anyone know much about san fran?

DH and i are thinking of going with my parents (and bro with SIL) to san fran around mid-end of aug. of course we'll be visiting the golden gate bridge. we'll be bringing our will-be 8 months old son.

anyone know of other must- see places?

Re: anyone know much about san fran?

We're headed there on Friday!

It will be our second time... Hold on and I'll list (IMO) the must-see places!

Re: anyone know much about san fran?

I'll preface this by saying that we don't have kids, so I'm not sure how all of these places would be with a baby... but I think most should be fine.

Here's what we did on our first trip:

Tour of Alcatraz
Driving around the Golden gate bridge and nearby parks
Fisherman's wharf (I loved it! People say to skip it because it's so touristy, but honestly.. I love to do touristy things when I travel. I mean I AM a tourist after all!) -- Make sure you try the little donut place... the donuts are TO DIE FOR!
Pier 39 -- to see the seals!
Lombard street (the most crooked street), great for pictures and fun to drive on!
Coit Tower (great views)
Alamo Square (where the "painted ladies" are... aka the houses from the into scene of full house!)
Ghirardelli Square (great for walking around)
Gotta hop on a cable car!
Definitely visit the Scharffen Berger chocolate factory (you can see the chocolate being made! and there's great little cafe there) I can find the website if you want to reserve spots... also, if you get there early, there's some cute little shops around that area.


This time around, my DH wants to go to Half Moon Bay, which is known for their big waves!

Here are some pictures!

Pier 39


On the ferry to Alcatraz


Alcatraz


The prisoner's only view of the outside world!




Lombard st.


Alamo Square, painted ladies


driving on the golden gate bridge




Have fun!

Re: anyone know much about san fran?

wow! this is awesome thank u so much!

which hotel did u stayed at? noticed they're expensive but need a nice clean place.

Message edited 3/17/2008 2:02:25 PM.

Re: anyone know much about san fran?

Posted by julybride0706

wow! this is awesome thank u so much!

which hotel did u stayed at? noticed they're expensive but need a nice clean place.

Re: anyone know much about san fran?

we just booked our 1st "family vacation" there for October.

Re: anyone know much about san fran?

ps -- I think I remember you from LIW. Your hubby is from Ecuador, right? And you have shih tzu? We're bringing our shih tzu to SF on Friday

Re: anyone know much about san fran?

Posted by julybride0706

ps -- I think I remember you from LIW. Your hubby is from Ecuador, right? And you have shih tzu? We're bringing our shih tzu to SF on Friday

no, i don't have any dogs

Re: anyone know much about san fran?

I used to live in San Fran and my mom still does so I go a couple times a year. I take my 2 boys so I can add a few things to the very good list above. There is a Discovery Museum in Sausalito that is great for kids (and beautiful views of the bridge). It is right over the bridge (I think you take the second exit but here is the website: http://www.baykidsmuseum.org/ that has directions. They have a special section for really young children that is nice too but I'm not sure if 8 months is too young. I also love going to Golden Gate Park--my boys love the Japanese Tea Garden there but there is so much else to do as well and most of it is stroller-friendly. If you like taking walks, take the Crissy Field walk to the bridge (about 2 and a half miles round trip) with the stroller. It really is a nice easy walk. Muir Woods/Stinson Beach are also really nice to see. The SFMOMA (museum of modern art) is great too if you like museums.

Have fun!

Re: anyone know much about san fran?

We're going for a week in May. We definately plan on going to Alcatraz, Fishermans wharf, golden gate bridge and shopping. We're staying at a hotel in Union Square so I've scoped out all the shopping in that area

Re: anyone know much about san fran?

My DH and I are going to SF the first week of June. We're staying in the Fisherman's Wharf area. Looking forward to Alcatraz, Chinatown, and Muir Woods, among many other things. Just bought tix for a ballgame too...the Mets will be in town!

Message edited 3/17/2008 7:04:57 PM.

Re: anyone know much about san fran?

Get tickets for Alcatraz early if you want to go! We didn't plan ahead, and when DH and I got to SF, all the tours were already sold out for the entire time we were going to be there.

Re: anyone know much about san fran?

We were there for a few days before our cruise to Alaska, we stayed at the Pickwick hotel , it was clean, nice and a historic landmark. The price was very reasonable. HTH

Re: anyone know much about san fran?

We went and did all the things that were listed above ^^^ LOVED SAN FRAN!

If you can swing it - try to head over to wine country - I loved that just as much as San Fran actually :)

I have a couple of restaurant recommendations : The Slanted Door (vietnamese food) located in the Ferry Building (which is great during the day b/c it has a lot of cute shops).
We ate at Fleur de Lys, Defina(this one was a little out of the way), Frascati - all were AMAZING for us :)

I really liked the Japanese tea garden, "Biking the bridge", Muir Woods was really a nice experiience, and I wantd to spend a lot more time in Union Square (so many shops within block of each other).

There's this mall called the "Westfield" I believe and we only saw it for a few minutes at the end of our last day - but it was a really really neat mall with every store you could think of. It had like 24 winding levels...sooooo nice :)

eta: Alcatraz was really cool and we also saw Sausalito was also a really nice little town w/ great views of San Francisco. We ate at Skooners there and had a GREAT lunch :)

Message edited 3/19/2008 1:12:50 PM.

Re: anyone know much about san fran?

great pics haleyandsteve!

Re: anyone know much about san fran?

Thanks for all the great suggestions!
Just booked night tour of Alcatraz online. We decided to book a day tour of the Napa Wineries so that we both could enjoy tasting and touring, it makes for a paid designated driver!
Looking forward to stopping in Sausalito on the way back from Muir Woods too. So many people recommend the Slanted Door, I hope it's half as good as the hype!