Transportation during an SF visit
04-18-2012, 12:57 PM
#23
If you stay in sf and want to check out the sf/dc meet you can take the Bart. Get off Daly City stop then take bus 120. There is a stop at the meet. West lake shopping center.
04-18-2012, 02:32 PM
#25
Registered User
Originally Posted by yamez' timestamp='1331189588' post='21488519
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)
there is also a visitor passport good for 1, 3, or 7 days. unlimited rides on muni and cable cars. http://www.sfmta.com/cms/mfares/passports.htm
Parking in general in any big city is expensive. In SF it's definitely not cheap but you do get free parking on Sundays.
I've lived her over 12 years now and have conducted about a dozen tourist trips for buddies/family when they come visit and here's what I learned being I'm the driver / guide:
a) If you are a couple coming to see the city only - you can get by with public transportation. Like Jenn said do an unlimited trolley / muni pass.
b) Cycling is a great way to see SF if you are physically fit and up to the challenge.
c) Rent those 2-person go-carts near Hotel Nikko as that is the ultimate way to see/smell/feel SF on your own pace since it's got a GPS guided tour. I love the go-karts but a bit intimidated since you sit very low and there are lotsa crazy drivers in the city. (not cheap but nothing in SF is cheap)
d) If you plan to go to places outside of the city you MUST have a car - most people have limited time while on vacation and waiting for BART or other public transportation is a huge waste of time IMO.
e) The best way to see SF quite honestly in an s2000 - I let a few buddies borrow my car and they just were amazed by how much scenery you can take-in driving a convertible. But the streets are SF are not for the novice stick shift driver so be warned.
gluck
rick
04-24-2012, 08:21 AM
#27
Thread Starter
Thanks for all of your help guys! My trip ended Sunday and went perfectly.
For anyone else researching this topic in the future:
The citypass was nice because it allowed unlimited Muni (bus/cable car) and trolley rides (only thing it excludes is the BART) and also gives you free admission to various tourist attractions like the Academy of Science, De Young, Exploratorium, Aquarium of the Bay, plus a free boat tour. I’d say it’s well worth it if you plan to go to any of these attractions, however if you don’t plan to do these attractions, then think twice, it might be better to just pay per muni/cablecar/trolley ride—depending on how long you stay of course since it will add up.
We had planned things in advance, like the Go-Car tour and Alcatraz tour among other things, so in the span of 4 days, we didn’t have time to go to all of the citypass attractions and we spent a bit more than we could have if we had just paid per ride. Only ended up taking the Muni like 6-7 times and the trolley 2-3 times, but it was a good experience and the citypass was convenient anyway (instead of busting out cash each time, you just flash it to the drivers). I think bus rides are $2 per ride and trolley is $6. The city pass was like $69 per person, so try to make it worth your while if you purchase it! If we had stayed longer, it would have paid itself off for sure.
The Go-Car trip was fun because you get to zip around the city at 30mph (max) with a guided tour. Probably one of the best parts of the trip. It was relaxing and fun. Yeah I was initially scared to do it after arriving to SF and seeing the crazy drivers in the city, but the Go-Car route didn’t go through many busy streets and they were mainly touristy areas so people didn’t seem to mind me being slow (plus I was courteous and pulled over to let people by at times).
Alcatraz was awesome too, the guided audio tour was great and made it much better than walking around by yourself.
Chinatown was a bit of a disappointment I have to say. Touted as one of the largest Chinatowns, I had high expectations, but all I saw were dozens of the same types of stores selling the same types of Chinese trinkets aimed towards tourists. Same type of stuff I can find in any SoCal asian shopping center or supermarket. The Dim Sum was good and the custard from Golden Gate bakery was awesome!
The bike ride was fun, but tough. My butt hurt after that and we didn’t even make it across the GG bridge because my gf was tired.
The Academy of Sciences was nice, the aquarium there was better than the Aquairum of the bay, and the organic vanilla/orange ice cream was one of the best things there. Disappointed that you had to pay to get into the Japanese Tea Garden, so I just looked at it from the entrance.
