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San Francisco Photo - San Francisco, California

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The city of San Francisco is split into several areas, each of which have their own way of life, attractions and things to do. Here are the main things you should know about each one and what there is to do there:-Downtown-Downtown is the main hub of the city and as a result is one of the busiest parts of it. Getting their is easy enough – you can take a bus or if you are feeling energetic it is possible to walk their from almost any other area of the city in around 30 minutes – remember how steep the roads are in San Francisco! The funnest way to get there, if you are coming from Fisherman’s Wharf, is by the world famous cable car.The main part of Downtown is Union...Read More

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GoCar Tour

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Attraction | "Go Car in San Francisco"

Go Car-tastic! Photo - GoCar Tour, San Francisco, California

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One of the best things we did whilst we were in San Francisco was hiring a Go Car. They are ridiculously garish little yellow cars that you drive around the city on set routes, taking in the major tourist sites as well as some not so familiar ones. I can't honestly remember the last time I laughed so hard for so long!===Picking Up Your Car===There is a Go Car centre near to the Argonaut Hotel in the Fisherman's Wharf area of the city, just a block from the start of the famous cable car line. Be sure to have a look at the leaflet stands in your hotel as there will definitely be one for the Go Cars. The one we picked up from our hotel actually had a 5% discount voucher on it, so ...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on December 7, 2011

GoCar Tour
2715 Hyde St.
San Francisco, California 94109
415-441-5695

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Shopping in San Francisco

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Shopping With Santa Photo - San Francisco, California

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When you think of shopping in America, you probably don’t think of San Francisco, but it is nonetheless a great place to shop no matter what you are looking for. It has little boutiques, huge department stores and gift shops galore and you are bound to find something here that will part you with your money!For the hardened shopping addicts, you’ll want to head to the Union Square area which is much like any other city centre. There are all the high street favourites – H and M, Abercrombie and Fitch and many more besides. With space being less at a premium than say New York, the stores here are much more spread out than they might be elsewhere. Although compacted in a fairly small area, the...Read More

When you think of shopping in America, you probably don’t think of San Francisco, but it is nonetheless a great place to shop no matter what you are looking for. It has little boutiques, huge department stores and gift shops galore and you are bound to find something here that will part you with your money!

For the hardened shopping addicts, you’ll want to head to the Union Square area which is much like any other city centre. There are all the high street favourites – H and M, Abercrombie and Fitch and many more besides. With space being less at a premium than say New York, the stores here are much more spread out than they might be elsewhere. Although compacted in a fairly small area, the shops themselves are huge. For those that like department stores, you could be forgiven for thinking you are actually in New York because all the big hitters are here: Bloomingdales, Macy’s and Saks Fifth Avenue and they are worth a day of your time in themselves. Whether you want to catch the latest fashions or you want to wander around the mouth watering food halls, you’ll be in heaven here.

If you are looking for souvenirs, your best bet is the Fisherman’s Wharf area, where you’ll find every single souvenir you can imagine and then some. On Pier 39 there is an Alcatraz gift shop where you can pick up things that you forgot to get on your trip over to the island, although there are many other shops that sell the same or similar for less. One of my favourite shops was the magnet shop on Pier 39. As one who collects a fridge magnet from every place I visit, I enjoyed perusing the huge displays of magnets from those with famous sayings to those with the sights on. We even picked up a ridiculously oversized tub of popcorn magnet for my sister! In Fisherman’s Wharf there are lots of galleries, so if art is your thing you can pick up works by famous artists as well as some of the local ones too.

Chinatown is another great place to shop as well although it is a different experience entirely here. The streets are lined with stalls selling everything you can imagine from traditional Chinese art to tacky gifts that will make you laugh. We didn’t try it ourselves, but I imagine haggling would be more than welcome here. There’s also plenty of places you can rest your feet after a hard days’ shopping, with lots of the Chinese cafes offering extremely good value lunch menus.

