OT: Visiting San Fransisco & Yosemite
I've got one kid in college and the other is going to be a senior in high school. I just decided to try to squeeze in one last family vacation with all four of us before that window closes and my kids are forever off doing their own thing.
We're planning on going to San Fransisco and Yosemite. The last time I've been to either was over 25 years ago. So I'm looking for advice from the board on the best places to go and where to stay.
We're flying in to SFO and the plan is to rent a car. We'll spend a few days in the San Fransisco area and a few days in and around Yosemite. We fly in on a Friday and fly out the following Saturday, so we won't have a ton of time in either place.
I would greatly appreciate any advice on what to do and where to stay in our limited time we have. (My kids are very active and like to do things other than just sightsee, but my wife's hip has been bugging her a bit lately so we won't be up for climbing Half Dome or rappelling down El Capitan!)
Sorry for the personal OT post, but the feedback from this board on these types of topics is usually too good to not give it a try.
August 4th, 2017 at 12:08 AM ^
August 4th, 2017 at 12:11 AM ^
Two More Things: Pack a light jacket or a hoodie for early morning and late afternoon/evening walks. Use Uber/Lyft for getting around the city. Many drivers are driving for both services now.
August 3rd, 2017 at 11:37 PM ^
I stayed at the Carlton once, then my wake-up call came in and I found out I was at Days Inn.
August 4th, 2017 at 12:04 AM ^
South of Yosemite, in Oakhurst, eat at Erna's Elderberry House. You can also stay at the Chateau du Sureau. Your kids may not appreciate it, but your wife will love it.
He has his own money printer in his waterfront mansion on Grosse Isle.
P.S. Don't foget to drive up (or in your case fly) to the Emerald Triangle for some world famous Brownies.
August 4th, 2017 at 12:45 AM ^
Moraga steps -- tiled staircase in the sunset district with a very nice view of the whole city up at the top. there is a second staircase (without colorful tiles) to get to the very top
Twin Peaks if it is a clear day -- don't go if it's foggy, it'll be a hurricane of fog up there
Dolores Park -- get some Bi-rite icecream, yes wait in the line, you can get nearby with Bart, take a stroll through the mission and see what used to be the mexican-american neighborhood. still a few good tacquerias but most just hipsters now-a-days. nice murals everywhere
Hike up the east side of telegraph hill -- this is an amazing and short little walk up some steps through a neighborhood that has beautiful little gardens on eitherside of the staircase. at the top you have a nice view. search for filbert street steps
Mt. Tam -- you can drive up
Lands End -- park at the legion of honor and walk downhill next to the golf course, find the labyrinth at Eagle's pont. also nearby is Sutro Baths. walk down to Ocean Beach if it's sunny. This is all at the west end of GG park.
golden gate recreation area -- first head to rodeo beach, on the way back, just before the tunnel, turn right and come up the back way to the lookout point that has the best view of the bridge. you can see all the cars up there on the west side of 101 if you are coming off the north end of the bridge
August 4th, 2017 at 12:51 AM ^
If you haven't picked your time yet, September and October are the two best months of the year in San Francisco. Their "summer" is delayed. June and July are two of the most miserable months of the year there.
Recommend using Uber or Lyft and just rent car before going to Yosemite.
All of the mentioned Parks (I'm focusing on Sequoia, Yosemite and Muir) are far superior when the summer is over. Are you making this a last-chance summer vacation, or can it occur after school begins and the Parks' traffic thins?
It may just be me, but tailing endless strings of cars and walking away from swollen parking lots, single-file behind other vacationers, to this overlook or that attraction has to be the absolute worst way for me to take in natural splendor.
I recommend that you wait until you can get away with pretending those Parks are just there for you and a few others. And summer isn't it. Yosemite - in particular - is a Mecca that becomes accidentally wasted on too many of its summer visitors. Set yourself up for success. Go in the offseason.
You'll have to find a place to park in the valley and take the bus to Yosemite Falls, etc. Glacier point, requires a seperate shuttle. It will be crowded. Avoid the weekend. I entered the park through the east entrance so I don't know how the entrances are from the west.
The Mariposa Grove of Sequoias is closed until Fall of 2017
I recommend clinbing Lembert Dome. This is near the east entrance of the park. It is a huge tear shape rock and easy to climb since you are climbing the backside.
The biggerst redwood is 360' tall x 20' in dia and is located in Redwood NP about 300 miles north of SF. The biggest sequoia is the Gen. Grant tree, 275' tall x 30' in dia. and is located in Sequoia NP.
I would definitely go to Sequoia NP. Kings Canyon is optional. I did see a mountain lion on the road to Mineral King in Kings Canyon.
Backpacking there in two weeks with my sons actually and can't wait! Have a reservation heading out of the valley (brutal first climb), and then who knows?
Catching a Giants ballgame after we finish. Should be a good time.
August 4th, 2017 at 10:04 AM ^
August 4th, 2017 at 10:48 AM ^
I had a class I was taking for work at one of the airport hotels in Burlingame. My wife accompanied me on the trip, for our first time in SF without children since 2002.
Many more experienced visitors/residents have offered great suggestions above. The Vengeful Barbarian guy is messing with you. We walked all around the Embarcadero/Fishermans Wharf/North Beach/Chinatown/Union Square area over the course of two separate evenings and never felt hot outdoors.
There are so many good places to eat that it's hard to go wrong. I have found Yelp ratings to be very useful because of the volume.
