
- CA academy of science, 55 Music Concourse Dr.; 930am open, $34 adult and $30 senior online ticket purchase
- Conservatory of flowers, 100 John F. Kennedy Dr; 10am open
- De Young muserum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr; 930am open, $12.5 adult and $9.5 seior online ticket purchase
- Japanese tea garden, 75 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr. (this place is tiny, not worth the ticket or the tea experience, over rated)
- SF Bontanic garden, 1199 Ninth Ave; 10am open
- Shakespeare Garden, Strawberry Hill, the Lily Pond
- Similar to the central park concept, cars can park along the roads inside the park; park to the east side have more tourist visiting places whereas the west part is quiet and spacious
- Prefer to have a car, but the park is not huge huge, can walk one hour from west to east if not stopping
- Twin peaks
- Take bus 44 from japanese tea garden to Woodside ave or Portola dr, then walk 20 minutes
- You can walk up to Twin Peaks from Grand View Avenue and 24th Street in just 20 minutes
- Restaurant
- Old Shanghai, 25 minutes walk north of japanese garden
- Jiangnan Cuisine, 45 minutes walk to the west of japanese garden
- Sasa, need reservation
- Oma sushi takeout (web only, saturday 4pm) - have only 5-7 bar seats inside the Japan center buildings at a corner place
- An Japanese restaurant
- Alcatraz, look for coupon
- https://www.cityexperiences.com/san-francisco/city-cruises/alcatraz/checkout/?bookingTypeId=1000016&propertyID=hacco&preselection=%7B%22selectedDate%22%3A%2205%2F29%2F2021%22%2C%22selectedTimedTicketTypeId%22%3A1653936%2C%22ticketSelection%22%3A%7B%221000016%22%3A%7B%221%22%3A1%2C%222%22%3A1%7D%7D%2C%22costRateId%22%3A%22%22%7D
- Lombard
- It starts at Levi's Plaza, takes you to the top of Coit Tower, down the hill to explore North Beach and then up the hill to the top of Lombard Street San Francisco. This 3-hour hike is strenuous and best for those that love to climb steep steps and hills
- https://www.sftourismtips.com/lombard-street-san-francisco.html
- Worth the visit, follow google maps to get to the spot, very hilly place
- Then walk to pier 39
- Coit Tower https://freetoursbyfoot.com/coit-tower-san-francisco/
- Fisherman's dwarf, most disappointing place, sea lions exactly at 39, turn slightly left onto the deck (do not get into the shopping center places)
- Ferrybuilding, northeast direction of hotel fusion, blue bottle, empanadas (delicious), very quiet and slow life, worth the visit
- Chinatown has two streets Stockton and Grant
- St Mary square has the statue and the golden gate
- Lots of good places
- Muni bus 30 passes china town going to the golden gate
- 30, 70, 101 go to the golden gate, need to use the clipper card, swipes on way in and way out
- one hour every run of 70 and 101, they start from the salesforce building close to the ferry building
Day 3 - Sunday
- Golden gate bridge https://www.nps.gov/goga/index.htm
- Total length: 1.7 miles (2.8 km)
- Welcome center 9am open, city 28 bus stop. The #28 - 19th Avenue - Muni Bus stops right next to the Welcome Center, at the SF end of the bridge. You can catch it on Van Ness Avenue, between North Point and Bay, at the western end of the Fisherman's Wharf area, a couple of blocks west of Aquatic Park.
- The #30 Golden Gate Transit bus runs daily, about every hour, from many downtown stops, including stops all along Mission Street. It also runs through the city with numerous other stops on its way to the bridge. Get off at the Toll Plaza just before the bridge
- From union square, The #76X Marin Headlands Express bus also stops at the Toll Plaza. Catch it at Post and Powell streets, at Union Square Note: weekends only.
- All the double-decker, Hop On Hop Off buses stop at the Welcome Center parking lot right next to the bridge
- $7.5 toll to cross over the bridge into SF
- https://www.inside-guide-to-san-francisco-tourism.com/golden-gate-bridge.html
Restaurant -
- Breakfast Good Mong Kok Bakery (yes)
- Ippudo ramen 5min
- Mensho ramen and mushroom chips 10min (yes)
- Old shanghai restaurant, close to golden gate bridge
- Bund Shanghai, 20min to chinatown (yes)
- Dojima Ann, 2min from hotel, may be closed because of pandemic
- Sushi Taka, 16min to chinatown
- King of Thai noodle house, 3min from hotel
- La Fusion, 13 min from hotel, close to Ferry Building
- Rooster and Rice, for hainan chicken, 10min walk from hotel
- Dumpling home, 27min from hotel walk in the southwest direction
- Kabuki springs, women wed, fri and sunday, reservation required
- Ryoko's (tendon donburi, chirashi), need to make reservations (yes)
- Tonton restaurant, small for mostly curry and ramen dishes
- San Sun restaurant for chao zhou style and hainan chicken (maybe)
- Good Mong Kok and Hao Wang Li are the best breakfast places, the second one has changfen
- The BBQ shop at the far end of the stockton has good roast pork (with duck hanging), not mixed with other proteins and no fried noodles
Airport and Transportation -
Use Muni bus fares for Bus
https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/muni/fares/munimobile#:~:text=Save%20time%20and%20money%20with,or%20on%2Dthe%2Dgo!
- tickets in use, daily $5 and senior $1.25 for two hours
- scanners outside the bus and inside the bus but clipper only
Use Clipper on BART
https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/muni/fares/munimobile/munimobile-frequently-asked-questions#:~:text=MuniMobile%20is%20a%20Muni%2Donly,are%20only%20available%20through%20Clipper.
- Yellow bart 30min every run
- Airport to Hotel Fusion, 31min on BART Yellow N towards Antioch, $9.65
- Hotel Fusion to Pier 39, 1.8 miles one way in 36 minutes;
- Hotel to Lombard street, muni bus 8, 45, 30, or walk 1.8 miles and 36 minutes
- Hotel to ferry building, walking 1.1 miles, 22 minutes in the north and east direction
- Hotel to Colt tower, walking 1.4 miles, 33 minutes, in between ferry building and pier 39
- Hotel to Golden Gate Park, muni bus 7, $3
- Hotel to Japantown, walking 1.3 miles 29minutes or muni bus 38 or 38R, $3
- Hotel to Twinpeaks, KBus, LBus 40min, $3
- Hotel to Golden Gate Bridge, muni bus 30/70/101
- Hotel to Muir national monument, muni bus 30 then 61, then walk 50minutes in total 2 hours 22 minutes; take 101 muni bus then walk to marin transit station for the shuttle bus (suspended)
