San Francisco Travel Forum

I'm on a short visit to SFO - just 2 days, This is my first time to CA.I plan to visit
1. Golden Gate Bridge
2. Alamo Square
3. Bay Bridge
4. Coit Tower
5. Union Square
6. Fisherman's wharf

Is it possible to cover all of these POI. Can someone please help me schedule this by which ones are closer and the best times to visit them. whether to take public transport or drive by car. I would like to see the Golden gate bridge and the Alamo square by sunset. Will I be winded at the end of this trip??

Thanks for all your inputs.

All you list is easily doable within your time frame. Consider grouping North Beach, Coit Tower, Fishermans wharf together. If you're able to read the san francisco bus schedules you'll find X-press buses in the afternoon that can whisk you from Fisherman's wharf to the GGB quickly for a sunset view ~~ then take a taxi in return. Renting a car for two days in the city is, i think, i'll advised as you'll spend less (and not have to deal with the one way streets and parking) on public transportation. I suggest orienting yourself prior with google or yahoo map. You can walk to Union Square, drop south of Market (soma) Street , add the SFMOMA, Moscone Center, and view the Bay Bridge on that portion of your tour as you access the district close to the SF Giants stadium. Alamo Square is easily accessible by bus (which would continue toward GGPark, or the Haight Ashbury district) or just take a taxi. San Francisco is really best discovered by walking around, every street like a painting. You will more than likely meet and enjoy the people in san francisco and scrap all your original plans anyway. Where are you staying? If reasonably close, hang in North Beach one evening. There is a Japanese bathhouse 'Kabuki Hot Springs' at Geary and Fillmore, that would be worth the experience, too.

Yes, you can do all these things. You can easily walk or bus around Union Square, Coit Tower and Fisherman's Wharf in a day, (there's not much to see in Union Square - it's a shopper's destination.) You can get to both the Golden Gate Bridge and Alamo Square on public transit - here's a link http://transit.511.org/schedules/allRoutes.aspx?cid=SF&x=10&y=11. If you're a good walker, you can walk from Fisherman's Wharf to the Golden Gate Bridge. It's a few miles, but it's beautiful, especially the part that goes through Chrissy Field. You can also rent a bike at Fisherman's Wharf and ride it to the Golden Gate. I'm not sure why you want to visit the Bay Bridge - there's no pedestrian access. But if you want to, you can rent a car and cross it halfway to Treasure Island (great views of the city). Or you can go to the transbay bus terminal on Mission St & 1st and take a bus to the east bay and back, or come back on BART. The bus is a better way to see the view from the bay bridge - you're up high enough to see over the railings, something you can't do in a car. This is best done in the middle of the day because of traffic.

Your wish list isn't at all unrealistic for 2 days. You might even have time to add a few things. I recommend a bay cruise or ferry ride, a trip to the Ferry Building (food heaven) or Alcatraz (reserve ahead of time).

What does POI mean?

acprincess

oh, POI -> means Points of Interest
Thanks for your inputs - acprincess & ivanivic
The only issue with Alcatraz is I read in one of the forums that it'd take half a day, but I'd love to go there if time permits.

sorry, what is SFMOMA? I don't know where I'll be staying yet, I'm thinking somewhere near the airport or downtown. Any other places that I'm missing out on.. (apart from Alcatraz!)

SFMOMA = San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

I too would suggest possibly staying in the North Beach area. You will be reasonably near the Coit Tower, The Wharf, Chinatown, etc. The North Beach neighborhood also has the Sentinel Building, which is interesting, and the Transamerica building is also close by. There are many restaurants in the area, The City Lights Bookstore, and a very nice jazz club. You also will be near the cable car lines, and the crooked part of Lombard Street. You might consider skipping Alamo Square, and possibly doing some sort of Bay Cruise. Gary

If you only have two days you'll miss out on a lot, just because there's so much to do here. I would definitely NOT recommend that you stay by the airport. You would save a little money, but you will make up for it in time lost. Our public transit is a lot better inside the city of SF than it is going to the burbs. Stay downtown or near the wharf. You have a lot of things on your list - don't miss some of them because you have to catch a bus to Millbrae.

Yes, Alcatraz takes half a day, or at least 3 - 4 hours, but you could probably swing it. You'd get a boat ride with the tour - the bay is one of our best features. Unless you're either an architect or a photographer, Alamo Square is worth seeing, but it won't take long. And really, Union Square is just a smallish plaza in the middle of a bunch of stores.

acprincess is totally correct. Unless you wish to visit Monterrey, the airport area is very problematic for visiting San Francisco. Gary

You didn't say when you were going to S.F. or which 2 days of the week you'd be there., how old you were (I'll assume physically able to walk a lot) or if you were on a very limited budget. I assume moderate to all my wonderings.

Take BART (train) from SFO to Downtown. Stay in the downtown area.
Rent a car for 1 day in the morning and return it in early evening. Use the car to go to and over the Golden Gate Bridge. As you exit the bridge stay on your right and get off at the Vista Point. The first town over the bridge is Sausalito; touristy, but nice. As you drive to the GGB go along Broadway to the end of the street ( the building numbers will get higher). You'll pass multi million dollar homes that are different from most American cities, as they have no land. Take the car to Golden Gate Park. I don't think that you can drive through the park on Sundays. (almost forgot - DON'T go near the GGB at rush hour and forget the Bay Bridge) Drive the car down Lombard St from Hyde to Leavenworth, billed as the crookedest street in the world. Also, if you drive down Market Street from the Twin Peaks ( ask at hotel or tourist info for directions) you will see a fantastic view. If you must take the car to Alamo Square; not too exciting, as it's a park in a residential area.

The day without the car should be spent at Union Square. Unless you plan to go shopping, this adventure should take 4 minutes. I don't think anyone mentioned that you should take a cable car ride. Take a cable car ride; hold on. You can walk to Chinatown from Union Square and to The Yerba Buena Gardens in South of Market area. There is a Museum of Modern Art there, as well as over attractions.

I wouldn't bother going to Coit Tower; probably would take too much time with all the tourist traffic and the only thing you'll see is a view. DO NOT GO TO PIER 39! Alcatraz - too time consumming. If seeing the inide of a prison is of great importance..... steal a car. S.F. taxis are the most expensive in the U.S.Parking a car is probaly the worst in the U.S.

Hope you find my suggestions worthwhile