Enjoy the random whiffs of piss you're going to get. I know it's something you deal with in every major city, but I seem to distinctly remember San Francisco for being a bit pissier smelling than other cities.
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Definitely do Alcatraz. If you're really into Capone's story, you need to specifically ask where his cell is. They don't actively promote Capone's cell for some reason. I guess they don't want everyone hovering around it perhaps?
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Definitely do Alcatraz. If you're really into Capone's story, you need to specifically ask where his cell is. They don't actively promote Capone's cell for some reason. I guess they don't want everyone hovering around it perhaps?
I was there two months ago and the guy told me that there is no single "Al Capone cell" because he was moved around upwards of a dozen times during his sentence.
If you're looking for a place to stay, I can recommend the Chancellor. It's an old character building right across the street from Union Square and on the trolley-car line, and it's cheaper than most of the other options in the area.
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Hi all. I am planning to take my son to San Fran mid March, 3 days, for dad and son trip to take in a surprise Warriors game for him in Oakland as well as some sight seeing (Alcatraz, Golden Gate Bridge) I am looking for any suggestions , tips where to stay, Oakland vs San Fran , and where to take him and keep him occupied aside from what I have mentioned above. Thanks in advance.
From December through March a breeding colony of elephant seals can be observed from Elephant Seal Overlook near Chimney Rock, above beautiful Drakes Bay. The males are the first to arrive here, in December, to stake out a claim on the beach. Then pregnant females begin to arrive and soon give birth to a single pup. Subadult and juvenile animals arrive and the colony can number close to one hundred animals.
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Hi all. I am planning to take my son to San Fran mid March, 3 days, for dad and son trip to take in a surprise Warriors game for him in Oakland as well as some sight seeing (Alcatraz, Golden Gate Bridge) I am looking for any suggestions , tips where to stay, Oakland vs San Fran , and where to take him and keep him occupied aside from what I have mentioned above. Thanks in advance.
Buy the hop on hop off bus tour that runs out of Union Square (across from Macy's). Hits all the spots and when we did it, it was good for 3 days so you could use it as transportation as well. Each night they do one night tour as well which was pretty cool. I really enjoyed going over the Golden Gate Bridge on the open top of the bus.
Agreed. SF CityPass is probably one of the few CityPass that is actually worth it.
MAJOR +1 regarding dressing warm. You'd think July is warm at 28C. No. I thought it felt like single digits due to wind chill. I'd imagine March to be even colder.
Bring/buy good walking shoes. You will walk a lot. Gel inserts will help immensely too. Fishermans warf, museum, science centre, aquarium, Legion of Honor, traveling... you won't spend a lot of time sitting.
Haight-Ashbury. I seriously have no idea why this is even a tourist attraction. Hippie culture nostalgia and painted houses are why people go apparently?
Photos on occasion can be a challenge. Grabbing a few nice ones outside would be great. Don't feel bad if you are disappointed with pics of your heads sideways from the wind or if your background pics are foggy or filled with people.
The Golden Gate Bridge is LOUD! Wind and vehicles blasting past you won't help. It is probably the place I hated the most in SF was walking on that bridge. Cool experience, but I'm never getting on that damn structure again.
For a 9 year old, bring treats/things to occupy him. I imagine SF will be a bit more fascinating for you than for him.
Last edited by DoubleF; 01-31-2017 at 10:11 AM.
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It sounds like most people have the touristy stuff covered but I'll put in two cents (fore-warning, I have no idea what a 9 year old might like so I'm just picking the kid friendly stuff I can think of):
Oakland vs SF
- SF has more to do, especially kid friendly stuff, but all of it costs $$$
- Oakland is maybe my favorite spot in the US, but it is fairly rough in a lot of areas and outside the nightlife there isn't a ton to do. Good food spots. I would recommend staying in Oakland or Berkeley as it will be a LOT easier to get to the Warriors game. Getting out of SF and crossing the Bay Bridge can take an hour+ during rush hour. As well, getting into SF via ferry or BART is incredibly simple and usually cheaper than parking.
Other touristy/not touristy things to do not mentioned
- Jack London Square (kind of neat, good place to stay in Oakland for a safe, comfortable feel)
- Ferry Building (as an added bonus, take the ferry from Oakland at Jack London Square to the Ferry Building in SF. It's got a great icecream spot and just taking the ferry is nice, kids seem to love it)
- Embarcadero/Boardwalk (my recommendation: you can actually walk from the Ferry Building to Pier 39/Fisherman's Warf. It's about a 30 minute walk, maybe 45 if you're going slowly. You can hit the Science museum [exploratorium] on the way for a fun break. This also allows you not to have to pay a significant amount of money to park near Pier 39. The Alcatraz cruise spot is also between the Ferry Building and Pier 39).
