My and my gf will be going to san fran in sept and was wondering if you guys have been there? where can I find a good hotel for a decent price? should I get the alcatraz tour tickets now or online?
The Alcatraz tickets were pretty easy to get as I recall, as long as you get them a day or two in advance. Cool tour, definitely worth seeing - even though Vicky does not actually give tours.
Not sure about hotels, sorry. We stayed with friends when we visited.
I live about 40 minutes away from SF and would definitely recommend the Alcatraz tour. Getting them in advance is hit or miss. There are times when they are booked for weeks and then there are times where you can get them 1-2 days in advance. I would call ahead and ask (but would probably get them ahead of time).
Check out a Giants game as well (try and make it a night game as the atmosphere is amazing). Save some time for Chinatown as well on top of all the other touristy stuff (Fisherman's Wharf, Golden Gate Bridge, etc).
In terms of the hotel, no idea as I live 40 minutes away so either I drive back or stay with friends in the city.
The Alcatraz tour books up, so I would book it in advance online. Its a good tour, and highly recommend it. I can suggest a basic hotel in a very good location that has free parking (unheard of, for the most part) if you are interested. It's not the nicest place - thats for sure, but if you just need a place to crash it works. Let me know.
Alcatraz is awesome but I wouldn't make any plans to be there all day or anything. We went with the intention of spending all afternoon there, and after a couple hours we were pretty bored. Its very interesting but after awhile all the cells start to look the same. That and the path area that wraps around the outside (from The Rock fame, among others) was closed, which didn't help.
Still definitely worth doing though. The ceramic heads used in the escape are still in the beds they were found in, very cool.
Consider using airbnb.com to find cheap accommodations - some very good deals to be found and it's more widely used in SF than just about any other city. (Basically it's a system to allow individuals to rent out their place - so you might be staying in someone's basement studio or in the home of someone who's away) We've used it the last three times we've gone to SF, and had great results each time. We really like staying in the Mission area where there aren't many cheap hotels, and doing the Airbnb approach allows us to live a little bit more like locals during our stay. You can typically find entire apartments or suites (or occasionally houses) in central SF for under $100 a night. There are also even cheaper options where you are just renting a room in someone's home, but I've never done that as we always want a bit more privacy.
I wasn't impressed by Alcatrez... I'd skip it. Most of the cool stuff is fun facts you can read off wikipedia. There's so much more cool stuff you can do in the SF Bay area, IMO.
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I've been to SF about 15 times now and I usually stay at the Westin on Third St. I've also enjoyed The Grand Hyatt, Parc 55 and Hotel Nikko. Others that were okay were the Orchard Hotel on Sutter and the Hilton on O'Farrell. I stayed at the Pickwick on 4th. It's pretty much a dive but it was a last second booking during the NLCS and most places were already full.
My best advice is everywhere is walkable. It's cool to take the cable cars once, but in all four trips this year I've walked to the ball games, Fisherman's Wharf and in between without any issue. I used to MUNI most places but not anymore. I still take the BART downtown from SFO though.
There is a thread titled Dining recommendations in San Francisco on CP that gives lots of places to eat.
I've never done Alcatraz, mostly because it sounds dull. I've done the boat ride that goes near it, under the bridge and around in an hour which was neat, but walking through a jail isn't my thing.
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I've been to San Francisco several times and it's great.
Hotels can be hit and miss with a lot of bad ones mixed in.... but I highly recommend this one I just stayed at called the SW Hotel. It's in North Beach right by the famous City Lights Book store and is walking distance (or trolly) to the Warf.
I recommend it because it was really nice for the price and the location is great.
Alcatraz:
I'd get tickets right away. They can book right up in the summer. Better safe than sorry.
I really liked the night tour. The Hospital ward was open and there was a freer atmosphere conducive to wandering unsupervised. It is a lot scarier at night too which suits the vibe.
Here's some Alcatraz photos I took with my crappy point and shoot:
I went to San Francisco and did Alcatraz with my girlfriend in May. We booked the tickets in advance online, about three weeks out. It was cool, grab the tickets ahead of time to make sure you get on it; definitely worth seeing.
ok thanks guys. I will go ahead and book the tix in advance just to be safe. I heard that union square is pretty central to everything. am hoping I can get a pretty good hotel at a good price on priceline
me and the fiance just got back from SF and definately book your tour online before you go. We didn't and had to pay scalper rates to get a ticket for the final day of our trip. As for hotel, we stayed at the kensignton park hotel. Great location, still quiet considering, clean rooms and no bed bug reports. Plus free brandy at 4pm :P
Get your tickets a few weeks to a month in advance online. I have done the tour a couple times and most recently a few weeks ago and I have loved it both times. You will get amazing photos on the way out and back especiallly out if the water is rough which it often is. Make sure to test your reflexes by taking your best camera into the splash zone and trying to dodge and outrun the overflowing water The most recent time we were there was a new hazard.....hundreds and hundreds of seagulls had babys that they were guarding and were chasing us around the island as many of the nests were in strategic places that you wanted to check out. Lots of orange cones marking the territory but still had quite a few close calls. Ugly babies too Make sure you escape Alcatraz without a Gull attack
I did the Alcatraz tour and I really enjoyed it. It was about 23 years ago though, so who knows if the tour is the same or not, but I can't imagine it not being a cool place to go see.
san fran and alcatraz tour
The most recent time we were there was a new hazard.....hundreds and hundreds of seagulls had babys that they were guarding and were chasing us around the island as many of the nests were in strategic places that you wanted to check out. Lots of orange cones marking the territory but still had quite a few close calls. Ugly babies too
Make sure you escape 
