NorCal : San Francisco Bay area, Sacramento, Sierra Nevada, etc.

[mrs_mcta]

We're driving from LA to San Francisco and arriving in San Francisco on Friday, April 29 (most probably early evening na) and here are our plans so far:

Friday, April 29 (arriving around 6-8pm):
- No plans yet, what can we do at this time?

Saturday, April 30
- Golden Gate Bridge/Park
- Palace of Fine Arts
- Bakersfield (not sure pa, my husband's uncle lives here kase)

Sunday, May 1
- Fisherman's Wharf/Pier 39
- Ghirardelli Square
- San Francisco Bay Cruise (maybe)
- Lombard St.
- Ride a cable car (or photo op ok na? - we have a 1st timer kase so we thought ok na sumakay)

Monday, May 3
- Driving to Las Vegas, so most probably wala na kame magagawa in San Francisco on this date

Minus Bakersfield, do our plans look ok naman? Hatian nung activities between Saturday & Sunday; or bawasan yung Sunday & add some to Saturday? Or add totally new activities to Saturday? Hehe! I'm googling as much as I can naman

TIA!

[junetwentythree]

^ How are you getting around and where are you staying?

Bakersfield is pretty from South of San Francisco, btw. That'll take you like ~4.5 hours to get there. Your day is pretty much shot if you do a Bakersfield day.

I would set aside time to just walk around San Francisco. It's such a great city and for more than it's touristy attractions.

[mama squeak!]

If you plan to go to Bakersfield, drive there first on your way to San Francisco since it is along the way from LA. Depends on the traffic it will take you roughly 2 hours. If you drive to San Francisco then Bakersfield, you'll be back tracking, sayang ang oras.

Here's how I'll do your IT:

April 29 - start from LA in the morning and drive to Bakersfield (2 hrs). Are you planning to overnight here or just drop by? If it's the latter, Bakersfield to San Francisco is a 4-5 hour drive depending on the traffic. Dito madalas kami naabutan ng road construction season that's why it sometimes takes us 6-8 hours including rest stops.

April 30 - you have the whole day to do your touristy stuff: Golden Gate, Palace of Fine Arts, Fisherman's Wharf, Ghirardelli Square, etc.

May 1 - continuation of your tour.

 

[jtansanco]

^^^ Visit Alcatraz!

[mrs_mcta]

Thank you, mama squeak and junetwentythree

May change of plans yung SIL ko and it looks like we only have 1.5 days in San Francisco. I'm sad for my husband kase it's his first time; I wanted him to see more of San Francisco sana.

Agree on Bakersfield, sayang talaga sa time so we're not going there anymore but we're going to Hayward instead.

Friday, April 29 (arriving around 6-8pm):
- Still no plans but might meet up with a friend for dinner. She lives in Inner Sunset and my SIL plans for us to stay in Marriott near the airport.
- Where's a good place to meetup to eat? Haight St maybe?

Saturday, April 30
- Golden Gate Bridge/Park
- Palace of Fine Arts
- Fisherman's Wharf/Pier 39
- Ghirardelli Square
- San Francisco Bay Cruise (maybe)
- Lombard St.
- Ride a cable car (or photo op ok na? - we have a 1st timer kase so we thought ok na sumakay)

Sunday, May 1
- Driving to Las Vegas, so most probably wala na kame magagawa in San Francisco on this date

[mama squeak!]

^sorry ha makikialam ako sa plans ng SIL mo. Why not stay mismo sa San Francisco? Since two nights lang naman kayo might as well maximize your time by staying right at the center. Try Hotwire or Priceline for your hotel room so you can get cheap but decent, clean rooms. I've tried Hotwire a lot of times if I plan to stay max 2 nights in one place and I really got good deals.

[mrs_mcta]

^Thanks mama squeak, will suggest that.

[junetwentythree]

^^ Would recommend Park Chow on 9th Ave (right outside of GG park) if you'll be in the Inner Sunset area. Gets kinda crowded but the food is worth it. Or San Tung on Irving betw 11th and 12th aves for some yummy chicken wings.

[meimei]

I'm dropping by California after a business trip. I'll be spending 2.5 days in San Francisco, 4 days in LA, and 1 day in Vegas.

Re my 2.5 days in SF, so far I have:

Day 1 (Sunday):
AM:
- Golden Gate Bridge
- Presidio Picnic
PM:
- (have not decided yet)

Day 2 (Monday):
AM:
- Fisherman's Wharf & Pier 39
- North Beach
PM:
- Shopping & Food trucks

Day 3 (Tuesday):
AM:
- Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market
(check-out at noon to drive to LA)

In your opinion, what should I not miss in San Francisco? I have not yet completed my research eh. I might've missed something...

[meimei]

Re San Francisco - two questions:

1) Is Alcatraz worth it? I think it's gonna take 4hrs off my itinerary. I have 2.5 days in SF.

2) Has any of you seen the Beach Blanket Babylon Show? It garnered incredibly high ratings on Tripadvisor. There's just around 5% of bad reviews saying it was corny and that oldies would appreciate it.