- Coit Tower (nice lookout spot/tower. You can walk here from the boardwalk)
- Baker Beach (decent beach, amazing view of the Golden Gate. Do not walk TOO close to the north end, it becomes a nudist beach and there's almost always some dude trying to get his dick in the background of people's pictures).
- Ocean Beach (a little nicer than Baker, usually lots of surfers)
- Golden Gate park (SF, you can spend an entire day here walking around, do not underestimate it's size)
- Tilden Park (drive around the Berkeley Hills for a cool drive, Tilden Park has some great views and a steam train which MIGHT be too young for 9, but he might get a kick out of it. Doesn't run every day though so make sure before you make the trip)
Cool neighborhoods/areas in SF
- Chinatown (vibrant, amazing, best Chinatown in the US)
- Union Square/Market St (cool if you want to walk around in a super safe area of downtown or have anything you need to buy)
- Mission St (good taste of mexican culture in SF)
- The Castro (good taste of gay culture in SF, walkable couple blocks, nice area, nothing TOO risque but not for the very conservative)
- Haight-Ashbury (I cant see much value here for a 9 year old... but they do have a Ben & Jerry's!)
If you have a car and feel being nature-y
- Tennessee Valley (north of SF, nice little hikes, cool alcoves and beaches)
- Point Reyes lighthouse (north of SF, amazing drive and cool view for whale watching)
Places to eat
- Noodle Theory (asian, Berkeley)
- La Taqueria (mexican but get the burrito, SF)
- Brown Sugar (breakfast/soulfood, good waffles, better w/ chicken, Oakland)
- Home of Chicken & Waffles (also breakfast, walking distance from Jack London)
- Homeroom (macaroni & cheese, super good variations, def kid & adult friendly, Oakland)
- House of Nanking (asian, SF)
My recommendation: avoid Pier 39 like the plague. It's awful. Just a noisy tourist trap that is geared towards you spending money. There really isn't much to do, so if you must, spend a half hour. The walk to it from the Ferry Building is great. Alcatraz is a must for a kid. Golden Gate is cool, but it IS just a bridge at the end of the day, so I might recommend doing Baker Beach or something and getting a great view. If you do Tennessee park or Point Reyes, you can get there by crossing it so you get the "full experience" (which is overrated).
Stay in East Bay, make day trips to SF, that's my recommendation. Regardless, I'd stay close-ish to the Bay Bridge on either side. Do not underestimate the time it takes to drive around SF. If you stay near Union Square in SF, for example, it's about 30-40 minutes to the Warriors arena, in rush hour (conveniently the time right before a game) that can go up to 60-70 minutes, even 90 minutes on a game day with no accidents). Wherever you stay, prepare yourself for the time. And remember that the Bay Bridge and Golden Gate are both tolls going into SF.
Also there is a cool self-guided mini-car tour you can take. There are these little yellow cars that seat two. You get helmets and zip around some neat spots in SF. I've never done it, but I know people who have enjoyed it. You can get them near Pier 39 I think.
EDIT: I agree with everyone on dressing. Pants, shirt, fleece, wind breaker, rain jacket, hat, sunscreen. Layer! It might be super hot, it might be cold. It might pour rain, it might not. You won't need a heavy jacket, but couple removable layers are essential.
If you (or whoever else) have an questions you can PM me, I've spent a good amount of my life in the Bay Area.
Last edited by PepsiFree; 01-31-2017 at 10:24 AM.
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If he has any interest in nature or hiking, Muir Woods (one of the places with tall redwoods) is a relatively short drive across the Golden Gate bridge. We went on a weekday morning right when the park opened, and managed to go over an hour without seeing another human.
The Walt Disney museum is surprisingly good as well. Though it runs as an actual museum rather than a kid's playpen.
Three days likely makes it too short (as you could spend the time in SF easily), but it is also only about an hour to San Jose, so if the Sharks are playing, you can consider a hockey game. The other San Jose places of interest I have hit up probably wouldn't appeal to a nine year old -- the Computer History Museum and Winchester House.
Last edited by Resolute 14; 01-31-2017 at 11:24 AM.
Alcatraz was great, but you need to buy tickets well ahead of time. I would buy them now, if you haven't already.
The cold is the other thing I would note. I went there in the summer and it was really cold sometimes. I have an aunt who grew up there and she kept telling me to bring warm clothes and I figured, yeah, I'll pack a sweater. That wasn't nearly enough. My understanding though is that their seasons are a bit messed up. Summer is cold, but it can get really warm in the fall. I'm not sure about the spring.
