Chris_Lum

Hey everyone,

Planning a trip to SF in April. I've read a few of the "I'm visiting SF, recommend me things to do" threads. A lot of people recommended to get a car rental if i'm staying more than a couple days so i can expand the areas i can visit.
I'm planning a trip from a Sat-Wed (5 days). Probably going to get one of the package deals with airfare/hotel (union square), but I'm trying to decide what to do about transportation when i'm there.

places i want to visit (the usual):

golden gate
chinatown
lombard st.
fisherman's wharf
alcatraz

I heard it's expensive to park in SF? are we talking overnight or during the day or both? Some of the package deals come with a car rental which isn't bad, (like 426/person for hotel/airfare/car rental 5 night stay). It's about $70/person cheaper WITHOUT the car rental, so total $140 cheaper for the two of us. But if it's a pain in the ass to find parking at all of the places i want to visit and if it's expensive to park as well, then i might stay away from a car rental. There are other options like bicycle rentals, taxi's, etc. but i don't know if a car is more worth it.

What do you guys think? If i'm staying in Union Square for 5 days and want to visit the above places (at least), what type of transportation do you recommend? don't really want to spend hundreds on vehicle rental + parking if i don't have to.

S2KVee

all of the places you listed are actually within a reasonable bus ride distance... if you are actually considering a rental car, i would definitely check out fox rent-a-car... lowest rates i've ever paid. Parking in san francisco is pretty costly, especially the tourist areas you listed. Hourly parking Meters (if you can even find a spot) will run you atleast $3.00 to $3.50 an hour, and garage parking will run atleast $5 an hour or two, or about $30 all day.

from union square, chinatown is in walking distance (10 mins), from chinatown, you can take the #30 or #8 to fishermans wharf / Pier 39 (Ferries to alcatraz) From fishermans wharf you can then decide if you would want to walk a few hills or ride the cable car to lombard street. From fishermans wharf you can decide to rent a bicycle and pedal to Golden Gate Bridge. They also have something called the Go-Cars, really cool for tourist but not sure of price.

Bus rides will run you about $1.50 for a 90 minute period of unlimited rides a person.
Cable Cars are about $5 a person for one way

Best thing to do, consult with the hotel your staying at and ask for available parking options. you can always find street parking on meters which are free between the hours of 6 or 8pm (depending on location) till 7-8am the next morning.

Good luck and enjoy your stay..

yamez

hi there. what i could recommend you is this: as for parking its relatively cheap (considering you get free parking on where you are staying)

for golden gate, they have metered parking lot. you might want to consider coming early in the morning because it gets packed around 11am onwards. bring at least 5 dollars in coins and you're set. consider coming here both daytime and night time.

chinatown: same thing. i usually just find parking with parking meters and i usually just stay an hour or two

lombard street: parking here is free. you just have to find a spot. you can find some by hyde and leavenworth. try to google map lombard street and you will see it.

fisherman's wharf: just park at the parking structure across pier 39 itself. most of the restaurants there validates parking tickets and usually provides an hour or two. again, if you still have most of your five dollar quarters you can find plenty of parking meters as well.

alcatraz: for alcatraz PLAN YOUR TRIP AHEAD. TICKETS GETS SOLD OUT EASY. to book a specific date here's the website:
http://www.alcatrazcruises.com/ again for parking the alcatraz cruises docks somewhere around pier 35 and pier 33 ADVICE: NEVER PARK FROM THE PARKING LOT ACROSS THE STREET THEY WILL CHARGE YOU YOUR SOUL TO PARK THERE (well, jk. more like 25 BUCKS!). INSTEAD FIND A PARKING DOWN BAY ST. FOR FREE. you just have to find a spot. here is a spot where i know you might find parking as well. i usually park by midway st. if you google map pier 35 or bay street, you will see midway st. down bay st. 2 blocks away from the pier 35.

sorry if im a little bit confusing but try to use this info together with google map and you will see what i mean. i hope it helped!

yamez

just get the car. it would be a hassle for your time riding public transport and you can go at your own pace without waiting a minute or two.

S2KVee

Some tips you can try to save some money.

also try ways around travel fees. Book seperately but same flight (most flights allow you to choose your seats), if its 2 people, try 1 person with plane ticket and hotel, and the other just a plane ticket (assuming your sharing a room). Like any airport they have free shuttles to rental car terminals. price shop for the cheapest ones (my advice is still FOX). Get the smallest car you can get (makes parking easier, and more fuel efficient also)

or drive you s2000 on a road trip and join us for the bi-monthly Bay area s2k meet at nations..

Chris_Lum

This is exactly what i wanted to know, thank you very much! i wasn't sure how the parking situation worked. oh and i saw the Go-Car link on another thread...looks pretty fun, so i might try it!

Thank you, thank you! i didn't know that about alcatraz, so good thing you mentioned it. I"m pretty sure i get free parking wherever i stay, but i'm worried about parking at the destination.

i will consider it! how efficient are the buses and trolleys? from the prices listed above, they don't seem too bad. So might be more hassle to have my own car and to have to keep looking for parking all the time. UNLESS public trans is somewhat inefficient and will keep me waiting or take a long time to get around (many stops). what do you think?

good advice

i don't think i'll be bringing my S2000 though, won't be able to fit very much luggage and premium gas is a killer right now!!! as much as i'd like to road trip to norcal

chetly

I'd take a taxi or ride the trolley everywhere you need to go. If you've never been to the city, it's easy to get lost and over 75% of the streets in the area you have listed is either one way, under construction so there isnt parking available or all the above.

Stephenopoly

The Muni (public trans system) is a great way to get around since it sounds like you'll be in areas that are very close to each other, except for the golden gate bridge (you could rent bikes and ride over there!). SF is only 7 miles across so its not the worse if you get lost, you could just walk

If you decide on Muni you can use nextbus.com on your smartphone to help you find the times of the next 3 buses at any stop. Hope this helps!

Chris_Lum

great advice you two!!! i am leaning more towards no car since it seems the only far place i want to go is across the GG bridge. Might just rent a bicycle as suggested since it may only be for 1 day. I need the exercise anyway! Plus, with a bike i could stop on bridge for a view right? something that i imagine can't be done with a car?

g0g3tt4

You can't see much from the bridge in a car anyway... and if you can you can't see it for long.