san Fran June 06

tommyboo

Hi,

theres a group of us going to san fran in the summer and we were wondering if thers anyone on the boards doing something similar, or anyone whose one it and got any advice?

Gone West

tommyboo wrote:

Hi,

theres a group of us going to san fran in the summer and we were wondering if thers anyone on the boards doing something similar, or anyone whose one it and got any advice?

done it.
Just wing it. Dont make plans, per se. Just hang around the city and see everything. Not the major tourist stuff, but the little things. The jazz clubs and the cafes are excellent. People are very laid back. Haight-Ashbury district is fun, and so very laid back. Especially the park; theres loads of ex-hippies and freelance painters knocking around. They have nothing to do, and the wisdom of the ages to share. (lollers) I got some good stories about tripping on acid at Woodstock '69 and accidentally finding their way onstage to the grateful dead in the 1970s, and eventually being their roadies for a year or so. He had a stack of photos and all. It wasn't just a random bullshítter.

City centre can be odd. Huge glass skyscrapers with hordes of trolley pushing hobos outside. Travel on foot if you can. You get to see more stuff that way. The trams and cablecars are great fun, but pricey. Make sure you pay. they don't like when folks dont pay.

And if possible find a crazy taxi driver to drive ye down the hills in the city centre at high speeds. Its great.

Fishermans wharf is cool. Lots of tourist groups from abroad. I spotted 200~ Japanese fellows all (fake) dressed as sailors there. They were some anime group on tour. I also spotted the German David Hasslehoff fan club on the wharf. Great seafood in Alliottos on the wharf.

Also, check out the historic green line tram. Its funkeh.

Alcatraz is good, but not that good.

Check out the smaller piers (pier 13, 37 IIRC are cool) and go on a cheapass shark/etc fishing trip with a mexican charter boat or somesuch.

If youre bored, get the BART(www.bart.org) to san jose on the south east side of the city. Its a great place, teh mexican food there is the best ever.

and have a good un

ChuckProphet

Make sure and get a travel pass, comes in 1,3 and 7 days I think. gets you on the cable cars, trams and buses. have to disagree about Alcatraz, thought it was great, tho make sure and get the headphones for the audio tour in the main cell block, it's included in the price. Union Sq. for shopping. Haight-Ashbury is a laugh alright. Coit Tower for good views of the bay and golden gate. It's the kinda city to wander around rather than trying to stick to a rigid itineary. Enjoy it.

Novo

Alcatraz is great. If you are only going for a few days make sure you book it in advance (Blue and Gold fleet site online) as it gets booked out for days in advance during the busy tourist periods. You might want to look into doing one of the late evening trips over to it when it starts getting a bit darker.

If you can ride a bike I would recommend cycling across the Golden Gate Bridge. You can rent a bike in Fishermans Wharf and then cycle along the coast, across the bridge and there is a quaint little village, Sausalito, on the other side. You can bring your bike back on a ferry then if you're too tired to cycle.

Haight/Ashbury is definitely worth a look but is very commercial with all the shops wanting to sell you Haight Ashbury t-shirts and cheap trinkets. The area around Valencia street roughly between 16th and 24th street is being described as the new Haight/Ashbury. A lot of young people live here and there are nice cafes where they hang out and small atmospheric bars. Try the burritos on mission street as well. This is where a most of the mexicans live and they do great burritos.

eoinf

Novo wrote:

Try the burritos on mission street as well. This is where a most of the mexicans live and they do great burritos.

its all about the quesadillas.

anyway the only tip i can offer is go with the flow of san fran dont get too hung up on arranging accomadation or stuff like that just book the flights everything else will fall into place