4/20 in SF was interesting! Especially on the Muni! Weed smell everywhere!! Haha
Went to Japantown to check out the cherry blossom festival, but didn’t stick around very long because it was so hot outside!
Went to San Tung for the Dry Wings! Best wings I’ve ever had!!!
Had my local friend drive us around saturday night to try to get BiRite ice cream, but the line was huge and we couldn’t find parking , so we axed that idea and went to twin peaks for the view.
Overall it was a great trip and we were really impressed with the public transportation. The muni was great, picked up every 10 min or so and always got us to where we were going (thanks to Google Maps app for having the bus schedule). The only times we had trouble and had to wait extended periods of time was for the trolley cars on Powell—since there were so many tourists, it was always full if you try to jump on anywhere up from market street. Our best chance was always to jump on at Market street where it turned around and loaded a fresh group each time. We rode it from end to end--Market to Fisherman’s Wharf on a couple occasions.
For anyone else researching this topic in the future:
The citypass was nice because it allowed unlimited Muni (bus/cable car) and trolley rides (only thing it excludes is the BART) and also gives you free admission to various tourist attractions like the Academy of Science, De Young, Exploratorium, Aquarium of the Bay, plus a free boat tour. I’d say it’s well worth it if you plan to go to any of these attractions, however if you don’t plan to do these attractions, then think twice, it might be better to just pay per muni/cablecar/trolley ride—depending on how long you stay of course since it will add up.
We had planned things in advance, like the Go-Car tour and Alcatraz tour among other things, so in the span of 4 days, we didn’t have time to go to all of the citypass attractions and we spent a bit more than we could have if we had just paid per ride. Only ended up taking the Muni like 6-7 times and the trolley 2-3 times, but it was a good experience and the citypass was convenient anyway (instead of busting out cash each time, you just flash it to the drivers). I think bus rides are $2 per ride and trolley is $6. The city pass was like $69 per person, so try to make it worth your while if you purchase it! If we had stayed longer, it would have paid itself off for sure.
The Go-Car trip was fun because you get to zip around the city at 30mph (max) with a guided tour. Probably one of the best parts of the trip. It was relaxing and fun. Yeah I was initially scared to do it after arriving to SF and seeing the crazy drivers in the city, but the Go-Car route didn’t go through many busy streets and they were mainly touristy areas so people didn’t seem to mind me being slow (plus I was courteous and pulled over to let people by at times).
Alcatraz was awesome too, the guided audio tour was great and made it much better than walking around by yourself.
Chinatown was a bit of a disappointment I have to say. Touted as one of the largest Chinatowns, I had high expectations, but all I saw were dozens of the same types of stores selling the same types of Chinese trinkets aimed towards tourists. Same type of stuff I can find in any SoCal asian shopping center or supermarket. The Dim Sum was good and the custard from Golden Gate bakery was awesome!
The bike ride was fun, but tough. My butt hurt after that and we didn’t even make it across the GG bridge because my gf was tired.
The Academy of Sciences was nice, the aquarium there was better than the Aquairum of the bay, and the organic vanilla/orange ice cream was one of the best things there. Disappointed that you had to pay to get into the Japanese Tea Garden, so I just looked at it from the entrance.
4/20 in SF was interesting! Especially on the Muni! Weed smell everywhere!! Haha
Went to Japantown to check out the cherry blossom festival, but didn’t stick around very long because it was so hot outside!
Went to San Tung for the Dry Wings! Best wings I’ve ever had!!!
Had my local friend drive us around saturday night to try to get BiRite ice cream, but the line was huge and we couldn’t find parking , so we axed that idea and went to twin peaks for the view.
Overall it was a great trip and we were really impressed with the public transportation. The muni was great, picked up every 10 min or so and always got us to where we were going (thanks to Google Maps app for having the bus schedule). The only times we had trouble and had to wait extended periods of time was for the trolley cars on Powell—since there were so many tourists, it was always full if you try to jump on anywhere up from market street. Our best chance was always to jump on at Market street where it turned around and loaded a fresh group each time. We rode it from end to end--Market to Fisherman’s Wharf on a couple occasions.
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