San Francisco Travel Forum

My Family will be in SFO for one day transit. I am struggling how to make full use of the one day for them to see the major sights in SFO.

They will be staying in Whitcomb Hotel... 2 children and 3 grandparents...

Any suggestions ?

I am thinking of alcartraz in the morning, fisherman wharf and union square in the afternoon.. and may be a dinner at chinatown at night..

You have the right ideas for just one day...and yes it will be a full day indeed. You beter start early with Alcatraz but it will be worth it if you like historical stuff. Another great way is to take one of those bus tours of the city because it will show you San Fran in a short amount of time.

It can be difficult to get to Alcatraz at short notice so check out how to book the boat in advance so you have priority in the queue..The other thing which is great is the tram ride from near the Wharf up the hills into the city....whatever the trams are called.

Fisherman's Wharf is a good idea. It is a small place, tho. The 2 or 3 restaurants there were, frankly, ordinary and disappointing. However, you can catch the Alcatraz hydrofoil there; it's only a 15 minute ride each way. You should reserve online first; sorry I don't have a web address, but I bet you can figure it out. How old are the kids? They may enjoy, right there on the Wharf, Musee Mechanique. It offers antique pinball games as well as a few from the recent past, like my favorite, Ms PacMan. Might be the kind of place that the older folks might appreciate more than the kids, but since it's right there on the Wharf, you'd be silly not to! and, weather permitting, you can rent bikes and pedal West along the Bay until you reach the Golden Gate Bridge. If time permits, take the N/Judah or the L/Zoo line out to the majestic Pacific Ocean (Ocean Beach). I live in NYC, but I've been to SF 5 times in the last 7 years. Whatever you do, DON'T call it Frisco. They hate that.

Oh. If you do take the N/Judah line to the end, after you've visited Ocean Beach by crossing the Pacific Coast Highway, have a bite at the Java Beach Cafe. It's right across the street from the last stop. You can get a kick out of watching the streetcar revolving on the turntable.

Thanks. The kids are 10 and 12.

The museum sounds like a great idea !

Any suggestion on restaurant as well?

I'd skip Alcatraz. You can view it through the dockside telescopes on Fisherman's Wharf. Enjoy Fisherman's Wharf in the morning and then spend the afternoon at Golden Gate Park. There is so much to do there, but the really neat thing at your kids' ages is the newly renovated and opened Academy of Sciences. It is just fantastic and the kids would go wild over it. They have a huge aquarium, a 4-story rainforest, a planetarium and penguins amongst other things. Check the web site at http://www.calacademy.org/

We often picnic in the park, but there are lots of neat restaurants ringing the park so you could have lunch and then head straight to the museum. Afterwards explore the rest of the park . . . or at least part of it; it's huge. You can check the web site above or call (415) 321-8000.

There's a neat little restaurant at the corner of 9th and Lincoln that is pretty reasonable and we enjoy but there are plenty of restaurants in the area.

Have a great trip.

beausoleil makes a good point. In Golden Gate Park, there's a lovely carousel that kids your age should still enjoy. There's a good restaurant called Roxanne on Bush and Sutter, which is 3 blocks north of Union Square.

With only one day, you should probably stick to your original plan. The other posters have made lovely suggestions, but a day is short, especially in winter.

Be sure to make Alcatraz reservations in advance.

The Great Eastern restaurant on Jackson in Chinatown is very good. They have a lot of seafood on the menu. Tommy Toy's (slightly outside of Chinatown, but not very)is elegant - straight out of a 40's movie. House of Nanking, on Kearny, has great food and is inexpensive, but isn't the most pleasant setting (bare-bones decor, tables jammed in close to other diners and lots of noise.)