Oakland vs SF
- SF has more to do, especially kid friendly stuff, but all of it costs $$$
- Oakland is maybe my favorite spot in the US, but it is fairly rough in a lot of areas and outside the nightlife there isn't a ton to do. Good food spots. I would recommend staying in Oakland or Berkeley as it will be a LOT easier to get to the Warriors game. Getting out of SF and crossing the Bay Bridge can take an hour+ during rush hour. As well, getting into SF via ferry or BART is incredibly simple and usually cheaper than parking.
I recommend the opposite... I've gone to Raider games 3 times now and the first time we stayed in Oakland and took transit into SF. That time, we didn't realize how close, quick, and easy it is to go across by bus or BART. Definitely better (admittedly costlier) to stay in SF and BART it over to Alameda for the sports events. I agree Oakland has something to it and is underrated, but for a first visit to the Bay Area, stay in SF. You can walk and explore in SF whereas Oakland isn't as conducive for that.
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I currently live in San Francisco, but being in my 20's, my recommendations are biased towards restaurants and bars.
There are really great microbreweries all over the city and fancy cocktail bars, so if anyone is looking for recommendations on these, feel free to PM me.
Here is my list of touristy things to do in San Francisco (not including Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz since you're already visiting those).
Regarding the Embarcadero walk:
- Embarcadero walk is pretty good. Start from the Ferry Building and head north towards Fisherman's Wharf.
- As PepsiFree mentioned, Exploratorium is a good science museum for kids, so you may want to visit that along the way.
- I actually recommend going to Pier 39. It's definitely a tourist trap but I don't mind the touristy vibe of Pier 39. There's also sea lions on the docks at Pier 39 so your kid may be interested in visiting Pier 39.
- In Fisherman's Wharf, there's an antique arcade called Musee Mechanique (https://goo.gl/maps/awXh83Scz652) on the pier. It's free to enter and all the arcade games are antique arcade games so your kid might enjoy this place as well.
- Behind Musee Mechanique, your kid might be interested in visiting the military ship (SS Jeremiah O'Brien) and submarine (USS Pampanito). There's an entrance fee for both of these though, but it's relatively cheap.
- There's the only In-N-Out Burger place in San Francisco in this area as well. Definitely recommend grabbing a double-double from here.
- I would recommend continuing west towards Ghirardelli Square and visiting the chocolate shop. I would recommend getting a sundae from the chocolate shop.
- While you're in this area, it's worth visiting North Beach (Little Italy) and Chinatown. Things to check out here: Coit Tower, Lombard Street, bunch of gelato shops, and really good Italian food.
- My recommendation is to have dinner at Tony's Pizza (my favorite pizza place in San Francisco) but expect 1-2 hour wait. They don't take reservations so I would recommend getting on the waitlist before exploring the area.
Other touristy things:
- Ride the Cable Car from Powell station on Market street. I would recommend taking Powell/Hyde line since this goes up the hill that Lombard street is on.
- Hike up Twin Peaks during a sunny day. It's one of the highest points in San Francisco, so you get a really good view of the city, the ocean, the bridges, etc.
- Dolores Park is the hipster park in San Francisco. It's near Twin Peaks so you might want to visit it after the hike. Definitely visit Bi-Rites Ice Cream and get salted caramel ice cream (in my opinion, the best ice cream in the city) and get some dessert pastries from Tartine across the street.
- For beaches, I would recommend Baker beach more than Ocean beach. Ocean beach is pretty boring (just the view of the ocean) where as Baker beach has really good view of Golden Gate Bridge.
- If you're up for a short hike around the beaches, check out Land's End trail. It's on top of a cliff, looking down at the ocean so the view of the ocean from the trail is spectacular. Along the trail, you can go down to a ship-wreck beach which is pretty neat. At the end of the trail, you should check out Sutro Baths.
- If you hike the Land's End trail, there's a restaurant at the end of the trail with fantastic view called Cliff House. It's not too expensive, but it's on the pricier side.
- Golden Gate Park is also worth visiting. If your kid likes museums, definitely visit Cal Academy of Science in the Golden Gate Park. Also worth visiting in the park includes Conservatory of Flowers, Japanese Tea Garden, Botanical Garden. You can also rent rowing boats from Stow Lake (which is in the middle of the park) and go around the lake.
- If you're in downtown, you should visit Yerba Buena park and Union Square. There's a place called Wise Sons and they sell the best bagels in the city (get the everything bagel with their whipped cream cheese). Their reuben sandwich is also really really good.
I would recommend staying in San Francisco instead of Oakland. Oakland is a lot sketchier than San Francisco and there are some sketchy areas there I wouldn't want to stay in.
That being said, in San Francisco, avoid Tenderloin (inner city) and SOMA in the evenings.
Let me know if you have any questions (or if you want some restaurant and bar suggestions)
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