How long to stay in San Francisco

Thinking of a trip in September to SF. Never been there and would like to get a good sampling of the city without hurrying or being bored.

How many days should we stay? Any suggestions are appreciated.

How long to stay in San Francisco

I would say no less than 5 days. It is not easy to get bored in SF, especially on your first trip. September is a good time to come weather wise. Spend some time reading through several guide books and old posts on this forum.

How long to stay in San Francisco

Siss asked «How many days should we stay?»

The ';Don%26#39;t-miss SIGHTS in San Francisco'; page geocities.com/iconoc/Articles/Sights.html has enough to keep you busy for nine twelve-hour days. It includes links to your best source of advice on WHERE TO EAT here, the UseNet Group ba.food, and the quite-good sfSurvey. It also has a WEATHER CHART with a link to current conditions.

The best on-line MAP of San Francisco is an inter-active PDF created for the San Francisco Municipal Railway: geocities.com/iconoc/Grafix/CityWide.pdf. I recommend 150% or greater magnification. There%26#39;s also a link that will tell you HOW TO GET THERE FROM HERE. Other links on the page, geocities.com/iconoc/Grafix/FlagMaps.html are a map of our CABLE CAR ROUTES and a superb map of GOLDEN GATE PARK.

The frequently-updated SPECIAL EVENTS page has irregularly-scheduled music and dances as well as links to seven calendars of regularly-scheduled dances, a composite of five of them, and one of dance cruises and events around the world: http://geocities.com/dancefest/Specials.html

Siss..

The answer to your question is........stay as long as you possibly can.

If you do your homework on what San Francisco has to offer, you can%26#39;t be bored. If you think you ';have seen it all'; (highly unlikely) then there are easy day trips to the wine country or Santa Cruz/Monterey, or up the coast to Fort Ross State Historical Park, which includes driving on a 14-mile stretch of road which easily rivals Big Sur. (Go three miles further and have a coffee at the spectacular Timber Cove Inn.)

Walk, or bicycle, across the Golden Gate Bridge and admire the City across the Bay from the viewing area. Wander around Golden Gate Park and visit the De Young museum in its new home. Rent a canoe on Stow Lake. Walk along the Embarcadero. Find a good restaurant in one of the neighborhoods.

Then, if you run out of things to do/see come back here and we will lead you further. %26lt;grin%26gt;

Thanks for the input. I had originally thought at least a week, but wanted some more opionions. This is great. Can%26#39;t wait to start planning!

Thanks again!

I%26#39;m with Puter. Stay as long as you can afford to.

Siss,

I went for a one week visit back in 1979...and spent ten years. It%26#39;s not a unique story.

Do get out of the northeast corner of the city...and walk as much as you can stand.

Went in October with my wife, our first visit to SF. We stayed three nights at the Intercontinental hotel smack in the middle of town. To answer your qustion I could have stayed another 2 days, We were on our way to hawaii! . The best advise I can give you is bring Money! As the conductor on the trolley said, There is notheing in this town thats free!. Great town to visit, will be back again and will give us 5 days to do it right. good luck and safe travels.

We were in SF5 years ago and planned to stay for 5 days . We had such a wonderful time that we stayed 3 more days and were sad to leave. We travelled with our boys who were 11 and 13 at the time. The trolley car was a blast to ride. We went to Alcatraz, walked around the city alot, took a trolley tour which you can pick up near the wharf. We ate at a little Italian place in the Italian section that was the best food that we have ever had! One of the best experiences was renting bikes near Gharardelli Square and then biking through the city to the Golden Gate and biking into beautiful Sausilto!! We took the ferry back to SF! Be prepared for SF to be ';cold'; and Sausilitto to be very warm! WE bought warm fleeces the very first day we arrived. SF has its own weather system we learned. We stayed at the Savoy Hotel which is an old world hotel with an attached Vegan restaurant. They bent over backwards for us and accomodated our every need. There is a little rest. across the street from the hotel called Dotties cafe. We ate breakfast there often with the locals! WE would return to the city in a heart beat. Did not rent a car until we left and headed towards wine country which is a must!! Beware of the homeless,,,it is daunting.

we spent a week in san fran couple of years ago. lots to do, but don%26#39;t forget to leave time for the day trips out of town. the best and most memorable was the days we rented a car at the hotel and drove out to napa/sonoma and monterrey/carmel/pebblebeach. have fun! :)