So whatever you want, you will find it in San Francisco, a city that is fast becoming a big player in the shopping mecca stakes!
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Best Western Tuscan Inn

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Hotel | "Tuscan Inn, Fisherman's Wharf"

The Room Photo - Best Western Tuscan Inn, San Francisco, California

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The Best Western Plus Tuscan Inn in San Francisco was the first point of call on our recent trip across the USA and it proved to be a great starting point that set the example for all our other hotels to follow. It’s not like the usual style of basic to mid range hotel chain that it falls under. Perhaps it’s the ‘plus’ in the name that makes the difference, but unlike usual Best Western hotels, this one has a bit of character and is a little bit luxurious but is still reasonably priced and is in a good location. ===Booking and Price===We booked our room through a hotel search website and paid around £110 per night, which was about ten percent less than booking directly with the...Read More

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on November 13, 2011

Best Western Tuscan Inn
425 NORTHPOINT ST
San Francisco, California 94133
(415) 5611100

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San Francisco - Getting There and Around

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Cable Car Fun Photo - San Francisco, California

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==Getting There==We flew into San Francisco’s main international airport (code SFO). After a long flight with a two hour layover in Chicago, we were too tired to try and work out a cheap way to get to the city, so we just jumped in a taxi. It's a very easy process which involves heading out of the main doors in the arrivals lounge and following the many taxi signs. Our taxi into the Fisherman's Wharf area cost fifty dollars plus tip. It is metered, but anywhere in the downtown San Francisco area will cost you about the same. I think our taxi driver was in a hurry to get back to the airport though because the ride was quite hair raising to say the least! If you want to travel in style and t...Read More

==Getting There==

We flew into San Francisco’s main international airport (code SFO). After a long flight with a two hour layover in Chicago, we were too tired to try and work out a cheap way to get to the city, so we just jumped in a taxi. It's a very easy process which involves heading out of the main doors in the arrivals lounge and following the many taxi signs. Our taxi into the Fisherman's Wharf area cost fifty dollars plus tip. It is metered, but anywhere in the downtown San Francisco area will cost you about the same. I think our taxi driver was in a hurry to get back to the airport though because the ride was quite hair raising to say the least! If you want to travel in style and take a limousine, it's actually not that much more expensive at about sixty dollars plus tip and you'll find a stand to hire one of these in the same area as the taxi queue.

Like I said, these are the easiest options, but there are a few cheaper (in some cases much cheaper) choices available if you are willing and able. There are three bus routes operating to and from the airport and with fares varying from $1.50 to $4 there are by far the cheapest option. Two of the three buses operate 24 hours a day, but there is a catch: it is probably the slowest way to get into the city. A happier medium is to get the BART train which operates between 4am and 11pm and costs about $5 per person. It goes from the international terminal, although there is a free airport 'Airtrain' that connects it to all of the other terminals.

==Getting Around==

The city of San Francisco isn't particularly big and sprawling so I'd recommend walking as much as you can so that you can enjoy the quaint and laid back neighbourhoods between the main attractions. Certainly the traffic around both Union Square and Fisherman's Wharf means that walking is a much easier and less stressful option than driving. The only problem is the steep hills that San Francisco is famous for making walking a challenge at times!

There is a fairly comprehensive public transport system that includes buses, street cars and cable cars. We got a map from the tourist information booth at Pier 39, which was free and very handy. We took the bus up to City Hall and the fare was $1.50 per person (there is a fifty cent discount for concessions), which I actually thought was pretty good value. The street cars are used more by commuters and locals than by tourists, although there are a couple of handy ones that run along the waterfront and up to Union Square. The most famous option for getting around though is the Cable Car that climbs some of the steepest streets in the city between Fisherman's Wharf and Union Square. There is a comparatively hefty charge of $6 to use the cars and they are fairly small so fill up very quickly. We found that the stations nearer to the Wharf were quieter than the other end, where there were long queues.

==Sightseeing==

There are a number of options here too. As is usually the case in cities popular with tourists, there are hundreds of 'hop on hop off' tour routes. You can get details from tourist information or from representatives that scatter the tourist spots. There is also the very popular option of biking the bridge, which basically involves hiring a bicycle and riding across the Golden Gate Bridge. There are various packages to choose from, but the most basic is approximately a two hour round trip that will cost around $16 per person, including equipment hire and route plan. By far the most fun way to see the city though is the option we took which is to hire a Go Car. It's a little yellow car with in built satellite navigation that you drive yourself. Along a choice of set routes the car will give you directions and tell you interesting and fun information about the sights you are seeing. It was unbelievably good fun although a little pricey at around $40 an hour. I'd highly recommend it though if your budget stretches that far!
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