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A weekend in the SF Bay area. What to do?
Jam Warrior
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Work is sending me from the UK to Mountain View CA for a couple of weeks and I should be getting a free weekend in there somewhere. Woo!
What are the best touristy things to do with my free time?
Points of note:
- My first time in America
- It will be mid December
- I have no idea what transport options will be available to me
Also any othe general visitor's advice gladly accepted!
What are the best touristy things to do with my free time?
Points of note:
- My first time in America
- It will be mid December
- I have no idea what transport options will be available to me
Also any othe general visitor's advice gladly accepted!
0
Posts
Day 1 - Go be a tourist. See Coit Tower, Fishermans Wharf, Alcatraz, Filbert Steps, Crissy Field etc. etc. - Just get this all done and have some fun.
Day 2 - Go hang out. Roll down onto Lower Haight and the Duboce Triangle into the Valencia corridor for good eating and drinking.
Day 3 - Bike across the Golden Gate bridge into Sausalito. Eat at Fish or Bocce. Enjoy.
Other notes - if this weekend is the first friday of the month, I highly recommend popping over to Oakland for the art murmur on Telegraph. There are some amazing galleries here, and it's much more expansive and varied vs. the drunken mess that is the Lower Haight Art Walk.
Instead, I'll recommend:
Day 1
Day 2
There's plenty more things to do if you have any particular interests you'd like recommendations tailored to. I will insist that you find a way to include some cliffy beach time and some scenic Highway 1 time, though.
Unfortunately AFAIK getting from Mountain View to SF on public transport is kind of a pain and would most likely take upwards of 2 hours (not to discourage you - SF is fun and there's lots to do. Just keep in mind the time constraints if you need to).
I dunno the quickest route from Mountain View to any BART stations, but once you have access to the BART you can get anywhere in the Bay Area. Pay dollars to get a ticket, ride yourself around the bay. So depending on that first step, renting a car may not be necessary. At any rate, you don't want to drive around San Francisco. Parking is a bitch, as is the one-way streets.
If you want to see some impressive commercialism, go to the Metreon (I think I spelled that wrong) in San Francisco or the toy store there. I can't remember the name of it but it's three stories tall and fucking cool as hell.
Since you figure on having just a weekend, I recommend the first response you got: just get up to SF and be a tourist. It will cool down here (48 (about 9C) right now at 3AM, but highs in the mid-50s to mid-60s (15C-18C)), and also cooler and windier in SF.
As for getting around, if you want to take your shot at transit, the relevant links are:
http://511.org/ - everything
http://www.caltrain.com/ - commuter train service from the South Bay to San Francisco
http://www.bart.gov/ - acts like a subway through Downtown San Francisco, more commuter like in the 'burbs. You can change between BART and Caltrain at Millbrae, which is probably good since BART actually goes to downtown SF and will allow more access to...
http://www.sfmta.com - MUNI, which provides light rail and bus service throughout SF. This will be your main way of getting around the City without a car.
San Francisco is the densest city on the West Coast and the 2nd densest in the US behind only New York. It's relatively easy to get around the City by walking (though it is hilly) and transit. Down here, though, everything is more spread out. We do have the VTA (http://www.vta.org/) which provides buses and light rail but they are slow. Using the various train services it will take you almost an hour and a half to get from here to SF, a trip that would take a mere 45 minutes by car. That said, if you did drive up there you'd spend 20 minutes looking for somewhere to park, so that factored in it starts to become a wash. If you want to spend more than one day up there, I recommend overnight accommodation there so that you can avoid having to make the trip up and down more than once.
Walk 1: Start at Pier 39 early->see sea lions there before it's too busy->walk along the shoreline past Fisherman's Wharf and Ghirardelli->detour up to Lombard and take pictures there->walk up Lombard if you want->walk back down to the shoreline and check out the maritime museum->continue though Fort Mason->walk to the Palace of Fine Arts->Exploratorium
Walk 2: Alcatraz (if you want to do this, you need to book tickets online in advance, they may not have any available if you just walk up)->walk to the financial district from ferry dock->walk to Chinatown->find some dim sum->waddle to Coit Tower (go up if you want/if it is not foggy)
Drive out to Berkley and eat dinner at Chez Pannise. You’ll need to make a reservation.
The Metreon is now pretty much just the movie theater and a newly opened Target, and if the toy store you're talking about is FAO Schwartz that's been closed for years
If you're going to be in Mountain View, some good places to eat on or near Castro:
Maru Ichi - try their kuro ramen, it isn't authentic but they make their own noodles and it's delicious!
Tea Era - really good quality bubble tea
Sushi Tomi - solidly good sushi, it's a little variable in quality, I'd recommend getting there for an early dinner so you don't have to wait in the huge line, and because their quality kind of degrades if you're there right before closing
Steak Out - a decent burger place (I say this coming from the midwest)
If you have a bit of time, the Computer History museum is in Mountain View so you may be able to go when you don't have a full weekend free. It's interesting but not something I'd go out of my way for unless you're really into computer history.
Also, I'm not sure of the weather now and your tolerance for it, but we did some really nice hikes that afforded some gorgeous views of the Bay area that were, in many ways, a lot more satisfying than when we went tromping around the city (e.g., San Bruno, etc.)
Kayaking in Monterey was also really cool, again, I'm not sure of how nice it is in December, but when we went over the summer we saw all kinds of wildlife like otters, sea lions, seals, etc. which was really awesome.
-Santana Row, Saratoga: it's not *too* touristy. Lots of gorgeous stores and restaurants! It's beautiful around the holidays, too!
-Saratoga Village, Saratoga: High-end, but gorgeous. It has a very village-y feel (hence the name). My sister works at a jewelry store there (Deja and Co.)
-Christmas in the Park, downtown San Jose: I have great memories of Christmas in the park! Food, ice skating, decorations, animatronics. Definitely worth checking out. Nighttime is the best time to go.
Have fun! It really is a nice area to visit. OH - and you MUST to go to In 'N Out. The best burgers. Ever.