But 95% says its amazing. Of course i don't know if those 95% included young professionals. So if any of you has seen it, please share what you think about the show.

Or do you have any must-see recommendation? I like watching one theatre show when i'm visiting a city. It doesn't have to be a major production. I appreciate small non-mainstream productions as well.

[mrs_mcta]

Just an update to my old post, we ended up with only 1.5 days to spend in San Francisco so we did the hop on/hop off bus tour and I think it was worth it. The ticket was actually good for 2 days but we only got to use it for 1 day. I think it's worth it if you only have a really short trip.

We got to see almost all the 'tourist' attractions. We did one whole round of the tour first and then on the way back to start the 2nd round, nag strategize kame and discussed which stops we really want to get off on for photo ops. Good thing yung sa Golden Gate Bridge, may stopover talaga yung bus for photo ops and you take the same bus to go on. If I remember it correctly, it was about $35-40 each but that was last year na.

We just went to Union Square and looked at the maps of the different tour buses and picked the one we think will serve our purpose best.

[cosmochick]

Hello,We've been to New York in July last year and my husband and I are planning to go again to Canada and SFO, LA and Washington, USA this August for 3-4 weeks.

Better ba from Canada to U.S or US muna then Canada?

Appreciate your inputs!

[cl1995]

Hello. We're flying to SFO next month.

Mag cocommute kasi kami around SanFo

Then papano kaya makapunta sa Yosemite Park by commute? May bus tour ba na pickup ay sa San Fo?

Okay ba mag Uber or Lyft doon? Thanks for the answers

[mama squeak!]

^for me better to use public transpo when going around San Francisco since parking is super expensive especially sa mga tourist areas. But for Yosemite tours, better to have your own car for flexibility and it will come out cheaper.

[cl1995]

^ Yun na nga sinasabi ko sa parents ko. Its better to have a own car papauntang Yosemite eh ayaw nila makinig sa akin hehe.. Thank u mama squeak!

[meimei]

I just came from the US: 3nights in SF, 5nights in LA, 1night in Vegas.

I loved San Francisco! Super! And to answer people's questions - yes you can just Uber your way around. That's what we did. Kasi maliit lang naman ang SF eh. So mas efficient pa mag-Uber kesa yung maghahanap ka pa ng parking etc. and wala akong tiyaga sa bus. So Uber is my life!

Day 1:

a) Golden Gate viewing spot (the coastline near Palace of Fine Arts) - ang ganda ng view from here! I super loved it! And it was a good strategy kasi hitting two tourist destinations in the same area

b) Palace of Fine Arts - grabe when the Uber drove up the street, first glimpse ko pa lang nito, OMG na ko ng OMG! Gandang-ganda ako!

c) North Beach - I was so excited to come  here because of all that I've been reading about in the blogs. But I was disapponted. Parang "blah" lang naman yung shops along Grant and Stockton. BUT, I super loved the FOOD eapecially Tony's Pizza Napoletana! Order the Cal Italia! Super yummy!


Day 2:

a) Pier 7/ Embarcadero/ Ferry Building Farmers' Market - i love boardwalks and piers, in general. So i liked taking pictures at Pier 7. Don't eat at The Slanted Door - terribly overpriced! Ulk!

b) "supposed" Shopping at Hayes Valley, Pacific Heights, Noe Valley, and Haight Street - MAHAL! Lol! Wala ako nabili hahaha!

c) Ghirardelli Square - i think naexcite ako too much sa ice cream sundae so ang taas ng expectation ko. di naman ako masyadong na-wow. Pero maganda yung place. Dine at McCormick & Kuleto's and reserve a table near the window! Ang ganda ng view! And masarap ang food! I liked the tuna na mej hawaiian style.

Day 3:

a) 2-hr hike at the Land's End Trail - SUPER HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. This is one of the most beautiful trails I've ever seen. Along the coastline kasi so ang ganda ganda ganda.

b) drive to Monterey (as an overnight stopover to LA) - in fair ang ganda sa Monterey coastline! Maraming magandang stopovers along the "17-Mile Drive" where you can park and take pictures. and masarap din kumain sa Fisherman's wharf nila. But if you're NOT driving to LA, then it's not worth enough yo drive to Monterey for the sake of it. May kamag-anak lang kasi kami dun kaya may natirhan kami for an overnight stopover on the drive to LA.

[sdee]

hello is this thread still open? would like to know the weather in san fo by november  2nd week? tia

[jtansanco]

hello is this thread still open? would like to know the weather in san fo by november  2nd week? tia

It only gets cooler until we get to Dec/Jan.

Morning is probably anywhere between 11-15 degrees.
Noon to afternoon is probably 15-21 degrees.
Night time is probably around 15-18 degrees but can get colder depending on the wind.

[sdee]

thanks. also do they have all access card for their transpo like bart and mumi?

[eischied_21]

Hi, I'm planning to travel to US next year and choosing which city has a good public transpo system - SF, LA or NY. I don't drive and I will rely only on bus/train and uber. Which of the three do you recommend? My first time in US.