Beware of the homeless? Take the trolley tour? Rent-a-Bike? C%26#39;mon! I%26#39;ve lived in the bay area for what seems like forever - don%26#39;t get me wrong, I live in a beautiful place with rolling hills and redwood trees just outside the city, but I grew-up in LA, at the beach, and spent my young adult years in London, so I guess I%26#39;m a bit of a snob. My daughter lives in Brooklyn - now the young artsy crowd in Brooklyn, they%26#39;re serious snobs, but I digress. My husband and I are amazed that anyone could spend that much time in The City. Yeah, it%26#39;s nice to walk about, especially up to Coit Tower, or around Chinatown or to poke-about the Cliffhouse, and the museums aren%26#39;t bad, indeed there%26#39;s some decent art to be seen, but in general SF is not about sightseeing, that is looking at specific sights, there%26#39;s no Eiffiel Tower or BIg Ben. Instead it%26#39;s about hanging-out in restaurants/cafes etc. and/or shopping and spending some serious cash. I guess it%26#39;s like NYC without the hipness of the lower-eastside and the uberart at the met and the shopping there, it%26#39;s truly sublime. But if you have kids I can%26#39;t imagine trying to keep them happy for more than a few days - really. Fisherman%26#39;s warf and ghiradelle square are nothing but cheap trinket shops masquarading as sights, and they%26#39;re not cheap either. The novely of riding a cablecar would lose it%26#39;s thrill after standing in a very long line one time and driving down Lombardy Street isn%26#39;t really in the same league as say, driving into Yosemite or down Hollywood bullevard. The person who suggested driving to Santa Cruz or to Wine Country had the right idea - use SF as a home-base from which to explore the Bay Area. Check-out Telegraph Avenue for a glimpse of the intellectual twin to Haight-Ashbury, eat at the infamous Chez Panese (or the cheaper cafe), head north to Wine Country and have a mud bath followed by mineral soak in Calistoga, I dunno about Fort Ross, that%26#39;s a long, long drive whereas the drive to Big Sur, which I just did last week, is broken-up into superbly-spaced chunks: drive down Highway One into Santa Cruz and take a walk at Butterfly Beach or drive back into the Redwoods and take the old-time steamtrain ride through the dark forest (for extra campy fun check-out the Mystery Spot - one of several spots in northern california where gravity is ';off';). After Santa Cruz drive the easy hour down the coast to Carmel. Spend a few bucks to drive along the infamous ';17 mile drive'; and take pictures of the beautiful Monterey Pines and infamous Cypresses bent by the persistant breeze. There%26#39;s no shortage of foo-foo shops and eateries too. My mom would say go to the Carmel Mission, one of the Missions established by Spain in the 1700s and see something really historic (and the gardens there were my mom%26#39;s favorite). My kids love the Moneterey Bay Aquarium and if you%26#39;re lucky they%26#39;ll still have the only Great White Shark held in captivity in the whole world (the female was released and a male was caught last year -he%26#39;s even bigger!). You can amble around Monterey and try to see past all the schlock and imagine what it must have been like in Steinback%26#39;s day. Head down to Big Sur (about one to two hours depending on traffic although not more than 45 miles) and time it so you%26#39;ll be driving as the sun goes down - really it%26#39;s too beautiful to describe. If you have time go to Big Sur State Park and hike up to the falls (and through a stand of super-Old-Growth Redwoods). If you can afford it stay at the coolest place - Deetjen%26#39;s Big Sur Inn - a rambling collection of cottages and funky lean-toos built in the 20s - rooms with wood burning stoves and goosedown blankets and a gourmet restaurant to boot. If you can swing-it, and I know it%26#39;s out of the way, but California is really-really big and everything%26#39;s a drive, so if possible try to get to Yosemite. Check-out accomodations now as they%26#39;re still availble but don%26#39;t stay at the Curry Village Cabins - park management has let them go to pieces (we had rodent holes in ours last year!). Check-out the lodge, it%26#39;s not so bad (and has one of the best restaurants) or the Awahnees (altho. I think it%26#39;s too expensive).As the daughter of an 8th generation Californian I can afford to be a snob but keep in mind it%26#39;s only because northern california has so much more to offer than just a collection of tourist junk shops and trolley rides, and if you%26#39;re going to spend your hard-earned cash to come all the way here you should get your money%26#39;s worth! I would only want visitors to see more than just the tourist traps, especially the natural beauty which the aquarium, highway 1/pacific ocean, the parks and the magnificent views all offer.