One key thing to remember is that a two dimensional map of San Francisco can be deceptive. There are places where it looks possible to get from A to B but in between those is an extremely steep hill or even a cliff. Consider the area around Telegraph Hill and Coit Tower, the discontinuities of streets like Francisco, Chestnut, Lombard, Greenwich, and Filbert. Google Maps does show the steps between those, which are beautiful but essentially vertical ascents.
Enjoy your visit, it's a beautiful part of the world.
August 4th, 2017 at 11:17 AM ^
August 4th, 2017 at 11:27 AM ^
but if you end up in Yosemite, leave your wife at the lodge and climb Half Dome with your kids.
August 4th, 2017 at 11:57 AM ^
Avoid eating at the Wharf - overpriced, touristy and not good. Go to the Ferry Building instead, and eat there. Of course not inexpensive but the quality is much better. Hog Island Oyster Co, the Slanted Door, Gott's and Mijita are all good. Those are all sit-down places. You can also just grab a bite to go from one of the stalls.
An interesting place to go is the Heath Factory and Tartine Manufactory on Alabama St. Heath Tile was started in the mid 19th century and they make modern craftsman/California tile. The factory is cool. Tartine is an amazing bakery and the Manufactory is where they make a lot of the breads and pastries. They also serve food there. The two factories occupy the same building.
Head down to the Marina for great views of the Bay and Alcatraz. Hope for a clear day.
Best breakfast I've ever had was at Plow, which is on 18th ST. You will wait for a table but it is so worth it if you like breakfast.
Enjoy!
August 4th, 2017 at 12:23 PM ^
Long time Bay Area resident just recently moved back to Mi, I have played tour guide many, many times for visiting friends and family. Here are some ideas:
If you plan on doing any touring outside of SF you will need a rental car. Also, you might consider staying at a hotel near the airport, like the Embassy Suites in Burlingame. Free hot breakfast and happy hour with free draft Sierra Nevada, Anchor Steam and hot snacks.
Buy your Alcatraz tickets now if they're still available. Don't wait.
You can spend weeks as a tourist in SF and still not see everything. For a short SF day trip park in the side streets near Pier 39, Take the Alcatraz Tour if available. Walk from Pier 39 to Fort Mason. Exploratorium is nice. Take the cable car up Hyde and check out Union Sq. If you have time drive across town through Golden Gate Park to Ocean Beach. Drive up Twin Peaks for great views of the Bay Area.
Marin County day trip: drive across the GG bridge and park at the Vista Point at the north end of the bridge. Walk to the center of the bridge and back. Drive to Muir Woods and walk the redwoods trail. Drive to the Muir Beach overlook for lunch and walk to the overlook edge. Drive to Stinson Beach and play in the surf for a bit. Stop in Sausalito on the way back for beverages, snacks and views.
Peninsula day trip: drive the 90 minutes to Santa Cruz and check out the Beach Boardwalk area. Head north on Highway 1 up the Santa Cruz\San Mateo coast. Stop at Ano Nuevo State Park and hike the hour to see the elephant seals. Continue up the coast and stop at any of the numerous state beaches. Stop at the Princeton Harbor area at the north end of Half Moon Bay. If you missed the redwoods in Marin you can stop at Purisma Creek Redwoods Open Space on Highway 35 just south of Highway 92 between Half Moon Bay and San Mateo.
East Bay day trip: check out Chabot Space and Science Center in the Oakland Hills. Go for a hike or mtn bike ride in Joaquin Miller Park and/or Redwood Park. Drive to Berkeley and walk up Telegraph to the UC campus. Check out the Lawrence Hall of Science and the views from the Berkeley Hills.
Have fun.
I'm a geologist, and my wife has spent lots of time working in SF, so I've done a ton of outdoorsy stuff in the Bay Area. Lots of the recommendations in this thread, while awesome, are overrun on weekends to the point of being ruined. So here are a couple of recs that get less traffic but are still medium busy on weekends - you'll be far from alone here but you wont need a goddamed shuttle bus to get to the trailhead:
- hike Montara Mountain in Pacifica - I recommend going up from the backside in San Mateo County Park, which also is warmer and less likely to be fogged in. Still, you need to watch the weather.
- the north side of Point Reyes - the whole place is gorgeous and would be a national park if it wasn't for the decision to preserve the ranches. The main sights are just as crowded as Yosemite but Abbott's Lagoon and Tomales Point are holy-shit gorgeous and generally there's parking at the trailhead even on a weekend, though sometimes Tomales Point gets overrun. Here you REALLY need to watch the weather though I've had better luck than you'd expect - sometimes Muir Beach will be fogged in and Abbott's Lagoon will be blue skies.
- Muir Beach to Rodeo Beach. This can get overrun, but there's a trail that runs between the two and in the middle it's only lightly trafficed.
- go to one of the mountain wineries, like Thomas Fogarty (up on Skyline Bvd in the Santa Cruz Mountains), Ridge Monte Bello (in the Santa Cruz Mountains above Cupertino) or Smith Madrone (on Sonoma Mountain between Napa and Sonoma). I can't stand the crowds in Napa and lots of Sonoma has gotten pretty bad too, but having a nice glass of wine on a picnic bench at a mountainside winery is damn near heaven, and the curvy roads keep the tour buses away.
Glacier Point has fantastic views of Yosemite Valley and Half Dome. You can then hike down to the valley floor on the scenic Four Mile trail. The hike up to the top of Nevada Falls is strenuous but worth ever step. The Mist Trail is packed through Vernal Falls but the crowds don't usually head up higher to Nevada.
August 4th, 2017 at 10:34 PM ^
August 4th, 2017 at 11:13 PM ^
If you get a chance, check out Alcatraz and Al Capone's old cell.
Two great spots